Chien made a move and suddenly, twenty men with heavy weapons came ready to fight. He also told the canons to be ready to fire and men with torches came up and stood ready. A man on top of the mast said he could see another ship coming towards them but Chien was not interested. He instead told Gon that he would see past their differences if he voluntary gave out his daughter but Gon called him a cowardly dog and told Sophia to get the magic stones in the captains quarters as they might need to use them after all. Chien said he would let them sink to the ocean if they didn’t drop their weapons but everyone knew he would do it anyway. The man on top said the ship was coming closer and heading straight for them with a flag he had never seen before and it looked like an old broken ship. Some other men headed to the ship to get ready for combat with Gon and the others and there was some tension on the air.
Sophia really wanted her spear but it was below deck because she didn’t think she would need it on the way back. Chien said he wanted an answer and Sophia said she would gladly cut his balls off if he came close to her. He laughed and said that it was settled then so they could all die. A boom was heard and suddenly, the ship got hit by a cannon ball. It was the other ship that then had come close enough to fire. The men on the other ship brought up some of the canons towards the other ship and aimed them at the new ship that fired again. The canon ball hit the side of the ship and Sophia took the opportunity to jump down where her father came from to get to the Alumrylite stones. Her spear should be there as well and she intended going for it. Chien told them to attack and some men rushed towards them.
Luma made quick work of one and blocked from another. Gon killed two in a couple of seconds as he had no intention to hold back. Tiger jumped up the mast and ran over the sail to the other ship. When he landed, he could see the number of people on the ship and he fought some of them then ran away to fight others while constantly moving. Chien continued to make his men attack but suddenly, the ship shook as it got hit by the other ship. Several people jumped over and they could see it was the island people. They shot arrows and fired another cannon load that hit another part of the ship. One of the men from Chien’s ship got hit by the arrows and Chien said to shoot back.
A chaos erupted and a big battle began. Fon got cornered by some island people but with some help from Eesa, he could get out but received a cut on the arm. Chien could see the people on the other ship were also after Gon and the others. He told one of the bigger men to bring him the sleeping powder and the man was soon at his side again. Sophia was fighting one of the island people in the hull after trying to get her spear but the blast threw it away through the ship so she couldn’t find it.
After knocking the man from the island out, she ran to the chest containing the magic stones. As she was almost upon them, one of Chien’s men showed up and attacked her. She smashed a bottle over his face and pushed him down the ladder to the bottom floor. After finally getting to the magical stones, another of Chien’s men attacked her as she was just about to grab the chest containing them. She had to fight him and he moved towards the ladder. She tried to kick him so he fell down to the bottom as well but he moved and then was, instead, backing into where the wall was. She thought he was a fool as he then had pinned himself against the wall and was just about to strike him down when she felt a big hand over her mouth. It smelt strong and she tried to get out of the grip fast. It began to be hard to move and for every breath she took, she could feel the world spin more and more. Her eyes start to lose the light and soon she felt like she was unable to move. She lost consciousness and the man grabbed her over his shoulder while the other man grabbed the chest that she was about to open. There was a big hole in the ship to the side and it had started to leak water in to the ship’s bottom. They climbed out to avoid the upper deck and headed over directly to the other ship. They were able to walk on a ledge going around the ship to reach it.
Gon fought of some of the island people but could not fully deal deadly blows as there were too many and the island people had stopped fighting the other ship as they realised they were after them as well. Tiger lay eyes on someone he was happy to see and ran back to the ship taking out one person by kicking him overboard. He jumped over to the ship and aimed for the man with the cane that was leading the fight. When the man saw him, he smiled and said he hanged up the monk’s body on sticks as a warning to not go there. Tiger said he would send the island man to his grave now and rushed to him.
The man told some men to attack but Tiger handled them easy. He advanced and the man with the cane ran towards him. The man swung the cane but missed. Tiger was trying to punch him but got interrupted by an arrow that almost hit him. The man struck again with the cane and Tiger grabbed the hand holding it. He kicked him so hard on the knees that it dislocated. The man screamed and fell down on the other knee but Tiger lifted him up and held him as a shield. He rushed the remaining island people standing at the edge of the ship and jumped through them and over to their ship. He threw the man down and grabbed a sword placed on the side of a crate. He killed two island people and then grabbed the man and struck the sword through the shoulder into the crate pinning him to it. He then killed the last of the still fighting man on board the ship by breaking his neck and then walked up to one of the cannons. He moved it in position so it aimed towards the man. He loaded it and lit a torch. He told the man that was struggling to get loose that he should save his strength so he could hold his breath for longer and kicked the canon so it aimed towards the bottom of the ship through a hatch.
The man moved faster and shouted for help. Tiger lit the powder and the canon fired right through the ship. It started to leak and was sinking fast. Tiger walked up to the man and grabbed the cane lying on the deck and with the sharp edge, penetrated his leg so it went straight through and told him he hoped he dies in pain and left back to the ship. On the deck of the ship, Chien had ordered the men to pull back as the island people were fighting them. Chien’s men left fast and moved away from them. There were about 40 island people on the broken ship and they were fighting to death. When Chien left, he could see the island people would lose but didn’t care about them as he didn’t know who they were and told the men standing with the canons to start firing at the ship.
Gon killed one man and got thrown to the side by a cannonball hitting close to him. He received some wood shrapnel on him but nothing bad. The canons then roared many more times in a row and suddenly everyone had to take cover. The cannonballs were many and soon, the ship was in such a bad condition it would sink any minute. A scream could be heard from somewhere and Gon’s blood froze for an instant. When the cannons finally stopped, they came out from their hiding place. Tiger killed an island person and Luma another. Gon got thrown down one floor and took out the remaining two men that attacked him. He looked around but could not find Sophia so he called for her but he got no answer.
When he came up again his fears showed itself to be true. He saw Fon was then dead for real with no coming back this time. He was lying with a piece of wood through his body and part of the wood had entered his head. He had to continue so he could locate his daughter. He looked over to Tiger and asked if he had seen Sophia and Tiger pointed to the ship. When Gon turned his head, he could see Chien and the man carrying Sophia. Chien laughed so loud he could still hear him and Sophia was unconscious. He instantly ran and jumped overboard to start to swim towards the ship. Tiger jumped after and caught up to him. He stopped him but Gon tried to get loose and called for his daughter. Tiger told him he could never make it and they were too fast. Gon felt his heart sink and a tear came down his chin. He failed to protect her and then she was with a man that would do terrible things to her. He swam back but never lost eye contact with the ship. It became small and Gon climbed up the badly damaged ship.
As soon as he came up, he saw one of Chien’s men was still alive and Gon grabbed him. He asked if they were going to the port town of Thado but the man spit him in his face. Gon told Luma to give him his sword
and when he had it, he lifted the man in the sky then with one strike, he cut one of the arms off. The man screamed out in pain and his face completely turned from brave to scared. Gon said his daughter was on that ship and he would cut of every limb until he got an answer. The man said, with shaky voice, that they were heading for Thado to celebrate Chien’s birthday. He also asked for mercy and said he knew the fastest way there. Gon asked how the state of the ship was and Tiger said they might be able to sail for two hours but then had to change to the small boats. Gon threw the man towards him and told them they must leave immediately and asked about the magic stones and maybe the light stone could bring the dead back.
Eesa said the chest with the magic stone was gone and most likely was on the other ship as well. Gon slammed his fist through a barrel and looked out to the ocean. He told Luma they must have a ceremony for Fon. The dead pupil was wrapped in a cloth and laid in the middle of the deck to go down with the ship. Gon spotted his daughter’s spear that was at the side in the water that continued to fill up and took it up on deck. He could see it was of little use anymore because it must have been hit by the canon ball that went straight through the ship. The spear was bent and had also cracked on the side. Tiger was following the directions from the man and Eesa had stopped the bleeding for now from the cut on the arm.
The water coming in to the ship was hard to stop but Luma and Gon did their best to take as much water out as possible and managed to stay afloat longer than the two hours and stretched it to almost three with help from Eesa who brought barrels down to fill with water and threw it overboard. When they felt the struggle was too great, they left and headed upstairs where they readied the small boats. They filled the boats with their weapons and some food. Tiger brought Chien’s employee and leaned him against the mast of the ship. The deck of the ship was almost at the same level as the small boats and would sink soon. He asked Gon what he wanted to do with him and Gon took a sword and with a quick move, threw it so hard that it penetrated the man through the throat. He gurgled up blood and grabbed the sword to try to pull it out. It was stuck and he lost his strength as the blood poured out. Tiger walked over to the small boats just as the ship was sinking. They pushed off and continued on towards the direction going to Thado. Soon after, the ship was gone and was sinking to the bottom of the ocean.
Freeing Sophia
Chien was outside the port town of Thado, and Sophia had just awakened to a man throwing water at her. She found her hands chained up to the wall. She looked around and saw the man with the water bucket. He stood quiet, and when she asked where they were and to let her go, he left and closed the door after him. She tried to get loose but it was too tight. She was angry that she was unable to fight well enough to not get caught off guard. She listened to the outside, and she could hear Chien talking outside. He bragged about some cargo on a previous trip to someone. The door opened, and Sophia could then see Chien and the man that was talking.
They walked together in and Chien wondered how she was. She offered to show him if he let her go, but he started to laugh. He introduced the man to her as a colleague on another port city called Akabu across the ocean. The man was called Quarts, and Sophia found out instantly what kind of man he was. He told Chien she would be perfect for his brothel. She said she would never go with him, and they would all die when her father came for her. The man brought a whip out and gave her a whip over the legs. It hurt terribly, and she spat at their direction. They laughed and left her to try and hold the pain away. Quarts wondered who her father was and Chien told him not to worry as he was dead and in the bottom of the sea. They walked out on the deck where Quarts ship had docked next to Chien’s. They were not far from port Thado, but Chien was lucky to have met Quarts as he was just leaving with some of his merchandise. He wanted to finalise the purchase of Sophia and Chien asked for a higher price than Quarts was initially willing to pay but after Chien told that he didn’t really care if he sold her or not, he thought about it.
Chien said he believed she was a virgin and he would consider making her his personal slave if Quarts didn’t take her. Quarts finally agreed to the payment for her, and Chien was happy to make some extra money even if he missed out on his old enemy’s daughter. Quarts told a woman to pay Chien and she handed him a bag of gold that Chien quickly counted. When he was satisfied, he told his men to bring her and deliver her immediately so they could get back to Thado. When Sophia saw the door open again, she noticed there were six men with ropes that were entering the cell. She did her best to defend herself but was only able to kick one man in the chest and was then wrestled down to the ground and tied up. She did get to bite one man that in return kicked her in the stomach to try to make her not move.
They carried her up to the deck with her mouth covered up too. She was taken to the other ship by Quarts’ men, and she started to feel afraid and sad as she could see the sky vanish as she was carried underneath. The ship looked different and had nicer interior than regular ships. She was brought to another cell that looked like it would be very hard to break out of. There was a heavy lock on it, and when she saw the door open, she could see other young women in the cell. Some were chained up and others were sitting hobbled up in the corner. Some looked at her as she came in, and others never looked up and quietly sat or sobbed for themselves. She never gave them an easy way into the cell and they had to hold her down to secure her. They learned not to ease up on any of the ropes when she kicked a man between his legs as she managed to free it. She got a strike on the back of her head that made her dizzy and she had to calm down to not pass out.
They left her chained up with her hands and feet but removed the rope. She tried to focus and recover but the strike at the back of her head was hard, and she eventually passed out. Chien sat in his ship and was looking at the treasure chest that they picked up from Gon’s ship and he didn’t understand why they would have two Alumrylite stones that seemed useless as they were neither gold nor jewellery. He intended to keep them regardless as a reminder about the day he took revenge on one of his enemies. Sophia woke up after an hour and felt like she was a little hungover. She looked at the other young women, and she asked one of them for their name. The woman said her name was Emy and she was bought from the brothel in Fellie town in the west island of Besidil to come the port city of Akabu in Redonia.
Sophia looked at the others and Emy said some of them had been bought on the underground trade while others had been kidnapped. Sophia asked if there were people or soldiers looking for them but one of the other young women told her that if they tried to tell anyone, they would be killed. The young woman said that the customers didn’t care and if they were to ask for help, the owners would know about it. Emy nodded and said she had seen many girls end up bad and disfigured because of asking for help. Sophia thought it was horrible and tried to get loose again. Emy said there was no point as Quarts’ ship had a high quality security with tough chains. Sophia asked her how she knew so much and Emy said everyone that had worked in Akabu and then visited the biggest brothel on Besidil would tell the other girls about how it was to work there.
Emy said she had been working at a town called Fellie for four years and was sold by her captives to get some more money. She asked if Sophia had ever been working somewhere else, but Sophia then sat silent. Emy knew how she felt and let her be. Sophia started to think about how her father must be worried and would try to save her in the port. He would definitely kill Chien but by the time he found out she was on the way to the island of Redonia, it might be too late to save her. She suddenly realised she might be left to fend for herself or even end up in a situation where she would be defenceless to do something. The thought of it all finally sunk in, and she started to sob as well. She never cried but thinking of never seeing her father and sister again and perhaps be forced to sleep with strange men was something she never imagined. Emy put her hand on Sophia’s knee and let her lean against her shoulder for comfort. To Emy, the girl sitting next to her w
as just a fragile girl and could only try to give her comfort.
Gon and the others were travelling slowly, and they never took a break and took turns of sleeping even if Gon never slept fully but looked up into the sky. His mind was full of chaos and couldn’t wait until he could be let loose in the port town of Thado. It took another day on the sea until they finally saw land. They were a little off course but, they already knew where they were as they could see the small fishing town that they left from. Gon offered to let the others go back to the monastery but he didn’t even have to finish the sentence until they told him they must all go. He thanked them, and Tiger said he looked forward to finally be able to use his full potential and Gon looked towards the direction of Thado and said he as well was ready.
They set out again on the ships and saw another ship coming behind them with Thado flag on its top. With the darkness to help them, they headed towards it and climbed up on it from the back. All four of them hid inside the ship as they were able to open one window leading in to the storage room. They waited until the ship had anchored, and the crew had gone off to have fun in the small town. They sneaked into Thado and moved quietly through the side streets and inside some warehouses where it was easy to hide.
Gon told Tiger and Eesa to head towards the back of Chien’s building while they covered the front. There were some clothes that were put away from the market on the day so Gon and Luma disguised themselves and decided to walk straight in the front door. Inside, it was full of people and as soon as they walked in, they could see some of the men from Chien’s ship. They were standing in a group next to the gambling tables and they were separated from the other tables. They looked around and told each other points in the building that could be used to their advantage.
World of Taroo Page 64