“But you do know everything about this kingdom, don’t you?” I said. “And you do know about this prison as well.”
“I do,” Junaki said, and I noticed for the first time she was speaking in a tone of respect to me. Earlier she had treated me like a pitiful being who wasn’t quite worthy of even being present near her. “But how’s it going to help?”
“Well, that’s what we must find out,” I said. I reckoned my new confidence was perhaps sprouting from my impossible escape from the rats earlier. I was determined I would get out of this as well. My confidence was further boosted when a message box appeared.
Your relationship with Junaki has improved.
Junaki now thinks you might be a good guy!
“Let’s see,” I said, encouraged by the pop up. “What kind of abilities and spells do you possess that you could have used if you weren’t bound by these shackles?”
“The major spell that I can cast on others with my current mana levels is the paralysis spell,” Junaki said, “The other spell that I can potentially use on others without fatally harming them is the air arrow spell. I can shoot air arrows that can stun others. But for that spell to work I must also use the Human Hands spell as my paws alone cannot shoot the air arrows.”
I recalled seeing Indrat turning his hands into like those of humans earlier. My face was still sore from the punches I had received from him. Just then a fragment of my memory unveiled itself and I saw myself turn my paws into human-like hands. I shook my head to clear it of the memory. I wanted my full memory to return, just fragments of it however would end up messing my brain.
“So that’s two spells of offence that you can use. Well, all I have is the cute… ah, never mind that.”
“The cute charm?” Junaki said, turning her head at me, with a brow slightly raised. She looked playful and her tears had stopped. I was thankful for that. I felt myself flush. “So that’s what you tried to use on me at the rat hole so I would bring you to my kingdom?”
I avoided her eyes and looked down at the floor of the prison cell.
“Well, it’s the only spell I know,” I said, “I was desperate then. But I guess, I would have done better had I not come to this place.”
Junaki sighed.
“Fate sure is a tricky lady, isn’t she?”
“Yup,” I said. “But maybe, just maybe, whatever is happening to us is for the best?” I was really trying to look at my situation from a positive perspective.
Junaki shrugged.
“I cannot see why we being burned to death would be so great,” she said, sounding depressed.
“No, we are going to escape,” I said with much determination. A sudden flash of an idea came to me. I dropped my voice almost to a whisper. “You know what, when the guards come to take us tomorrow, pretend being unconscious.”
“And what good will that do?”
“They might remove your chains to see what’s wrong with you. I mean, your father wants to kill you in the worst way possible—with you crying like mad as you get burned to death. So if you are already unconscious they might try to revive you.”
Junaki pursed her lips. I thought she looked cute that way.
“We can try that,” she said.
***
There was a single window in the cell and through that I saw that the night had passed and the day had arrived. Any moment now the soldiers would be coming to get us. I was nervous. I had tried to sound determined to Junaki, but now that the time was nearing when we would actually have to act, I felt my earlier confidence slipping away.
“You look a scared cat,” Junaki said to me.
“What?”
She looked down at my body. I did too. All the hairs of my body were standing on end. Now that was embarrassing.
“Uh, it’s cold, isn’t it?”
It wasn’t. It was actually rather hot inside the cell. Little to no air came in through the small window. Junaki rolled her eyes away.
And then the sounds came. It was the footsteps of the soldiers approaching to get us. I gulped. With sheer will power I stopped my hair from standing up. If that happened in front of the soldiers, they might catch a whiff of our plans.
“Quick!” I whispered to Junaki. “Pretend to be unconscious!”
Junaki nodded. She closed her eyes and let her body go limp. She sure looked uncomfortable doing that as the shackles binding her were attached to the wall and they now pulled at her body.
There was the sound of the door being unlocked from the outside. The next moment it swung open. I held my breath as about five stout soldier came into the room. When the eyes of the leading soldier fell on Junaki he frowned severely.
“What happened to her?” he demanded to me.
“She told me earlier she wasn’t feeling well,” I said, making my voice sound weak. It wasn’t hard as I really felt weak not having eaten anything since I respawned back in the glade. “I think she’s fallen unconscious.” I was inwardly happy as a message appeared in my vision.
Well done!
You have convinced Patther that Junaki is unconscious.
You receive +10 Luck.
“That’s no good,” Patther said. “The royal family wouldn’t be happy. They want her to scream at the top of her voice! Quick, remove her shackles. They must be the reason why she’s unconscious,” he demanded to the other soldiers. The soldiers promptly removed Junaki from the shackles. My heart skipped a beat. This was going to be the moment that would decide everything.
Barely had Junaki been totally freed that a word escaped her mouth. Immediately all the soldiers froze as they were.
Junaki sprung to me immediately. She cast Human Hands on her paws and began to remove the shackles that bind me to the wall.
“Why are your hands shivering so bad?” I asked, for Junaki seemed to have acquired a shudder and it was making her take more time to free me.
“My spell will end on the soldiers in a few seconds,” Junaki said, “and then I won’t have enough mana to cast the spell again.”
“Take a deep breath,” I told her. For a moment our eyes locked and time seemed to slow down. She nodded and took a deep breath. She calmed down by a good degree and was able to free me. But barely did we make it to the door of the prison that the spell ended on the soldiers.
“Hey, where did she disappear?” I heard Patther cry as we made it to the corridor outside.
“There they are!”
We ran, as fast as we could, for our lives depended on it. Occasionally Junaki would whirl around and shoot air arrows at the soldiers in pursuit of us. But every time she did that she slowed down and the other soldiers gained on us. We turned a corner and lo! Right there in front of us were three soldiers. They were shocked to see us. We used the shock element to our advantage and leapt over their heads, only when we had passed them that they cried, “Catch them!”
“Hey,” I said to Junaki as she shot an air arrow.
“Huh, what?” she said.
“Jump onto my back,” I told her.
“What for?” she asked with bulging confused eyes.
“Just do it. It will save us time.”
With some hesitation she leapt onto my back. She was light and I didn’t have a lot of trouble maintain my previous speed with her atop me.
“Now you can shoot all the arrows you want without slowing down,” I told her as I dashed towards a window.
I leapt onto the window sill. Too bad, for I saw that the ground was a long way down. The prison was at least five storeys high and we were at the top floor.
“Stick to the corridor,” Junaki said. I leapt down from the window and resumed dashing along the corridor. We were passing so many cells. I wondered how many of the prisoners in the cells were really guilty of any crime.
Turning a corner, my heart stopped when we came face to face with the fat Indrat, and at least five soldiers that were with him. All of them looked as surprised as we were on seeing them.
“Shoot!” Junaki cr
ied. A translucent arrow borne of air was released from her palm and it hit Indrat square in the chest so that he was thrown back. I leapt in the air, hoping to pass the soldiers. Too bad, I had Junaki atop my back this time, and though she was light, I couldn’t leap as high as earlier. One of the soldiers grabbed my tail. Junaki landed face first on the ground a few metres away, while the soldiers pinned me to the ground. She whirled around and looked at me, unsure whether to flee or stay.
“Run!” I yelled at her. That word kicked her into action and she sprinted away as fast as she could. She turned a corner and I saw her no more.
Meanwhile, the soldiers helped the stunned Indrat by sprinkling water on his face so that he revived, looking quite dazed and pale. They helped him to stand up. In seconds the paleness left his face, and his face now convulsed with intense anger as he came closer to me. He grabbed my neck. I swallowed.
***
Chapter 5
They dragged me through the streets, through the multitudes of cats that had come to watch me receive the capital punishment of the kingdom. Behind me, the king, queen and their son marched along with the soldiers.
I observed the terror-filled looks on the faces of the children. The royal family was achieving its goals.
I couldn’t help the terror stop spreading through the people, but I wasn’t sad. Because Junaki had escaped. The soldiers hadn’t been able to catch her for she was too quick for them. If I were to be burned at the stake today, I wouldn’t die a sorrowful cat. I had helped Junaki. I was proud of myself. Perhaps even Goruk wouldn’t be disappointed with me.
Just then a burly cat with really big whiskers, stepped out from the crowd and punched my head.
A new potion has been applied to your body: Enjoy the fire!
The soldiers pushed him away, telling him to take it easy and to instead enjoy the next few hours as I would be slowly burned. But my eyes followed the burly cat who disappeared into the crowd. When he had hit me, it hadn’t pained at all. And I wondered if I had seen a small smile on his face, when the soldiers had pushed him away. And what did the pop up mean?
Finally we reached the centre of the town. There was a pole above an altar there. So that’s where I am going to meet my end, eh? The crowd parted so the soldiers could drag me up. They tied me to the pole. My heart hammered in my chest, but I told it to be calm for the upcoming pain.
And just then, I had a strange feeling, as if a strong breeze of air had suddenly hit my face. But I could tell it was no breeze of air, for the rest of my body didn’t feel it at all.
You have received a new message!
Junaki: Kitty, don’t worry. My friend Anuj has applied the enjoy-the-fire potion on you. The fire won’t kill you, though it will burn your fur. It will also not cause you any pain, instead you will receive a tingling sensation over your body. Just act…
The message ended abruptly. I tried to find Junaki in the crowd, looking this way and that. Thankfully, I received a new message the next second.
You have received a new message!
Junaki: Okay, sorry for the abrupt end. Anyway just act as though you are really suffering when they set you on fire. I am in the crowd by the way. If you are searching for me just look straight to your front. I am wearing a hood. Just don’t look too much in my direction. And trust me, all right?
I looked straight ahead, and after weeding through the many cats that were there, my eyes finally fell on a hooded figure, and from the height of the cat I knew that it was none other than Junaki. I wished I could reply to her message and thank her, but I found no option to reply. As the guards drenched the lower half of my body with oil and brought a torch to set the flames on me, I let out a scream. I had to act well, after all.
And then it happened. One of the soldiers set my feet on fire. A tingling sensation took hold of me, as I watched in horror as my fur burnt and my skin blackened. I cried out. Some of the cats present cheered the king for giving such a punishment to a vile being like me. I observed, despite pretending my best to be in pain, that some of the cats were cheering only half-heartedly.
“What crime did he commit?” one of the cats from the crowd asked, raising his paw.
So, the crowd hadn’t been told of my crime yet? Wow.
“He dared to be the lover of the princess,” the soldier who had set me on fire barked back. “You want the same to happen to you, eh?”
The cat who had asked the question earnestly shook his head.
“Criminals should be punished!” he cried like the others, clapping his paws.
After the lower half of my body had turned the colour of coal, the soldiers sprinkled oil on my upper body including me head, and set it on fire. I cried out even louder. So loud in fact, that I found it funny and tears of laughter rolled down from my eyes. After a few minutes, I began to lose my voice which came out quite torn. My health, mana and stamina bars had remained the same since the beginning of me being set on fire, and I was thankfully assured that I would not die today.
You have received a new message!
Junaki: Kitty, you are over doing it. The fire has been on you for long enough now that you should be dead. Stop over acting, or everyone will suspect something isn’t all right. Some folks here are even beginning to say that you are one strong cat.
Darn it, couldn’t a cat even act?
Anyway, I saw the logic in Junaki’s message. I stopped crying. Instead I let my body go limp, and let my tongue loll out, like that of a dead cat.
The crowd began to cheer even louder seeing that I was finally dead. After sometime, the cheers from the crowd subsided.
“The folks are going home,” one of the soldiers said to his partners, “the entertainment is over. Look, even the king and his family are leaving for the castle. I guess we can return as well.”
“Don’t be an idiot,” another soldier said, “the king wants the body of the criminal to be here for an entire day and only tomorrow morning can we take it down.”
“What, we have to be here for an entire day?”
“Yes, it sucks, but we must.”
Yes, it sucked. It was totally not going to be easy pretending to be dead, when I was quite alive and my heart was beating fast. That thought brought me another worry: What if the soldiers checked my heart beat and found that I was quite alive?
And how the heck was I going to escape from this place if the soldiers were going to be here till tomorrow morning?
You have received a new message!
Junaki: Please don’t make the slightest movement for as long as the soldiers are around you. I will come to help you escape, but not now, not in bright daylight. We must wait till the cover of the night.
The next few hours that passed dragged at snail pace. Those were hours of utter discomfort. That I couldn’t move at all for fears of the soldiers noticing me made the hours seem more like entire days. The midday sun brought heat with itself, increasing my discomfort levels. I wondered if dying would have been easy. But no, I wouldn’t quit at any cost. Easy didn’t always mean better.
Chapter 6
Slowly the heat of the sun lowered. This, plus the conversations of the soldiers told me what time of the day it was even with my eyes closed. The soldiers seemed as bored as me. After a while a cool breeze came. It was soothing and I relished it. From the conversations of the soldiers I got to know that they probably hated the king as much as Junaki herself. But they were too afraid of him to ever complain or rebel. They belonged to the sort of people who would rather kill their own families than stand up against an evil. I pitied them.
And finally, night came. I grew impatient as the night matured. When would Junaki come and rescue me? She would come… right? What if she didn’t? It was after all easy for her to flee without me. But something inside me said that she would. She wasn’t someone who would betray others.
And she did come. Her message preceded herself.
You have received a new message!
Junaki: I am coming to get you. S
tay put. I will reach the soldiers and then paralyse them. And then the two of us will flee this blasted town.
A few minutes passed and I knew Junaki was approaching the soldiers.
“Who’s that in the hood?” one of the soldiers asked his fellows.
“How do I know?” another barked back, apparently exasperated with having to wait at the place of the punishment for so long.
“What are you doing so late out at night?’ the first soldier asked Junaki.
Of course, she didn’t reply.
“Stay where you are or we’ll have to take action on you.”
I heard the word “Freeze” escape Junaki’s mouth. I opened my eyes to see that all the soldiers had been paralysed. Junaki removed her hood and leapt onto the altar.
“So how did it feel?” she asked me, as she began to remove the chains fastening me to the pole.
“The burning was okay. It was the wait that sucked. And was I really overacting?”
“I was rather surprised they didn’t pull you down in the middle of the punishment and check you for the enjoy-the-fire potion,” she replied with a small grin.
I observed her paws that had been turned to Human Hands as she struggled to remove the final chain.
“Man, I want one of those hands. They come in handy.”
“You’ll have to level up if you want them,” Junaki said as the final chain came off.
Unfortunately at that exact moment the spell ended on the soldiers.
“It’s the princess!” they cried, “And look, the lover isn’t dead!’
Both of us leapt down from the altar. Junaki began to use her air arrow spells to stun the soldiers, while I fought the soldiers like a true cat. Clawing and biting them that is. It mostly didn’t work and Junaki had to help me with her arrows.
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