The Legendary Toymaker

Chapter 9 Finally in the past 4/5

Donovan quickly took Charikelia in his arms only to realize that that the shot had not touched her. It seemed that the sacrifice of the protector was worth it. 

Charikleia had teary eyes that reflected the fear she had felt. Donovan noticed this, but they had no time to waste. He took her by her hand and started running. 

While doing so, Donovan looked back only to see Cuervo being held by two guards by his side. 'It's really unfortunate' he thought. Although he didn't trust him, Cuervo was an interesting man he would have liked to talk to.

Their destination was the closest gate from where they were, and now that Donovan had experienced the power of a [Sad Doll] he planned to throw it between the guards and swiftly scape. 

Their way there went unperturbed, it was weird but Donovan wasn't in a state of mind to perceive that. They reached the gate, and only two guards holding machetes were at the sides. He threw the doll between the two, and it immediately started screaming. This time it sounded different than last time. It was calmer and desolated. 

The guards were stunned for a moment but not as affected as the shotgun man. 

Donovan and Charikleia run through them and kept on running until they couldn't see the gate anymore. 

They were panting heavily, and the girl looked pale and weak, "Are you okay?".

Before she could answer a small scarecrow jumped from her back looking angry, "She is not okay, you abandoned her without any food or help, you are just like them!". He was looking very angry.

Donovan thought he was talking about people from the refuge. He didn't know their story, but he thought it was normal to resent those who abandoned you. He could only sight, "sorry, I didn't think things through".

After he said that, he took all the food he had stored, and gave them to her. "eat as much as you need but save the seeds". After that, she immediately mounched on the food with eagerness. Donovan suddenly felt bad. He did not think things through, and now he felt regretful for leaving the poor Charikleia without any help.

"Charikleia..." he wanted to say something but right after he tried, Titos interrupted him with a shout.

"You have no right to call her by her name now!" 

"Titos, it's okay..." Charikleia intervened.

"It's not okay! call her by her family name from now. Got it nugget head?

"Alright, what's her family name? 

"Charikleia Suzette Yama" Titos answered proudly as if he was referring to himself. It really had the personality of a child.

In the end, Charikleia was embarrassed by Titos enthusiasm and convinced him that Yama was good enough. Titos wanted Donovan to call her by her full name, but seeing that Yama was not so keen on the idea, he dropped it. 

"Now let's get moving" The three of them continue the journey through the woods. It was a huge jungle where the refuge was located. 

10 minutes later, the surroundings started to change a little. The trees and bushes became denser, it was harder to walk and a thick mist was spreading all over.

At that moment Donovan realized, everything was just too coincidental. The scaping was absurdly easy for all the security they had back there. 

It was too late though, a flying shackle came out of nowhere and speedily locked itself on his left ankle. It was sudden, but not unexpected. 

Many people were coming out of the bushes, including a man holding the long chain that got Donovan. Among them, he saw Collete leading them all. But what surprised him the most, was the person beside her, Cuervo.

"Just you both?" She looked sincerely astonished, but then a hooded man approached her and whispered something to her hear. Her forehead frowned and the muscles on her jaw tensed. "Go reinforce them, we three are enough," she said to the man, and everyone except for the one who chained him, Cuervo and herself left.

"You i***t! they are just the bait! what do we do now?" 

While Collete lashed out at Cuervo, Donovan looked at Yama and discretely pointed to the bushes to her right, "Run". He took the chain on the ground with both of his hands and pulled with all his strength, taking the man by surprise. 

It was likely that the chain was increasing his strength because the man went flying to Donovan as if he didn't weight a bit. Taking advantage of that, Donovan sent a fist right to the man's face. 

Some teeth came out of his mouth and then he fell heavily on the ground. 

While he was at it, he noticed Yama didn't move and shouted to her, "Go now or you'll be on my way". He didn't mean to say it like that but in the situation they were in, phrasing his words was a luxury. 

Yama immediately snapped out of it and started running into the woods. 

Seeing this, Collete lifted her weapon and pointed towards her. Two shots were heard almost at the same time. One from Collete's weapon and another from Cuervo's. 

The two bullets clashed with each other and deviated their trajectory barely grazing Yama. Collete's face was even uglier right now, that kind of luck must be a skill, or she couldn't explain what was protecting her. 

Donovan was already done beating his foe when he saw that incredible event. He was sure that was no coincidence or luck. Cuervo noticed Yama trying to scape way before Collete, But he only shot when she did it. 

Donovan was flustered. He knew Cuervo had sold them out, but now he helped Yama scape. Was he an enemy or not? 

Those seconds spacing out cost him a leg though. He became Collete's target to relieve her frustration. She shot at his right leg unreservedly.

Donovan screamed his heart out. It was a pain he had never felt before. It of course took him unprepared.

"We still need him for labor... just chained him properly now" Cuervo intervened in her tantrum. he didn't want her to hurt Donovan anymore. 

He slowly walked to the wounded Donovan, crouched, and said in a low voice, "Sorry buddy, it was for a better good".