The Captured

Chapter 4

The guard leader was surprised by this sudden order and said, "But sir, this is a huge risk. We don't know anything about their plans yet."

The tribe leader replied, "It doesn't matter to me. I don't think we will find out anything. All our attempts to uncover their plans have failed, so we must surprise them, strike with an iron fist, and teach them a lesson they won't forget in their lives. Among the tribes, we will declare that our attack is in response to their killing of our guards, and this will be our pretext for the attack. Do you understand?"

The guard leader surrendered, "Yes, sir."

The tribe leader, in anger, ordered, "I want you to burn everything. I don't want any trace of life on their land. Kill them all."

The guard leader widened his eyes and asked, "What do you mean by 'kill them all,' sir?"

The tribe leader glared at him angrily and shouted, "It means what you understood, you fool... Kill them all... the young and the old... men, women, elders, and children... do you understand now?"

The guard leader responded, "Your command, sir."

Meanwhile, the knight was meeting with some of his men in one of the tents while the rest were training. Sensing someone watching them, the knight quietly moved from behind, grabbed a masked individual who was observing them from a distance, and said, "Who are you? Speak." The masked person revealed their face in astonishment, "It's you? What are you doing here?"

The girl looked at him with resentment after revealing her face and sighed, saying, "Yes, it's me, my brother. I came to see your men's training since you didn't allow me to join."

The knight firmly replied, "How can I allow you to join my men and train with them? That's men's work... Go back to the tent and take care of the people in the tribe. Many need help after what that scoundrel's men did to them."

His sister furrowed her brows and said grumblingly, "But there are others helping them, not just me. I want to join you."

The knight sighed and said with annoyance, "Oh, please don't start your stubbornness again."

His sister tried to convince him, "You know my fighting skills well. We trained together since childhood. Why can't I join you? Don't you trust me?"

Placing his hands on her shoulders, the knight said with tenderness, "It's not that, but I worry for your safety while being with me. We don't know when the tribe leader and his men will attack us, and what will the other tribes' men say if they find out a girl is fighting with my men? Don't we have men?"

His sister pursed her lips, crossed her arms, and said, "Let them say what they want. If they were true men, they wouldn't leave us alone in this situation."

The knight sighed in resignation, "I know you're stubborn and won't listen to me, so stay here for a while and watch the training. Then return to the tribe and be cautious."

His sister smiled enthusiastically, "Alright, brother." The girl smiled brightly and stayed in her place observing the training.

Later, she decided to bring some food and water for the men to have after their training. As she was heading back to the tribe, she heard voices in the distance. She approached cautiously to find a group of men behind a small hill, realizing they were scouts from the tribe leader's army gathering information about the knight and his men. She retreated quietly and hurried to inform her brother about what she had seen. The knight said, "Alright, we were prepared for their attack. Don't worry. Go back to the tribe quickly and warn the people."

His sister replied anxiously, "But how can I help here and fight with you?"

The knight shook his head in refusal and said, "Who will inform the tribe about the attack? Do you want them to suffer because of your stubbornness and delay?"

His sister surrendered, "Alright, I'll go. Be cautious, brother, and avenge what they did to us and that poor girl and her family."

The knight confidently said, "Don't worry, they won't expect the surprises I have prepared for them. Go now."

Smiling, his sister bid him farewell and rushed back to the tribe to inform them of the impending attack by the tribe leader. She decided to return to her brother to stay with him and fight alongside him. However, she knew he would be angry if he saw her there again, so she decided to disguise herself as a man. Disguising herself with a veil on her face, she headed towards her brother and his men. As she approached, she saw soldiers from the tribe leader's camp nearby, making it impossible for her to reach her brother. Perplexed, she wondered, "What should I do now? I fear they will surround my brother and his men. I must do something, but what can I do?" The girl, returning to her tribe, informed everyone that the tribe leader's soldiers had attacked the knight and his men, urging them to take action to help. One man, who always opposed the knight's decisions, asked, "What can we do? Don't you see our situation and how we got here because of him? Most men are with him, and here we have only women, children, the elderly, and the wounded."

His sister replied with irritation and sarcasm, "And what are you among them? You're not wounded, old, or a child. It doesn't make sense that you..."

The man angrily retorted, "You impudent girl! How dare you speak to me like this?! Look at yourself, wearing men's clothes."

His sister smirked sarcastically and said firmly, "I'll do more than that to help my brother. You stay with the women."

The man shouted in anger, "You've crossed the line, girl. Tie her up so she doesn't bring us another disaster like her brother did."

The girl looked at the approaching men and shouted in his face, "It's not your right to restrain me. I must help my brother, and you have no authority here. Do you understand?"

The man smirked mockingly and said, "Do I need your permission to do as I please? Since the circumstances are right now, I'll inform you... I am now the tribe leader, and I give the orders here, not your brother. I won't allow him to return here, and I don't want to see his arrogance and stubbornness anymore... I hope the tribe leader takes care of him, and that will be the end of it. Everyone will then be under my command."

The knight's sister looked at him in clear shock and said, "What? Are you abandoning my brother and his men now? How could you do that? He's defending all of us, not just his men and the captive girl. How can you betray us in this way?"

The man coldly replied, "This is not betrayal, but a mutual interest with the tribe leader. Why should we risk our lives because of a girl or your arrogant brother?! Let the tribe leader marry her, and we have no concern as long as we have a place to live, wealth, and influence... Nothing else matters to me."

The knight's sister gritted her teeth, "You are a coward and a traitor, you are a disgrace to our tribe." The knight's sister tried to step forward to attack him, but he signaled to his men to hold her and said coldly, "Lock her up somewhere." Two men took her and imprisoned her in a room. The traitor then instructed one of them, "Send a message to the neighboring tribe leader of the knight and his men, instructing them to siege them and not allow them to cross their lands, cutting off all ties with them. I know they have a good relationship with the tribe leader and will do so as he requested. Let's confirm our stance towards the knight and his men, and inform them that we are willing to provide information, but discreetly, not publicly." His man replied, "Your command, sir."

The knight's sister stood near the small window, her hands hanging onto the bars, her gaze searching left and right, hoping to find someone to help her and get her out of this imprisonment. After a while, a boy approached from the man and said, "Why did you imprison the girl? Why did you make yourself a leader over us? Why don't you send these men to help the knight of our tribe?"

The man (sarcastically), "Why do you care about this, boy?"

The boy replied firmly and confidently, "They are our brothers, and we must lend them a hand."

The man smirked sarcastically, "Do you want to go and help them?"

The boy answered, "Yes, I want to go despite my injury because I don't see any men here."

The man smiled angrily and said, "What are you saying? Men, take this boy and throw him into the room where the knight's sister is." As they grabbed him, the boy shouted and resisted, but they struck him. He cried out, "What do you think you're doing with your cowardly actions? Do you really believe yourself to be the leader of this tribe and that people will obey you and accept you? You're wrong, they are silent now because they are in pain, and they want to heal their wounds and take care of their children. But when the time comes, their patience will run out, and they will confront you and those with you."

The man smirked mockingly, "I won't allow that to happen, don't worry. Take him away from here." Then the man turned and said quietly, "I won't allow that to happen at all, so I must maintain a good relationship with the tribe leader to preserve my position and influence."

While the knight's sister looked out the window with anxiety and fear, the door of the room opened, and they pushed the boy to the ground, evident pain on his face.

The girl rushed to him, asking, "Are you okay?"

The boy, suppressing his pain, replied, "Yes."

The knight's sister asked worriedly, "What happened? Why did they bring you here?"

The boy responded, "I said what I had to say, and it seems this madman will imprison anyone who opposes him."

The knight's sister exclaimed in anger, "He has lost his mind and his honor too. But the important thing now is that we get out of here. I can't stand staying still like this while my brother and his men are in danger."

After a while, they overheard two men discussing the message the traitor ordered his men to send to the neighboring tribe leader to pinpoint the location of the knight and his men. The knight's sister remarked, "This means they want to besiege my brother and his men. What do we do now?"

The boy replied, "We must escape from here no matter the cost, but I don't know how."

The knight's sister sighed, "Let's think about it."

The tribe leader's men gathered, armed with weapons and shields, and raided the location of the knight and his men. A fierce battle ensued, causing the tribe leader's men to retreat due to the knight's and his men's strength. As night fell, the tribe leader's men remained close to the knight and his men, awaiting the right moment to attack after recovering from what they witnessed. Meanwhile, the knight prepared for the next surprise, gathering his men and saying, "Raise the wooden barriers we prepared." His men revealed thick, massive wooden barriers and lifted them onto the wall surrounding their training grounds, taking cover inside. It became difficult for the tribe leader's men to monitor them and know their movements within this training area, leaving them unsure of what to do.

Hours passed, and the men of the tribe's leader were tense and fearful because they knew nothing about the knight and his men. They sent a reconnaissance group, and as the group moved quietly in the darkness of the night, they were startled by seeing shadows moving in the dark. They were seized with great terror, and before long, they were all killed, and these shadows disappeared again into the darkness. The group was delayed, and the sun was about to rise. The leader of the guards said, pointing to another group of his soldiers, "Go and check on the group that preceded you; they have been gone for too long." A few men went and saw the bodies of their comrades lying on the ground. They carried them back, and their anxiety was evident on their faces.

The leader of the guards was panicked and bewildered, saying, "How were they killed, and no one came out of the walls of this courtyard? How? We watched them closely, and it's inconceivable that anyone could leave these walls without us seeing them. This is impossible; there must be some mistake."

The knight's sister had asked the boy to pretend that his wound was hurting him and to scream in pain. The two men standing near the door entered, and the knight's sister quickly struck them, then hurried out with the boy. After they left, the other conspiring men tried to capture them. They surrounded them, and people started approaching to see what would happen. The girl looked at them and screamed angrily, "Will you continue to watch? How long will you remain silent about this betrayal? Isn't the knight of the tribe and his men made of your flesh and blood? Don't they defend your honor? They defend the honor of all the tribes even though they have been abandoned and left alone. And now they are trying to besiege him to force him to surrender. How long will you remain silent? Where is all this cowardice and fear coming from? You have no excuse; rise up and revolt against this traitor and his men. Stand up for your knight who defends your honor. Show courage and fight for your dignity and honor."

Some tried to intervene and remove the men around them, but they were beaten severely, and the traitor threatened to imprison them all if they didn't obey his orders, so they backed off. The knight's sister and the boy resisted as much as they could, but they were outnumbered. They were bound and returned to their place again.

The captive girl sat near the window as usual and felt a strange movement among the guards, knowing that something was disturbing them more than usual. She heard some of them talking and learned that the leader of the guards had requested more soldiers for the battle. She said, "The knight of the tribe must have inflicted wounds on them and killed many of them until they reached this state. I hope the knight will prevail over the tribe's leader and his men; he's our last hope."

The leader of the guards had deployed groups to surround the training ground from all sides for monitoring, except the valley side. They didn't expect the knight's men to be able to take that route due to its ruggedness and difficulty for them. Shortly afterward, the group near the valley was shocked by the masked men of the knight above them. Due to their intense fear and shock, they couldn't respond forcefully, and the knight's men finished them off in a few minutes and returned whence they came. After a while, the leader of the guards learned what had happened and became furious, saying, "How did this happen? Is it possible that they came out from the valley side? But how and when did they plan that?"

One of his men replied, "My lord, our men who were killed yesterday were far from the valley, and they would have had to detour in front of us if they had taken that route. So I think there must be another way."

The leader of the guards responded angrily, "Do you think your words console me? Your words only unsettle me further. Don't you understand the significance of them entering and exiting without us seeing them and without knowing where they come from? This is a disaster... In this situation, none of us will survive."

The man said, "My lord, I think we should withdraw."

The leader of the guards frowned and said firmly, "No, if we withdraw now, we will appear weak to them and to the other tribes, and we will lose our prestige. So we must rethink our strategy to get out of this situation with minimal losses."

As for the knight, he told his men, "Food and drink will run out if we remain in this state. Also, the wounded need medicine and treatment. So we must reach the neighboring tribe to obtain food and medicine."

One of his men replied, "But, sir, the leader of that tribe is in cahoots with the criminal leader of our tribe. What shall we do?"

The knight said, "He doesn't need to know about that. Find someone who will supply you with food and medicine without anyone knowing."

The man said, "Very well."