<< Chapter 7 (Part 1)
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In one swift motion, one of the men flew above my head while another slid to sweep my feet. I jumped laterally, discharging my viento on the opponent above. The third one caught me in the air by grabbing my collar and then proceeded to pummel me to the ground. I twisted his hand and flipped him over to the scalding pavement.
Time seemed to slow down. I had never known if I had an ability to manipulate time but it would be really beneficial if I did. My body moved in an almost rehearsed fashion. Every time I get hit, my body trained itself to avoid similar mishaps.
One of the men zoomed past and tried to hit me with an elbow, albeit unsuccessfully. I swept his leg and he came tumbling down on his incapacitated companion.
The third one flew once again and hit me squarely in the face. While his back was turned, I smacked the back of his head with a viento-enforced, open-handed slam. The strike fazed him but was not able to knock him out.
I spinned wildly, like a hurricane of fists and kicks decimating everything that stood in my path. The dust that was kicked up provided me some much needed cover. The intensity of my display of force cracked the ground beneath us,and the winds that I have accumulated hurled around rocks and debris at my opponents.
My confidence was at an all-time high. Odds stacked against me and still I managed to go toe-to-toe with my aggressors. If only the village elders could see me now!
One of the men brandished a sword while the others picked up the loose stones and hurled it right back at me. The man with the sword lunged at me but I managed to parry his assault by clasping the blade between my palms.
Sweat trickled down my entire body and made gripping the blade very tasking. Our eyes locked on to each other and, for a moment, transcended the battlefield. It was a harsh world ever since the end of the Great War. I had wished that we could have peacefully coexisted, but differences in opinions have prevented such an arrangement.
I slid my palms to the middle of his sword and then twisted my body to the left, shattering his weapon in half. The oppressors gasped at the feat I had displayed. I took advantage of their brief pause by gripping on the blade that I have dislodged and used it to slash across one of my enemies’ chest.
I abhor the use of physical weapons but owing to the success I had when I used the bow and the spheroid, this splintered shard might prove to be an equalizer.
"Gah!" the third one charged, screaming. He managed to disarm me while I was trying to dodge his offense.
Things were going downhill quickly — I had to act fast!
I bent my knees and tackled two of them at the same time. The improvised assault was able to knock both men down; one of the men even bashed the back of his head on the pavement.
My brief repose, as I was collecting myself, allowed the third one to sneak up on me. He then smacked me straight in the left jaw, but not before I scratched his face.
When they came to, the two others came up from behind and each grabbed on to my arms. They held me down as their companion prepared to attack. Mierda!
"You’re going to be sorry now," he taunted, as he cracked his knuckles.
Bruised, but not beaten. I closed my eyes and focused my remaining viento to shield the blow. I felt exhausted, and yet I’ve never felt more alive. If the next blow would mean my end, I was proud that I fell in battle as a free man.
"Oy!" a thundering voice from a distance shouted. “What are you rascals doing?”
I was released from my restraint, and the next thing I saw was my opponents retreating. "Disbelief" was too kind to describe how I felt at that instant. I turned around to thank my savior, only to discover an unfamiliar giant approaching at an unbelievable pace. Without saying anything, I rolled to my side and evaded his advances.
"Oy kid," he screamed at me. He held his arms wide open, ready to scoop me up at any given moment. “Come back here!”
I was surprised at how much I had left in my tank. Speeding past the metallic beasts that roamed the concrete passage, I found myself being chased by — once — unsuspecting giants. The number of giants in pursuit increased with each one we passed. Distressed, I hopped side-to-side successfully eluding capture. My miniscule size allowed me to outmaneuver them with relative ease.
Eventually, I found myself in a densely populated area where several giants tossed around a proportionately-sized spheroid. Afortunado!
A skinny giant came up from behind and grabbed my right arm. I fidgeted and struggled to get loose but the grip only became tighter.
"Let go of me, fiend!" I demanded, as I continually pounded on his hand.
It seemed that my exhaustion was finally taking its toll. There was no more force in my blows, no viento left to reinforce them. If I wanted to break free, I had to be clever about it. My wits had gotten me this far, I wasn’t about to rely on my strength’s recent successes.
I reached for the inside of his elbow and pinched it as hard as I could. The giant reeked of a pungent, sour odor that was very displeasing to smell. He screamed in pain and released his grip. I kicked him in between his legs and swung down to the ground using his faded blue shirt as my harness.
My knees buckled as soon as I hit the ground, but I didn’t let it deter me. I shot myself toward the gathered giants and leapt for the huge spheroid they had in their possession. If I could only mimic the result of the combination of that strange spheroid and my viento, it could solidify my escape.
Duck, jump, stride — the whole sequence felt like a rehearsed dance of unwitting partners. My quest to get the ball was strenuously delayed by the over-active giants. Did they know I was targetting the spheroid or were they still just trying to capture me? Where was all my energy coming from?
My body felt weak but my resolve was just as strong as before. As I was about to grab the spheroid, a plump giant scooped me up and held me in his arms. He had a dark complexion, no hair on his head and had strange paintings all over his body — reminiscent of Dadier’s.
The other giants immediately halted their pursuit as soon as I was securely held. Droves of giants gathered to witness my capture but none of them moved, as if he commanded their silence.
I tried to wiggle out but, unfortunately, I was locked in a tight grip that not even Dadier had done before. Fatigue had allowed me little to no movement. Sandwiched between arms that seemed to be made out of solid rock, I was forced to wait helplessly until I was released from the giant’s vice grip. This was not the ending that I had planned.
The giant made short work of the journey that took me weeks to accomplish. His strides were large enough to match even the speedy metallic beasts that were abound. Adorned with thick armor that shone as bright as the sun, the giant absorbed my slight blows without so much as flinching.
There was no more fight left in me. I was his prize and I couldn’t mount even the slightest of resistance. Had I been able to reach that enlarged spheroid, things would have turned out quite differently.
"Be thankful for your blessings, giants," I reminded him and the others who were trailing us. I knew they couldn’t understand how I speak; I just took the chance to express my thoughts, in case they do. “Had you not been quick to scoop me up you would’ve been a steaming hole in the ground by now.”
The gathered group of followers talked among themselves, perhaps bidding on who would take possession of me. My valiant display could have easily increased my value tenfold. I wouldn’t be surprised if a fight would break out among the giants.
I didn’t know where he was going to take me or what he was going to do with me. It had been a long journey and the roads looked unfamiliar. We passed the row of prisons a while back, some of which were now filled with prisoners.
The sun was hotter than ever. The ground still emanated steam that blurred visibility. Clouds floating above were scarce and shade was far from reach.
From a distance, a figure of somewhat diminutive size became visible. It grew more and more with every passing second. The chattering of the giants behind us became louder and they pointed at the figure, almost in unison.
A feeling of dread came over me. I closed my eyes and hoped that it would just pass by. What diabolical figure could elicit such a response from a cavalcade of giants? How imposing could it be? The giant that carried me didn’t seem at all rattled.
"Is he yours?" the giant who held me addressed the approaching figure, loosening the vice grip he had on me.
Yours? I opened my eyes and saw Mamie barreling towards us. The giant was wailing and her face was filled with tears. She ran awkwardly, but with purpose. Every step she took made a thud that shook the ground. She came to a screeching halt right in front of us and immediately tried to snatch me away.
"Ma’am, is he yours?" the brute repeated, as he handed me over to Mamie. “Breathe. He’s safe; he’s unharmed.”
Mamie bawled and broke down in front of the other giant. After a bout of incomprehensible jabber, which felt a little like haranguing, she thanked the giant ceaselessly offering monetary compensation for my capture.
Bounty hunters. The giants who found themselves without any ward were bounty hunters for giants who maintained prisons. Each of them had their own functions in their society and I was only beginning to scratch the surface. They were more complex than I initially thought.
Mamie wrapped her arms around me tighter than she had ever done so before. It was a good thing that she had softer features or else I would’ve been crushed underneath her massive appendages. She continually placed her lips on different parts of my head and used my body as a towel to wipe off the liquid from her face. Her disheveled hair felt greasy and her body felt as hot as the weather outside.
"It’s going to be okay," the bounty hunter reassured Mamie, as he rubbed her shoulders. “It was a good thing that nobody got hurt.”
Again, Mamie incessantly thanked the other giant for the capture, offering monetary compensation that was once again declined. She never stopped crying throughout her entire speech.
The posse accompanied us until we returned to the prison compound, then they eventually dissipated. We arrived at the compound to a gathered audience — prisoners and giants stood in attention as we made our way inside. The bounty hunter smiled at me and tousled my hair.
"You be good now, y’hear?" he threatened me. “Don’t you run away again.”
"Thank you po talaga," Mamie bade the other giant. “Please let me know if there is anything I can do to thank you.”
The bounty hunter shook his head and wished Mamie a fond farewell. He must’ve gotten tired of listening to a thousand thank-yous — Mamie just didn’t know when to quit.
Potalaga. What a peculiar name. I stared at my adversary one last time, as he walked away. This isn’t the last you’ve seen of me, Potalaga. After I get back at you, you’ll be sorry you ever laid your hands on me.
<< Chapter 7 (Part 1)
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