3
Neddin's lips remain straight as an arrow. His long crown of feathers is stirred by the arid wind of every night. The leader fixes his stern gaze on the subdued and kneeling maid. They stand at what was once the entrance to the crevice, now turned into a ditch of crowded rocks.
The giant awakened the village with his thunderous ascent, but only a few men were allowed to accompany the leader and find out what was going on. His most loyal guards, the champions of the hawk (Zell), the pig (Tashala), the Tasmanian devil (Maaca), and the Komodo dragon (Bironte), each dressed in parts of their respective animal.
"Tell me the story again" demands the leader. "Order your words. Don't stutter this time"
Majani, cowering on the ground, retells how the princess surprised her in bed to ask her to visit the fissure. In the underground the situation became confusing, but the focus is that the giant woke up and took Nadjela away.
"Could it be...? Could it be that he chose her as his wife?" Majani murmurs. A fanciful and romantic idea to perhaps force herself to believe that her friend is safe.
Neddin twists his lips into a sneer of deep contempt.
"Are you sure my daughter tempted that monster?"
The fury in the leader's tone shakes Majani. The girl sinks her forehead to the ground.
"It's my responsibility! It's all my responsibility, my lord! I should have convinced the princess not to come! I should have called the guards to escort her to the safety of her abode! I was very foolish. Please punish me as you see fit! But I beg you, don't throw me into the forbidden areas"
Majani crawls over and sticks her head between the leader's feet, bathing her fingers in tears. Neddin clicks his tongue and takes a couple of steps back, as if disgusted by this demonstration.
"Time is running out," Neddin says. "In no time those hateful old men will be here"
Majani stops sobbing, but not fearing. Strangely, she spies from below the figure of her leader and protector, who now paid little attention to her. Neddin looks up the mountain, where the temple stands and the wise elders sleep. Hearing how their venerable leader speaks of them with disgust, she is disturbed.
"The bone sacks will be disappointed. There is nothing to tell them. My daughter was taken by that being, and her servant perished under the collapse. Perhaps losing this last hope will bring them one step closer to the grave, hopefully"
Majani stands there uncomprehending, as if her leader's words were spoken in a strange language. She doesn't notice Zell standing at her back. When the bowstring comes down his face and against his throat, it is too late.
Neddin orders to dispose of the body where the beasts leave no remains. Bironte and Maaca comply with the order, the second takes the opportunity to keep the pearl earrings. Tashala retires to her home, arguing a stomach ache. Zell on the other hand, remains with Neddin for a new mission.
They head for the hot springs inside the mountain. In the steaming secrecy, Neddin pulls out of a secret compartment in a wall, a thick leather suitcase. He removes the pins, places the key in the lock, opens the suitcase, and removes from inside two gold bars and a rectangular laptop computer, old and little bigger than a hand. He hands the items to Zell.
"The official version will be that you will travel to find my daughter. Find a high point and as soon as you get a signal, contact a mercenary. Someone skilled, who works fast and leaves no evidence. I cherish my daughter... But I have several girls, and tribes only one. I will not risk corrupting the village with foreign influences"
As the people mourn Nadjela's abduction and Majani's death, Zell straps a cloth bag on his back with food, water, and the items given by Neddin. He secretly adds a seed from the El-nest-of-all-plants, though he doubts he needs it. So far in his life he has yet to meet a warrior who compares to him. He mounts his ostrich, and rides into the forbidden zones.