12 Horror and Hope

The flames from the torches drew pictures with their shadows as they walked along the straight path ahead. On the way towards the major intersection where the captives where supposed to be, they tried to distance themselves from the big tents on each side. Occasionally they heard some quiet laughter and moans from some of them. More people seemed to be awake or partially drunk than expected so they had to move extra carefully and quitely.

Finally after what felt like an eternity, they reached the central 'plaza'. Wooden cages made out of logs were laid out all around the place without any order, in groups of three or four. They were about 3 meters tall and wide. And when the children got closer to one of them, shivers ran down their spines. Claire started trembling uncontrollably and she had cover her mouth with her hands to not shout out loudly. Panda and Vincent had pale faces and their minds couldn't form clear thoughts at this sight.

The flamelights showed them a horror picture they would never forget. It reminded them of those people in the concentration camps during WW2. Several bodies laid on top of one another, some with strips of clothes on, others without. They were asleep but still looked anxious and restless as if they were stuck in a constant nightmare. Their thin skins that were stuck to their bones and scars as well as red injuries hinted at severe malnutrition and heavy abuse.

The children didn't know what they had expected when coming here. It seemd completely surreal and unnatural for them to find human beings that were being held captive in wooden rough looking cages. The scenes in front of their eyes only reminded them of ... slavery! But why is that so? Did they really land in a foreign country with sects, cults and inhuman slavery? Shouldn't that have been abolished a couple hundred years ago?

They grew concerned over their classmates, did they also have to bear these kinds of treatments? Or maybe something even worse? They shuddered at those thoughts but continued looking from cage to cage.

Inside those cages they could find all kinds of people from all ages, female and male but they all shared the same traits on their bodies, wounds, scars or gaunt looking bellies.

They looked through several cages but didn't find their friends among them. When they had finished half of all the cages on the east side, they reached the central area where the big tall wooden mansion was located. According to Gorst's information this was the place where his Boss resided.

"Hä? Why are there no guards? Shouldn't they protect this area the most?", Panda asked confused.

"I am not really sure myself, but Gorst said that his Boss didn't need people to secure the area because ... anybody who had some thoughts about doing something to him and entered his mansion ... never left the building ever again ...", Vincent told him with a gloomy face.

They had already heard enough about this 'Boss' to know, they should never cross paths with him if they held their lives dear. He was a maniac, insane, a lunatic, every possible synonym seemed to perfectly describe this person they had never met. He ruled over this camp and over the people's lives with an iron fist and a cold heart.

They decided to circumvent the building and search through the cages on the other side. But just when they were about to move, voices could be heard in front of them, and they got increasingly louder and closer to their location!

"Shit! What should we do?", Panda asked anxiosly.

There was a slim chance to escape if they were detected now! And he didn't even think about attacking those guys based on their strength alone.

"Quick, let's hide behind one of the cages!", Claire proposed suddenly. The other's just nodded and accepted it due to lack of time and alternatives.

They used a cage as a cover that was farther away from the torches and lied silently on the ground, not daring to make a single sound.

The voices got louder and louder and the corresponding owners came into view after little time passed.

Two male people were talking with each other, one obviously more drunk than the other.

"Hey man, higg, why did you have to drag me her, higg, do you want to get beheaded by Boss? Do you have an early death wish?", one person asked the other annoyed.

"Shut Up Dorf! Your mouth is reeking as bad as an Orc's ass! I told you I saw some shadows flickering around the corner."

"Hehe, higg, do you even listen to yourself? Shadows flickering in the dark hehe, higg, and that's why you have dragged me all the way here, I guess you had taken in more than I did earlier hehe, higg."

"I know what I saw!"

"Sure you did, idiot. But there is nothing here, except for some stupid slaves and an idot with bad eyesight. Man, I wasted so much time on you, instead I could have banged one of the women already! Higg, you owe me a big one do you hear me?"

The children waited with tensed up muscles that these two guy's finally departed. If worst came to worst, they would need to blow up their cover and without regards to anything else leave this place as fast as possible. It seemed like their actions didn't go unnoticed, and their mission was on the brinks of collapse. But what they heard next made their hearts tremble:

"Speaking about pussies, higg, you know where those children we captured earlier today went? They looked so delicious, and I've always wanted to try something more tender and young, hehehe, higg"

"You moron! Don't even think about touching a single hair on them if you want to keep breathing. The Boss took them into his mansion so you should know that they are off-limits! Everything inside is!", he told Dorf angrily.

"Oh, shit hehe, what a pity though, higg, I've had enough now, let's go back and grab some 'white meat', hehe!"

The other voice just snorted in response but left the scene as well with his partner.

After some time passed again and when the children made sure nobody was in their immediate vicinity, they discussed about what they should do next.

"He saw us! That guy he knew something was off! We have to get away from here!", Panda spoke first agitatedly .

"Didn't you listen to what they talked about? That other person said there were children who got caught today! How high do think are the odds, that our classmates go missing, and these brutes capture some children on the same day as well? It has to be them!", Claire told him clearly upset.

"Yeah, well what if that suspicious guy comes back to look after this place? The same moment when we are sneaking around to look for them! What if we get caught? It's super dangerous right now! We can't continue lingering in this camp! We should abort the mission! Vincent what do you say?", Panda asked him worriedly.

Vincent was in a tight spot, he knew Panda was right. They had left too many traces and it seemed like a matter of time till they were exposed! But he had the premoniton that this was their only and last chance to sneak inside the camp and confirm their suspicions safely. After this, who knew if the circumstances would stand again in their favour. Claire's arguments were valid and there was only one way to find out the truth.

"We will go and take a quick look inside that building!", he declared and when he saw Panda's pained grimaces he added,

"Very quick and very briefly! We don't have enough time to scout out the rest of the wodden cages here and after we confirm the situation inside we will run away as fast as we can, ok?"

Panda didn't like this at all. Fear gripped his heart the longer he had to be in this place. It might look cowardly but his life was more important to him! He was too young to become a slave! But when he heard Vincent's plan he agreed reluctantly. He didn't want to be the one who caused the mission to end in a complete failure!

"Ok man, let's do it quickly and painless and as quite as humanly possible! I just want this to be over!"

"Sure, no problem, we all want this to be over!", Vincent assured him.