18 ABDUCTION

Volume 2: Ydeo's Adventure and the Last Order of the Immortal Bishop - CHAPTER 16: ABDUCTION

On the Island of Kudaratan

"Where am I?" I feel dizzy.

"My Lady, are you alright?" I heard my Knight asked worried.

"Where are we?"

"I think we are in one of the Island of Mala-Laya."

"How about the others?" I asked.

"The ship was destroyed by the Sea Monsters, we are able escape thanks to the Sailors." My Knight explained.

"I see, where are your armor and sword?"

"I wasn't able to take it with me."

"As long as we're fine." I utter.

"I already cooked some rabbits, My Lady. Once you finish, we will search for a nearby town.”

"Good work, have you already scouted the area?” I stood up feeling the chill of the sand.

"Yes, but it is strange place. I can't find any house nor smoke within the area."

"Are there any wild animals here?"

"We are not in the territory of the bears and wolves. We are safe here." Said in a comforting tone.

"Any signs of Ydeo?" I continued.

"I haven't My Lady, He might be in another Island."

Meanwhile on the East Coast of Quesi.

"Aren't there any bridges?" Ydeo asked.

"Yep, there are no bridges! The islands are too far. We have to take a ship." Zymon said.

"So I have to swim again?" Ydeo said dejectedly.

"Are you crazy?! Did you know how far the next island is? It will took us 6-8 hours of swim! Even a ship took 2-3hours of sail." Zymon shrieked.

"What are you talking about? I can swim there in 1 hour." Ydeo confused.

"What are you a fish?" Zymon astound.

"Okay, One, Two, Three and Go!"

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NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That’s what I heard before I feel water splashed around me.

Ydeo pulled me again!

Wait? What?! He's lifting me?!

"Hoy Ydeo! How can you swim with one arm and lift me at the same time?!"

"Don't ask too much question!" I heard him say.

This guy is amazing! He is so strong and fast!

I can’t believe but might really get there in an hour! But before I could even celebrate I see school of shark across.

Nani?!

"Ydeo! Stop! There's a plenty of Sharks in there!"I tried to save both of us.

"Don't worry!"He reassured. The way I cannot understand. It’s a school of shark for all of the Gods’ sake!

Ydeo advanced as if the Sharks are nothing but a common fish!

"Come here little fellas!" Ydeo instigated.

On the other hand, at the island of Kudaratan, Princess Mayari and the Knight still are looking for a town.

"My Lady, I think it's better to camp here for today. The weather is not good." The Knight said.

"Do as you wish." Mayari agreed.

"I'll search for some woods and food, I'll be quick."

"Go ahead."

The Knight went away to look for woods and ingredients but not knowingly some group of men are lurking in the dark side of the woods. Staring from every side, looking at Mayari, when the Knight was out of sight the men quickly took Princess Mayari and went away

After an hour, at the hideout of the culprits.

This Woman is so beautiful! I bet we can offer her to the Orders! We will be given a huge amount of viya!"

"What is a viya?!" one of the men asked.

"You youngsters really don't know how the world works aren't you?! 2 years ago the Empire of Viyato created a bank and a system of exchange." One of the fugitives said while tying one of the Mayari’s limbs.

"A bang? System of exchange? What is that? Is that a secret code for treasure or black market?"

"Idiots! This is why you won't be able to climb at the top of food chain! Bank! Not Bang! It is a building with tons of Jewels and valuable materials that no one ever saw! They created a circular metal which is called a coin for as to use as medium of exchange. To buy things! This is what a civilized Empire is capable of!"

"But we can buy chicken with clothes and other stuff? And why circular?!"Continue to ask.

"Listen pals! Do you think we can always carry towns of Golds, luxurious items and stuffs that we stole all the time?!" He asked in frustrations.

"We can’t?!"

"We will exchange the treasure we have to the bank and we will have the coins to use in buying stuffs and take note, we can hide all the money we have and just take the amount we want if we want to buy some stuff." He tried to patiently explain but while stopping himself from killing the youngster.

"Aren't that tiring to go in the bank just to get some coins?"The oblivious man still goes on.

"There are already 50 Banks in the Empire of Viyato to deposit your treasury. But don't worry; we don't really need to go to every bank to withdraw some coins. The Bank cooperates with the local Baranggay, we just have to show our documents to withdraw, there's a limit in withdrawing every day. 1,000 Viya per day!"

"Is that a huge amount?!"

"It is! 1 Viya is Equal of 1 Silver!" He screamed.

"But, aren't we criminals?! How would we deposit such an amount and use it? If they learned that our treasure are stolen?"

"… I like how your mind works kid! Listen we will not deposit every single thing a day. We will deposit a small amount then we will start a business and then we can only say that it is prosperous. We will sell the stolen materials to the Black Market and then coin we get, we will deposit it to the bank! With that, no one can stole are money!" Explained the plan.

"But what if the bank was robbed?"

"Then the empire owes us a huge amount of money! No one knows our faces as criminal, if we dress like a rich merchant we can apply for account to the Bank."

"You really are smart Senior!"

"Yes praise me! It is so hard to explain! "

"But why is it circular? The coin." He asked again.

"I don't know, idiot!"The man yelled.

"Maybe so we can't get scratch from it!"

The group of men starts laughing.

Then one of the men said. "But aren't we not going to have some taste to the rabbit we caught?!"

"Let's wait for our boss and make him to decide."

Mayari is panicking and don't know how to escape from the bandits who took her away.

The Knight came back and noticed that Mayari is gone. The Knight quickly searched for traces and clues of what happened.

"These are foot print of a man! 6? 9? No, 12! 12 men came here. The My Lady seems didn't struggle. No signs of a fight. Possible that they blow a sleeping stick on her. The signs are still fresh, means they are nearby but I didn't see them so at the other side. These are not local men who just fantasize My Lady from seeing her. Bandits! They must be hiding somewhere here when they saw us on the shore and carefully took the My Lady away. This is not good!"

This is my Fault! I'm such an idiot! I promised myself to not make this happened again!

5 years ago

In the room of Princess Mayari

"Did your father try to harass you again?"

"Yes, he did but my brother protected me." Princes Mayari said.

"Still it's not good, I told you to run away. I can protect you Mayari." Bulan avowed.

"But Bulan, My father is the Emperor of Viyato, with his power he can find me no matter how far I go." Princess Mayari expressed her worries.

"Why not go to the Great Desert?" Bulan convinced her.

"But there's nothing in there."

"Which is more perfect, nothing in there; I can protect you against Monsters." Bulan persisted.

"You'll get hurt Bulan."

"I'll be your knight."

"Thank you for always being here with me Bulan." Princess Mayari said.

"No problem, My Lady!"

Not far from their location, they saw group of fugitives grouping up. They seemed just landed in the area and planning something good. They are unloading items not local in Viyato speculating they are from the locals.

"Bulan who are those people?" Princess Mayari inquired.

"Those are bandits. Maybe they are trying to steal something?"

"So they are bad people?" Princess Mayari confirmed.

"Wait?! What if we run away with them?" Bulan suggested.

"Why would we run away with them?"

"We will ask them to take us to their ship then we will go away to find for a deserted island." Bulan said.

"But they are bad people aren't they?"

“Hey wake up! Are you alright? Wake up! What happened to you?!”

What? This voice, is it Ydeo?

"She's awake! She seems fine, right Zymon?!" I heard another person-- a kid say.

"Ydeo! Help me! Someone took My Lady!"

"Wait, who are you? How did you know my name? Wait---You're the Knight but--" Ydeo eyed her from head to toe.

This is the first time Ydeo saw me without armor.

"If someone took a person away then they must be the General Movers!" the kid speculated.

"General Movers? Who are they?" Ydeo asked the kid.

"They are bandits who hide in this island. They sell humans as slaves."

"Do you know where their base is?" Ydeo asked.

"We do not know, if we know then Lapu-Lapu or the guards should have taken them out."

"Damn it! Where did they take her?!" Ydeo bellowed.

"Who is this Mayari? You said that she is a princess but from where?" the kid asked.

"She's the only daughter of the Emperor of Viyato, Princess Mayari V. Atosanai." I said.

"What?! Princess Mayari V. Atosanai?! Why her name is long?!" Ydeo asked while the other man seems as surprised but with different reason compare with Ydeo.

"That's how the Royal family names work. Viyato where name after the first ruler, Emperor Viyork Atosanai. Then all of the royal family members earned the name of the First Emperor. They are called as the V. Atosanai Royal Family." I explained patiently.

"Atosanai? It means Conqueror right? From the Old Language." The kid said.

"Yes, Viyork was just any other prince from a royal family however because of his triumph he earned the title of Atosanai which means Conqueror."

"So Princess Mayari came from a clan of great men!" The simpleton concluded.

"This is no time for admiration! We have to find the Princess." I make haste.

"This is the only island they might hide. It is an island for wild animals, only Hunters can live here." The kid added

"Aren't you well knowledgeable for a kid like you?!" Ydeo referred.

“My name is Zymon, refer to me correctly!” He added. "I'm a scout; my job is to take care of the nature. The Priest job is only to serve God. This is not their field. Guards can't go here because this is a sacred land for wild animals. Only Hunters are allowed to enter the Island to keep the balance of the nature." He explained.

"Where are these Hunters?" I interrogated.

"I do not know, I've never been here."

"How can you be so sure that this is where they hide?” I continued.

"Obviously the other islands are heavily guarded by the priests and the guards. The Bandits are foreigners so if they casually walk around, the people of Mala-Laya will get suspicious of it." He logically explained.

"So this island is a perfect place for them to hide." Ydeo said.

"The Bandits doesn't have their own ship as I suspect. The Mala-Laya is surrounded by the seas and ocean which is the dwelling place of the Sea Monsters. Only a Galleon Ship can travel from this Country. The local seafarers reported that the ship of the Bandits where destroyed by the Sea Monster a year ago and then drifted in one of the island of Mala-Laya."

"We are also attacked by the Sea Monster and drifted here." Zymon continued. "If they're going to sell some human as slave they might bring them to the ship that will arrive in Manyala in 7 hours."

"Wait a minute?! How is that possible?! How could they transport a slave in ship without getting caught?!" I asked bewildered.

"It is difficult to answer, my suspicion is they put the human in a box or something and disguise it as foods or beverages. With that there will be no suspicion." Zymon speculated.

"Can't they just open every luggage or the boxes to see if there are any human?" Ydeo asked.

"I'm not sure on how they did it but there's a possible that there's an inside job."

"An accomplice more likely." I concluded.

"We have to find the princess before the shipments came. We don't know on how they transport human so we are not sure if we can find them at the Ship. Also we are not sure if they will go to the ship or find that they really don't have a ship. Which is why finding their base is our only option." Zymon added.

"Wow! I didn't know you're a smart kid!" Ydeo said.

"Huh?! Aren't you damn?!"

"7 hours is a lot to find her." I reassured.

"Okay I'll be going!" Ydeo said.

Ydeo did not waste time to look for Princess Mayari.

"What about the plan?!" Zymon shouted trying to stop him.

"Don't worry, let him be. Do you know anything else about this island? Like how it looks like and territories of wild animals?" I asked.

"Let me draw it here in the ground.”

We crouched; he picked up a thin fallen twig from Yaupon holly tree.

“Everyone in the Mala-Laya knows the geography of Mala-Laya. The Kudaratan has the same appearance of the other islands, a curve shape terrain however, different sizes. Kudaratan is the largest among, which is why it is the sacred Island of the wild animals.”

“It has tons of mountains and other form of water, plenty of falls and rivers. There are no towns but some camps of Hunters in the northern part of the Island. As for the territories of the wild animals, the top of the chain are the bears followed by the wolves. There are some other wild animals that have their own territories. The Bear territory is the east while the wolves have the south. The West are more likely the place where they hide. There are some snakes and other reptile in there but it is better than being surrounded by bears and wolves." Zymon explained patiently.

"This is a lot of information! As I suspected, they are in the west. From the sign we’re given, the traces of shoes, they move to the west.” We discussed. “But where exactly in the west?"

"We can ask for some help from the Hunters." Zymon suggested.

"We can't the princess is way too beautiful."

"Way too beautiful?" Zymon confused.

"There are caves in this fall aren't they?"

"Yes we can assume that they hide in a cave however, the west of Kudaratan is rich in caves and falls." Zymon said.

There's a possibility that they saw us in the shore and quickly came back to their hideout to plan to take the Princess.

"Is it possible that the caves connected?" I further inquired.

"I see, it is possible that they can enter in any cave. Might be the reason why the hunters couldn't locate them…"

"So we just have to enter any caves. I'll scout the nearest cave and you go to find Ydeo!" I quickly concluded.

"Be careful! Do not attack them recklessly! From what I've heard their boss has Sacred Arm and can do a Partial Equip." Zymon advised.

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you."

"Let's do this!" Zymon shouted.

RESCUE TIME!

CHAPTER 16 END…