Into the forbidden library

"We know that you're in here, just show yourself and it would all be fine," said one of the men.

Clang!... Clang!... Clang!..., Came the approaching sounds of metal, hitting against the wooden benches and desks. Zain peeped through the spaces between the legs of the wooden wares, from where she laid down, underneath a bench. She saw at a distance, the feet of someone coming that way, and a large sharp battle axe, knocking against the benches. The unbearable vibration of the floor, due to the stumpings of their feet, made her feel more uneasy, but she managed to cope.

Zain realized that there was nothing else she could do now, but stay low. She took a deep breath, and quietly flattened herself under the long bench, so she can fit in properly and perfectly, without being detected. As the man wielding the axe stumped closer, something ahead got his interest and attention. He came quickly to the point of attraction, wearing a sly suspicious expression on his face. He picked up a couple of books among the rest of the books littered on the floor, looking around cautiously and thoughtfully, surveying the surrounding with his blood-thirsty eyes. Zain covered her mouth tight with both her palms, motionless as a dry log of wood. She had no weapon in her possession, not even a tiny razor blade. The only thing she had with her, were the remains of the broken bronze Idol. Right now she was already doubtful about leaving the danger of the temple alive that night.

"This is your last chance to show yourself. Don't try to play smart here, or else we'll find you ourselves, and you'll be sorry," said the man with the axe, with a deep raspy voice. Now he was standing by the far end of the long bench that Zain was hiding under, glaring purposefully with his torch. Zain began to crawl out slowly and silently, from beneath the bench she was. Right now the only thought on her mind was to stay alive. She was totally driven by instinct, as this was to her, a life and death situation. She increased her speed without looking back, as she hid fast behind the large desk ahead. While she was hiding there, she noticed that the man had sensed her movements. He bent over to check if someone was hiding under the bench she just crawled away from. Zain started crawling further.

"Show yourself!" roared the man, as he began wrecking the place with his axe. The other men were still searching around with rapiers and glowing torches. He was coming fast behind her now. Her crawl transformed into a run, as she sprang to her feet and raced towards the dark side of the hall. As soon as the man caught sight of Zain as she ran, he began the chase.

"Over here!" he shouted, calling on the attention of the rest of the search party, who left where they were and came to his side to join in the chase.

Zain ran so fast that she was far ahead of the men, probably out of eyesight. She quickly hid behind a large pillar. There was a wooden rod leaning against the pillar. Zain quickly took hold of the rod, clenching it firmly close to her chest. She could see their shadows, and the reflection of the fire on their torches, as it came closer.

"You're gonna die tonight girl, no doubt about that!" roared a voice.

"You can run, but you can't hide!" added another voice, "This way boys. Keep your eyes wide open, she can't be far".

She could see their casted shadows on the ground, one of them was already near the pillar she was hiding behind. She clenched the stick tighter, holding it up straight, in the center of her breasts. She could feel her adrenaline rushing rapidly within her body. Her heart was throbbing hard and fast. As soon as the man was about to cross the pillar, energy from nowhere somehow came upon her. It was either due to mare instinct, or emergency action of the cerebrum that caused her to swing the rod she held, back beside her with great strength and momentum, knocking him down by the bridge of the nose. This action created a clear opening for her to run further.

"Ahhh!..." yelled the man that was hit, "Get that bitch!" he yelled angrily, with malice in his tone. The others were alert at this, as they all ran after Zain. Zain was running so fast, but the men were already starting to catch up with her. Up ahead, there was nowhere else to go, because in front of her stood the wall and the large door that led to the forbidden dark library. She was heading to a dead end, yet she kept on moving forward, faster and faster. Tales have been told about the existence of hideous phantoms, guarding and dueling inside the dark library, and booby traps there to prevent anyone from coming in.

Zain quickly pushed open the heavy door that led to the dark library. Within the split seconds, she was about to run into the open door of the dark library, she suddenly felt a painful slash on her left arm. One of the men had cut her with his blade. All the men halted at once when they reached the door, fully aware of how dangerous it was to enter into it. But the one who cut Zain by the arm, with his blade, wouldn't stop, he ran in too after her. The man wielding the axe, who looked like their leader, motioned to the other men with a raised fist, to stand in position. They started hearing the sounds of hallows and swirls of a mighty wind, coming from inside the dark library. This was followed by continuous wailings and loud cries like that of someone in immense pain.

After some minutes, the man who ran in after Zain, came flying out.

Thud!,

He landed heavily on the floor, before the others. They were all stunned in shock and terror. The man was all covered in bruises and deep cuts. One of both his upper and lower limbs was gone, there was also an arrow, stuck to the side of his neck.

"Bloody hell," muttered one of them, "He's dead".

The one with the axe ordered them to take away the corpse from the temple. They all went out of the temple to meet the others that were there with the bounded girl.

"Come here," called one of the men that have been outside. He was referring to the one with the axe.

"You let the person get away?" he asked.

" I'm so sorry master, she escaped through the door leading to the forbidden library, we couldn't follow," answered the man with the axe. He ordered the others to bring the corpse of the dead one. When they brought it, he showed it to the master.

"Master, behold the corpse of your servant who tried to go after the person. He also wounded her with his blade," he said.

"How come it was only him that was killed by the phantoms? Why don't you have the corpse of the eavesdropper?" asked the master.

"We don't know master, but..." muttered the axe wielder.

"Silence now. Do you have any means of identifying the that was?" asked the master.

"We didn't see her face, but we know it was a female," answered the one with the axe.

"You incompetent imbeciles, you let her run away without any reasonable identity!" roared the master, fuming in anger.

"Wait a minute, you said she was wounded right?" he asked.

"Yes she had a cut on her arm," answered the axe wielder.

The master grinned broadly as he heard that.

"No not incompetent, not imbeciles," he said strangely excited, "You all are my brave and wise servants. You've left me a clear identification, now I can easily get hold of that young female you saw".

He went to the girl that was bounded.

"Looks like you're lucky today girl," he said to her.

" You're never going to succeed in whatever your plan is," said the girl to him.

After a long roar of laughter, he said to her,

"You don't just get the fact that I will, and your heart is going to be of help too".

"Let's get out of here. Tomorrow morning we search for any female of about that age with a wounded arm," he said to his men. They went away from the temple.