Chapter 21 - Second meeting with Anya

As soon as she heard the knock on the door, Niylah signaled us to quickly hide behind the counter, since not only would it be dangerous for Monroe and I if the grounders see Niylah talking with us, but it could also lead to the death of both the father and daughter duo.

Slowly walking towards the door, Niylah took one last look at us and when she saw me nodding at her, she turned and opened the door. Meanwhile, Monroe and I were hugging our rifles, hoping that the grounders would not stay long enough to find us hiding from them.

"Niylah gon the tri kru, seya calls hogeda gon our kru kom wor." (Niylah of the tree people, our leader calls all of our people to war)

"Ai laik nou a gona en ai nontu ste already der." (I am not a warrior and my father is already there.)

Suddenly, the grounder grabbed Niylah by her arm while grinning at her.

"We all are warriors! If Seya says that you are going to fight, then you are!"

Before Niylah could react, he slammed her into the wall while putting his sword at her neck. The moment she saw the sword at her neck, she start shivering in fear.

"Yu laik nou forced kom gonplei(You are not forced to fight.).We can always lie about your fate! Seya doesn't need to know that you didn't want to join. We can just tell her that the skai people killed you by the time we found this place!"

At the same time, I had to force myself from attacking the grounders and saving the only grounder that didn't actually want to kill us. Thanks to Monroe, who tightly held my arm, neither one of us did something dumb like killing the envoys of the grounders, at least not right now.

Luckily for all of us, once he saw that Niylah didn't budge and wouldn't agree to join their fight, the man simply left after he spoke something in their language. The whole thing lasted for no more than five minutes before the envoys left, but from this whole thing, I learned something very important and dangerous about these grounders. Not only are they extremely loyal to the point where they are willing to commit crimes for their leaders, but at the same time, they are willing to die for their beliefs, or at least that's what I understand from what Niylah has told us about their overhaul leader.

Even after the grounders left the trading post, Monroe and I still didn't get up in fear that they would return back, but even after Niylah locked the door and cleaned the mess those grounders made, nothing happened. Right after she told us that it was safe, both Monroe and I got up on our feet, before making our way toward the table. That was when I saw the bowls of soup on the tables and if I saw them, then that means that the grounders saw them too.

"We have a problem, Niylah."

"I know that. They saw the bowls as soon as I opened that door and I'm certain that they are waiting for you to leave my house before they will attack. Once they get you, they come after me as well."

"Is there any other door that could lead us outside?"

"No, my father didn't make one, since we usually deal with any troublemaker here in this hall."

"We can fight them, Leon, we have guns."

"No, Monroe, we can't fight them, at least not here and especially not now. Think about it, we two are in the home of a grounder, which could put Niylah and her father in danger. At the same time, we don't know what they would do to us if they caught us or if our fight alerts more of them."

"Then what are we going to do? Wait and pray that they would leave in the morning?"

"No, we won't do that. We will become grounders and leave this place like them."

This time, it was Monroe's and Niylah's turn to be confused by what I meant, and I can't blame them for it. My plan was quite simple, if you think about it, Monroe and I would dress up like some grounders and with Niylah's help, we would get some fake tattoos on our faces which would further make our lie believable. The only problem would be if the envoys approach us, but I doubt that they would risk approaching a group of people that are on a mission for the mountain men. The whole thing is risky, but if we manage to pull this off, then we would be able to go home safe and unharmed and in the worst case, we would have to fight the envoys somewhere along the way.

At first, Niylah disagreed with me saying that it would be too dangerous for all of us, but after I promised her that whatever would happen, I would do everything in my power to protect her and her father even if that would mean that I would have to suffer.

Three hours later, the two of us were looking as if we lived our whole life between grounders, and the only thing that was different between us and the grounders were the assault rifles that hold in our hands. Just as we were about to leave, I turned towards Niylah, who looked at us with a conflicted look on her face.

"Are sure about this?"

"Yes, my father's out there hunting. I can't leave, more than ever now that Anya is adamant about fighting your people."

"Anya…that's the blonde woman that I've seen at the lake, no?"

"Yes, she's one of the chiefs and the mentor of our current commander. You need to be careful when dealing with her or with anyone that's close to the commander and you two, don't die out there."

"Don't worry, Niylah, this won't be the last time we meet. And didn't I tell you that I don't plan to die anything soon?"

"Sure, if you say so. Take care you two and may we meet again in the future."

"Take care Niylah."

"We will meet again, see you later."

As soon as left the trading post, I felt quite a few pairs of eyes on us which prove that I was right about the envoys and their real motive. Maybe they weren't here for Niylah and her father, instead, they were sent here for me. That woman, Anya seems to have taken a dangerous interest in me, especially after our last meeting. I quickly whispered to Monroe the truth, not wanting to let the girl in the dark, even more so when our fates depend on how well we act.

We continue to walk, despite the overwhelming sense of dread that seems to follow every step of ours. Soon we left the trading post behind, but not before taking one last look at it and at the woman that looked at our backs, worried that we may not find our home ever again. Meeting Niylah opened my eyes and as much as would like to say that it's not true, there may be a small number of grounders that aren't as bloodthirsty as the warriors that keep attacking our camp.

Strangely enough, the grounders didn't let us alone, even after two hours and at the same time, they didn't approach us, ever standing at least fifteen meters away from us. Whatever their game was, it was slowly getting on my nerves, since sooner or later we will reach our camp meaning that these grounders would find the truth.

Meanwhile, behind us, the one that was leading the grounders after us was observing every single movement of mine, not batting an eye at the girl that was on my side.

"Seya, do we attack them?"

"No, not here and not now. We'll wait for them to reach a more open place before we strike and capture them, or at least capture the boy. He's more valuable than the girl."

"As you wish, seya. We'll attack at your command."

A while later, we reached the river close to where the art bunker as Finn likes to call that place was. As soon as we crossed the river, I stop and turned towards the path from where we had just walked. My sudden stop, made Monroe tense before she quickly aimed her rifle at the trees on the other side of the river.

"Have you seen something, Leon?"

"No, but listen. What do you hear?"

Monroe stood silent for a few seconds before it hit her. It was too quiet for a forest and the only thing that could be heard was the river flowing.

"We have to take cover. We won't be able to fight them on open ground, please Leon we have to move."

"It's too late, we are already surrounded. Am I right?!"

Nothing happened immediately, but ten seconds later, an arrow flew from somewhere behind us, missing my head by just an inch. In response, I turned my head towards Monroe and smile at her.

"See, they are here."

"We have to do something !"

"I'm working on that."

Since I believe Anya was the one to orchestrate this whole thing, I simply walked a few steps forward while looking into the darkness of the forest.

"I didn't know you liked me so much! Wouldn't have been easier to just ask me out on a date than to go all the way around with this silly plan of yours?"

Once again, I was greeted by silence, but unlike the last time, now I clearly heard someone walking towards the left side and before anyone could react, I fired my gun in that direction. Right after I fired my gun, I heard a man yelling out in pain as the burst of bullets hit him.

Not wanting to waste any seconds, Monroe and I quickly run away towards the woods where we could at least find some cover. Unfortunately for me, as soon as I walked into the forest, someone grabbed my arms from behind, as if he tried to stop me. Sadly for him, I wasn't planning on being a captive for a second time, so without thinking too much about the grounder, I simply grab his hands before throwing him in the air. By the time he hit the ground, I was already a few meters away from him.

At the same time, Monroe managed to injure one of the grounders since the idiot tried to scare her by jumping in front of her. A big mistake I may say since she simply fired a few bullets into the grounder's body.

Thankfully afterward, they lost our tracks or maybe Anya called them back seeing as it would be a waste of time and manpower to chase us which gave us enough time to reach our camp.

Unfortunately, as soon as we reached the gate, we were greeted by a few guns pointed at us.

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