He remembered the two persons coming over the distance. The clothes and armor they wore, the way they walked, how the swords on their hips moved.
"Are they from our village?" Nina asked, as she saw them appearing, too.
"We have to get away! NOW!" he called. The two man accelerated. "Halt, stay were you are!" They called.
"If you behave, we won't harm you!"
The words made Mikael hesitate. Running in the woods was impractical, as the vegetation was too dense. The water was very violent, risking to smash their bodies against rocks. Fighting was out of question.
They had the disadvantage in all things, equipment, nourishment, experience.
"What should we do?" Nina asked frightened. Despite her being older, she trusted his decision making. And he knew that, too.
He waited, pondering frantically of a solution. But he had no time anymore.
"Hey kids, you are the last fish that escaped." The guy named Fin said.
"The other either gave up or died in vain. Now, be good children and don't struggle, you will be at least alive."
Mikael thought for what felt like minutes, but were actually seconds. He motioned his hesitation, but ultimately gave up. He sat down, showing his resignation.
"Please be good to my friend." He said, hoping for some compassion.
Nina also was about to sit down, hoping they would survive, unsure of the future that awaits.
As much as the thought of giving up disgusted him, he barely had any choice.
He looked up, the two man towering before him like devils.
"Don't make demands, child. We are not in the church." he coldly said.
'Just childs?' Fin, who saw them before him, was baffled.
'So young, and we have to kill them, too? For what? These stupid orders!'
He gave a signal to his companion, and that guy walked over, hand on the sheath of his sword.
Seeing that, Mikael remembered the words Nina said, how her Nana told her "These are not normal bandits."
He sized them up again, looking at their stature, behavior, equipment. Nothing really looked out of place, but still... .
His instinct also motioned him to escape. Torn between his desire to live and giving up, the former was stronger.
"RUN!" He said, no longer waiting. "IN THE WATER!"
He got up, just escaping the hand that quickly approached him, ready to keep him in place.
Nina followed him, just lagging a step behind. Together, they made it into the violent torrent, the cold water seeping into their clothes and splashing on onto their skin.
"Idiot, get out there!"
Fin yelled to his subordinate, who was about to follow them. He was bigger, stronger, able to get them out of the water.
But the order made him halt.
"But they are so close, why letting them flee?" he asked confused, lifting his already soaked boots onto land.
"You dunce should thank me. This stream gets only stronger from here, with no chance of escape. We were ordered not to swim or follow anything in there, as we have no guarantee of getting rescued."
His eyes followed the children's bodies, while his mouth scolded his comrade.
Somehow, even if it was against his orders, he wanted them to survive.
'But most likely they doomed themselves.'
Shaking his head, he lightly bet the shoulder, saying:" Come Niel, we can regroup with our unit. The last person we saw escaping died last night, his corpse eaten by wolves. These two were the last on the list, and we have no safe way of checking their death."
"Finally, I had enough of running around this creepy forest. I want to wear normal cloth again, these scraps don't fit me at all."
He held the collar of his shirt, tearing to make it less tight.
"When we get back, I'll buy you a beer in the "Old Maid".
"Sure you will, saved your ass. And don't try to get away later." Fin joked.
They walked away, relaxed and fresh, ready to finish their duty and going back home.
Meanwhile, Mikael had other problems, fighting against the flood. Not only was the cold numbing his body, he had almost no strength to keep his head over water. Boulders swept left and right past him, and not only once graced past one, with bruises on the hit parts.
Nina feared no better, as she was struggling a bit farther down, spending more time beneth the surface as above it.
The sides of the stream were far higher up than before, not making it possible to swim ashore.
'I made a mistake!' Mikael thought. 'We had the chance living on as slaves. Not a good live, but at least one.'
But it was too late regretting, now he played with his life.
Hope then came from a liane that hang from a branch a good distance away, but right on the path of Nina.
"Grab that Liane!" He screamed, unsure if his voice could reach her.
But Nina also saw it, swimming towards it by fighting with the water. And she also grabbed a hold, gripping it as securely as she managed to do.
"MIKAEL! She called out. Using the Liane to give her some stability, she rowed over his path.
She held out her leg, as her hands were occupied. In a desperate attempt, he dived underwater, as the foam splashed into his eyes, blocking his sight.
Underwater, he managed to see her legs, a deep cut on one of them. But he couldn't thinks of that now, as he first needed to hold on.
When he grabbed her leg, he felt something he did not wanted to feel anymore.
For a moment, he also felt stability, but the next, his body began moving again, together with Nina.
When he got over the water again, he only heard her crying:" It ripped! I'm sorry, it just ripped and fell!"
'No.' he thought. This was their last struggle, the final straw. 'I killed us.'
Their bodies were then washed with the current, and two moments later, he felt weightless.
'Huh?' The sudden change made him wonder. He blinked, the sudden sun blinding him. But before he could catch another clear thought or sight, he felt the weight of tons of water hitting him like a hammer all over.
He fell, slamming onto the surface of another, less violent spot of water.
But the impact from the waterfall knocked him out, and complete blackness filled his vision.
The water flowed slowly down the river, fed by the waterfall, producing a ear piercing sound.
Stone one the river bank for around four meters from the stream, blending into the grass that grew lushly.
Half submerged, Mikael gained consciousness. His head hurt like crazy, and when he wanted to support himself by pressing his hands on the ground, he found out his left arm bend in a weird angle.
It took him a moment, but the pain followed soon. He fell heads first back to the ground, hurting his teeth. Warm blood filled his mouth, as it scratched open his cheek.
An uncontrollable cough then made him spit it all out, blending with sweet water. The pain only got intenser, and he could barely stay awake.
'Oww. Where am I?'
Looking around after managing to sit, he saw the stream, a bunch of less densely growing trees and some washed up Driftwood.
'I'm...alive. Alive!' He rejoiced, for a moment forgetting his miserable situation.
'We did it! We survived!' "Nina..." he wanted to call her, but his voice was weak.
It hurt to even simply speak. He angled his arm in front of him, as the pain lessened a bit by doing so. Searching left and right, no trace of Nina was found.
He panicked, her absence making him afraid.
'She is OK.' he thought. 'I have to find her. It's due to my choice we ended up here.'
As she was not around, he stood up, biting through the pain, and walked slowly downstream.
He wasted not a second thinking about pursuers, monsters or his hunger. He lived, but right now anything could end him.
He wanted to sleep again, only to be awoken again by his hurting arm. He also suspected some of his ribs to be broken, as even breathing ached.
He looked around the river, hoping to find Nina sitting there, well and safe.
'Nina, please...'
"Nina!" he shouted as loud as he could. "Nina, please, reply. It's me, Mikael. Please..."
His shouting grew weaker and weaker, replaced by heavy breathing.
He had to take a break every few meters, catching his breath. Then, when his eyes landed on a pile laying near the river.
The color of the clothes and the size of the person let him identify it as Nina. 'There you are, thank god I found you.'
Her not moving made him suspicious, but he brushed it away.
'Maybe she's just sleeping, I would if I could.'
"Nina! Hey!" he breathes heavy, gathering more air. "Are you awake? Come on, say something!"
He got closer, and with it his worry grew. He knelt next to her, ignoring the protesting arm.
Shaking her, calling her name, she remained silent.
"Nina, Nina! Please, turn around. Say something. Mock me like always, I won't be mad."
Him shacking her back and forth with his healthy arm lead to her turning around.
At first, she looked alright, as if she was sleeping. But her chest didn't move.
"Hey..." He weakly called. His eyes wandered to her head, and a big, bloody wound, even showing parts of the white skull was shown next to her hair, dying it red.
His shock made it impossible to process this, still shacking her back and forth, making for a gruesome sight.
"Come here, there is someone!" Someone shouted.
Mikael did not care, staying next to Nina's corpse, having his hand on her cheek, wishing her eyes would just open.
"Robert, now if you would?!" The voice was female.
"What, Who is there?"
"How should I know, dumbass. Seems like a child."
Coming closer, Mikael looked up, sighting two young persons coming towards him, slowly and on guard.