All of us went out of the rock and as quietly as we could, speed-walked towards our target.
Me and Amelka against Finnley. Urick, Aran, and Fionn against Jin.
The rope is long. Both Amelka and I held a rolled end with a couple of meters in between. I glanced to my right to see the others also doing the same with Urick at one side and Aran and Fionn on the other.
Still like a blind being only relying on its senses aside from vision, both Finnley and Jin kept moving their heads in an erratic pattern. Trying to feel their surroundings and reacting even to the sound of the moving sand.
My heart's beating almost seems to cover the entire area, since I couldn't hear anything aside from it. Looking at Amelka, I could see a drop of sweat falls on her cheek.
Slowly, we closed the distance still trying not to make any sound. We attempted to control even our own breathing. I guess we did a pretty good job.
With Finnley only a meter away from us and the same for Jin to the others, everyone looked at me, as if waiting for the signal to proceed. I gulped and breathed out slowly making no noise. I looked at everyone to see their tensed expressions and raised my hand showing three fingers. One by one, I fold a finger.
After the last finger, I nod. Amelka and I run with the rope in between us hitting Finnley's body. Though he immediately reacted, we managed to run around him and constrict him with the rope. Amelka's the one who ducked against my rope when we were about to meet behind Finnley.
With my focus entirely directed to Finnley, I didn't watch what was happening to the others, against Jin. Grunts and shouts could be heard coming from their direction. Especially noises that came from Urick's deep voice. But, there are three of them and Urick is there so I didn't think more about it.
Finnley wiggled, I thought Amelka would be dragged or even thrown, but I guess what she said about being athletic is true.
She wrapped the rope around her hand, leaned back, and pull. I did the same. Still, we could feel Finnley's strength in his struggle. It felt like the moment we let go of our strength, he could drag us around while we dangle on the rope.
When I felt Finnley's strength drop after minutes of struggle, I told Amelka to go a bit closer to Finnley while still gripping the rope.
Soon as we are close enough, I kicked Finnley at the back of his knees which made him fall. Immediately, I pounced at his back to drop him and pin him to the ground. Amelka also jumped behind Finnley and held his legs. I tied up the rope as tight as I could, then told Amelka to also tie both of his feet together as tight as possible.
Even when tied up, Finnley still struggles as much as he could. Squirming and wriggling trying to get us off his back. We stayed put, I tried to fold my body to make my weight focused around his back. While Amelka sat and still held onto his legs.
A bit relieved since we managed to incapacitate Finnley, the struggle and grunts of the others who are trying to take Jin down became more noticeable. Still holding Finnley down, I looked at Urick and the others. They managed to wrap the rope around Jin once, but he managed to remove both of his arms from the rope. Now, he is also holding both sides of the rope. It became a game of tug of war.
On his right arm, Jin is against Urick, on his left, against Aran and Fionn. Maybe it is due to Cleopatra's charm, but there is no change in Jin's expression as he pulled back the rope. Urick has it, though I've guessed that Jin is stronger than him, Urick can use his entire strength against a single arm of Jin. It doesn't even look like he's struggling.
The problem is, Aran and Fionn are getting pulled each time Jin used force in his left hand. I could see them both grit their teeth as they pulled back and fight the strength of Jin's left arm. I can't blame them, both of their arms combined are still too thin compared to the humungous arms of Jin.
As I watched the struggle unfold I thought, 'Should they let go?'. I guess they are in the heat of the moment. Focused on outpowering Jin, they couldn't think of a better way to do so. If Urick let go, the rope loosens and Jin could easily attack Aran and Fionn.
If Aran and Fionn let go and Jin turns to Urick, he won't stand a chance. As I am thinking of what to tell them, I could still feel Finnley's strength as he struggles and tried to throw as off his back. Amelka and I are like rodeo riders.
I glanced behind and looked at Amelka.
"We should try to use the pill on Finn, so we could help them."
She nodded, and I told her to move a bit closer to Finnley's butt. I also moved up closer to his head while still lowering my body and using my strength on my arms since I am concerned about being thrown off if Finnley suddenly jolt.
"God! Now his head is moving around."
Do they have cognitive reasoning to a certain extent? Maybe they're being controlled by whoever is Cleopatra. I'm guessing it's just the facilitator of this stage. Or is this a clue of whatever we could encounter as we go closer to the tower?
With the erratic movement of Finnley's head, I couldn't get ahold of his mouth.
"Move closer to his back and hold his legs."
Amelka followed my instruction. With Amelka also sitting behind Finnley, I managed to hold his head using both of my hands. Without my hands on his body, we could feel his wriggling more than earlier.
Finnley's mouth is shut close. How am I gonna do this? I thought. He still tries to move his head. I decided to wrap my arm around his forehead and gripped the hair on the left side of his head. Then, I pulled out the pill from my pocket. But, his mouth's still closed.
"I can't open his mouth."
Hearing what I said, Amelka let go of Finnley's legs. Sat close to my back and wrapped her arms around me reaching for Finnley's head. Without her holding Finnley's legs, they flapped up and down, like he is a mermaid on steroids since we could feel his strength even more.
With quick thinking, Amelka gripped Finnley's nose as strongly as she can. Immediately, I understood what she was doing and waited.
Soon as Finnley's mouth opened as he gasped for air, I threw the first aid pill inside his mouth. Amelka let go of his nose and "helped" him close his mouth by pushing his chin up.
We felt that Finnley calmed down. With her arms still wrapped around me and I could feel her head resting on my back, Amelka who was catching his breath asked,
"Did we do it?"
Still unsure whether what we did worked, both Amelka and I still sat on Finnley's back. We looked at the others who were against Jin. And as if planned, the moment we looked at them, Jin decided to let go of the rope Urick is pulling and with a single pull, Aran and Fionn is drawn closer to him.
Noticing this, Urick let go of his rope. He tackled Jin without a second thought and as quickly as he could. But Jin didn't fall, Urick then wrapped his arms around him trying to hold him down. Aran and Fionn also released the rope and both went to hold Jin's legs. It's like watching them try to go against a statue.
Urick's muscle looks like they were about to burst and his face kept on twitching.
"Should we help them?" Amelka asked.
I also know that we should, since it is obvious that the three of them could not do what they have to against Jin. But if the pill didn't work we must inform them and flee.
"Finn?" I asked.
With no response after a few seconds, I shook his shoulder and asked again.
"Finnley?"
But then, all of a sudden, Finnley began to struggle again. It made me and Amelka hold his body down. Did it not work?
As we are holding him down, I heard a grunt coming from him. He didn't make any noise earlier.
"Finn, is that you?"
"Gray? Wha- what's going on?"
It worked!
I stood up, told Finnley not to struggle, and gave him a brief explanation of what is happening. My briefing lasted for about ten seconds. After a little while Amelka also stood up.
"So that's why I'm tied up. Can you please release me now?"
Seeing the others whose stress is evident on their faces. I know that they really need help and right at the exact moment as well.
"Amelka, can you untie him? I'll go help the others."
While saying those words I run towards the others and even though I am also tired, I'm hoping to help as much as I can with the remaining strength that I have.
On the way, I heard Amelka whisper, "Why tie him like this?", it seems like I tied the indestructible rope around Finnley randomly and as tight as I could.
Now that we've successfully rescued Finnley, it's time to take down and rescue Jin, the Goliath.