Dolores and I have just been trapped in the woods, just the moment we decide to put our heads down to rest. I knew this journey was going to be a difficult one but not this difficult. All that has ever happened since I left Damitro is me getting into trouble and its obvious life in Damitro was really easy. We lived in peace and happiness and never experienced attacks from bandits or traps from bad men. We only paid our taxes to noblemen from our neighboring kingdom as our little village had everything but a ruler.
"Argh...!" I screamed as a huge weighted rope dropped from above, locking me tight against Dolores who stepped in to save me and tied us both against the huge tree.
"What the hell...?!" Dolores exclaimed.
I quickly tried to wriggle my way out of the rope but the more I pulled the rope the tighter it became. The rope pinned us to the tree with our hands tied down against our body so that we may find it very difficult or impossible to move it.
"Stop Naya. Each movement you make does nothing but tighten the rope." Dolores said.
"Then what do we do? we have to get out of here before whoever set this trap finds us." I responded.
"I know, but your way right now is not the best way." Dolores said then asked, "have you got a knife or a sharp weapon in your pocket?"
"No. we didn't have no need for that in Damitro." I responded.
"Wake up girl. You've long left Damitro. Leave those reflections of yours behind and face the real world."
"So if you face the real world, why have you not got a knife handy?"
"I have. it's in my boot and I can't reach for it." Dolores said.
"Maybe I can try. I think your hands are way tighter than mine." I said.
"You're on the left side, dear, my dagger is on the right foot." Dolores said.
"Then I'll use my leg. Just crisscross your legs." I instructed.
"If you use your leg, how do we get hold of the dagger?"
"your mouth?. I'll pull it out a little bit and you'll lift your leg to your mouth. It'll work trust me." I said confidently.
"Okay. Let's do this." Dolores said and crisscrossed her legs as I instructed.
I reached for her leg, using my right leg, and tried to pull out her dagger. "Come on." I panted as my movement tightened the rope. After about ninety seconds of trying, I was finally able to get the dagger out of her boot.
"Yes...!" I exclaimed. "Now be careful and don't let it fall off." I said gesturing for her to complete the work. Dolores carefully lifted her leg and bent her leg as she slowly and carefully reached for the dagger and soon, she got hold of it with her mouth. She started to cut the rope using her mouth and the dagger but the rope is too strong. Dolores is a strong woman who would never give until she succeeds so she kept cutting with struggling until the first line of the rope that started from our shoulders cut in two and the rest of the rope swiftly untied and we were both free.
I smiled widely dancing with happiness and freedom. "Yes yes yes yes." I exclaimed as I sighed with relief. "I told you we could do this." I said as I nudged Dolores slightly.
"Yes, you did." She said.
"I told you we were going to be late if we wasted one more minute at that good for nothing neighborhood." A voice was gradually approaching us.
Dolores quickly grabbed me and we hid in the bush, letting a moss cover us up. "Ssshh," Dolores said as we watched the owner of the voices come into sight. They were two adult dwarves. A man and a woman. The man had an axe with him while the woman had knives and a bag in her two hands.
"Well, I couldn't have possibly left without getting my fair share of wine." The man said.
"Oh, you're almost an imp. You drink too much." The woman said.
"Well, I'm not wasted." The man said belching loudly.
Dolores and I stayed hidden, observing their every move so we could know what they were up to.
"Oh, I should have never married a dwarf." The woman said putting her hand against her face and shaking her head slightly in disappointment.
"Well, you're a dwarf yourself." The man responded.
"Must you respond to everything I say? You know my mother warned me against marrying you."
"But yet you married me. I was your prince charming then so..."
"Oh shit up." The woman said and made her way to the tree.
"What animal could have done this?" She said as she picked up the rope.
"Maybe a boar, or something even more dangerous." Her husband said.
"No. I think it was someone. The rope is cut possibly with a blade and that can only be done by a human." The woman said.
"Or a human-like creature. A cyclops." Her husband's eyes widened in fear.
"Shut up. Dangerous animals don't come here."
"Yes, they do. I can't believe I have to tell you this. Cyclops attack Nathan three days ago when he went to check his traps. He was wounded badly before he got away from them." The man said.
"Hahahaaa." The woman laughed loudly. "You're so drunk, man. When have you ever heard that story? You just make up things."
"I think they're harmless. We should probably go and let them figure out whatever happened to their rope on their own." I said in a hushed whisper to Dolores.
"No. The man might have a point. We don't know these forests we'll so we might need to learn a thing or two before we go along. We could get into bigger trouble if not." Dolores responded also in a hushed whisper.
"His wife called him drunk." I whispered.
"Well drunken men also tell the truth." Dolores whispered back.
"Sssshhhh. Did you hear that?" The woman dwarf said. "I think someone's here."
"No one is here but us." Her husband responded.
"Keep silent." Dolores mouthed and I nodded, trying hard not to let any sound come out of me.
"Mooooow." A loud sound came from behind us. "Mooooow...!"
I swallowed hard on realizing that whatever made that sound was right behind us. Dolores and I turned around to see a one-eyed giant creature, with four legs of a horse and a longhorn on his forehead.
"Cyclops." The woman dwarf said with fear in her voice and eyes.