Kui crawled over to the small mer and wrapped the sarong around his hips. "Don't be scared, okay? I will definitely save you. We will get out of this," he whispered breathily as if trying to convince himself.
But who was he kidding?
He was going to face a group of menacing kidnappers. With his lanky body, he would not be able to handle them all.
The plan was to take them by surprise. If the plan backfires, he could end up dead. Or worse.
'Is there anything worse than death…'
He shuddered, shaking his head. 'Let's not think of that.'
Soon the carriage came to a shaking stop. The kidnappers softly whispered as they got down.
Kui peeked out through the gap to see them all hunched together behind a small patch of high grass. There were five of them, each one taller than six feet and muscular.
Just a single one of them is enough to throw him over their shoulders.
Kui gulped. 'My plan will work… I just need to escape the surroundings.'
It was quite dark, but the bright moonlight cast a soft white light on the foggy forest behind the kidnappers. It looked lush and kind of intimidating. But upon closer inspection, he could hear a subtle sound of water gushing somewhere close.
'A river! Yes, if we can get close, we can swim away!'
With an excited grin, he crawled up to the little mer. "There is a river close by." He quickly pulled the kid's wet body over his back and tied the sarong securely to his hips. He then quickly arranged the wet cloth around the child's gills. "Just bear with me for a bit, okay? You will be able to breathe well soon."
It was time for his grand act.
Kui cleared his throat and let out a loud wheeze. He then tapped on the wooden ground, letting out even louder wheezes.
The whispered chatter of the kidnappers stopped.
"Do you hear that?"
They quickly ran up to the carriage.
Kui quickly let out another loud wheeze and a gasp, as if he was losing his breath.
"Shit, the mer is out of water!! I told you to secure the barrel, you idiot!"
"I did!"
Loud clanging of chains was heard followed by the sound of the locks being unlocked.
Kui quickly made a dash to the door. Before the door could open, he quickly kicked it with all his might and jumped off onto one of the unsuspecting kidnappers.
The man's bulky body cushioned his fall.
Kui quickly rolled off him and took off into the forest.
"Quick, catch him!"
The kidnappers finally snapped out of their surprise and rushed after him.
Glancing back, Kui smiled. The men were tripping on the rocky surface and falling like weak chickens.
Kui carefully made sure to jump over the massive protruding roots.
Soon the sound of the gushing water was close.
'We are free… Oh thank God…'
Just as he let out a sigh of relief, he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head.
Another huge rock hit the back of his leg, tripping him.
He fell hard onto the rocky surface with a thud. The mer, who was tied to his back, rolled off and fell in front of him.
"Shit, this one can run. We should have cut his feet off, I tell you!"
"Shut up. We need to sell him whole or else how will our customer have a decent night with him," the other man grumbled and walked up to them.
Kui weakly gazed ahead at the mer child. He was struggling to sit up.
"Run… Go…" he gestured for him to leave.
"Run? Oh well, see you try. Grab that one!"
The man grabbed him by his hair and pulled him up like a dead fish.
Red covered his vision. 'My head… It's not looking great.'
The last thing he saw was the other man grabbing the child by the tail and throwing him over his shoulders.
'We are so dead…'
Mo Aok watched the man's face lop to the side with a frown. The smell of blood was intense. It was likely that the young man's skull was broken.
'He is not going to make it…' he bit his trembling lips.
He was rudely thrown into the bloody carriage followed by the young man's limp body.
The kidnapper then went to the shorter one and hit him on the back of his head. "Fucking tie him properly again. If we damage the property even more, we would only be able to sell him for fucking meat!"
"You're the one who hit his head!"
"He was running fast! I had no way!"
"But that thing looks dead now!"
Mo Aok tightly tugged the man's bloody head. 'No… he is not dead…' his breath was strong. His small hand gently cupped the back of his head. The wound was not that big and had already stopped bleeding.
The kidnappers yapped amongst themselves and finally came up to the carriage. "Fuck, it's all this's fault!" He pulled the unconscious half-breed and tied his arms and legs tightly in a bind cloth.
Then another one of them picked him up and dropped him back into the barrel. "And you better stay in here. Or else I will skin you. Trust me, I can definitely make a profit even if you are dead."
The barrel was shut tight.