THE TIDES OF TIME

- Chapter 29 -

Jovan's breath froze on his lips. There she was. Surrounded by guards. Chained to the wall by her hands extended to the maximum. Visibly exhausted, and painfully cognizant of her own sister's hatred toward her. The moment Jovan saw Jagoda, he wanted to run toward her. Rush to her side. Free her of whatever chains held her captive and caused bruises around her wrists. But... He knew better.

He knew that if he rushed his next step, all of it would have been in vain. If he was captured, no one else would have come to free them. Or, worse yet, everyone - including Anil - would have come, risking their own lives. This was something Jovan could not afford. He had made a decision, then and there at Bojana's cottage when he realized how much Jagoda needed him, that he would not give up on her. That he would protect her. That he would defend her at all cost. Even if the cost came at the ultimate price of his life.

Putting that thought aside, he began to watch the guards surrounding Jagoda. There was four of them. Two on the outside of the locked cell, and two on the inside next to his beloved. All four men were tall, buff, and obviously trained for combat. Jovan almost chuckled, because he remembered Blagun's words that no respectable warrior trained for hand-to-hand combat, followed by the way Blagun toppled to the ground as Jovan cut down his legs in one smooth move. And that brought a smile to his face. If Blagun was unaware of such moves, then neither would the guards he planned to disarm. He nodded to himself. He knew he would be able to free her with the skills that were instilled in his blood.

That... was the easy part. Getting Jagoda out of the Fortress and back to the Boyana Waterfall was something that would prove challenging. He not only had to worry about them being discovered, he also had to make sure Jagoda would have been well enough to keep up with him as they escaped. The sudden realization that she could be hurt more than she appeared to be made him sick. Literally sick.

But, being a Navy Seal down to his core, Jovan knew he had to put his emotions aside. It was better that way. And beneficial, to say the least. So, he closed his eyes, swore rather profoundly in his mind, and opened his eyes. What he saw before his eyes was still the same, yet so profoundly different.

A hostage.
Knocked out or unconscious.
Chained and possibly hurt.
Locked up.
No windows in the cell.
One way in.
One way out.
Four guards.
Armed, and definitely trained to destroy rather than disarm.

Suddenly, his mind began to pick up on the details, even the smallest ones. Especially the smallest ones. Jagoda stood at the back of the cell she was being held in. The chains around her wrists were meant to hold her in place. But... those chains looked different from the chains he had seen in the other cells, when he passed other high-ranked prisoners. He gauged that his metal-cutting chain that the blacksmith helped to conceal in his bracers would be able to cut through the cuffs with ease. And if Jagoda wasn't gravely injured, he could disarm the guards, open the cell, get to her, cut through her chains, and make it out of the cell in less than a minute. Because to him, every minute counted.

With the plan already formed in his mind, and re-checked to verify any detail that could have skipped his attention, Jovan narrowed his eyes and sized up each of the four guards. They wore leather armor, the heavy-duty kind. If he wanted to disarm the two guards outside of the cell, he would have to go for their legs and then their heads. Even if he had to fight both of them at a time, he would know where to hit them to maximize the impact of his blows. Then there was the question of the two guards inside the cell. He could not afford for them to realize what was going on before he was able to enter Jagoda's cell. If they did, they could have hurt Jagoda. So, he realized he had to neutralize them first. To do so, he would have to use his daggers and throw them with exactly calculated precision at both men. Simultaneously.

Jovan knew he would no longer be in the possession of the two daggers, and he would have to save the steel wires in his bracers for Jagoda's chain cuffs. This in turn meant that he would need to disarm the two guards outside his cell with his bare hands. 'Piece of cake', Jovan grinned lightly to himself, since he only needed to disarm one guard to take hold of the guard's weapon.

He closed his eyes, and took in a deep breath. And launched forward. It took him a proverbial blink of an eye for both guards inside Jagoda's cell to fall lifeless to the ground, with their throats pierced by Jovan's daggers in such precision that if anyone were to later examine the guards, they would swear the daggers hit the same exact cells on both guards' throats.

"How dare You!" Shouted one of the guards outside of Jagoda's cell, immediately judging Jovan based on his low-rank uniform. The guard would have shouted more, had he not toppled unconscious to the ground after Jovan launched his attack on him and cut his legs down in a manner similar to the way Blagun had fallen to his knees the first day they met.

With three guards down, and with the guard's sword in his hand, Jovan stood up off the ground, and straightened his spine. The lone guard that stood face to face with him had mad rage and fury glaring from his eyes. Good! Jovan thought. Emotions clouded judgment.

"Come at me if You are up for it," Jovan spoke stoically calm as he grinned at the guard, which only infuriated the man even more.

"You will pay for this!" The guard snarled at Jovan.

"You first." Jovan snarled back at him.

The guard launched at Jovan, and fought well, but even though he was more skilled at wielding his sword, he proved to be no match for the years of combat and experience Jovan gained as a Navy Seal. The guard fell down gasping for air as Jovan grabbed the keys to the cell off the man's belt.

"Jagoda," Jovan rushed to his beloved's side and tried to bring her back to consciousness as he examined her wounds and bruises. "Jagoda."

"Mmm..." Jagoda slowly regained consciousness and looked at him, disoriented. "Is it really...You?"

"Yes, it is me," Jovan whispered as he cut the chains by the cuffs around Jagoda's wrists. "We must hurry."

"It is You!" She cried out and embraced him.

"Yes," Jovan embraced her back, cupped her face and kissed her, relieved to hold her in his arms again. "We don't have much time."

"You came for me?" Jagoda smiled faintly and took hold of his hand.

"Would You ever doubt that?" Jovan whispered as calmly as possible as they made their way out of the cell. "Now, are You well enough to climb down?"

"D...down?" Jagoda almost stopped after hearing his question. "I hope I can, especially in what they had me wear."

"That's my Sultana," Jovan smiled back at her.

Jovan did not know what relieved his heart more - the fact they made it out of the Fortress through the underground passages unnoticed thanks to Blagun's instructions, or the fact they finally reached the Boyana Waterfall and everyone cheered their safe return.

Everyone, with the exception of Anil. Though he greeted Jagoda with tears of joy in his eyes, he stepped back the moment the crowd around her and Jovan began to return to their posts. Jovan noticed his friend's seemingly undetectable reaction and joined him once Kinga stepped forward and took care of Jagoda.

"You seem oddly quiet," Jovan stood beside Anil as he leaned against the cave's wall, and bumped his elbow in a friendly gesture.

"I am not quiet," Anil replied without looking at Jovan. His eyes were fixed on Jagoda.

"Could have fooled me," Jovan smiled. "Anyway, why the long face? We freed Jagoda."

"That's not Jagoda..." Anil spoke and tried his best to conceal his concern.

"I know, my brave rabbit friend. I know," Jovan sighed heavily, crossing his arms at his chest while leaning back on the cave's wall, and made sure to keep his well-trained smile plastered on his face...