Maiors

Yuseff XXVIII

I laid there on that table, eyes burning from sweat. Kassandra had just finished her experiments on me and left Penelope to clean up after. She stitched me back up and wiped the sweat from my brow. She wasn't a Royal like Kassandra, rather an Olili servant. She looked across my body, saddened.

"I'm so sorry." she'd whisper to me after every session. She brought out a sponge and soapy water to bathe me with. She looked down on my wounds. The ones from the experiments were healing fast, however, Kassandra would often lash on me when they wouldn't heal as fast as she wanted. The welts and gashes from her whip took longer to heal. Blood and puss oozed from them.

"This is so cruel." Penelope said, cleaning my wounds.

"I can't stand this any longer." She looked me in the eyes.

"You suffered long enough. I have to do something."

She turned her eyes to the IV leading into the back of my neck. She grabbed a scalpel and sliced a hole in the tube next to the needle. She quickly grabbed a rag and placed it under my head to soak up the liquid.

"She'll be back soon." she said, "Please. Just endure one more session. Stay perfectly still, gain your strength back. And after.." she looked away.

"After I'll create a distraction. Use that to escape Yuseff."

I looked her in the eye. Why was she doing this all of a sudden? What was her plan? There was no way I'd make it off this ship in my condition. Even worse, she's likely to get killed for setting me free.

"You know." she continued, "I believe in you. I believe in the Orphans. I know one day we'll be free from the Royals and Phocis. Even if I don't live to see the day, as long as people like you keep fighting, our time will come." She loosened one of my arm restraints and kissed me on the forehead, then left the room.

Shortly after, Kassandra entered. She looked exasperated and fed up with something. She turned to me and saw I was staring. Her mood quickly changed. She donned her surgical attire and began hacking away, smiling the whole time. She removed several of my ribs, wanting to study the bone marrow. She placed them in bags and wheeled them out, leaving my chest wide open.

Ten minutes passed and I could hear an explosion coming from afar, several levels below me. The lights in the room went out while the red backups surged to life. A siren began to shriek as hurried footsteps passed by the door.

This must be it.

I used this opportunity to start breaking free. I broke my right arm free and began undoing my bondings. I stitched my chest closed as best as I could, wrapped myself up and made my way to the door. [The whole ordeal should have been blindingly painful, but at this point, my body was just numb.]

I tried summoning my khopesh to no avail. The anesthetics must have been still affecting me. I grabbed a knife and slid it under the door. Once the hall was clear, I made my escape, trying my best to find an exit. As I hurried, the floor began to rock.

I'm actually on a boat?

The room I was in seemed so still, I figured she was lying. Then again, why would she need to? I slowly made my way around corners and up stairs, trying to get to the deck. I heard footsteps quickly coming up from behind. I hid in the nearest closet.

"Come on!" a voice called, "The blood leads this way."

Shit.

I wasn't great at first aid and had been leaving a small trail of blood from the room.

Think!

I panicked, they were going to find me soon. I looked around in the closet I was in. All that was there were lockers. I frantically started searching them for some kind of weapon. I was surprised at what I found.

You've got to be kidding me.

"Right here." the voice called, "He's in here." I took a deep breath and tried to summon my khopesh one more time. Still, nothing.

The door sprung open and three KP guards aimed their guns into the room. One quickly went down, an arrow lodged in his eye.

"What the-" the second went down just as fast. I dove to dodge the third guard's shot. I swung the bow, hitting him in the head, knocking him out. I pulled the arrows from the other guards and made my way to the stairs.

Once on deck, all I could see was the black ocean and storm clouds. The ship wasn't docked at a port, and the lifeboats were surrounded by officers. Then, a hand grabbed my shoulder. I quickly turned, readying my bow, but it was just Penelope.

"Shhh." she said, with her finger over my mouth. "Follow me."

She led me to a lifeboat that was already prepped to descend.

"Get in." she said.

"T... tha.." the words couldn't come out. I hadn't spoken in so long. The once trivial task was now the hardest. "Thank-"

"Don't worry about it." she said, "Come on, before they find us."

We both got into the boat and it began to descend. Then, it stopped. We looked up and the guards were bringing the vessel back.

"Shit." Penelope said. She grabbed a gun and started firing.

"Yuseff!" she called, "That lever behind you is the emergency release." I nodded and reached for the lever. Once I pulled it, the ropes snapped. The boat fell into the water. The impact knocked me overboard. The murky black water started to fill my lungs and my vision went black.

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Suddenly, a light shone from above. I swam up, thinking to find Penelope, but instead, I was greeted by a cat. Just a regular, tan desert cat. I looked around and could see I was in a small pond.

"What's going on?" I asked. The cat tilted its head and stared at me. Then, a jackal with a chameleon on its back walked over. I watched as the chameleon climbed down and stepped over to the pond. They all began to drink from it.

"None of this makes sense." I said, "What am I seeing? What's going on? Is this another vision?"

The cat looked back up to me, staring me in the eyes.

Come seek me. A woman's voice called.

She knows where.

The jackal rose its head from the water.

Hurry, they're coming.

I turned and could see crocodiles swimming towards me in the water. I tried to make my way to land, but couldn't move. As the predators approached, the world began to fade. I woke to Penelope pulling the dinghy onto a beach.

"You're awake!" she exclaimed, "Finally. I was hoping you weren't comatose."

"Wha-what happened?" I managed.

"You fell into the water." she explained, "We got lucky with that storm. Washed us away from the ship. We made it to the island before they did."

I rose and saw the sands of the beach. I leapt from the boat and dug my feet into it. It was still night and the beach was empty. I looked at my right arm and saw the bow tattooed there. I fell to my knees and began feeling the sand between my fingertips.

How long was I there?

I couldn't believe I was finally free. It felt like an eternity in hell. I was hacked away at, over and over again. I tried so hard to break free but couldn't. I prayed that someone, anyone would find me. I had given up all hope. But now... now here I was, on a beach. Tears ran from my eyes as I screamed at the top of my lungs.

"AAAAAHHHHH!"