Chapter 15: The Kasai Army

We all stood there, staring in disbelief. I couldn't believe Chiri betrayed us. I feared that she and those men were going to do something awful on Shizin. What should we do? Is Daichi even in trouble or was that a lie? Mari's voice snapped me out of my reverie.

"If I ever see that punk again, I'll kick her *** (butt)!" she shouted angrily.

"Stop! There must be a good reason for why she did this. She would never betray us. I trust her and you should too. Since we can't go anywhere, why don't we try and learn more about this planet and the invaders," I said, trying to take charge.

"I agree with Hana. Waiting for Chiri to come back is not an option. For all we know, she might never come back," Yuri said, siding with me.

"But, where do we start? We don't know anything about Daichi," Kosai muttered.

"I know something about this planet that I didn't share before since it didn't seem that important. Chiri told me that she and her people live underground because it's so hot on the surface. I just don't know how we're going to get underground," I replied, trying to figure out how to find an entrance to the underground.

"I'm sure we can find an entrance if we all look around in different areas. I'm positive that the people of Daichi would have more than one entrance to their tunnels. Spread out and start looking," Touwa instructed, taking charge.

Everyone went in different directions and started digging through the sand. Every time I touched the golden sand, my hands felt like they were burning. No wonder the Daichians (Daichiites?) lived underground. Finally, after what seemed like hours of digging, I found a stairway hidden beneath the sand.

"Hey, guys! I found some stairs!" I called to the others.

They all hurried over to me and looked at my discovery.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go already!" Mari exclaimed as she started down the stairs.

We followed her into the darkness. Thankfully, it wasn't dark long. The stairs led us to a well-lit tunnel. Mari started walking left so we followed, hoping we would run into somebody. After what seemed like forever, we came across a wide-open space. The space was filled with sandstone buildings of all different shapes and sizes. In the narrow streets between the buildings, we saw people walking and talking and whatever else people do in a town. Every person we saw was very pale and very thin. We walked down toward the center of the town As we walked, we tried to ask people about the invaders. However, every time we mentioned invaders, the people ran away, extremely frightened. When we made it to the town square, I saw something that made me do a double-take. There were guards surrounding the square. However, these guards did not look human. They were reptilian creatures that stood on two legs and wore armor. As we walked closer, I heard one of them speak to a villager carrying a basket of food.

"What do you want with Kassssai?" the reptile rasped.

"I-I have the f-food he r-requested!" the villager shrieked nervously.

"Very well. You may sssssee him," the reptile replied as it moved aside and let the villager through.

Before I could react, someone dragged me away. I looked up to see a buff man. He and his comrades were dragging us away from the square.

"What are you doing?!" I asked indignantly.

"Shh. Don't shout. We don't want them to hear us," the man whispered, looking back at the reptilian guards nervously.

The urgency of his voice made me stop talking. If somebody strong looking like him was scared of those creatures, then I probably should be too.

The men took us to a small building down the street. Once we were all in, they closed the door and looked at us curiously.

"What's the big idea?! Just because I'm a girl, it doesn't mean I can't kick your *** (butt)!" Mari shouted, getting to her feet.

"I am sorry for how we treated you, but we mean no harm. You are not from here, yes?" one of the men said sincerely.

"Yeah, that's right! What's it to ya?"

"Allow us to explain the situation. Maybe then, you'll understand why we dragged you away."

"Tch. Fine. Whatever," Mari huffed as she sat back down.

"You saw those awful reptilian creatures, yes?"

We all nodded solemnly.

"Those creatures have invaded our home. At first, they destroyed our tunnels by flooding them with lava. We tried to negotiate, but those failed as those wretched creatures wanted to take everything from us. Eventually, we finally managed to convince them to let us live. However, in return for sparing us, we have to give them and their king most of our food supply daily. Many of us are starving as a result."

"That's awful!" I gasped, unable to comprehend something so evil.

"Yes, but we have no other choice. We are not strong enough to fight them on our own. We are not fighters. All we want is to live a quiet and peaceful life, here under the harsh surface of Daichi," the man said wistfully. "Anyways, why have you come to this planet? I'm afraid we don't have much to offer for trade."

"We're here to free you from your oppressors," I said, looking to the others for encouragement.

The men looked at us in disbelief. Finally, one of them spoke.

"That's impossible! What can you do against them?" he exclaimed, disbelieving.

"We've had our own share of trouble. We can handle ourselves, right girls?" I asked, once again looking at my friends and comrades.

"Yeah! Let me at those scaly ******** (illegitimate children)!" Mari shouted, raring to go.

The men looked at each other nervously.

"I must tell you more about the enemy you're going to face before you go off and pick a fight. You should know that these reptiles are no ordinary reptiles. They are dragons. Second of all, those guards call themselves the Kasai Army as their king is named Kasai. I wish I could tell you more, but I do not know any more than that. Are you sure you still want to fight them?"

"Absolutely! These girls know what it's like to be taken over by an evil force. We're going to do this for Chiri and all of Daichi!" I proclaimed confidently.