Chapter 2: A Call for help

As the bandits keeps closing in, all of them are keeping a distanced from them while they felt unease. The bandits halt from their position as the leader in the center stepped forward. The old man with his grandson are staying in the back together with the other families and children. As the leader was about to sprout a words, a woman interrupted.

"WHERE IS MY HUSBAND?" her voice cracked like a lightning as her eyes is blazing with fury and rage. Her eyes is narrowed and fixed on the man in the middle.

"Ah! You mean those bunch of mens whose trying their hard to protect the village with just a mere axe? I killed them." a wicked grinned was formed onto the leader's lips in a menace tone. Afterwards, all of them just started laughing.

"Such a pity village~" the leader added in a mocking expression wherein he stick his tongue out while laughing at them. A phrase that is enough to provoked everyone's temper. The woman can't control her emotion that made her snapped and started throwing thantrum.

"YOU SICK BASTARD!!!" her voiced cracked, tumbling out in a torrent of rage and her tone is a mixture of anger towards the man who killed his husband and the others that causes a commotion between her and him.

The leader feel irritated after hearing those words. His expression changed suddenly as if he didn't like the tone of the woman. A vein bulged in the leader's forehead, pulsating with a rhythmic of intensity that seemed to match the pounding rage of his heart. His lips curled back, revealing a clenched teeth, and his nostrils flared, as if he was snorting in fury. His previous face of mocking, began to twist and contort, turning into a mask of anger. He pointed his hand to the woman and was about to punished her by throwing a flame when a kid interrupted him again but this time, it was trying to protect the woman by standing infront of her with her arms wide open.

"DON''T HURT MY MOTHER!!!". The girl shouted which made the leader ceased on what he was about to do. The flame on his hand reverted back inside his hand when his emotion relaxed for a moment because of the sudden interruption.

The boy heared the shout and immediately recognized that it was one of his play mate voices. At the same time, the old man also heared it and was bewildered on what was going on to the front. The view of the front can't be seen from the back since it's pretty crowded as they are being cornered in one place. He noticed that his grandson was about to run that's when he grabbed his arm quickly to stopped him before he could asked.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING!?" the old man thundered as his voice is shaking with a mix of confusion.

"THAT VOICE JUST NOW! IT'S HINATAH" he exclaimed. Hinatah is one of the kids of the village and his playmate.

"WE NEED TO HELP THEM!" he even added while his voice is trembling with urgency as each word tumbling out in a frantic rush. His face distorted in a mixture of desperation while his eyes is pleading with his grandfather.

"Hinatah?" his grandfather was shocked to hear this and confused at the same time. He barely recognized the voice just now, as a result of aging while he began thinking of what's really going on.

He deliberated his grandson's thought of helping them, weighing the option that their enemy have a power while they have non but only an axe that is used to cut woods. His grandson once again struggled to free himself however the old man tighten his grip.

"You can't! Our enemy is so strong. We are nothing but a helpless villager" the old man tried his best to explained their current situation to the boy. "This is the reality, even if we help them we just ended up being killed by their hands." he added.

After hearing those words, the boy's face twisted into frustration. A tears began to poured down to his cheeks from his eyes, uncontrollably. He understand his grandfather words which stands their current situation and was silence for a moment. In that silence, he started to brainstorming of any other possible way to help his playmate, however no one came out. Maybe because of the tight situation they are in and a lack of weapon, even if they fight them with axe, they are the only men in the remaining village, mostly are female and kids. At that moment, a feeling of hopeless sinks in to his heart. He feel empty that time and their only choices is to surrender if they wish to live a little longer.

His brain told him to give up already but his heart says never. He had a strong guts that there is still a way to fight against those bandits if they try. His old man may think that they are weak against those, however his way of thinking is far more different, instead he still insist in saving her playmate.

Out of nowhere, a couple of words utter from the boy's mouth. He answered his old man in a cold and serious tone. "We never know unless we try."

The old man was shocked to heared his grandson's answered but when he looked at his face, he saw his eyes full of determination and desperation to save Hinatah. In a sudden, the boy had a strength to finally break free from his grandfather's tight grip and sprints towards of where the voice came from.

"OI! WHERE ARE YOU GOING—!!!" he called for him but the boy never listened so he decided to chased him down despite being an old man.

(MEANWHILE)

The leader was stunned to watched the girl defending her mother with her small body. He was astonished by the girl's bravery and willingly to risk her own life just to protect her mother. He even give her words of flattery.

"Oh such a brave girl."

Unexpectedly, a single-rough hand clamped down the girl's neck and lifted her off the ground in just a split of seconds in which she caught off guard. The girl was taken a surprised that out of a sudden, she is already in someone's hand and can't feel the earth surface beneath her feet.

As she came to her senses, she started to struggled. "ACKKKKKKKKKKK!!!"

Her eyes widened in terror, mix with fear and her voice is muffled by the tightness gripped of the hand which causing her unable to scream for help. Her mother saw that it was the leader on doing. His eyes were locked in to the girl and a small number of veins is visible, showing how tight his gripped is.

"HINATAH!" the woman screamed for the girl's name.

Even in the amidst of dread, it doesn't stopped her to help her own daughter from struggling. When she was about to dash towards the leader, two bandits delayed her from moving onwards.

"LET GO OF ME BASTARD!" the woman said it in a fierce tone. Her face is twisted in a full of rage and fury while she's trying to break free herself from the hands of the bandits.

However, One of them, seized her arm and rotated behind her back while the other shoved her onward, forcing her to kneel down. She can feel the pain of her knees as it hits the ground. As the woman understood that struggling seems to be hopeless, she looked to her daughter, that's when she saw her terrified face and eyes widened with fear while struggling also to break free from the leader's gripped.

The leader started to asked the girl some question which help her to understand why he grabbed her neck out of the sudden. "What made you think you can protect your mother with your puny little body?"

The girl heared his question but due to the tightness of the gripped, she can't respond and only a voice of struggling came out from her mouth.

A loud shout interfered the conversation between them. It was her mother who was begging for mercy. "Please spear my daughter, instead take mine. I beg you!"

Tears began to streamed down to her face as she felt a groan rising up from her chest. A wave of despair washed over her mind as she was trapped and being grasped by the two bandits which unable her to save her daughter. The leader heared the woman's pled but in contrary, he decided to ignored it and pretend that he never heared those words. Instead his planning to end this girl's little life. The mother noticed that the leader disregarded her implore which her heart fall into a bottomless of hopeless and all she can do is shouting and crying. With no other option, the woman insisted asking the other villagers to help her daughter and find another way to escape. They can leave her behind to avoid hindrance, but when she turned her head to them, her eyes witnessed that even the people are afraid to risk their life to save her daughter nor escaped. They can't even move a muscle or take a step from their position. They also felt the same emotion as she did, the mix of fear, despair and terror. Seems like asking for help is futile in their current situation.