The Jackals of Sakhmet II- Finding Lee: Part Six

"There it is," Niger snickered, leaning over the side of the ship. Krawk Island was just a few yards away. Niger could see another ship anchored on the shore, the ship of Kasha… This filled him with nothing but glee.

      "Now what to do with you," he added darkly, turning to Cole. Cole glared right back, but said nothing. What could he do? It was almost the end of the line for him and the others… A sharp jolt shook the boat, letting all know that they had arrived at the island's shore. Niger's men immediately began to rush off the ship, a few staying behind to drag the captain and the others out from the lower deck. As the others were forced off the ship, one of the Cybunnies approached Niger, holding his dagger…the poison tipped one…

      "This was taken from the Chia," the Cybunny said, handing it to Niger. Niger smirked, glancing down at Cole and said, "Thank you… I think you've solved my problem…"

      Cole's heart was beating unusually fast at that moment. Just exactly did Niger have in mind with that dagger? Niger's words from a little while ago replayed in his mind: All I have to do is cut you with this and you'll be on the floor within a matter of minutes… Cole dared not even blink as Niger knelt down beside him, the dagger held tightly in his paw.

      "I could do it now," Niger whispered in his ear. "But that would just be too easy on you… So I'll do it after we make your friends mind slaves… Like the sound of that?"

      Niger let out a cold laugh and took Cole by the collar of his robe, dragging him off the ship. The others were all in a straight line along the shore, paws tied up. It appeared that Niger just wanted just the few he knew to come: Scarab, Lycos, Keera, Wain, and… Hold on a minute… Omar was missing… As if reading Cole's mind, one of the Cybunnies rushed over to Niger with an anxious expression on his face and said, "The Cybunny is missing," to Niger.

      "What do you mean he's missing!?" Niger shouted. "He can't be, he was knocked out when I last saw him!"

      "He's not there, sir," was all the Cybunny answered before running off. Omar, missing? How could this be? It wasn't possible, was it? Frustrated, Niger pushed Cole off to the side along with the others and headed for the other side of the shore, where crew members from Kasha's ship were unloading cargo.

      "Did you guys see where Omar went?" Cole asked the others, hoping this was some sort of elaborate plan to escape. Everyone shook their heads.

      "One minute I'm sitting next to him, the next I'm sitting next to thin air," Lycos whispered frantically. "He wasn't even tied up!"

      "Where is he, then?" Cole asked once more. This time, Lycos let out a small scream, for someone had touched her.

      "Shh!" ordered a small voice from behind her.

      "Omar," Lycos asked uncertainly. "Is that you?"

      "What part of shh don't you understand?" he said sarcastically, continuing to untie the ropes binding her paws. When he was done with hers, he moved on the Scarab's and everyone else's.

      "Omar, you're okay?" Cole whispered in disbelief. "But I saw you…"

      "I know what you saw," Omar cut in. "It's a long story, and we don't have time to talk about it here. Let's go!"

      Without a sound, the six of them snuck off along a hidden path leading from the beach…

     * * *

In Front of the Cave-

      Lee struggled with all her might to break free, but nothing worked. It was becoming darker by the minute; this worried Lee. Kasha had said something about wild Lupes… There was a sudden noise coming from the path. It sounded like footsteps…at least a dozen footsteps… Lee held her breath, dreading what would emerge from the path--which turned out to be a few very familiar faces.

      "Oh my goodness," Lee exclaimed happily to the six pets approaching her. "You guys came! All of you are here; Scarab, Lycos, Omar, Cole…and you two I don't know," Lee added to Keera and Wain as Lycos knelt to untie her.

      "You must be Lee." Keera smiled. "I'm Cap'n Keera and this is Wain, our navigator…"

      She pointed to Wain who bowed his head.

      "Lee, where's Kasha?" Scarab asked, helping her to her feet.

      "She went in the cave already… Why didn't you tell us this was where you hid your Rubite?"

      Everyone stared at him in surprise, even Lycos. Perhaps she didn't know that bit of information either. (Wain and Keera, of course, had no idea what Rubite was, so were utterly confused…)

      "Oh really," asked a cold voice from behind. "This is where you hide your stash?"

      Everyone turned to see Niger clutching his dagger. He wore a look of triumph, for he now knew what lay in the caves.

      "Niger," said Scarab. "We don't have time for this! You do realize that if Kasha gets to the Rubite, then she'll take over your mind as well? She has you all blinded with the concept of power! She promises you all these things, but look what she did to Lycos and me! She shut me up in a tomb and chained her own sister in an alley!"

      But Niger only laughed his cold laugh once more and replied, "Lies… What you say are nothing but lies to make me have second thoughts. I know what I want; my mind's made up…"

      Niger walked up to Scarab, staring directly in his face. (This seemed rather unusual, for Scarab was so very much taller then him…)

      "And right now," Niger whispered coolly. "I want you to stay out here, seeing as you're the only one of us who knows these caves…"

      "What makes you think I'll listen to you?" Scarab asked, watching Niger's dagger out of the corner of his eye, yet wearing a bold expression.

      "If you don't," said Niger slowly, watching Scarab carefully. Without warning he snatched Cole by the arm and pointed the dagger to his chest, and said, "If you don't stay out here, then the boy goes… It's your choice."

      Choice… How long ago was it that Cole was in the Palace tower, talking to Princess Amira about making choices? Whether you liked it or not… Scarab stared solemnly at Cole for a long moment.

      "I stay out here," he said finally in a small voice. "But if you so much as hurt a hair on him…"

      "Relax," Niger smirked, pushing Cole forward into the cave. "All I need is the Wocky, the Ixi, and the Cybunny."

      Giving Lee and Omar a small nod, Scarab said, "Alright, but if you touch any of them, I promise you, it won't be pretty…"

      Smirking, Niger led the three inside the dark, dank cave, still clutching Cole by the arm with the dagger at the ready…

     * * *

The Rubite Mines-

      Seeing as Kasha was the first one in the cave, she was farther ahead of everyone else. The fact that Kasha was the only one besides Scarab who had already been in the caves and knew exactly where to go and what to do was just a bonus… She let out a squeal of glee as she and the two Cybunnies that followed entered the Rubite mine. It was beautiful! It looked just like a gold mine, only the gold looked like rubies and could control the neopet mind…

      "Start loading those sacks," Kasha ordered the two, pointing to a couple of abandoned sacks. "I don't need thousands, though. Just two sacks will do…"

      The two obeyed as Kasha took a long look around. All she needed was to create more Rubite (for you see, with the proper, scientific methods, one could do so), and some way to ship Rubite all over Neopia. Pets would mistake them for beautiful ruby jewelry, and when they discovered what they really were, Kasha would have total control…

      "Yes, that's right," Kasha muttered to her. "There's nowhere to run, and there's nowhere to hide… Everything will soon be mine…"

      She let out a low chuckle and added, "And this time, there will be no mess ups…"

     * * *

Cave Entrance-

      "Keep moving," Niger spat at Lee and Omar who were slowly walking in from of him and Cole. They dared not disobey, for the safety of their friend. The four walked on in the dark, dank cave for some time. It reminded Cole of the alley he had once entered. He always dreaded alleys from that day forward, but now he dreaded caves even more… After a period of what seemed like ten to twenty minutes, the four came up to a large opening leading into a much larger, clearer, and lighter cave. When I say larger, dear reader, I mean that its ceiling was about one-hundred, I repeat, one-hundred feet in the air.

      I bet you're wondering, what on Neopia is Scarab doing with a one-hundred foot high cave on Krawk Island? You see, there were several, large, doorway-like openings on every level in the rock; some doorways led to a completely different tunnel, and some were just doorways that led to a smaller tunnel. Every doorway had a barred door over them, some opened and some closed. Rocks were set here and there where the four stood, along with several buttons in the ground… (The scenery seemed a bit like the Faerie Caves…)

      Reader, Cole, Omar, Lee, and Niger might not have known it, but one of the doorways led to the tunnel they were supposed to go down next, the one Kasha had left down. The problem was, they did not know which tunnel was the right one. And so, dear reader, the real fun begins…

To be continued...