The Princess and the Crook:Part Five

     I was shaking like a leaf as I took shelter in an alveolus at the bottom of the pyramid. Since Eyrieki hadn’t noticed me yet, I decided to take a nap before provoking him. In my current state it would have been madness to fight anyone, let alone one of the most dangerous creatures of Neopia…

      I was woken up in the middle of the night by a small petpet caressing my cheek. I opened my eyes in total chock. How could a petpet survive alone in the desert? I looked around me and finally found him. I couldn't believe my eyes… A pirate Carmariller? It couldn’t be…?

      I jumped on my feet and drew my dagger, ready to fight. I didn’t have the time to make one step that someone behind me put his paw on my mouth and his arm around me, keeping me from talking or running away. I struggled, bit his paw, kicked his legs, but he wouldn’t move.

      « Please don’t scream! If he finds us we are dead! I know you probably don’t want to see me now, but you will have plenty of time to hate me later, so calm down okay? »

      I stopped moving and Hunego finally released me from his grip. His blue eyes were as pretty as always, it was such a frustrating sight. So I punched him in the face once again.

      « Well, I kind of deserved this one, didn’t I? » He was smirking as usual, but he looked kind of uneasy.

      « You deceived me. You betrayed me. What do you want from me now? » I wanted to be strong. To act like a tough warrior. But I wasn’t this cool. I was unable to prevent the tears from wetting my cheeks and I hated that part of me.

      He took a step in my direction as to comfort me. « DON’T. Don’t come closer. » I rose my dagger in front of me, ready to defend myself.

      « I don’t expect you to forgive me, but won’t you at least listen to my story? »

      I was still wary of him, but after all it was too dark to fight Eyrieki, so I didn’t have anything better to do than to listen to him. Moreover I knew that somewhere deep inside, a part of me still wanted to forgive him. I nodded quietly.

      « It might be a bit long, you should sit down. » Himself sat beside me, keeping the distance I required between us. He handed me some water and food that I couldn’t refuse considering the state I was currently in. His gaze was lost far in the horizon as he started telling his story.

      « It is said that everybody should be equal, but some of us aren’t as lucky as the others. You can’t chose your place of birth, you can’t choose your family, you can’t chose your flaws. From the moment I was born, those three things failed me. I was born on Krawk Island, where being a pirate is the standard. My parents were not an exception, but they must have been quite bad at piracy since as far as I can remember they have always been poor. My mother gave birth to two sons. But while my brother was fated to a bright future, me, one the other hand, was born incomplete. You must be wondering what a pirate can possibly do with a blind son? »

      I didn’t answer, and after a few second he carried on.

      « For my parents the answer was easy… they left me all alone on a deserted beach, near the smugglers cove, and I never saw them again.

      « A pirate found me there and made me join his crew as a cabin boy. I did the chores aboard the ship and played a minor roles in some missions. As I became older, they trusted me more and more and I gained importance in the crew. I even became the quartermaster of the ship. I didn’t have anything to lose, and those pirates were what was the closest thing I had to a family.

      « Pirates will be pirates, so when we discovered the existence of a type of crystal, more valuable than gold and stronger than diamonds, that would allow us to create nearly unbreakable weapons, we decided to put all of our efforts in finding this material. Your sister was sighted on Mystery Island with a fragment around her neck. So I was sent on a mission to acquire it, and that’s when I met you. At first yes, I saved you because I didn’t find any reason not to do it. Then I accompanied you out of boredom, and trust me that was the best decision I had made in my whole life.

      « Seeing how desperate you were to save your sister, I became jealous. As I told you, I don’t have a family. If one day a pirate decided to stab me, who would notice? No-one. But you were different than the others, you didn’t treat me as an infirm, not once did you made me feel bad about my condition. That’s why when you gave me those glasses, it challenged everything I knew up till then. Somebody was caring about my well being. Somebody took some of their time to make my life better. I wanted our journey to last forever, and at the same time I felt my guilt growing stronger each day.

      « I left the crew yesterday, I couldn’t live this way anymore. You opened my eyes, Princess. I will defeat Eyrieki. Fighting is the only thing I’m good at anyway… And if I remember well it is not one of your good points. » He gave me a quick glance with a mischievous smile. « I’ll help you defeat him to thank you for everything you’ve done and then I promise you to disappear from your sight. »

      We kept silent for a few minutes.

      « Here is your sister’s necklace, I took it back before leaving. » He handed me the small package and I gladly accepted it.

      The silence became heavy. « Thanks… » I took a deep breath to prevent my voice from shaking « But I still can’t forgive you right now. »

      « Well I didn’t expect you to anyway… » He smirked.

      « Still… I can agree to call a truce. » I was wary of him but I knew he was right, I couldn’t defeat Eyrieki without him… And I was sick of being all alone.

      His face brightened « Your wish is my command, Princess ! »

      We shook hands and began designing a plan before taking our last nap.

      ***

      We woke up with the rising sun. It had been already 9 days since we first met, I only had five days left to save my sister, and I felt oddly relaxed for somebody who was about to challenge the infamous Eyrieki…

      « Did you sleep well, Princess? » a strange smell was coming from Hugo’s cooking. « Grilled scarabs, that’s all I found, I’m sorry… »

      « It can’t be worse than the sand I’ve been eating for three days now » I chuckled.

      We took our breakfast in an awkward atmosphere. After everything that happened, we didn’t have much to talk about. But our meal was soon interrupted by Eyrieki’s deafening scream. « SSSKREEEEEE !! »

      « I guess it’s time to go… Just you wait Eyrieki! We’re coming to give you a beating you’ll remember for the years to come! »

      ***

      Finding Eyrieki in the pyramids was easier than we thought. The Eyrie wasn’t really trying to be silent so we met him in no time. He was in the last floor, standing up near a huge pile of stolen treasures.

           I saw it right away. It was hung on his belt, with its blue and pink ribbon. « The mystical bag of sand… » I whispered

      « Yeah, I saw it too… Ready to charge? » I nodded and the battle started.

      Everything happened very quickly. Hugo drawing his sword, Eyrieki screaming in surprise before drawing his scimitar. Hugo was supposed to distract him while my role was to steal the bag of sand. The plan was simple, but harder to perform than what we thought.

      I tried sneaking behind his back but he was really fast. He turned over to stab me. Hugo managed to strike a powerful blow on his shoulder.

      « I’m the one you are fighting Eyrieki, stop losing your focus! »

      « SKKKKRREEEEE !!! »

      They went on fighting, blow for blow, and I made it closer to them. That’s when the plan failed. Eyrieki kicked Hugo with such strength that he was projected to the wall. Our enemy promptly turned around. It gave enough time for Ace, the pirate Carmariller, to take the bag of sand from the belt and to fly a few feet away. I for my part, wasn’t as fast as him. I tried to block his blow as I could, stuck in a corner, my dagger in front of me. But I wasn’t a good fighter. His weapon stuck in my side stung harder than any pain I’d felt before.

      I saw the walls of the pyramid cracking around where Hugo and I had been thrown by Eyrieki. The last thing I saw before losing consciousness was Hugo shouting my name and huge pieces of the ceiling falling around us.

      To be continued…