Chapter 10: Demon Dance

The night was surprisingly silent. Moana and Tyler both seemed to have fallen asleep quite quickly. For the first time in what seemed to be forever, they both were able to get some quality rest. Which was a blessing, because they certainly needed it. After such a streak of strenuous days, and certainly more to come, they needed all of the rest they could get.

However, the silence of night did not stop the living from roaming the dense, lush forests at night. Many things were hidden in the forest that surrounded them, things that they most likely wouldn't expect.

All of a sudden, the sound of a snapping twig entered the ears of Tyler. He shot up from his slumber, and took a look around. It was seemingly the middle of the night, and the moon was shining bright. The fire they had made earlier was almost out completely, but a few embers still radiated. However, this illumination did not give enough light for Tyler to completely scan his surroundings. After concluding it was most likely an animal scurrying around, he went back to sleep. But Tyler was wrong. The sound he heard was not made by a squirrel, or any other small animal. Many hidden eyes watched him carefully as he woke up, and silently waited for him to go back to sleep. Once he did, these eyes begun to approach closer to the two. They silently snuck over to their camp, and ambushed them. They ran in, and put bags seeming to be made out of coconut skins, over the two's head. As they did this, Tyler and Moana woke up with a great sense of urgency. They struggled to fight back against their enemies, but their attempts ended in vain. The attackers tied the bags around them, and both of them were picked up. Moana kicked and flailed around to try to get loose of the grip she was in, but was unsuccessful.

Tyler, worried, nervously asked, "Who are you?"

All he got as an answer back were a few grunts, nothing else.

"Thanks, that helps a lot." He said sarcastically.

Moana, on the other hand, was still trying to break free, with occasionally yelling, "Let me go!" but to no avail.

So, the two were forced to wait and see where their captors would take them. Both of them were hoping that these people would understand their situation when they told them about it, but they had their doubts. They didn't even know if they could understand their language. Because so far, their entire vocabulary consisted of grunts and screeches.

Eventually, the two felt their captors slow their pace down, and assumed that they were at the destination. They began to hear a faint sound in the distance, which seemed to sound like people yelling, but it was still too far off to know for sure. As they got closer, it seemed as if the sound really was people yelling. The yells got louder and louder, until it sounded like they were being surrounded by it. The captors finally let them touch the ground again, and their coconut skin bags were taken off of their heads.

When they looked around, they couldn't believe what they were seeing. They were in what looked like an arena, made of wood and some stone. The walls were very detailed, and were decorated with what Tyler believed to be figures of a specific mythology. They looked similar, but he couldn't figure out where it was from. Funny enough, Moana also noticed that there was a caricature of Maui on the wall too, but it looked nothing like him. The center of the arena, where the two were, was surrounded by a small wall, which held places for spectators to stand and watch. Whoever these guys were, their architecture was brilliant.

"So, I'm assuming that this must be the native tribe of this Island?" Tyler asked while turning towards Moana.

"I wouldn't doubt it. And by the looks of it, they look pretty advanced compared to my village." She responded.

Tyler was about to ask another question, but that thought was pushed to the back of his head when they noticed someone walking towards them. The saw it to be a woman. She seemed like she was a warrior, as she had the tattoos to prove it, and the way she was dressed seemed to prove that as well. The two then heard a voice behind them, and they turned around. Above them, was a man, standing on a wooden platform not much higher than where the stood.

"Well, well, well, look everybody, fresh meat!" The man cheered, followed in response by cheers from the people watching. He was dressed elegantly, clothes that Moana had never seen before.

"Hello there, children, I am Octavius Barbatius, ruler of the Island of Maris." He said, followed by the applause of the crowd.

"My men noticed you two wandering around in our territory, and might I ask, what are you two little demons doing on my island?" He asked sharply.

Both of them didn't know what to say, so they remained quiet.

"Excuse me, it is quite rude to ignore questions that are asked, especially in a place that you are trespassing in. So, I'll ask again nicely, what are you doing here, and what are you names?"

Tyler finally seemed to work up the courage to answer, but he was already beat to it by Moana.

"I am Moana, and this is Kileki, and we aren't here for any harm. We were shipwrecked here after our boat was destroyed." She answered.

Tyler looked at Octavius, but he noticed something. This man didn't look like an Islander at all. In fact, the way he looked, talked, and the arena all gave him a clear answer. These guys weren't Islanders at all, they were Romans.

"Wait a second, you guys aren't Islanders! You're Romans! Where are the islanders?" Tyler yelled out of nowhere, realizing what might have happened.

"Smart boy, what gave it away? The arena? The clothes? The Gods portrayed on the walls? Yes indeed, we are from Rome. And the Islanders, well, let's just say that they didn't exactly give us the welcome we intended, so we conquered them, and they are our slaves now." Octavius answered proudly.

"What!? You enslaved the people of this island? Who do you think you are?" Moana yelled out towards him.

"Um, Moana, these aren't the best people to get angry…" Tyler murmured to her.

She didn't listen, and continued,

"What makes you think you can do something like that? You can't just take what is rightfully theirs! You pathetic thieves, go back home, because no one wants you here!" She continued.

"Moana, please, these guys will have no problem killing the both of us, in the most gruesome ways possible." Tyler tried to communicate, but failed.

"You may think you are mighty, but all you really are, are weak pathetic scum!" She finished, angrily.

The arena went quiet for a few seconds, until Octavius finally broke the silence.

"You know, girl, your friend is right, we are Romans, and we don't let others get away from defaming our notoriety. I was going to let you leave, peacefully, but now, I have a better idea…" He looks at the crowd, "Ladies and Gentlemen, here are today's fighters for the Arena today! It looks as if we will be able to see some blood spilled today, I can't wait!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, followed by a wave of cheers coming from the crowd.

Tyler felt his entire body go numb, because he just realized that he was about to be killed in a gladiator fight. He looked at Moana, who seemed to be regretting what she just had said, and she also seemed that she had accepted fate as well.

But then, Moana remembered that stones that the two had, that could potentially save their lives.

"Kileki! The stones!" She said with excitement, as she still had hers, and held it out.

A wave of relief was sent over Tyler, as he felt his stone in his pocket as well.

"Well, maybe we will survive now!" He joked.

The two turned around, and Octavius stood up.

"Everyone, I would like you to get ready for the first matchup of today, as we will have the new young lady, face off against our most ferocious female warrior, Lucretia! As you already know, Lucretia is the only woman to have ever fought in an army with us, and know we get to see what she can do. Oh, and one last thing, miss, your friend over there cannot fight with you, so you're on your own, good luck!" He finished.

Tyler felt a man grab his arm, and he tried to fight back, but failed.

"No! Let go!" He stammered, as he struggled to break the grasp of the man. Tyler looked at Moana, and she glanced over to him for a few seconds, until the torch was lit, and the battle begun.

The female warrior Lucretia drew out a sword, a tool that Moana had never seen before. It looked very sharp, and she knew that one swipe of it could end her life. Lucretia charged towards Moana, with her sword pointed and slashed at her. Moana was able to dodge out of the way, but she realized that she had to defend herself. She took out the stone, and the first thing she thought of was her oar, and it appeared in her hand, with the magic glow around it from the stone. Moana went to strike back, but as she attempted this, Lucretia swiped at the oar, and broke it. It disappeared, and the stone was back in her hands. Moana looked up, and saw the foot of the warrior strike her torso, knocking her over. She walked over to Moana, and pointed her sword at her neck.

Tyler couldn't take watching this any longer, and he took his stone out and teleported out of the man's grasp. He knew he needed something to attack with, and he remembered his baseball bat back home, that he loved to use while playing the sport. It appeared in his hands, and he began to run towards Lucretia. As she readied her finishing blow on Moana, she was knocked over by the swing from Tyler. He rushed over to help Moana up, but was met the by the fist of Lucretia instead, as she had recovered from his earlier blow. She had left her sword on the floor, and was gladly ready to beat the life out of the boy that had just hit him. She promptly landed a few punches to his chest and torso, and then kicked him right in the face, sending Tyler to the floor. She then picked up her sword again, and was ready to finish Tyler off, until there was a flash of light. The next thing everyone knew, Lucretia was stuck in a hole she made in the wall, and was almost certainly defeated. Tyler looked at Moana, who had just gotten on her feet, but she was staring in shock. Tyler looked up, and saw Maui, who had just dive-bombed from the sky to defeat Lucretia. He looked at the hole, and winced.

"Oh man, I promised myself that I wouldn't try to fight girls anymore." He said, and then looked at Tyler, and continued, "Oh well!" He helped him up, and looked up at Octavius,

"Sorry your highness about the hole in the wall, but we gotta go." Maui said.

Octavious looked furious, as his best warrior had been defeated, and now his Arena was damaged.

"Kill them!" He yelled.

The gates around the three opened up, and an onslaught of guards began to run out.

"Don't worry guys, I'll take care of this, just run!" Maui commanded, as he went to go fight the soldiers.

"We can't just leave him!" Tyler yelled over the noise.

"Trust him, we need to go!" Moana replied back, and they began to run towards the open gate.

But this did not come easy, as they got surrounded by guards, who were closing in on them.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of this." Moana said, as she held her stone out. Out of her hand, a beam of energy burst out, and it took out the guards blocking the exit.

She looked at Tyler, and said, "Told ya." Followed by a wink.

As they began to run away, Tyler blushed, since she winked at him.

The two realized the forest was filled with Night Marchers, and stopped.

"How are we going to get through with those demons in there?" Tyler asked.

Moana looked at him, and said, "We run, fast."

Having no time to respond, they linked their hands to make sure they stayed together in the forest, and sprinted as fast as they could away from the Roman Arena.

As they ran, they heard the moans of the Night Marches get closer. They looked straight ahead, but saw that they were up ahead, and had spotted them.

"Let's go right! Hurry!" Moana commanded, and they turned right and kept running. The moans got louder and louder, as they kept running. The two began to see the shoreline in the distance, and were nearing the end of the forest.

"Hey! I can see th-." Tyler was cut off by tripping over a branch, and falling. He tried to get up, with Moana's help, but felt something grab his leg.

"Kileki! No!" Moana yelled.

"Get out of the forest! I'll be fine!" He yelled.

As he got dragged deeper into the forest, he took out his stone yet again. This time, he planned on blinding the monster with the light from his stone. So, he closed his eyes, and he focused. The next thing he knew, there was a blinding light, and he felt the grip on his leg loosen. Tyler got up and sprinted for his life, with the spirit not far behind. He saw Moana at the edge between the shore and the forest, and yelled her name. She saw him, but she also the spirit closing in on him. Tyler leaped out for the hand she had held out, and he was able to catch it. He fell onto the sand, and out of the forest.

"Yes!" Moana yelled, as Tyler took a deep breath. They looked at each other, and gave each other a hug.

They both started giggling at each other after that, until they heard Maui's signature yell overhead. They looked up, and saw him flying down right towards them. But, he didn't land, but picked them up.

"Hello, you two. I have a boat for us now, so we can get out of here." He told them.

"Great! We can get back to Motunui. We need to warn everyone there." Moana replied.

And with that, they headed towards the boat off the shore.

Hey guys! Thanks for reading as always! But I have a special announcement, I made an Instagram for this account! Please go follow me there towo_ . That has two underscores. Anyways, I will be posting regular things there, and will be doing a Q&A on there. So if you have any questions, follow me on IG and ask me there! Thanks for reading!

TOWO