The Mallrats were shocked. How could Ved have kept this from them? How could he not have told them that the end was coming in the story of their lives?
'Why didn't you tell us that sooner? Why would you keep something like this from us?' Asked Jay mad.
'You didn't ask?' tried Ved. Jay looked at him furious and Ved sighed. 'Fine. I didn't tell you because… every time I say it, it becomes more real to me. I don't want to admit it to myself. In my opinion denial is the only way to keep yourself from turning crazy in this place, if you've been here as long as I have.'
After a long pause Jay finally spoke again. 'I still think you should have told us. We have the right to know.' Ved closed his eyes and Jay just sat down next to his brother.
(…)
Cloe woke up in her chamber. The sun shined on her face. She walked to her window and looked out over the rainforest. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Or at least that's what she thought. 'Maybe the queen was right, and she never had left this island before. But what if she wasn't. What if the queen lied and that Ved-guy was telling the truth. What if she really was Cloe?
No. No, she couldn't think like that. She owed her loyalty to the queen. It was wrong to believe a male over her own queen. She should just have faith that her memory will return in time. When the goddess Minhana feels she has learnt her lesson. She should just have faith that Minhana will have mercy on her… and on Tai-San. NO TRISHA… Trisha. Tai-San doesn't exist. Tai-San is not real. Neither is Cloe.' Cloe ended her strain of thoughts and walked over to her dresser with confidence… but a nagging feeling of emptiness never left her mind all day.
(…)
It was the night before full moon. The Amazons were getting ready for the rituals that came with the full moon. Food was being cooked, clothes were washed and fixed and the Amazons were getting restless from excitement. The usual silent island was now filled with whispers and soft giggles.
The great halls were decorated with the usual ornaments for the regular full moon, but also with extraordinarily beautiful fake blue moons. There were blue decorative lights put all around the ceilings and blue flowers in vases. Tomorrow night was the Blue Moon, and that needed a celebration.
When it turned night, and the sun had set, the queen started the full moon fest. There was dancing and laughing and even the queen was joining in the party atmosphere. She was even too busy to notice, that not all her servants were there…
(…)
'Do you hear that?' Asked Jay annoyed. They're probably having the time of their lives right now. They have no sense of right and wrong what so ever! They all seem to have forgotten what they're gonna do to us tomorrow!' Shouted Jay. Sammy broke down in tears and Jack did the best he could comforting, while he struggled to hold back his own tears.
'Will you shut up! It's not like we don't know or anything. God, you don't have to keep reminding us every five minutes. It's bad enough without it.' Said Ram back.
'But we can't just sit around and do nothing! We HAVE to find a way to escape! And now is the time. They'll be too busy partying and not caring about a damn thing! Now is the time to break out!' Said Jay again.
'And how are you gonna do that? Do plan to call your magic fairy friends to bust the door open? Maybe you haven't noticed but that door is made out of titanium, the bars in front of the windows are made of titanium, the lock can only be opened with a key that the Amazons have! Were you planning on shouting out the window if we could borrow their key for a second so we could break out?' Said Ram angrily.
'I don't think that'll be necessary.' Came a voice from the door.
'Cloe?!' Said Ved in disbelieve as he quickly stood up. Cloe looked at him.
'I- I did what… what you asked me to do.' Said Cloe uncertain while she slowly walked towards Ved. 'I stopped taking the pills. I think… I think she lied to me. The queen. I- I think I do know you.' She had now reached Ved and she stood before him in silence. She slowly brought her hand to his face and traced the lines. 'I think I… I remember your face. V-Ved.' Ved had to swallow to hold back his tears.
'Do you… remember anything else?'
'No. No memories. Just… just a save feeling. I remember feeling save with you.' Ved hugged Cloe like he never wanted to let her go. The others just stood there in silence, when a little hope returned to them. Maybe they weren't doomed.
(…)
'I'd hate to break this up, but we gotta go before someone comes to check on us.' Said Jay. 'We have to get the others and then get the hell out of here.'
'Oh right.' Said Cloe. 'Trisha… I mean Tai-San, has gone to get the others and we're meeting th…' Lex stopped her mid-sentence.
'Tai-San is coming too?' Asked Lex hopeful.
'Yes. I convinced her not to take the pills either and she's been having dreams of her past ever since.' Said Cloe. 'She's going to meet us at the scrap heap. That's where all the boats from the prisoners go. With a little luck we'll get there before the Amazons know we're missing and we can get out of here without having to fight. Because I'll tell you now, if it does come to a fight we don't stand much chance.'
'Sounds good to me. Let's go.' Said Ram while he stretched out and started walking to the door. The others followed.
(…)
Slowly Cloe crept out of the building. She could see the bonfire in the distance, and the Amazons dancing around it. She signalled that it was okay for them to come out, and they quickly ran to the safety of the forest. Cloe stood by the edge for a while to check if they weren't seen. Everything appeared to be normal.
They quickly walked through the forest, the leaves cracking beneath their feet. They could barely see anything because it was so dark, so they had to stop every once in a while to make sure everybody was still there.
'How much longer do we have to walk?' Said Lex loudly to Cloe, who was walking a few paces before him. She quickly turned around and put her finger to her lips.
'Sshhh! Do you want them to hear you?' Whispered Cloe annoyed. 'About an hour. It's a big island.'
'An hour?!' Said Sammy in despair. 'But we've already been walking for so long!'
'We've been walking for fifteen minutes.' Said Ved. Sammy kept his mouth shut and kept walking.
(…)
Half an hour later they came to an open spot. It was lit by the moonlight, and for the first time in a long while, they could actually see where they were.
'Wait!' Said Cloe. And they came to an abrupt halt. 'I… I'm not sure where we are.'
'What?!' Said Lex angrily. 'I thought you said you knew the way!'
'I do, but it's different at night you know!' said Cloe annoyed. Everybody was quiet for a while so Cloe could try to remember the way. 'Wait, I already know it. It's not much further. We're getting close.' Said Cloe exited.
'Not so fast Lea.' Cloe stopped dead in her track, when she recognised the voice. The queen was here! She walked towards the group, followed by several warrior Amazons. 'I can't believe it Lea. How could you betray us like this? We are your family. We looked after you when you lost your memory. We took care of you. And now you betray us like this by freeing our chance of a next generation?' Said the queen.
'You lied to me.' Said Cloe. 'You said the pills were vitamin pills, but they were keeping me from getting my memory back. And you said that I had never left this island, but how could I know these people if I didn't?' Said Cloe mad. 'Why did you lie to me?'
'I am your queen! It is my right to lie to you! I gave you your live. It is also my right to take your live for this kind of betrayal.' Said the queen. Cloe stared at her in shock. 'Girls, take them back to the cells and kill the traitor.' Said the queen and she walked away, followed by two of the servants, leaving twenty warrior woman behind.
'Freia please don't do this.' Said Cloe to one of the warriors. 'You have to believe me! She has been lying to us, to all of us.'
'You are no longer part of Ius. /I' Said Freia. The warrior woman kept walking closer to Cloe and the group. Cloe picked up a long stick from the ground to defend herself with. She twirled it around in her hands, waiting for someone to attack. Freia stroke first. She came forward and tried to stake Cloe with her spear. Cloe blocked the attack with her stick and kicked Freia in her stomach. The next two warriors attacked. Cloe jumped over one spear and kicked the other girl in her face. Ved was running forward too, followed by the rest of the Mallrats. It became a full battle. Sammy was the first to get hurt. He got a spear in his leg, although it wasn't a deep wound. Ved hit the girl that did it in her face and gave her a roundhouse kick in her abdomen, causing her to fall on the ground knocked out. Cloe got attacked from behind, but she grabbed the person by her arms and flung her over her back on he ground, staking her with a spear from a fallen warrior. Jack got hit in his face, and fell on the ground in pain.
What started of good for the Mallrats' side, was now falling apart. Soon all the Mallrats were on the floor breathing heavily, wounded and some knocked out. The only one left standing was Cloe. She was trained as a warrior woman, but she was now left alone against eight others. She had a deep wound in her stomach and she was in great pain. She got weak in her knees but she had to hold on. Another warrior attacked her from the front. Cloe dogged the spear and yanked it out of her hands. She hit the warrior on the back of her head, causing her to fall on the ground. Another one attacked from the side. Cloe did a back flip to dodge the spear and gave the warrior a kick in her side, so she would stumble back into the trees. The next moment she felt a kick to the back of her head and she fell down on her knees. Her vision became blurry and she could hardly see the warrior that was coming towards her with a dagger in her hand. The warrior was slowly getting closer and suddenly stopped. She fell down on the floor with a knife sticking through her back. Behind her was Tai-San. She charged to the next two warriors and jumped in the air, kicking both of hem in the face, knocked out. She dodged a swing from another warrior and sent the second one flying back with a roundhouse kick. She grabbed a spear from the ground and staked the third one in her guts with it. Only one warrior left standing, and she got a punch in the face, followed by a kick in her stomach.
Tai-San slowly looked around to see if anyone was still moving. The other Mallrats that came with Tai-San spread out to find the wounded Mallrats. Tai-San walked to Cloe and helped her stand up.
'Are you alright?'
'I will be. Thanx. You came here just in time.'
'We saw the queen with her two servants and we heard them talking about you, so we quickly went looking for you after I… after I killed the queen and the two others.' Said Tai-San. She bowed her head.
'You had no choice Tai-San. You made the right decision.'
'I know. But we have to go now, quickly. There may be people here, still loyal to the queen. They'll come after us like wolfs on a hunt when they find out I killed the queen.' Said Tai-San to Cloe. She then turned around and focused on the others. 'We have to go as quickly as possible. Can everybody walk?'
'Yes.' Said Amber, with baby Bray safely in her arms. Next to her was Trudy who was holding Brady. Jay was leaning on the two of them for support. He had a deep wound in his leg and he could barely walk.
'Good. Are we all complete?' Asked Cloe. After counting everyone and making sure all the wounded had someone to lean one, they followed Tai-San to the scrap heap. She quickly made her way through the forest, with the others on her tail. After twenty minutes of walking they finally reached the beach. They saw about ten boats lying in the water.
'Ram, Jack and Ved. Do you think you guys could find two or three boats that would work and try to start it?' Asked Tai-San. They nodded and walked, or hopped on one leg, to the boats. 'The rest of you should try to find if there are blankets around here somewhere and food. Everything from the boats gets thrown on the beach, so traders can come here and trade it for other supplies. Take whatever you think is necessarily.' Everybody spread out to find supplies. After five minutes Jack shouted that he found one and started it. Now they still needed two more because there were about fifty people.
Suddenly they heard shouts coming out of the distance. Tai-San and Cloe stopped dead in their tracks. 'They're coming.' Whispered Cloe.
'I found another one!' Shouted Ram.
'Quickly to the boats!' Shouted Cloe. 'We have to do it with two boats. Spread out!' Cloe tried to lead the people to the boats and divide them over the two, but everyone was panicking and screaming so it was no use. In the distance, they saw the warriors running towards them. All the remaining warriors were there. Hundreds of girls, armed with spears. They were only one and a half throw of a spear away. Tai-San was the last to climb aboard.
'GO! GO!!!' Shouted everyone. The two boats were slowly getting away from the shores while the Amazons were still getting closer. Jack ran to the back of the boat, and began ripping up a blanket. He set the pieces on fire and threw them on the boats that were left behind, causing them to go up in flames. The two boats, however were still going slow because of the large amount of people on it and the Amazons finally reached the shores, shouting, and throwing their spears to the boats. Everybody ducked, and tried to get to the front of the boat, while covering their heads. One boy got hit in his leg, and another spear almost pierced Ambers heart. But, Jay caught it before it reached her.
Slowly, the boats were getting further and further away from the island. Until the spears couldn't hurt them anymore and the warriors were nothing more than little dots on the island.
'We're save.' Whispered Cloe.