فصل 19

CHAPTER 19

HELPLESS

FIGHTING PRAWN LAY FACE DOWN in the dirt, a Scorpion warrior standing over him, spear point just touching his hack. Around him, the rest of the Mollusk warriors were also lying on the ground, disarmed, powerless. They could do nothing but watch with growing rage and frustration as the Scorpions herded the tribe’s terrified women and children into the clearing in front of the compound.

The fright turned to horror when, one by one, the Scorpions began separating the mothers from their children, the mothers wailing as scowling, red-painted men yanked their screaming children from their arms.

Fighting Prawn looked up in fury at the chief of the Scorpions, who was standing a few feet away, supervising. He was a man of about Fighting Prawn’s age, with graying hair and a necklace of shark’s teeth.

“What kind of warriors are you who take children?” Fighting Prawn shouted.

The Scorpion chief did not understand the Mollusk language, but he understood Fighting Prawn’s tone. He grunted and spat a gob of saliva that landed on Fighting Prawn’s bare back. Fighting Prawn, enraged, started to rise, but stopped when he felt the spear tip cut into his flesh. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the warrior standing over him would be more than happy to impale him. In despair, he sank back to the dirt.

The Scorpions, having separated the children, were now tying them together at the waist by ropes made from vines, forming a long line. Fighting Prawn’s heart sank as he spotted his own daughters in the line.

When the children were all tied, the Scorpions began shouting at them, in words they did not understand, to move. Some of the children tried to run to their mothers, only to be struck by the Scorpions and shoved roughly back into line. Prodded by their captors, the children began to move into the jungle.

Fighting Prawn heard a shout behind him and twisted around to look. One of his warriors, unable to bear the sight of his children being led away, was getting to his feet. Two Scorpion guards were moving toward him, spears drawn, clearly intending to kill him.

“Get down!” Fighting Prawn shouted at the warrior. “You must stay alive to fight for your children when the time comes!”

Reluctantly, the warrior lay back down. But the look he gave Fighting Prawn made it clear that he doubted he would get a chance to fight.

Is he right? Fighting Prawn wondered. Have I betrayed my people? His mind raced, searching for a plan, something that would give him hope. But there were so many Scorpions, and they were such skilled fighters….

His mind swirled with horrible thoughts as he watched the last of the children disappear into the jungle. Helpless, and very nearly hopeless, he pressed his face into the dirt so his people would not see his tears.