The Captured

Chapter 2

The young man's eyes blazed with anger as he said, "So this was the plan from the beginning. That's why the tribe leaders didn't oppose our coming here. They were the ones who gave us these defective weapons in agreement with you, isn't that right?"

The tribe leader replied, "Ah, now you understand. Your lords abandoned you, and the one who withdrew in the beginning saved himself, but you lost your chance of survival. I don't know why you put yourselves in danger for a girl who is a stranger to you!"

The young man retorted angrily, "She is not a stranger; we came to free her from you, you villain. She is like a sister to us and will be the wife of whoever deserves her."

The tribe leader said coldly, "Oh, very well, I won't argue with you. It seems you are as tough as the leader of your tribe. He is the only one who constantly defies me and challenges me. But being alone and not having others support him is his weakness."

The young man asked, "Do you mean that my leader did not betray us like the others?"

The tribal leader replied, "No, we didn't inform him about it because we knew his stance beforehand. It's alright, I won't make you wait for death for too long."

Then he looked at one of his men and said, "Execute them one by one in front of her."

The girl grabbed the iron bars, crying bitterly for them and for her helplessness. The young men gathered and tried to defend themselves. They kept fighting until only that young man remained, along with a few others; their wounds were numerous. The guards seized them and prepared to execute them in front of the girl's window. They executed them one by one until it was the young man's turn. He looked at her and shouted, "Don't be afraid. If they kill us today, others will come tomorrow. Just wait and stay strong."

The girl burst into tears and lowered her head, unable to bear watching further. She thought to herself, "How many people will die because of me? Why do they come in small groups? Why don't they unite the tribes and confront this villain together? Don't they know how weak and cowardly he is? He only boasts about the blood of the innocent to frighten them. Why are they so foolish? Are their positions and wealth more important than the soul of a captive girl suffering every moment? Is it more important than his control over them and their lands, making them puppets dancing to his tunes? Where is their dignity? How long should I wait? Years have passed. How long should I wait? Until I grow old and die from oppression and injustice?"

The grandfather learned of what had happened and collapsed in pain and sorrow for those young men who sacrificed their lives for his granddaughter. He decided to send for his relatives; surely they must have sons who had become men after all these years. He sent his request and informed them of what had happened to his granddaughter and those who tried to save her. His old brother gathered his sons and grandsons and informed them that their relative had been a captive of the tyrannical tribe leader for years, after they had thought she had died all this time. He also told them that her brother had been executed while trying to rescue her, along with the brave young men from the tribes who rallied to free her, leaving only them to liberate her.

One of the men said, "Then we must prepare to assist the grandfather and his granddaughter. Let's go, men."

The old man said, "No, I won't allow you to make the same mistakes as the young men from the tribes. You must prepare and plan well, my sons."

Another man said, "But God is with us, and He will help us prevail over them."

The old man replied confidently, "Yes, we will prevail by God's permission, but God has commanded us to reason and trust, and He has commanded us to prepare our strength against them as much as we can. That's why I want you to take the advice of our tribe's new knight, for he is the most skilled among you in combat and the smartest in matters of war and its management."

One of the men objected, "But he is young. There are others older and more experienced than him."

The old man replied firmly, "Age doesn't matter, and experience comes with practice. You haven't fought in a long time, and you have no knowledge of new combat techniques. Moreover, this tribe is known for its cunning and deception, and its leader is malicious and crafty. So don't be deceived by them."

One of them said, "What do you think about negotiating with them and giving them what they want in exchange for the girl?"

At that moment, the knight stepped forward from the crowd, revealing a young man in the prime of his life, strong and muscular, with a handsome face. He approached the man and said, "Negotiate with them? Why? If they wanted something in exchange for the girl, they wouldn't have kept her captive all these years without asking for anything from her family. There must be a reason behind imprisoning her for all these years, but surely it's not something they want from any of us."

The man asked, "Then what do they want?"

The knight replied, "We'll find out later, but for now, we need to plan and train our combat skills."

The man insisted, "But I still prefer resolving this peacefully without shedding blood. I've seen what happened to those before us."

The knight smiled sarcastically, saying, "Peacefully? Haven't you seen what that man did to the innocent? He killed an entire family and everyone who tried to help them, and you still talk about peace?"

The man looked at the knight and said, "What harm is there in trying?"

The knight replied firmly, "We'll waste our time, and we'll lose face because we'll negotiate our honor, and they'll devise a trap for us that we won't forget, just like with the girl."

The man became upset, not liking the knight's words, who then began gathering the young men around him, preparing a place for training, and drawing up a plan for that tribe and the locations of its men after sending some men to scout first.

Days passed, and the tribe leader learned of the knight's plans, convening his men to discuss the situation. After two days, he launched an attack on the knight's tribe, brutally killing women, children, and elders. The knight and his men swiftly responded, setting up a trap behind them and capturing one of the leader's men after a fierce confrontation.

The battle raged for days until the tribe leader was forced to withdraw his men. The knight and his men returned victorious to the village, but the bitterness of losing their loved ones and having their properties destroyed dampened their taste of victory. The knight sent a letter to the tribe leader proposing an exchange between his man and the girl, but the tribe leader, crafty and cunning, also captured her grandfather to negotiate for him instead of the girl.

The tribe leader sent a message stating, "Return my man and take this old man. If you don't, I will cut his head off just like I did with his grandson."

The knight responded with another speech, "I know that the lives of your men are not important to you, but you pretend to care to keep your people under your control. Fine, bring the old man for the exchange."

The tribe leader called his men to be on high alert, to be cautious, and to try to trap the knight and his men if possible to take back their man without surrendering the grandfather. However, the knight was smarter. He organized several groups, with each man disguised as one of their own, hiding his face. They took different routes until they reached the meeting point, confusing the tribe leader's men, who couldn't identify their real man. The exchange was successful, and the knight and his men returned to their tribe with the grandfather.

The man felt jealous of the knight's success and tried to downplay his actions in front of others, but his words didn't carry weight. While the knight was revising his plans and preparing his men for the next phase, the tribe leader ordered his men to build a massive wall around their tribe in case of an attack by the knight and his men or others, feeling the danger. He then expelled the people surrounding the tribe, seizing their lands and homes by force.

The other tribes were preoccupied with their own affairs, and the tribal leaders enjoyed their wealth and clung to their positions. They maintained their silence to preserve their interests with the oppressive tribe leader. Some offered moral or material support to the knight and his men, while other tribal leaders criticized him, inciting people against him, blaming him for the deaths of innocents, and accusing him of starting a war he couldn't handle.

The knight learned of what they were saying, not surprised as they had remained silent on the tribe leader's killings of innocents. What would make them speak now and help him? The knight gathered his tribe members and asked for their cooperation, emphasizing the need to take necessary measures to protect their families in case of an attack, and began implementing this plan in collaboration with his tribe members.