Part 3 — Captured

My neck hurt. That was the most immediate concern. We’d been stuck in our nets—separate nets, swinging about a foot away from each other—for about an hour, and I was worried I’d wrenched it. I know that probably shouldn’t have been the main thing on my mind, but it had been one heck of a day, and I just wanted to sleep, and I couldn’t because I was stuck in a net with a messed up neck, and I was swinging next to a small but incredibly strong woman who’d just pulled me into some kind of fantasy world. 

I’m just going to say this: I’ve always been a sci-fi/fantasy fan. I read The Lord of the Rings. I like Star Wars. I’m not even picky about it. I literally like all of Star Wars. Jar Jar Binks? No problems here. I both enjoy and understand the Hero’s Journey, and when I was a kid, I kind of hoped that something like this might happen to me. 

But when you’re in it, and it happens all of a sudden on some random Saturday when you really just want to go home and zone out and play some video games and maybe take a nap, it’s incredibly overwhelming. I really don’t even know how to describe it. Overwhelming is not even close to the right word. Also, it’s kind of annoying. And more than a little uncomfortable. So, I was really not in a great mood, and part of me was also big-time frustrated that this thing I’d daydreamed about had actually happened, and I was not playing the part at all. Or, I don’t know. Maybe I was? Was this Refusing the Call? Hard to say. But I kind of think I just wasn’t into it.

So, anyway, we were swinging in these nets. Actually, an hour in, we were tired, and the nets weren’t really swinging anymore. We were just laying sadly in our nets. 

We were at least 10 feet in the air, maybe a little more. Early on, Fi had spent a lot of time scrambling around trying to either get free or find some way to call for help, but by then, she was pretty quiet. Which said a lot because it seemed like Fi was never quiet. Not that I needed her to be. I’m not that guy who thinks women who talk a normal amount talk too much, so don’t put that on me. I’m just saying it was a noticeable change, and I took that to be a bad sign. 

She was also starting to do this thing where she curled up into a little ball and threw all of her hair in front of her face and around her knees. I think it was probably a comfort thing because she was also rocking a little and muttering to herself. But it was also kind of jarring because to me it looked like this massive purple hairball—did I mention Fi’s hair is purple?—was just hanging out next to me, not saying a word. Eventually, I had to do something.

“So, Fi.” Her head jerked up. “You, uh . . . you want to tell me what you think’s happening here?” She swept the hair from her face, staring at me a little too hard. 

“We’re trapped, Ian.” I thought she was going to continue, but she didn’t. 

“Okay, I see that. I’m just thinking, you know . . . next steps.” I tried to inch a bit closer to her net. “Any idea who might own these traps?” And at that, she sighed. 

“That’s a first five minutes question, Ian. If I knew, I would’ve said it already.” She shook her net. “These are new. And also so unbelievably stupid because who puts something like this on the path? It’s like literally the main thoroughfare where everyone walks. There’s not even a way to discriminate who or what you catch here because this part of the path is so frequented, and no one is on it right now to help us, which is just incredibly inconvenient and also highly unlikely, but here we are.” She tried to scramble up to a standing position, but she ended up just leaning against the side of the net as it began to swing again. 

She groaned and slammed a hand against the rope. “Whhhhhhhy?” I glanced at her and shrugged slowly, which pissed her off even more. “I know you don’t know, Ian. I know.” 

So that was how it started—my introduction to the Kingdom of Gert. Because it turned out, the nets were placed by Gert soldiers. Fi didn’t see that one coming, so she was pretty surprised when they arrived a few hours later. By then, it was pitch black outside, and my neck was throbbing. 

We heard them approaching first. It was not discreet. Like, if this was supposed to be a sting operation, it was a big fail. Fi seemed to think Gert soldiers never entered Brigdale, but they practically swaggered up to us, so maybe she’d missed some updates while she was out kidnapping me. 

Anyway, they were loud, and that was when it really hit me how quiet it had been all around us. Fi was right—for a forest, it was surprisingly silent. Almost like it had emptied out. 

“Got someone!” the first one crowed as they sauntered up to us. He grinned at his comrade, who nodded slowly, looking a bit too satisfied. 

“Get ‘em down, Luther.” 

The first one, Luther, tugged at the rope holding my net and began to lower it down. But then he just gave up and let it drop, so I fell about seven feet and landed on the ground, which hurt. Like a lot. 

I dodged when he tried to kick at me—rude—and tried to pull myself out of the rope. Meanwhile, the second soldier cut Fi’s rope, and she plummeted but managed to land much more gracefully. Or at least it seemed like that for a few seconds until she lunged up and tried to stand, but then she tripped, swore profusely, and hit the ground hard. 

The soldiers just laughed. I was a little nervous at first that maybe they’d be wary of us, so they’d get super defensive and preemptively attack us as they were getting us down. But they weren’t worried. Like at all. And I was actually a little insulted. 

“Alright, stand ‘em up,” the nameless one ordered, and Luther looked at Fi, considered it, and decided to pick me up instead. I wasn’t insulted. It was the smarter choice, and that made me a bit more wary of Luther. 

Luther looked me over as he pulled the net off. “He’s just a kid, Greg.” Greg. That was the other one’s name. Also, that was a bit much. I was 25. And Fi looked around my age, so it’s not like I looked super young in comparison. And Luther looked like all of 30. I mean, maybe I was wrong about all of this, but “kid” kind of annoyed me, especially coming from Luther, who seemed like he might just be showing off a bit then for Greg. Also, between you and me, Greg? Like what kind of fantasy world name is Greg? 

Greg just nodded, watching us. He jerked his head towards Fi. “Where are you two headed?”  Fi stood herself up, slowly tugging her net off, and Greg smirked. “Pretty late to be on the path, don’t you think?” 

Fi glared at him, but her voice was low and eerily calm. “We have been stuck in these nets for hours.” She met Greg’s gaze, daring him to speak. 

He cleared his throat. “It’s forbidden to travel the path at night.”

“It’s a good thing we weren’t on the path at night, then,” Fi retorted. “Where have you been?”

Luther chuckled, “She’s a live one!” 

“Shut up, Luther,” Greg muttered, and Luther kicked at the ground. 

But Fi was just getting started. “What? You think this is okay? My brother and I are on our way to Crestmeer, and we do not have time to laze about in the air while you two do whatever it is that you do.” She pointed at me. “Look at him! He’s got a condition. He’s in desperate need of an herbalist!”

I put a hand to my neck and winced. 

“And that’s just the sprain. You should see his boils!” Fi announced, far too proudly.

Luther gave me a once over, then nodded with a recognition I found unnerving. Greg, to his credit, seemed a bit more skeptical. “This is a rebel area, Miss.”

Fi nodded. “And?” 

“And as upstanding members of the Kingdom of Gert, you should know to stay clear of it. Especially at night.” 

Fi laughed. “Alright. And how would you propose I get into town, then? You know another way into Crestmeer? How are we supposed to go about our lives if we can’t—”

“Hold up, Greg?,” Luther interrupted.  “What if—just hear me out here—what if these two aren’t actually upstanding—”

“Yeah, Luther. I got it,” Greg snapped. He edged closer to Fi. “I think you should come with us,” and he started to grab her when an arrow whooshed past him and sunk into the ground behind us. 

“Whoa! Whoa!” Luther called, tripping himself as he backed away.

Fi and Greg both whirled towards the source. 

“Did someone say rebel area?” a masked man called out from a high tree on our right. He leapt down, landing nearby. He looked a bit like Zorro, if instead of black, Zorro wore sparkly green sequins around his eyes.

A crew of similarly masked men and women joined him, jumping down from branches all around us.

Greg’s eyes widened, and finding himself outnumbered, he grabbed Fi, holding her right in front of him like a shield. “Stay back!” he yelled, and the masked man laughed. 

“Or what? The lady gets hurt? Go ahead, I guess. She’s not my people.” 

A smile flickered across Fi’s face and disappeared just as quickly. She elbowed Greg in the stomach and stepped away from him. 

At this point, I thought maybe I should do something because I’d just been standing there for awhile. So I moved away from Luther, who was a bit frozen, and walked over to Fi. She grabbed my hand and began to pull me away.

“Come on, let’s go,” she whispered, but the masked man held up a hand.

We paused.

“Forgive my eavesdropping. Crestmeer, you said?” He raised an eyebrow.

Fi nodded. 

“Then we’re headed the same way,” he smiled. ”You should join us.”

I glanced at Fi, a bit nervous, but judging by her face, this all seemed to be working out nicely.

“All of you,” the man continued, nodding at Greg and Luther. “Tie their hands!” he called as he walked ahead along the path. 

And as we stood there, the crew of masked strangers closed in on us.

Fi’s smile faltered.

They lined us up—me, Fi, Luther, and Greg—and we began our long, midnight march to Crestmeer. 

What Happens Next?

• Option 1: Fi and Ian arrive in Crestmeer as captives—but shortly after their arrival, they’re given a top-secret mission from the leader of the masked strangers. 

• Option 2: Fi and Ian escape from the masked strangers just as they arrive at Crestmeer, but to do so, they have to rely on the help of some unsavory townsfolk. 

• Option 3: Fi and Ian befriend Luther and Greg, and the four of them hatch a plan to steal a valuable magical item from the masked strangers. The problem? Only Fi knows the item can’t go back to the Kingdom of Gert.

• Option 4: Something entirely different—what would you like to see?