Chapter 4

Malin woke with a start, his heart throbbing as if he had been running a marathon. Profound confusion and fear engulfed him when he opened his eyes to find himself in the heart of a forest, surrounded by visibly hungry wolves parading around him as if awaiting his rise to strike. From a distance, he could hear what sounded like the whirring of a river, flowing smoothly and gently. He closed his eyes and tried to calm his breathing down, trying to figure out what was happening or where he was. He didn't know what to feel, fear or courage for he had never felt so helpless against anything or anyone. But now, in an unfamiliar territory, he was surrounded by an unfamiliar enemy. For a moment, he tried to stretch his arms around to look for any weapons but he only managed to coat his clothes with wet leaves and soil. Then he stilled, trying to fool the wolves he was still asleep as the confusion and terror took over him. His mind wandered into the events of the previous night, trying to figure out what was happening but he could remember nothing that happened, nothing except for a girl he held in his arms before a voluminous light blinded them, sending them into unconsciousness.

He peeped through the narrowed gaze of his right eye while his left eye remained closed. The trees shimmered in the morning rays of the sun, birds flying on top of the trees, chirping their morning songs. His mind wandered and wondered how he had gotten into the forest or where this forest was. He opened his eyes and tried to look around him, to see whether the wolves had left. But the wolves just stood there staring at him, seemingly undecided on what to do with him. He pulled himself gently to a sitting position, threading his movement with at most gentleness, fearing against arousing their suspicion or anger. They were eight white wolves, six of which were looking at him fixedly while two stood guard, one on each side of the circle the six had formed around him.

Malin stared at them for what looked like eternity, trying to gauge their reactions against his different movements. He tried standing, turning from left to right and back, raising his hands just to know their intentions. The wolves didn't move, didn't change their expressions or positions. They just kept looking at him, unconcerned with what he was doing. Perturbed by their actions or lack thereof, he stumbled to his feet, feeling the fast-thumping of his heart with his right palm.

The memories of the previous night flooded his mind like a river that had broken it's banks, throwing him deeper into confusion. The only thing he could still vividly remember was the girl, the girl whose name he couldn't remember. He staggered along a footpath that seemed to be leading out of the forest and to his surprise, the wolves followed him, two running ahead to lead the way , two walking on his either sides while two trailed him from a close distance. While the wolves had shown no intentions of harming him, this strange escort both frightened and excited him. While they assured him of his safety, he couldn't get rid of the feeling of being led into a slaughter like a goat.

His mind wandered back to the girl again, wondering where she was. Was she also in the same forest? Was she being escorted as he was or had she become the morning breakfast of the forest beasts? The forest was clear from within and you could see someone standing from a distance. It looked as though someone was caring for it, keeping it clear and clean. But who could do such a risky job considering the presence of the deadly wolves? Maybe the wolves had been domesticated by that person, that would explain the reason why they didn't want to attack him. But if that was the case then the wolves were leading him to the forest keeper, their owner. Had the girl been taken there already? What would the forest keeper do with them? And where was this forest? He had been to so many forests in Palawa Kingdom but he couldn't recognize this one. He couldn't remember being in this forest. But then he remembered he couldn't remember anything, not even his name.

The two leading wolves came to an abrupt halt. He stopped too, perturbed and confused, wondering what the wolves had seen or whether his time to be their feast had reached. The wolves that had been trailing him walked past him as if unconcerned with him. The ones that walked on his either sides turned towards him, staring at him menacingly. "This is the end," he thought. He stood there, unmoving, hot sweats slithering down his armpits. He folded his fingers into a fist, clenched his teeth and tightened his muscles, closing his eyes in anticipation of an attack at any moment. His heart pounding so fast, he waited anxiously for any movement towards him but when he heard movements moments later, it was away from him. He counted up to ten and then opened his eyes, dreading the sight of more wolves around him.

Three heavily armed forest guards stood just about three yards in front of him, their guns trained at him. Malin stood paralysed, mystified by the strange turn of events.

"Put your hands over your head," ordered one of the officers. Malin obeyed promptly as they handcuffed him from behind and prodded him into a well tarmacked road that meandered along the edge of the forest, appearing and disappearing, at turns.

"I can see you found another one," asked an officer who was leaning on a police car ten yards from the forest. "Has he told you anything meaningful?"

"No, we haven't asked him anything yet but unlike the girl who was being chased by the wolves, he was being escorted by them," answered Duke, one of the officers who had arrested Malin as two other officers forced him into the waiting car.

"What do you mean?"the officer asked, vividly baffled by Duke's response.

"You heard me right Simeon," Duke replied. " We were taken aback ourselves. The wolves even threatened to attack us at first but when we took out our guns, they retreated back into the forest and left him standing there as if he was meditating. We had to wait for him to finish and open his eyes to arrest him."

"Who are these people?" Simeon asked rhetorically and walked into the driver's seat. Malin sat in the passenger's seat, sandwiched between Duke and another officer while one of the officers sat behind him, all the officers having their guns in their hands as if scared he could attack them. "I can't harm you when I'm handcuffed from behind and sandwiched between your big bodies," Malin thought of telling them but decided against it and kept his thoughts to himself.

Simeon purred the engine and let the car trundle along the meandering forest road, probably looking for more people like Malin to arrest. When the car zoomed away from the forest, Simeon accelerated into a supersonic speed as they entered Donerien City, the capital of Dalawa empire. Malin was mesmerized by the look of the City they just entered. The buildings were spectacular, the roads all tarmacked in different colours while several bridges crossed over the sea that almost separated the city into two. This was a strange town to him, he could feel it. The tall buildings whose peaks seemed closer to heaven than earth, the beautiful horses that galloped past them, while others walked along the road and even grazed on the grass that lined the road were a beautiful sight to behold.

The car halted in front of a wooden gate bringing Malin's mind back to his current situation as a prisoner. The gate opened and the car trundled in, stopping in front of a huge and tall glass door with the inscriptions of THE PRIME MINISTER'S HEADQUARTERS written at the top. The officers alighted, one pulling Malin with him as they escorted him through the door and into a corridor lined with photos of different people that seemed to be holding prominent positions in the City. They entered a small room and passed through the back door and appeared on a door with a mark of blood and PRIME OFFICE inscribed in bold.

One of the officers knocked on the door before pushing it open and entering alone. When he returned a few moments later he waved his colleagues in and with Duke and Simeon holding Malin by either arms while one officer walked behind them, they walked into the prime office.

The officers bowed before a gigantic man wearing a white robe like a priest and pushed Malin forward until he stood next to the girl he had always remembered. Revina was the first one to be caught and it seemed like she had been through some thorough interrogations judging from her shaken status. Malin looked at her, trying so hard to remember her name but however hard he tried, her name just kept eluding him. Duke unmanacled him and knocked his knees from behind, forcing him into a kneeling position. Revina just followed and knelt next to him.

"First I would like to know who you people are and where you have come from," the gigantic man, who was the Prime Minister, asked, his fat belly dancing as he spoke. He was almost six feet tall, dark and with receding hairline. His voice was deep and hoarse. Neither Malin nor Revina answered his question. Just like Malin, Revina couldn't remember anything apart from the man who had held her in his arms before everything went dark, the man kneeling next to her before the Prime Minister.

"Are you deaf?" The Prime Minister roared, getting infuriated by their silence. He looked like someone who doesn't like his questions to be ignored. "Who are you and where have you come from?" He asked again, this time directing his gaze at Malin.

Malin racked his brain to remember anything but his memory was blurred. The only other thing he remembered besides the girl was the Palawa Kingdom and nothing more. But how was that important or relevant? This was Palawa Kingdom so how was it important to say they were from Palawa without mentioning from which specific town or city? But he had to give an answer, so he did.

"We are residents of this great kingdom, Palawa Kingdom," he answered, looking straight at the Prime Minister.

"What nonsense is that?" Prime Minister retorted, "since when did Dalawa empire become Palawa Kingdom?" He stood up and walked towards Malin. "Are you people spies? Who sent you? What information are you looking for?" Malin's confusion ballooned into fear. Everything was confusing and terrifying. Dalawa empire? That name sounded strangely familiar but he couldn't remember from where he had heard it. But what did this man mean by them being spies?

"Forgive me sir but I don't understand what you are talking about," he answered, trying not to let the Prime Minister know he was frightened to death.

"You don't understand? Everybody in Dalawa empire know very well that Medan Forest is out of bounds for everybody including the Prime Minister himself yet the two of you had the audacity to enter the forest, why? How did you get there and what were you looking for?"

"I don't know how I got there and I didn't know either that it was out of bounds. If I had known maybe I couldn't have been there sir, but unfortunately I don't remember anything." Malin answered truthfully.

"I can see you both have the same script. Your partner just said the same thing." Turning to the guards, "my hands are tied. I can't act in the absence of tangible information. Take them to the Emperor and let him decide their fate." He then ordered his aide to send spies to different neighboring kingdoms to try and find out who might have sent the spies and why.