I was shocked. The hand holding my ankle was stained with blood. When I looked down, I saw a woman collapsed on the ground, soaked from head to toe. She looked weak… terrified. Every breath she took was uneven, shallow.
I knelt beside her and whispered, "Hey… are you okay?"
She looked up with desperate eyes and gasped, "Please… help us. The men—they kidnapped women, keep them hidden, some… they kill them. I escaped… but they're after me. Please, help."
My heart seized. Somehow, I knew she was telling the truth. Miraculously, her wounds weren't fatal, but fear gutted her.
"Calm down," I said, voice shaking, "How many are trapped?"
Her reply froze me: "More than thirty… maybe even forty."
Thirty. Forty.
My entire being shook. I could've run. Turned away. But I didn't. I couldn't. They needed help.
She said, voice trembling, "They rape us… kill us… sell us. Some don't come back… ever."
My mind screamed.
This is horror.
I had to act.
She paused. Then whispered, "There are men in the village… living normally. But they… they do this while smiling. If we go to the guards… the women in the cells… will be harmed more."
I squeezed her hand. "What's your name?"
She trembled. "Alice… they held me nearly two months."
Two months. How did she survive that long?
A sudden noise echoed—footsteps. Figures emerging from the dark: two large, menacing men walking toward us.
Alice flinched and whispered, "They followed me."
I grabbed her hand. "Run." I started pulling her toward a narrow path. Night swallowed our steps. The village was dead quiet—but the danger alive. My sword hung heavy at my side.
I told Alice, "We need Raiden. We'll meet near the map shop. That's where he knows to go."
"Raiden?" she asked, confusion mixed with fear.
"He's… someone who'll protect you," I said.
She nodded, steered us through crooked alleys by moonlight. Our breaths were shallow. Heartbeats thundered.
"Here," she said finally. Two paths forked ahead.
I whispered the plan: "Raiden expects us at the map shop. I'll bring Alice there."
"I know," she breathed. "This way."
Behind us, I heard them gaining—heavy boots, hushed curses.
And then… I saw him.
Raiden. Standing by the map store, sword at his side, eyes alert.
Relief flooded me. But he looked… upset.
I sprinted to him.
"ELOULA! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? WHO IS SHE?" he demanded, voice tense.
I gasped in air. "Alice... she escaped their clutches. We had to find you."
He glanced at Alice—her blood, her terror—and then back at me. He nodded once.
Just then, the two men burst into view. Towering, arms ready, faces twisted in menace. One had a scar-riddled face.
They stomped toward us. I felt Alice behind me, shaking.
I stepped forward. "Who are you to chase us through the night?"
One sneered, "This woman belongs to us. She's... unstable. Return her."
Alice hid closer.
I laughed bitterly. "Unstable? She escaped deep evil—your grips! She's free now."
"You know her?" he asked Raiden.
Raiden stared coldly. "I don't need to. Let her go."
The man raised his weapon.
Before a single hair could fall, Raiden's blade flashed—simple, precise. He disarmed the attacker with a flick, then slid it under his throat.
"Enough of this nonsense," he growled. "Get lost."
The threat crackled like lightning. The men stepped back, then hissed, "This isn't over. We'll be back."
They disappeared into the night.
Alice trembled, tears leaking from her eyes. I took a deep breath.
"Thank you," I whispered to Raiden.
He looked at us. "Thank God you're safe."
My heart fluttered.
I guided Alice to a safe place.
We cleaned her wounds and bandaged her, working under Raiden's watchful eye. She grasped my hand, truth in her voice: "He's right. There's a darkness here I've never seen."
She swallowed, wiped tears. "They came on a normal day. I had just shouted at my husband—crazy childish… but that night, they grabbed me."
The horror in her voice struck me.
"And when I left, they tortured me because my husband locked himself in our home… he nearly died thinking I was gone forever."
She stilled, voice trembling.
"They treated me like dirt… like I didn't matter."
She curled into her kimono. We let her rest.
I left the room and walked outside with Raiden. The night sky was silent and vast. He invited me to sit by his side.
"We have to do something," I told him softly.
He pointed to a single star.
"See that star? It died millions of years ago. But its light still shines."
?
I didn't understand.
"My point… fatigue sets in. Danger surrounds us. But a spark remains."
He studied me. "You want to help… even if it costs everything."
I nodded. "Sometimes hurting others means we can't stay silent. Even if we freeze."
He offered a gentle smile. "Sometimes a broken heart knows how to love best."
ahm....
...
My chest lightened.
"I'll go tomorrow," he said. "I'll find out who controls this. I promise."
I placed my hand over his. "Be careful. Don't be too late."
He nodded and left me under the stars.
I watched him go—and then, with a tremble, whispered,"Thank you, for being my light."
I stayed there long after he vanished, heart pounding like war drums.My mission suddenly felt larger.
Yes—we would save them all.