Chapter 82 - A dream that turned into a nightmare.

Fernando

After almost two days of frantic hunting, all the nobles were forced to abandon their prey and sneak between the leafy trees and mysterious caves, fleeing from something unknown and threatening that was killing us without giving us the slightest chance to see it. It was as if we were being hunted by something non-human; whoever it was invisible to our eyes, but it was among us.

Raul and I were forced to separate from the other men, leaving behind all the exciting hunting that had taken us so far.

At that moment, our only priority was to preserve our own lives, in a real game of cat and mouse in which we, the hunters, became the prey. And the most ironic thing about this turn of events was realizing that instead of being the cunning predators, we became the victims of a merciless chase. What was used as a weapon to hunt us down was fatal. In all my life in Barcelona or anywhere else, I have never witnessed anything like it.

Once again, that high-pitched sound burst through the air, once, twice, and three times in a row, knocking down two men who had followed me at a breakneck pace to the edge of that small cave. After a pause, I could see that strange shadow slowly approaching through the trees, holding a silver object in its right hand.

"I can't die here! I have a bride to look after, what will happen to that poor maiden if I don't come back?" The only boy who survived was standing next to me, with that look of pain on his face, his mind far removed from the dangerous that surrounded us.

"Control yourself, my boy. You're cunning and very young, the gentleman will have his good times with his beloved." I raised my head and realized that everyone's executioner was approaching from the other side of the rock behind which we were hiding.

My uncontrolled breathing showed my concern; after all, I too had fears, and dying was not part of my plans.

"How can I control myself if..."

"Shhh!" I put my hand over the mouth of the young man, who was still in his twenties. "Don't speak up! Do you want to kill us? Like you, I too have someone waiting anxiously for me, a woman who loves me very much. I don't want to break her heart with the sadness of knowing that I'll never come back from this forest." I whispered to him, his agitated eyes were not a good sign.

But fortunately, he understood my concern and nodded positively. When I moved my hands away from his mouth, he whispered:

"What are we going to do to get out of here? Many of us are already dead."

"I can't think of anything that could free us from what he's carrying in his hands."

"But what did you see?"

"There's no doubt about it, it's a gun."

"A gun? It's a musket, isn't it?"

"A musket isn't that fast, didn't you hear three sounds in a row?"

"Damn!" The young man lamented.

"It's certainly a new weapon." Although my heart was racing and almost leaking out of my throat, after taking a thorough look at the terrain of the cave, I thought of a plan that might work.

But I would have to get help from that young nobleman I didn't even know. I touched his shoulder, because I needed him in full consciousness.

"What is it?" he whispered.

"I have a plan, but it's too risky, we could die. Especially you, young man."

"My name is Raul."

"Very good, Raul. I have a friend with that name, he's always been brave, just like you. Now tell me, are you willing to risk yourself for the chance to go home?"

"I'd do anything to see her again, Alice is going blind, and I'm her ray of sunshine. But her parents won't allow us to marry, they think I'm a coward. That's why I'm taking part in this hunt, but I don't want to die a failure."

For a moment, I saw a glimmer of hope that we would make it out of the cave alive. The boy was young, but his kind and determined heart was already full of love.

"Very well, I promise you that you will take care of your beloved. Now pay attention, Raul. You will approach that bastard right there with your hands up and pray that he doesn't shoot you, my boy."

"What the hell! My chances of dying as soon as I get out of here are enormous." He whispered, with a deep sigh at the end.

I tapped him lightly on the shoulder, asking him not to lose heart; he wouldn't be able to fulfill the second part of the plan. I hope his faith is strong enough for him not to die.

Raul stood up and started walking towards the danger, with his hands raised and a few tears, making it clear that men cry too. Meanwhile, I started climbing the rock, taking care not to reveal my plan. If something went wrong, like a single stone falling and revealing me, the boy's fiancée and my sweet Isabela would never see us again.

I positioned myself and waited until the killer was in the perfect spot. On my left side, I saw the boy walking towards our executioner, and I was anxious for those seconds to pass once and for all.

When the boy appeared in the killer's field of vision without posing any danger, he instinctively raised his hand with the weapon used to hunt us.

"Please! Don't kill me!" The young man screamed painfully, and this time I didn't see two tears, but a dozen or more.

The killer stopped and watched him. This was my chance, there was no other moment or plan but to let me drop like a stone on the man in black clothes. But, thinking back, for a moment, when I jumped from the highest part of the rock, I noticed that our pursuer seemed to be the same nobleman who was with Ana de Hanover still in the square of the marquis' mansion.

Without giving him time to notice me, I fell on his back, but not in the way I wanted. I fell to one side, and he fell to the other. At the same moment, I rolled onto my back and shouted for the boy to hide again. In the same act, I was faster than him and punched the bastard in the jaw. He fell heavily backwards, almost without making a sound, and lay on the dirt floor with his eyes closed.

"Oh, God, did you kill him?" The boy appeared again and approached, going to check on the killer.

"Come out of there, boy, don't kneel next to that man."

But he remained kneeling, taking his arm to feel for a pulse.

"Is he dead? Are we free?"

"Don't be innocent, Raul." I rested my hands on my waist and tried frantically to recover the air that was escaping from my lungs. "A man doesn't die with one punch to the jaw, unfortunately I'll have to finish him off."

He looked at me over the others, perplexed by the tense tone of my determination. Perhaps even he saw the worry and anger in my gaze, but I hope the boy also saw the relief that we had succeeded.

"He's not a man!" The boy shouted, and I saw his astonishment mixed with his joy.

Unfortunately, the joy of that young man, who had a happy ending ahead of him, was obstructed when I saw the executioner stand up with a sharp, pointed dagger.

"No!" My shout was useless.

The boy was killed right there in front of me; the poor guy died without even having a chance to say goodbye. His body slumped to the left with the dream of helping his fiancée who was gradually losing her sight, a dream that became a nightmare. A whirlwind of feelings overwhelmed me when I finally realized that his final astonishment was true, that bastard who hunted us as if we were animals really wasn't a man, he was a woman.

"Hello, Dad!"