The Story Of Dusk

"No!" Senja yelled out loud. "I will never do that!!!" She cried.

Why she has a father who was so cruel like this? He wasn"t only trying to kill his own daughter, but he also wanted to kill his own father. Was he not afraid of Karma? He was going to kill someone who had raised him!

"Your father had told me that this will be your reaction." The leader of the bandit nodded in understanding and this gesture made Senja sick to see it. "Then, he told me to kill you."

The leader of the bandit stood up and unsheathed his sword, his eyes locked on Senja"s, however this time, the little girl had immune with situation like this as she kept her eyes wide opened as if she welcomed her death.

She had suffered enough in this life, probably she shouldn"t try so hard to live, it would make things easier for her right?

"Don"t you want to close your eyes?" The leader of the bandit raised one of his eyebrows, bemused. He enjoyed the stubbornness in Senja"s eyes.

"Just do it." Senja said solemnly. "It doesn"t matter whether I close my eyes or not, you are going to kill me anyway."

Senja stared at the sharp blade on that man"s hands that reflected the light from the torch that the bandit was holding. The fire on the torch danced with the wind, however there was nothing more captivating than the little girl who was facing her death bravely in front of more than ten men"s eyes.

"I appreciate your bravery little girl." The leader smirked. "This is unfortunate that you have to die." He bemused with his own word as he tilted his head and looked at Senja curiously.

Senja didn"t say anything as she faced that man.

She looked at the sword, which was swung toward her neck, but she didn"t flinch even a bit when that sharp blade stopped only an inch away from her.

"Great…" The leader of the bandit sighed. "I have never met someone with eyes like you." What he meant was the spirit that Senja had shown toward him. She was fearless.

Those eyes were so precious for someone like the leader of the bandit, this was a big deal and she showed him guts and character that was very rare for an eleven years old girl.

Senja"s heart was beating fast when the leader of the bandit put down the sword and put it back into his scabbard.

"Don"t you have to kill me?" Senja asked with calm tone that surprised her, though at the outside she didn"t show much of emotion, but actually she was… afraid.

She had gathered all of her courage to face her own death and now since the leader of the bandit had put down his sword, she wasn"t sure if she could gather the same amount of courage to face it again for the second time.

"Don"t waste your time, just do it." Senja prodded. She clenched her fist and gritted her teeth, this must have happened now.

The other men also looked at their leader, who back down from the execution, confusedly.

Wasn"t the order from w.a.n.g Yu very clear? That they have to kill the little girl once she refused to obey the condition that he had given.

"We can kill her next time, but for now let"s go first." The leader of the bandit grabbed Senja by her shoulder as she walked with difficulty to catch up with him.

"But, w.a.n.g Yu will kill us if he knows we disobey his order." One of the man complained while the other nodded in agreement.

"He will chew us alive!" The man with the b.l.o.o.d.y bandage on his hand chimed in. He didn"t like his leader"s decision. Started from his choice to leave the man, who had made him cripple, to this.

Wasn"t his little girl was too young to be his woman?

Much of the man knew their leader better, he wouldn"t choose to let Senja lived if he didn"t take interest on her.

"Since when we feared that person?" The leader of the bandit scoffed. "Aside from being the member of Black Sword Clan, he has nothing. Don"t you hear the rumor about him?"

The men behind the leader looked at each other as they shook their head. They were not familiar with those influence family in the other city, despite the fame of Black Sword Clan.

"What is it?" The man asked while swatting the thick tendrils from the trees" branches above his head, so they could move easier.

"Aside from being the member of Black Sword Clan, he has nothing, not even the leadership of the clan." The leader dragged Senja harshly until she felt her shoulder was dislocating, but there was nothing that came out from her mouth. She was used to endure the pain, after all.

Thanked to her sisters and step mother. It felt like she was born to feel all of the pain.

Senja forced her short feet to move faster as she stumbled a couple of time.

"How is that possible, isn"t w.a.n.g Yu the only son that Commander Dam has?" The other man joined the discussion.

They were talking about Senja"s family as if she wasn"t there and could listen to them. Instead of asked her for confirmation, they were just simply talked nonsense about something that even Sonja didn"t know.

"Apparently Commander Dam is disappointed of his son and is trying to find a man who could suitable with her granddaughter and be the leader of the Black Sword Clan…"

Senja was squinted her eyes, this was the first time for her to hear something like that, but to think about this again, she really didn"t know her grandfather very well and what was inside his mind.

Senja kept listening to their rumbling about her family until they reached an open area where they had tied their horses.

The leader of the bandit had the burlier body than the rest of his man, thus once he grabbed Senja"s wrist, it was hard for her to let it go, she felt her hand would snap into two if she tried to break free from him.

"What are we going to do with her?" One of the bandits asked while he got on his horse.

"She is more important if she is alive." The leader said as he put Senja atop of the horse and he brought himself to sit on the back, so now, Senja was trapped between his strong arms and it felt very uncomfortable.

"What she could do by being alive?" The other man asked again as he couldn"t understand the way of his leader train of thought.

"You will understand latter." The leader said mysteriously. The girl was indeed more valuable if she was alive, she could be used for many thing against w.a.n.g Yu and the Commander from Azura, Dam.

Moreover, this girl was very interesting.

***  

The bandits took a deserted road to reach their destination, this barren place was only has rocks, dust and cliff, without any plants that one could see.

Senja looked at her surroundings and felt more down, in this point, no one could find her and save her, but to think about this again, who would come and save her?

Was there someone who still cared about her?

Probably she should stop to have a hope that impossible to be happen.

"I am thirsty." Senja raised her head and looked at the chin of the leader of the bandit as he looked down and met her eyes. She had done to try to runaway as it was something that wasn"t possible to do, giving her current situation and the strength that they had.

The leader of the bandits signaled his man to give her some water, his man pa.s.sed the water to Senja that she finished it ignorantly. She didn"t care about anything or anyone now.

"I want to pee." Senja cried again when they were a little bit further.

The leader of the bandit grunted and glared at Senja. "We will not stop! You can pee later!"

"I drank too much water, I want to pee now." Senja said stubbornly.

"No!" Instead of stopped the horse, the leader of the bandit made the horse ran even faster.

"If you don"t stop now, I will pee right here and right now!" Senja said threateningly as she really meant her word. It felt almost unbearable.

Fortunately she didn"t need to do that, as the horse abruptly stopped. The front legs of the horse raised in the air as the rein around its mouth was being pulled back.

After that shocking moment, Senja felt herself was being thrown to the ground as she fell with her limbs flailed.

"Go now! But, if you try to run away, I really will kill you the moment I catch you! Understood?!" The leader of the bandit was so irritated by this.

Senja nodded vigorously and ran toward a big rock and squatted down behind it, so those rough people see her when she was doing her business.

After she was done and cleaned up herself, Senja looked at the cliff behind her. She took cautious step at time and looked down.

Between the cliff there was a river that streaming down. An idea crossed her mind, probably she could survive if she jumped to that river.

But, for the second thought, she couldn"t swim! She could gather a courage to jump, but she wouldn"t be able to get herself out of the water, not to mention the stream was quite strong.

"Have you done!?" The voice of the leader sounded, it laced with agitation and anger. How dare this little girl made him to wait?

Senja knew if she stayed there for longer time, the leader would come and slit her throat then.

"I am done!" She hastily replied and walked back to the bunch of rough and burly men, who were waiting for her.

"Next time you make me wait like this again, I will not very patient to wait for you!" The leader of the bandit stretched out his hand and harshly pulled Senja to mount the horse.

Nodding her head, Senja didn"t say anything again.

***

Another night fell and they were still in this barren area, Senja was quite dizzy with this place, she wonder how those men could find their way here? During their journey, the only thing that she could see was the same thing, Rocks, sand and cliff, as if the world had turned into another place to live.

The man, who had deceived her before, tossed a roasted lizard to her.

Senja was almost tossed it back to him as she was frightened by it appearance, the lizard was still in its original shape only the skin was burnt, even its eyes were still there.

"I don"t want to eat this…" Senja said in low voice as she put the roasted lizard as far as her hand could stretch.

"Why? You are afraid of this?" The man devoured the roasted food in his hand. "Don"t be picky, you should be grateful for being alive until now!" He gulped down his alcohol from the wooden flask on his waist.

"No, I can"t eat this." Senja shook her head as she shoved back the roasted lizard to his hand, and shuddering.

The little girl felt, the burnt eyes of the lizard were looking at her, accusing her as the reason of his death.

"Don"t be stubborn and eat, I will not give you any food if you refuse this one." The man twirled the roasted Lizard in his hand. But, Senja was determined to not touch it. "Our boss will not please with this." He shook his head.

"I am not here to please him." Senja replied sharply as she glared at him.