Kainak the Awesome

Chapter 13

Pauahi had managed to give the Teo warriors the slip not too long ago. But he had to run around zigzags, circles and all over the place in order to really do so, and in such a way that they could not track him.

But they were frustratingly persistent, not surprising for Manti's elite Koa warriors. He heard them staying close, rustling leaves and snapping sticks. Curse them!

He could hear them shouting for him to stop, even as he tried throwing some dirt, leaves and branches about to keep them off his trail. A lot of good that did him. And he knew it. Panic wasn't going to help him, but his adrenaline was coursing through his arteries at a faster pace than he knew (considering he probably doesn't know what adrenaline is, that's saying something) keeping him going, and making him worry too much about what they were going to do to him when they caught him.

He could probably kiss his skin good-bye or served up to the Night Marchers.

But even as his heart beat, and he breathed at a faster-than-healthy pace, he lost a lot of focus, and it bit him hard when he tripped on a root that had inexplicably jutted out from the dirt. He didn't even see the ground coming, but he felt the impact with the ground and tasted the dirt in his mouth. Even more humiliating than this.

"HE'S DOWN!" Hearing this quickly brought him back to his senses and he staggered back to his feet to keep running.

But he knew deep down that they were going to get him, and he would have to face the consequences. Manti would make an example of him for trying to harm his precious haole "hero" or something like that. Truth be told, killing people is the real reason why, but don't tell that to Pauahi. He wouldn't care.

He looked back to see them within ten feet of him. He quickened his pace, jumped over a fallen tree stump and made a tight turn to try and lose them. But they cut across the trail and lunged for him. His heart practically stopped when he saw them reaching out to grab him. This was the end, alright. He was going to lose his head.

But that would never happen.

Several figures burst out of the brush to tackle Manti's supposedly "elite" warriors, knocking them out and left them laying on the dirt. Pauahi stopped in his tracks and bent over to collect his breath.

The figures stood around the warriors, wearing tiki masks and carrying spears. They were about to finish the job, only for someone to order them to stop. Pauahi sighed exasperatedly and glared at Tito as he entered the crime scene.

"Where were you, Tito?" he asked.

"Manti's flunky and Kainak got to me first," he said. "I led them to the base, hoping they would be taken care of. I see that we, and especially you, failed."

"We failed ONE boss," said Pauahi. "And that boss happened to be rather stupid. She blabbed her plans to Kainak's filthy wench!"

"You are upset," Tito concluded. "Kainak defeated you, did he not?"

"The white bastard took my mana!" Pauahi spat. "The rest of the island worships him like a god, yet he is still a man! I want to prove it to them! But now I have to live with this utter humiliation!"

"Worry not," said Tito. "You will get your mana back."

"Let me kill those warriors, right now!" Pauahi insisted.

"No," Tito replied. "You already caused us enough trouble by provoking Kainak. We need to find the rest of the slaves and take them back to the Boss. We do not want them chasing after us. We cannot even go back to base, as that place is crawling with Teo warriors."

Pauahi huffed and stormed off. Tito sighed, but gestured for the tiki-wearing men to follow him.

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