Kapitel 2: Just how many?

The people watched in excitement at everything that took place whilst cheering loudly for every participant in the early rounds of the tournament. Malakai and Alfred munched on the snacks that had been bought for them by their parents while enjoying the blood pumping event.

It wasn't until the sun was no longer visible that the first part of the tournament had ended. The winner was announced and everyone began leaving. The King sat with his head rested on his arm with a downcasted look on his face as he watched the people leave. He then got up and turned to leave as well. With the Lords following behind him.

"If this is just the beginning, I wonder how the main event will be like," Malakai thought aloud.

"It'll definitely be a blast," Alfred said. "Too bad we won't be able to watch it live like we did today." He slurped in the remaining contents of the juice box he held in his hands.

They walked in front of their parents who conversed behind them. Unknown to them, lurking eyes followed them waiting for the right time to strike. Slowly, one by one, well dressed unrecognizable men had appeared out of the shadows. One of them walked behind the parents, two others in front of the boys. They acted to be amongst those who were leaving the arena.

"Now." The one in front muttered under his breath giving a command to his colleagues. All three men got the message and immediately went to work. More of them appeared moving between the children and their parents as if passing by, creating a distance between them.

"Excuse me." Malakai's mother tried to push through the men and numerous people walking by to reach the boys. "Malakai? Alfred?" She called out but they couldn't hear her and kept walking.

Due to the distance created by the men, more people passed by and so did they pretending to be engaged in conversations and moving slowly in front of the parents using the passersby to their advantage.

"Malakai?! Alfred?!" She called out louder but they were too far off and had stopped also to look for their parents. Unknowingly, the men had pushed them off to a different path. Both parents searched about for their children, calling out to them.

"Mom? Dad?!" Alfred called out looking around.

"Mother! Father!" Malakai shouted.

"I wonder where they've gone."

"Forget about that, where are we?" Malakai turned to look at the somewhat unfamiliar environment with a lot of people moving about.

"Hey you two, why are you all out here so late?" A man whose face they could barely see due to the darkness moved close to them and asked.

"We happen to be lost, do you know a way back to the village square?" Alfred asked. It will be easier to find their way home from there.

"Of course, come with me," he stretched forth his arm to grab onto them both but Malakai moved back pulling Alfred with him. The man said nothing and just walked off.

"We don't know him, we should be careful," Malakai whispered over to his friend. The man began leading them out of the area and into a place more secluded. Whatever he had to do, he needed less eyes on him.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Malakai asked walking slowly behind the man. The more they moved the more unfamiliar the place got.

"Of course, you want to go the village square right? I'm taking you there," he responded. The boys were beginning to have second thoughts and felt they would be better off finding their own way. Something about the man didn't feel right.

"Uhm, sir, thank you for the assistance, but I think we'll get going from here," Alfred said taking a step back. The man said nothing and kept walking forward. The boys had stopped walking and just watched him walk away. They decided to turn around and pick a random route, only to have their mouths and nose covered up and then got picked up by strong arms. No matter how much they struggled and tried to scream, it was to no avail. Their voices were being muffled down by the large hands over their mouths.

The men who held them placed small pins on their heads and the boys immediately went calm. No longer did they struggle, neither did they try to run away. Keeping them back on their feet, the men said, "Come with us." The boys did just that.

"Where would they have gone?" Their parents wondered wearily.

"Malakai? Malakai!" His mother shouted searching every place she could find. The mothers ran home to see if they were there already while the men kept checking around the city.

"Where is my baby?" Alfred's mother said softly with her voice breaking. They had been searching for long and still hadn't find them. "I can't shake off the feeling something might have happened to them. The spreading missing cases, my son might have gotten abducted and right in front of me!" She cried.

"No, Matilda. You shouldn't think so negatively." Malakai's mother comforted her friend even though she had the same thought lingering in her mind. "They are fine and they will return home. Our husbands will bring them back don't worry." She said as they both had to stay back to see if the boys would return home and then they would call their husbands.

"Have you seen a young boy about eight years old, he has messy brown hair and full brows, freckles on his face and brown eyes. He has on a headband, did you see him around?" Malakai's father asked someone around doing his best to give a description of his son. They shook their heads stating they hadn't seen him.

Tapping on the watch on his wrist, he constantly swiped till it projected a picture of his son. He moved about asking different people if they had seen his son while showing them his picture but they all hadn't. He even showed them a picture he had of both boys together and still no one had seen them both.

"Jack, any luck?" Malakai's father asked his friend but he sadly shook his head. "How does a fun day end up like this?!" He pulled on his hair in frustration.

"Let's check that sweet store, they do love going there," Jack suggested and they both moved in that direction. While moving they had decided to still ask people around and kept getting negative answers until someone gave them hope.

"I did see them going towards the outskirts of town, towards the field." A young girl said.

"The outskirts? What will they be doing there?" Jack wondered.

"It doesn't matter, we have to hurry!" They both ran off headed for the field. Thankfully, their village was not a large one and they could get to places rather quickly on foot. Vehicles were very few around here anyway so there was no way they could get one. As they ran, they could hear different guardians searching for their children.

"Abby!"

"Michael!"

"Jacob!"

"Jessica! Where are you?!"

"What is this madness? How many children are missing?" Both men wondered.

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Hello, author here, participating in my first wpc. Giving the world of revenge a try, so here's a story about secrecy, greed, power, bloodshed, gods and demons, and a young man who finds himself between them all.

I hope you enjoy reading.