“But who might be The Stranded?” Sive asked with wide-open eyes, his expression as if he was surprised himself by the answer he hadn’t revealed yet. He then dramatically turned around and pointed his finger at the other side of the stage. The light shone at a wooden pole and a woman strapped to it.

  Navia had her armor taken off, leaving only a tight black shirt and dark leather pants. She stood there with her head low as she wasn’t conscious yet. At the snap of Sive fingers, she woke up. At first, looking around, confused, not knowing what had happened to her.

  Her eyes then locked on Sive, mixed feelings rushing through her and her face. Fear, anxiety, disbelief, sadness, and anger. “Who are you?!” Shouted Navia, demanding an answer.

  “I am a man chosen by the gods. A human between the monsters. Drowned in the power given by the gods. I am Sive The Puppeteer!” Announced dramatically and the crowd clapped. “And if not for your hair, I would mistake you for a boy… Just a slight change of hairstyle and you could fit any role! But I must end your life… You almost tricked me with your answer with the blood.” Sive approached Navia to face her, his eyes curious while hers were red out of anger and sadness.

  “Tricked you? You were the one lying!” Shouted Navia, spitting on his face as she did so.

  “Your blood is dark because you’re stranded. Chosen by Vetra to fight the tides, drowned, and eventually the gods.” Answered Sive as he lifted Navia’s head with his hand so he could take a closer look into her ocean-blue eyes.

  “What kind of nonsense is this?” She asked, her chin barely moving as Sive still held it.

  “Want proof?” Sive took out Navia’s dagger from under his cloak and put it against her throat. She lifted her head to get away from the blade, but Sive moved the dagger as well, licking his lips. “Kidding. I won’t cut your throat. This should be enough.” He then cut her forearm with a wide swing, letting the blood splatter in front of her.

  She looked down at it, and then he put the dagger close to her face, black liquid dripping down from the dagger. She ignored the pain as her thoughts were lost, her gaze locked on the dark blood. “It… Can’t be… my blood…” She muttered.

  “Oh, it is. You are stranded. A being that shouldn’t be in this world. You’re forced to stay here, but I will help you to get to the other side… And I’ll make a goddamn good show out of it.” Sive whispered that to her ear and backed away. “This part of the play will be improvised! But I promise you… It will be a drama you all desired!” Announced Sive with all the excitement he could muster.

  The light stopped shining on him, letting Sive leave the stage in the dark, away from the crowd’s eye. Five lights appeared on the stage, and five people with lit torches stood in front of the wooden pole. Blue robes and a white painted eye on their foreheads. No masks on their face, revealing angry expressions, but deep in their eyes was a different feeling. Fear.

  They all said at the same time “The gods chose to punish us! We must not resist! You!” They pointed their fingers at the tied to the pole Navia. “You were made to resist the act of god. Defying the gods' words is the biggest sin. You must be punished!” The group talked at the same time as they walked toward Navia. “And your punishment will be…”

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Death!” Shouted Sive, standing right behind Navia. He then whispered, “By the hands of people you wanted to save…”

  Sive tossed a knife to the ground in front of the actors. One of them reached for the knife, and as the young woman grabbed it, tears began flowing from her eyes. She resisted picking it up, but as she felt Sive’s sharp gaze, her will to fight back disappeared. She was the first to approach Navia and stab her once with a knife to the side of her abdomen. Shallow enough to not wound her organs.

  Navia let out a grunt of pain and whispered, “Stop it…”

  The woman stepped back and gave the knife to another person, an elderly man. His hands were shaking as he held the weapon, his lips trembled as if he tried to say something. “Sorry…” The old man whispered as he cut Navia’s right arm. This time, she screamed out of pain as her arm was already injured from the time when she missed the jump from the roof.

  The old man slowly backed away and held the knife to the side, which a young boy quickly grabbed and ran up to Navia, imbuing the blade into her left leg. He then looked right at her with a wide grin on his face, his eyes empty as his mind was already lost. Since Navia didn’t react to his attack he twisted the knife, forcing a pained moan.

  The boy ran back, laughing as he gave the weapon to a young man with pale skin and dark veins. His movements were calm but decisive as he moved forward, looking for a spot on Navia’s body to strike. His eyes locked on her eyes. He raised the knife to level with his own head. “No. No. No!” Shouted Navia as the man walked toward her.

  She watched as the tip of the knife moved closer to her eye. Her heart was racing as if it was going to burst out of her chest and push the attacker away. Her whole body was shaking out of fear. She felt hopeless, without the power to fight back.

  Navia then felt a whisper in her ear of a woman, her voice firm and decisive, “Kill…” then another whisper of the same voice, “Kill him…” And she felt something behind her, a feeling that tapped her mind. The only person who was standing behind her was Sive. “Kill him…”

  At that moment, fear was erased from her head, and those words were repeated, not giving her a moment to calm down “Kill him! Kill him!” Strength came back to her body, letting her move. With all her force, she snapped the rope that tied her arms and grabbed the hand of the pale man, twisting his wrist so he would drop the knife. Before it could fall to the ground, she grabbed it with her other arm, and with one swift move, the rope on her legs was cut.

  Sive was stunned by the sudden burst of strength from Navia that he stood there in place, watching. He didn’t react as Navia kneeled to the ground and spun around, only seeing her extended arm. He saw a flash of light in front of him. Sive felt something warm on his face. Placing a hand on that place, he felt that his mask was missing, and looking at his wet hand, he saw blood. His own blood.

  Once he saw Navia running toward him, he shouted, “Defend me!” and lifted his arm, his hand as if he was pulling something, and running, Navia flew past the old man and young woman that stabbed her earlier. They blocked her path for a clean punch and as she tried to avoid them their bodies moved accordingly with her position.

  “Kill him…” Echoed in her head, and to calm that voice, she decided to try an attack between the two bodyguards. As her punch flew forward, she saw the old man’s terrified face; this punch could very well kill him. Sive was cautious and used the kid to slow her down by trying to drag her away. Navia stopped her fist right in front of the old man’s nose.

  Seeing the hesitation, Sive used all three of the actors to restrain her, or at least pin her to one place while he could get away. As she struggled to get free without injuring those people, she felt a cold sting between her ribs, looking to the side, she noticed the pale man’s hand holding a knife that was in her.