Chapter 7

Chapter 6

Limah, lying still on the ground, shook her head in pain, not giving consent to Bojan's idea of removing the arrow. At least, not yet.

''You have to trust me on this, M'lady,'' repeated Bojan, looking at Limah's depressed and tired-looking face. ''We have no time on our side, M'lady. You have to trust me.''

Bojan made to touch arrow but Limah's feebly grabbed his arm to prevent him. Tears trickled down her cheeks consistently as she fixed her gaze on Bojan's.

''Thank you macho-man,'' Limah said feebly in a low appreciative tone. ''A good Balkan. May fortunes from the gods smile upon you.''

The moment was emotional as Bojan, crouching still beside Limah, watched the steam of tears run across the priestess's cheeks and hit the rocky ground constantly.

Bojan shook his head and shut his sweaty eyelids close. Suddenly, he pulled out the arrow and a sharp, high-pitched cry of pain followed in the wake. Limah felt the pain as she jerked up to be seated on her buttocks before going back down on her back in quick sequence.

Without ado, Bojan tore his sleeveless tunic to leave himself bare, cutting off a shred to bandage it on either side of the spot of the arrow wound. Then, he removed his short knife from his pocket and shoved it into the fire to heat it for a few seconds without informing Limah.

''Brace yourself up, M'lady,'' Bojan said again, leaving Limah wondering what travail was to come again.

Bojan placed the hot knife directly on the Limah's wound, leaving the poor Limah to let out a sharp cry again. This time, her cry reverberated around the cave. It was almost as of it shook the cave to its root. As expected, Bojan himself was dead scared as he feared Limah's cry might attract the Athenean soldiers. Again, Bojan instantly tore a shred of his tunic and bandaged it round the spot of the wound. He reached for the cauldron which contained water. He peeped into it and, alas, it was clean to a fault. Bojan marvelled how such clean water could have been in a cave and remained clean. It simply defied logic. But he had no choice as he was thirsty and he felt Limah and her infant too must be.

Still marvelling at what seemed a miracle, Bojan muttred to himself, ''thanks the gods. The gods never leave their own.''

He took a taste of the water and found it innocuous before gulping it down and offering Limah to drink after he he had sustained Limah's back on his knee. He proceeded to give the baby some of the water, too and, to an extent, the thirst was quenched. It should sustain the trio as they would proceed in their journey away from the sight of Athenean soldiers.

''Thanks the gods,'' Bojan muttered again, feeling satisfied.

But it was not long before the gods would betray them as Bojan could hear a bellow of noises outside the cave. It sounded like the voice of Bastian barking out orders to his soldiers to siege the cave. Oh, the gods' doing could be cunning. He gave water for strength to run further from demons, Bojan thought.

''Siege the cave and comb the nooks and crannies for fugitives,'' Bastian's bellow of order to his soldiers wafted into the cave. It struck Bojan with fear as he sensed the Athenean soldiers approaching fast. Limah's cry must have drawn the soldiers, he thought.

Without ado, he picked up the baby from the stone and unwrapped the cashmere fabric from the infant's body. He folded the fabric to form a pouch on his chest in which he shoved the baby. The Balkan then proceeded to help Limah to her feet. The poor Limah seemed much better as she looked to have gained some vigour.

Gingerly, Bojan brought her to her feet and said, ''M'lady, we must vacate this place this instant! The soldiers are appriaching. It's not safe. We must leave.''

Limah floundered to her feet with all energy she could muster. On hearing about the soldiers' approach, she committed her body forward as much as she could, limping and picking her feet with the support of Bojan.

''We must be quick, M'lady. The soldiers are fast approaching,'' Bojan urged Limah.

The moment was tensed as the duo slowly retraced their way back to the horse. But in the nick of time, babbles of macho voices and orders drew closer. They could hear the echo of the soldiers' voices as the advanced into the cave. The sound of their marching was palpably louder and it could only create an aura of panic between the duo of Limah and Bojan. By some instinct, the duo ditched the horse and took a dash into one of the darker tunnels--one which Bojan had initially ventured into. The tunnel was starkly dark and it looked forbidden. It reeked of decaying animals and was infested with odd skeletons, but that wouldn't matter in this moment as safety was the priority for Bojan.

Ganicus and his troop stormed the cave with their voices even louder than before and within the earshot of Limah and Bojan who had gone into hiding in the darker tunnel. It was not long before the soldiers discovered the horse that stood by in the case and that was enough of a hint to human presence in the cave.

''We found a horse,'' one of the soldiers shouted, beckoning Ganicus over. ''The fugitives must be somewhere in here. They can't be far.''

''Search the tunnels and bring each one of them to book right away,'' replied Ganicus, barking out orders to the soldiers to begin a thorough combing.

The soldiers began a thorough search through the cave with their flaming torches in a bid to find their way through. Meanwhile, Bojan and Limah maintained a dead quiet in the dark tunnel. The duo had positioned themselves far into the depth of the dark tunnel which was infested with a pile of bones and reeked of decaying skeletons of animals which had been long dead. They could, however, still hear the steely and cold-blooded voices of the marauding soldiers; they could hear the distinct echo of their voices and different moves through the cave.

Shortly afterwards, one of the soldiers came bearing a report to Ganicus about discovering a heap of burning fire, a cauldron of water in one of the tunnel. Alas, it was the tunnel Bojan and Limah had stayed.

''Sire, we found found fire in the tunnel,'' said the soldier to Ganicus, ''and a cauldron of water. The dying fire is still fresh. We should be in the right place, sire.''

''Search further, then!'' Ganicus barked back at the soldier, pressuring them to intensify their search through the cave. ''None of those Balkans must be spared their life.''

Pangs of fear ran down the spine of Bojan at hearing the slur of hatred for the Balkans from Ganicus. He could feel a mix of fear for his life and suppressed anger in retaliation. For a moment, he regretted not putting out the fire in that tunnel before leaving; at least, that would have reduced cleared their traces to some extent and reduced chances of being caught. Pangs upon pangs of regret knocked upon his heart even as he continued to sweat profusely, but he wouldn't blame himself much. He had left the tunnel in a rush for safety. This time, he had brought the baby out of the pouch to avoid discomfort and had equally prepared to prevent the possibility of letting out a cry that could deliver them to the blood-thirsty soldiers.

Bojan could hear the soldiers marching around the caves with flaming torches. He could hear the pounding of their feet on the rocky ground. Amidst the tension, he had moments of respite, bit it was not long before the respite was cut short as he heard one of the soldiers approaching. His marching into the dark tunnel pounded depression and panic in Bojan's heart. He could see the ray of the flaming torch approaching. His heart skipped many beats dreading the worst. But the soldier's advance into the dark tunnel was cut short as he suddenly burst into a spasmodic cough. He shielded his nose with his hand and made to forge ahead regardless, but he couldn't stand the toxic odour that emanated from the tunnel. He had many bursts of coughs and he was forced to give up his search as he waved his torch in the air in casual search and found nothing. Instantly, he retreated to the rest of the waiting troop and reported he found nothing in the dark tunnel but a pile of decaying bones and skeletons. Much to Bojan's relief, Ganicus ordered his troop to vacate the cave and seize the horse which they had found within.

Bojan was not particularly satisfied with Ganicus's last decision to seize the horse but he expected nothing less. However, little did Bojan know that Ganicus would wreak more havoc.

''We must leave now,'' said Ganicus commanding his troop to vacate the cave in an instant. ''But, Lucius and Senderos,'' he continued beckoning to two of his men, '' you must ensure the cave is burnt down in our wake.''

''Consider it done!'' Senderos replied, obviously excited by Ganicus's decision.

Bojan couldn't be more depressed, fearing the worst had been done as he overheard Ganicus order his men to burn down the cave. The tension within him heated up. His belly rumbled in discomfort as he racked his brain on what move to make next.

Without ado, Senderos and Lucius excitedly sprinkled oil across the cave's ground towards the entrance of the cave as they set it ablaze from the entrance. Shortly afterwards, Bojan observed the exit of the soldiers and setting ablaze of the cave, and he snuck out of the hiding place with Limah who limped still. He stuck to the wall of the dark tunnel and peeped but found traces of no one but of the flames that were fast spreading from the entrance of the cave. The entrance was covered up in flames and the fire was beginning to spread within.

Bojan feared the worst as he replaced the baby in his pouch and sustained Limah weight in a bid to walk away from the raging flames. It was obviously not safe to walk through the the entrance, rather he would walk away from the raging flames.

Bojan thought of venturing further deeper into the tunnel; perhaps, he could seek refuge with Limah where the fire could not reach. The fire spread fast further into the cave. Bojan was running out of time. The Balkan was bereft of ideas in this moment. Suddenly, by instinct, he lifted Limah over his shoulder to save time.

Bojan aimlessly ventured deeper and deeper into the darkest parts of Judean cave, far away from the reach of the travelling fire. He had no idea where he was headed but all he had in mind was safety. He ventured through the different parts of the cave and bumped into decaying animals and bones strewn around. He forged ahead regardless. As fate would have it, he came across a ray of light and, by instinct, he scurried towards the ray and, voila! It's light at the end of the tunnel. He hit the tunnel and scurried down, still bearing Limah's body on his shoulder and the infant in his pouch. He soon came to discover that the tunnel's entrance led to the isthmus of Corinth--the very long path which linked to the North of the Balkan Peninsula. Bojan couldn't be happier having home in sight. He heaved sigh of relief and amidst the the load of pressure on him.

The Isthmus of Corinth was a long, forlorn path which rarely had travellers ply the route to the Balkan Peninsula. Bojan was not daunted, however. He would walk the length of the path and only hope he would bump into one of the traders to ride on their horse.

The Balkan merchant hit the forlorn path, but he came to a point where he needed rest. He had to relieve himself of Limah's body and the baby. He looked around and found no traces of humans. He was quite certain that they were far from the reach of Bastian and his troop.