Chapter 5

A Chapter by Calvin

While Captain Santonio was taking in the beautiful scenery of the lake he drew a map of his midnight hike, he knew it would be useful for the jouney the next morning . There seemed to be a fog hovering over the lake, the moonlight reflection shimmered off the rippling waves. The Captain even noticed an owl swooping down from the night sky to catch an unsuspecting mouse. Nothing but dead silence was heard around the lake this time of night, all one could hear was the natives talking around their campfires and an occasional bird calls. The night was beautiful but Diego had to get back to camp, he began swiftly climbing down the tree and made it safely down. After all the beautiful scenery the captain was in need of a good night's rest and slowly made his way back to the camp. As he was walking he felt something was watching him, it was trying to walk in pace with him so it would'nt be heard. He tried to tell himself that it was a squirrel but his instincts told him different, the captain was drawing near the camp now so he decided to make a run for it. Every stride he took he felt that whatever was following him was closing fast, his heart beat violently inside his chest as he raced towards the spaniards camp. The creature was so close he could feel it breathing on him, all the courage that had accompanied him on his intense naval battles had fleed as he felt he was taking his last breath. The thick foliage could not stand in the way of the captain now, he was running for his very life. Diego began to ponder thoughts in his head about what would happen to the conquistadors if he were to meet with some untimely fate. Suddenly, he felt his legs crash through the earth and began to freefall into the abyss. Diego hit the bottom with a loud crash and blacked out. As Captain Santonio awakened he was very dizzy and groggy, there was a fog in the air and he felt like he had just woke up from a bad dream. He was in a deep pit that was meant to be an animal trap, no matter what it was the captain was ready to get out. The walls of the pit were thick with vines and roots, almost providing a natural ladder. Dizzy and tired, Captain Santonio scurried up the vines and roots like an african monkey, once he reached the top he was turned around and disorientated. After sitting down to gather his thoughts a few minutes he began to easily remember the location of the conquistador's camp. Pushing his way through the thick brush he became closer and closer, when he finally arrived back at camp a horrific seen awaited him. Looking through the branches he saw his camp, he rushed towards it with great excitement expecting Leaping Fawn or Luitenant Iglesias to greet him. The conquistadors camp was nothing like Captain Santonio expected, the barrier made of boxes and crates the spaniards had set up around the camp was demolished and turned over. There was not a soul to be found there, swords, knives and arrows littered the ground alomost as if a battle had taken place. The captain found a puddle of blood by the campfire, he could only hope that his entire garrison had not been butchered by some hostile tribe. He sat on a stump freightened and alone not knowing what had become of his men, suddenly the captain heard the whinnie of a stallion and knew that he was not alone. Diego rushed though the woods and found Sebastian with a slight gash on his side, the beautiful steed was spooked and terrified after what had happened. " Sebastian! Thank God you are alive!!! " said Captain Santonio as he embraced his beloved stallion. Sebastian was still jumpy even with Diego present, something terrible had happened and he had to find out what. After mending Sebastian's cut the captain returned to the camp to look for clues to whoever may be the culprit. While searching the camp he noticed the arrows scattered all around the trees, there was only one culprit who could have been responsible. The natives that Diego had seen while he was taking in the scenery at the lake were the only suspect, so after Sebastian had time to rest and calm down the captain saddled up and rode towards the lake where he had witnessed the natives making camp. The low hanging branches from the tall pine trees were making riding a difficult task, several times Captain Santonio was knocked off Sebastian because of the thick brush. Nothing could stop this determined spaniard, the lives of his men and a certain beautiful native named Leaping Fawn were at stake. As he made his way to the lake he could hear laughing and dancing, after getting closer he noticed the natives were celebrating what seemed to be a great victory. The captain saw one native dancing in the center of all the others wearing feathers and fur pelts, he was carrying what resembled a judge's gavel with the skull of some sort of animal at the tip. The beating of drums caused the earth to vibrate as the celebration continued, Captain Santonio was more interested into what happened to his men than watching a dance. As Diego made his way swiftly and quietly behind the native camp he prepared himself for the worst, who knows what type of torture or butchering the conquistadors may have had to endure. Walking past one of the cone-shaped tents the natives called teepees he witnessed Seargent Montana being beaten brutally, the natives seemed to have a special interest in him. They had the seargent bound with ropes and were beating him with whips, the captain realized that he had to free Seargent Montana before he freed anyone. There were only three natives guarding the seargent and the beating was secluded in a small area away from the dance, it was the perfect oppurtunity for Captain Santonio to free one of his men. He prepared himself and prayed before he attempted before he attempted something that could end in his death. The first native guarding the seargent was distracted by the dancing and the other two were distracted by beating the seargent, the captain knew he must strike now or never. His heart pounded and his throat sank into his stomach as he rushed to attack the distracted native, it only took one blow from one of his two swords to get him out of the way. The other two natives whipping the seargent stood terrifed after seeing their comrade butchered, them being stunned helped the captain make short work of them to free Seargent Montana from the horrible torture he had been enduring. " Captain, help me...... " groaned the seargent with agony. Diego used his sword to cut the ropes and said " Seargent, we'll have to make a run for it before their friends discover their fate! " Seargent Montana could barely get up after the beating he had taken, Captain Santonio had to carry him most of the way. " Where are the others? " the captain asked. " There being held prisoner at the other side of the camp. " mumbled the weak seargent. The captain made his way as fast as he could across the natives camp without being noticed, finally he made it to the place where the prisoners were held. This was much easier because the four native guards watching over them were distracted by the festival, Diego saw Luitenant Vasquez and Luitenant Iglesias tied up with ropes along with the other men. The captain counted all 50 of his men tied up lying on the ground, he was grateful that he had not a single casualty among the conquistadors he brought with him. The four guards were so distracted by the singing and dancing that there was no need for bloodshed, immediately Captain Santonio pulled a knife from his belt and cut the ropes which bound his two executive officers. The Luitenants hurried as fast as they could into the woods without being seen. " I've never been more glad to see my commanding officer!!!! " Luitenant Vasquez exclaimed. " Before we get back to our camp can you two tell me what happened? " Asked Captain Santonio " Gladly Sir, we were about to send a search party after you and suddenly before we could draw our swords we were ambushed by at least 500 native warriors. " replied Hernando Iglesias politely " They were dropping from trees and jumping out of bushes, we were defeated before we could draw our weapons. Seargent Montana tried to fight back and he was wounded, it seemed as if they wanted him more than us." " The imortant thing now is getting back to our camp and figure some sort of plan to free the rest of the men, I've already liberated the seargent and he's in very bad shape. " replied Diego The four spaniards ran as fast as they could through the woods with Seargent Montana following on horseback, Captain Santonio racked his brain searching for a way to free his men and Leaping Fawn. Time was constantly ticking away and slimming the conquistadors chances of surviving, as they arrived at their home camp an idea struck into Captain Santonio's head. A crazy idea but this was no time to be picky, he remembered how distracted the native guards were by the excitement inside their camp. A cannon that his men had recovered from the wreckage of the La Fantasia would definitely be enough to distract the natives, they had never witnessed the power of gunpowder before. Another idea for a distraction the captain devised while the two luitenants hurried to grab the gunpowder and cannonballs, he noticed how many abandoned weapons were left on the ground and knew that if a few of his men managed to get free and become armed it would cause total chaos in the native's camp. " What are we going to do Captain? " asked Luitenant Iglesias " First we're going to charge into their camp firing the cannon and cause panic amongst them, and then Luitenant Vasquez will cut the men free and arm them with swords and knives. Once we've armed all the men we can the rest who are'nt armed will return to our camp and build heavy fortifications around it that these natives won't be able to penetrate, after you and me and the armed men return to our camp we will hold our ground the best we can. " replied Diego " What will I do sir? " asked Seargent Montana " Seargent, I'm afraid you'll have to stay here. You're too weak to fight." " As long as I can pick up a cannonball sir I'm not going to lay here and let you and your officers go into this battle alone" It was nearly immpossible to turn down the seargent, the sincereness in his eyes and the bravery in his voice let the captain know that he was ready to lay down his life for his men. As they prepared themselves for what could end in diaster the four spaniards set off for the native's camp, They moved stealthely and quietly to remain unseen. The dance was at it's peak and the natives were dancing around a conquistador who was about to be burned at the stake in retaliation for the three warriors Captain Santonio killed, Seargent Montana loaded the cannon as fast as he could with a look of determination in his eyes. Revenge was what was on Carlos Montana's number one agenda for the brutal beating that was administered to him, Luitenant Iglesias showed no emotion and did not speak showing that he was ready to attack. Luitenant Vasquez was very nervous but he knew it was a mission that had to be executed to absolute perfection, Captain Santonio acted as if he were going on a squirrel hunt after all the fierce battles and bloodshed he had witnessed he was not phased by the intensity. The four men awaited Captain Santonio's order with breathless anticipation, after five minutes of waiting which felt like five years it came. " Charge!!!! " the captain yelled. With the yell of his voice the four sprung into action, Seargent Montana quickly lit the short fuse on the cannon. When the cannonball exited the barrel it demolished a rather large teepee, blowing it to shreds. As the natives saw all three men charging with the cannon they fled in every direction fearing for their life, Luitenant Iglesias rushed towards the helpless conquistador who was nearly executed and liberated him. Soon Luitenant Vasquez began releasing the armed soldiers and aid came to the cannon crew, the native's hand axes called tommahawks were no match for the conquistador's immaculate swordsmanship. Luitenant Vasquez now was releasing the unarmed spaniards one by one to return to the main camp, the distraction made by the cannon firing proved to be imperative in the operation. It took quite a bit of explaining to the unarmed conquistadors from the luitenant about what they were to do and what had happened, the natives were more stunned than the spaniards were. In the chaos of the battle Captain Santonio could not help but wonder what had become of the beautiful native maiden Leaping Fawn, he turned over teepees and called out her name but there was no answer. The captain desperately asked Seargent Montana if he knew what the natives had done with her. " Seargent, did you happen to see what became of Leaping Fawn? " " I think so sir, they took her into the cheif's teepee. " replied the seargent After Seargent Montana pointed to the direction of the cheifs teepee his heart sank, the cheif's teepee was the one destroyed by the cannon. Immediately he swiftly ran over through the battle raging around him and cleared away the rubble in desparate search of Leaping Fawn, ashes on top of ashes he dug through to find her. His thoughts ran wild through his head of what he would find underneath the debris, all of the sudden while his hopes of finding her alive were dying he uncovered a pile of blankets that were scortched. Buried underneath the burned blankets was none other than Leaping Fawn, she suffered nothing more than a few slight cuts and bruises. Captain Santonio was stunned about Leaping Fawn's life was saved by the few thin blankets she was sleeping beneath, no matter how she survived the captain picked her up and carried her away as quickly as possible. After Luitenant Iglesias saw Captain Santonio carrying Leaping Fawn away he knew it was time to retreat, he signaled to the rest of the freed conquistadors and informed the seargent. They all hurried as fast as they could through the thick brush which blocked their path, the tree branches and fauna were so close together one could not see 10 feet in front of them. The natives back at their tribal camp were just starting to regain their courage, they grabbed their weapons and brought their medicine man out to lead them. The conquistadors knew the natives were hot on their trail and ran for their life through the impenatreble woods, the captain had been stuck in the eye by pine needles and stabbed by thornbushes but still pressed on knowing the natives were closing fast. The men could hear the natives chanting and crashing through the woods behing them, then like a light at the end of a tunnel appeared the spaniard's camp. " Let us in Luitenant Vasquez!!! " shouted the captain in fear. Immediatey the spaniards inside made an opening inside the thick barrier and allowed the freightened soldiers inside.

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