ASRAN SERIES- ACROSS THE BORDER

Chapter - 20

Sussan dashed towards Brenda and helped her stand up. She even dusted off her dress and asked her, “Are you ok? Did you get hurt anywhere?”

“I am fine, Sussan. I am strong, so don't worry,” Brenda said and gazed at David with uncertain eyes.

Even though his excuse for making her fall down sounded reasonable, still she could feel that something about him was not right.

“We need to go in the opposite direction, let's hurry,” David informed them and started to walk in the front without waiting for the others.

He also pulled Nameless along with him against his wishes. Brenda and Susan gave him a strange look because of his sudden interest in Nameless. Still, they followed behind them without complaining as they anyway did not have anything to do over there.

After moving in the direction of the light, Sussan slowly asked David, "Didn't you go and check for the exit earlier? Is there a way out of this path? How long do we need to walk before we can get out of this place?”

Without turning around, David told her, “I couldn’t go far and check as I did not want to leave you alone. But I am sure that this might be the only way out from here as I don’t see any other path or tunnel around here.”

"I don't know for how long we need to walk like this to reach the end of this tunnel. This is too big of a stretch and it's frantic activity. Also even if we could see the light from here, I wonder if it's really close to us or very far away?" Brenda asked them.

"We cannot say... Even the Asran star looks close to us but it's millions of miles away from us..." Sussan commented.

After that, they kept on walking along the muddy path for an hour in silence. Nameless somehow released his hand from David's grip and came near his mother. At that moment, Brenda stopped walking and said,

“I can’t... I can't walk any longer. I am too tired. Why don’t we test for five minutes before we can continue this long walk? Also, it seems like there is no end to this tunnel at all.”

She then squatted on the ground and held her aching legs. Just when David was about to reject that idea, Susan hurriedly said, 

“Yes, I too agree with Brenda. It had been a long walk and I think we need to rest a little if we want to save some of our energy. We don’t know what awaits us further down this path and it’s better to get energized before we continue our journey.”

David immediately nodded his head and agreed with her. When Brenda noticed that, she bent near Sussan and whispered to her.

“If it was only me who had asked to get some rest, David would have never agreed. He always gave in to your every order.”

"What do you mean by order? I only said my opinion and supported your decision to take some rest," Sussan mumbled and then glanced at David once.

She then smiled at Brenda who in turn winked at Sussan. Sussan shook her head and then took out some of the stored food from her infinite pouch. She started to share it with everyone equally.

Even though Brenda scrunched her face after looking at the food in her hands, she didn’t have the heart to criticize the meal in front of her as it was given by Sussan.

“I hope Peter and Robert too got some food to eat and are not starving now,” Sussan suddenly said with a sad voice.

"Don't worry. I am sure, before leaving Robert must have packed enough food. Don't you know about him? He is totally a foodie just like me," Brenda said and tried to comfort her.

But then after thinking about her son, Peter, Sussan could not eat any longer. So, she gave her share to Nameless, who was actually enjoying the food she gave him. This was the first time Nameless was eating something by himself. 

So, every food in front of him looked delicious, even though the taste of the stored food was not that tasty. As he had always spent his time inside Robert, he never had a taste bud of his own. This time as well he couldn't taste the food but as he was eating it on his own, he started to enjoy it a lot.

“Are you not hungry??” Brenda asked Sussan after seeing her give her share of food to Nameless. 

She too handed over her share of food to Nameless as she couldn't bring herself to eat those dried foods. She wondered, 'Why would both her boys eat anything they find edible and even enjoy it a lot while eating? They both must take after their father in that matter."

“I couldn't bring myself to eat without knowing if Peter ate or not. Moreover, I feel that I failed as a mother… I hope that they will return soon as we couldn't get the Renlow powder to them; Instead of going on that crazy mission to find his missing sister,” Sussan said with a sad face.

Brenda nodded her head to show her understanding and then asked her, “Do you think Robert will be ok without Nameless? I am too worried and I don’t know why but I am having this feeling… Like… Something very heavy had been placed on my heart and it's making it difficult for me to breathe.”

She then rubbed her chest and leaned towards the tunnel wall next to her. Sussan hugged Brenda and patted her back to comfort her as she too had the same feeling. She felt like something big got stuck in her throat and placed a heavy object on top of her heart.

 “I think we both need this…” She said and took out a bottle from her infinite pouch.

Then she shook it in front of Brenda’s eyes before opening the bottle of calming potion. She made Brenda drink a drop and then she too drank a drop of the calming potion as an overdose could result in deep slumber. 

 Once they both had calmed down a little, Sussan carefully placed the bottle back in the pouch again. Even though it made them breathe a little easier, their eyes still had some tears. They both missed their sons dearly and hoped for them to come back soon.

Sussan then went near David and sat next to him. She asked him, "Are you feeling, ok? Do you also want some of the calming potions?"

"No, I am fine! Save it, you might need it more as I see that you are crying again," He said and wiped her tears away.

Sussan gave him a sad smile and asked him, "Do you think Peter and Robert will come back?"

"I don't know but I can tell you that they are two strong young men. They know what they are doing and who they are doing it for? So, don't worry so much and give them a chance. They will become great leaders in the future," David said.

Tears rolled down from Brenda's eyes after she heard what David said. She then swiftly wiped her tears away and caressed Nameless's head.

"Eat slowly, no one is going to take your food from you. If you want more food, I will ask Sussan to take some out from her infinite pouch," Brenda said to Nameless and made his eyes shine like stars.

"I didn't know that we could satisfy my other kid, so easily with only dried food. I could never understand what Robert wanted most of the time. He would go around with Peter and spend most of his day trying to cast new magic. He was always active but my other son looks like he is a quiet person... How could I have not noticed you all these years and had missed you?" Brenda mumbled.

She then Sussan’s hands and said, “Don't you think it is better to make Nameless communicate with Robert once again and see what happened on the other side. I hope they resolved the issue for the Renlow Powder with that Tiny man or it would be best if they had decided to come back as per our wishes.”

“I hope so too…” Sussan kept her head on Brenda's shoulders and sighed.

Nameless lifted his head and looked at them with sorrow-filled eyes. His stomach wasn't even half full and he was hungry. He hoped that they would wait until he finished eating before making him contact Robert again.