ASRAN SERIES- ACROSS THE BORDER

Chapter - 43

“We will see. Right now, our priority is to get rid of the poison in Peter’s body. Also, sending our militants outside the border is not appropriate as of now. As there is a high possibility for them to think that we had sent militants to attack them,” James told Linda.

Linda nodded her head as if she understood the situation but her eyes showed she was disappointed. While everyone rushed forward to enter the portal, Linda walked slowly as if she was in no hurry to enter the portal at all.

Once she made sure everyone had entered the portal, she threw Elly into the portal. Then she tilted her head alone to look behind her and smirked at the Old witch, who was watching them from afar from the tall building’s tower. She then jumped into the portal and disappeared from there.

After she entered the portal, it vanished from Bairania’s view and the whole area turned too quiet as if nothing happened just now. Everything returned to normal and Bairania increased the power of blocking spells around that building.

Once the militants and the kids reached the camp, James sent the children into a tent. Then he ordered his subordinates to carry the frozen Peter into a restricted area. 

When Robert tried to stick around Peter, James held him back and gave him an intense stare. Robert tried to struggle out of his hands until James whispered something in his ears.

“Keep a close eye on Elly! She might not be one of us,” James told him.

Robert immediately turned into an angry five-eyed person and shouted, “Oh! Shut up! How dare you say something like this in front of me? Are you now trying to drive a wedge between us, friends? Do you think it’s going to work after you kicked me and my mother out of the house?”

Robert pushed him behind and turned around to walk away from his father, James.

But James held him back and said with utmost patience, “ Listen, kid, I will say this one last time. I never kicked you and your mother out of our house. It was you two who left me behind and went. If only you both waited for a few minutes, I was coming back home anyway. But no! You both were in such a hurry to explore the desert and abandon me. What could I do in that situation? Leave a country behind which is in a war and chase behind you both?”

He then took a deep breath to calm his nerves and then said, “First, I am militant then I am a family member. Your mother loved me because I always put this planet’s wellness first. Even when we got married…”

“What? What happened when you got married? Did you run away to take care of your duties, right after the marriage ceremony? Don’t you have a heart at all?” Robert interfered and questioned him.

“No, I wanted to say that I was willing to stay behind but your mother sent me away to escort her best friend Sussan to the star Asran,” James said and made Robert speechless.

James saw his dumbstruck expression and chuckled. He then said, “Listen, I have no intention to separate you from your friends. I never do such a heartless thing to anyone; especially not to my son or anyone from my family. All I am asking you is to verify if the friend you think is actually your friend or it was a clone or maybe a traitor sent by that evil witch.”

After hearing his father’s words, Robert started to think in a different direction. As James noticed his son’s clear face, he continued to say,

“I am not doing anything or asking you to do anything bad. Our operation had only a ten percent chance of success. Even though we were not fully prepared, we came expecting a fight. But everything went so smoothly and even though the witch could have interfered, she did not act at all! It is not very usual as per her character. So, don't you think something is not right about this situation?”

Robert understood that what his father had said to him just now made a lot of sense. Even when they were searching for Elly, it was too easy that she came to them and found them first. Yes, they used the magic to find her but he surely did not expect that Elly would just appear before them so easily.

As James saw that Robert was actually understanding his point of view, he felt relieved. He waited for Robert to share his opinion on this matter. But as Robert was stubborn, he did not open his mouth even after a long time. 

So, James had to continue to share his own thoughts. Also, he had to make him understand that it was really necessary to keep an eye on Elly as they could not afford any more mistakes at this stage.

“Elly, might not be the one but the witch had enough time to infiltrate our team so easily. I have my eyes on one more person but I would not tell you right now, who that might be! Just make sure to keep an eye on Elly and I will take care of the rest,” James almost gazed at his son with expectation.

When James finished speaking, he slightly turned his head towards Linda and his eyes twitched. He did not expect her to stand very close to them. He was unable to make sure if she had heard his conversation with Robert or not. 

Linda, who was listening to their conversation until now pretended as if she had just got jolted awake. She turned around and almost rushed to the other side.

But she controlled her footing on time and walked near them with slow steps. When she was almost very close to Robert, she pulled him into a hug, and with tear-filled eyes, she said in a crying voice,

“Thank goodness! You are feeling fine. I was so concerned about you as well after seeing Peter’s situation. At least you were doing alright and that evil witch did not do anything to you.”

Robert struggled in her grip and tried to escape from her. But Linda’s hold was too tight that he could pull his head from her hands. After enjoying his struggle for a long time, she finally let go of him when both his cheeks had turned red from her squeezing.

She then turned towards James and said, “Chief, Thank you! Thank you for saving the kids without worrying about the risk.”

“No, need to thank me. It’s my duty as a militant to keep my people safe; Especially children born on this planet as they are the future of this universe. Also, the kids whom I saved are my son and my wife’s best friend’s kids. So, I don’t think I need any thank you from anyone for carrying out my duties,” James said in a strict voice. 

“Yes, boss,” Linda saluted and hastily left from there.

Once she was a little away from everyone, she started making plans to change James's distrust completely towards Elly. Slowly her brain started to process the way how she could make Elly, the culprit. 

But before she could think of a full plan someone suddenly hugged her from behind. Then an almost tipsy voice came from her back

“Lin, darling, my wife, my baby! I missed you! I missed you so much all these hours. Now, be a good girl and why don’t you turn your head and give me a kiss,” Draven demanded Linda in a drunken state and he leaned very close to Linda.

Linda immediately turned her head alone and kissed him without thinking much into this situation. Being kissed by Linda for the first time and that too without a fight, Draven instantly became sober!

But before he could realize what had happened, Linda put her hand on top of his head and made him sleep!

‘What a grave mistake I made! In Linda’s memory there is no way she would have kissed that creature in front of me,” Linda mumbled. 

At that moment, several militants rushed near them and stopped her from bringing Draven away.

‘He is just lucky today. But I am sure, I will get lots of opportunities to make him suffer or even to take his life!’ She thought with a cunning smile.

The militants held Draven and brought him to his tent. They had several other people who were in need of treatment from the other tents.