ASRAN SERIES- ACROSS THE BORDER

Chapter - 49

As there was no more space to move, Sussan tried to hastily escape from the cave. But before she could even take a step further, the Ashes Lord came in front of her and hid her escape path. The Grey ashes fell out from his body while his eyes sparkled with delight. 

“Greetings, Sussan. We, meet again! I have been waiting for your arrival all these days and I am immensely content that I could finally meet you” Ashes Lord bowed and showed his respect to the lady.

Sussan just stood there without any reaction while glancing at the Ashes Lord. She could not get her senses back even after the Ashes Lord almost rubbed her cheeks with his hot hands.

“Are you feeling ok?” The Ashes Lord asked her to which he got silence as the answer.

“Hey…” The Ashes Lord moved away from her and decided to keep some distance from her.

The ashes by now had almost covered the area near them. So, he had to blow them away to the nearby cave wall. A few of the guardians immediately appeared before them and started to clear the remaining ashes.

Once they cleared the ground and left after putting the ashes on the side of the cave, the Ashes Lord once again tried to start a conversation with Sussan. But before he could say anything, Sussan hastily asked him,

“Why? Why are you like this? What is happening to you?”

The Ashes Lord looked at her and gave her a sad smile. He then lifted his hand to rub her head but then stopped mid-way and hung his arm down. 

“Are you dying?” Sussan slowly asked him.

After a minute of silence, the Ashes Lord replied without any expression on his face.

“Yes. I am,” He said and turned around to walk inside the Ashes cave.

“Then why are you still here on our planet instead of Ashes? If you are in the Ashes then you might not have to face such difficulty,” Sussan said to him.

She thought that his current condition was due to the environment of this planet. She did not know that it was because of something unimaginable that was happening inside the Ashes Lord’s body.

“I will tell you everything but not here. Let us go inside that cave, please,” Ashes Lord requested and extended his hands.

But instead of holding her hands, he only showed the path and then started to walk in the front. Sussan walked on top of the path of ashes that kept on falling from his body. The path that was created by the Ashes Lord while he walked made her heart queer.

She was not even sure if she could just walk like this on top of those Ashes or not. But almost everywhere she stepped on she saw ashes lying around on the ground. So, there was no way she could miss those Ashes.

Once he walked to the end of the cave, he turned around and sat on top of the Ashes pile. He then in an utmost whispering voice said,

“The answer to everything you have asked me and everything you want to know is in this book.”

He then handed over a grey book which was made of ashes to her. Sussan took the book in her hands and tried to open it. Ashes Lord shivered and fell on the ground while holding his chest. 

Sussan rushed near him to help him sit up but the Ashes Lord waved his hands and stopped her. With great difficulty, he slowly said,

“No! Not so fast. Do not open the book yet. The book is me and I am the book. Only after I die can you open the book and I promise you, it will have answers to all you want to know and even for some which you do not want to know.”

“I am sorry….” Sussan said in a low voice with her head held down.

“No… No… I am fine. Just do not touch me or open the book,” The Ashes Lord informed her.

Sussan immediately nodded her head and agreed with him. She then asked him, “How are you? Is it painful anywhere?”

“Pain? Don’t you know I have never felt any pain or happiness?” The Ashes Lord asked her.

Sussan gave an awkward smile and moved away from him. She could not continue the conversation and looked at the book in her hands. At that time, the Ashes Lord said in an inaudible voice,

“I have been waiting a long time to meet you. At times, I thought I might not get to see you before I left… I am relieved that we get to meet now before it’s too late.”

“I am also glad we met,” Sussan said and then wondered, ‘Now, I cannot ask for his help to save us. He is already in such a condition and if I try to say anything, that would only make me heartless. I better keep quiet and get my clan members out of here.’

“Even though you can take this book with you, for now, the rightful owner of my book is your son, Peter. When you meet Peter, you need to hand over the book to him and remember, no one must know of its existence except you and Peter! No one else must know...” He said in a stern voice.

Sussan once again nodded her head in understanding. She then said, “I promise you. I will keep this book a secret from everyone.”

After that, a few minutes of silence followed as both were dwelling on other topics that they wanted to ask each other but could not. Sussan was exhausted from running around and also after the memory mask was removed by Cathy.

She glanced at the Ashes Lord and asked him, “We met before in the Asran star for the yearly summit, didn’t we?”

“Oh! You remember…” The Ashes lord dusted his hands and the ashes flew to the sides of the cave.

“I did remember meeting you but …” Sussan stopped speaking and started to draw circles on the ground using her finger on top of the ashes.

“But?” The Ashes Lord asked her.

“But why did you mask my memory?” She directly asked him and suddenly made he fluster. 

After taking enough time to calm his agitated heart, just when he was about to reply to her, Sussan said, “It doesn’t matter anymore. Anyway, it was not your fault and I remember everything that happened when we met in the Asran star. Don’t worry, I will never disclose the truth to anyone.”

She then lifted her head and said, “I know you must be feeling pressured thinking that it would affect your image if they know about it. I understand. So, please do not worry, I will never talk about this and will keep it safe in my memory.”

“No… I did not mean it like that…” The Ashes Lord wanted to explain himself but Sussan stopped him.

“Please… At least let me do this for you. Actually, I am grateful to you. If not for you, I would have not had such happiness in my life,” Sussan told him.

Sussan then kept the book safely inside her infinite pouch. Then she stood up and said, “I think it’s time for me to leave… I have to bring my clan members outside the barrier soon or else their family members would worry about them.”

“Can’t you stay for a few more minutes?” The Ashes lord asked in a weak voice.

Sussan gripped her back and did not turn around to meet his eyes. She was afraid! She was afraid that she would have a chance of heart and stick with him. She cannot allow that to happen.

‘David is waiting for me outside. I cannot let him find out about them. She has to keep it a secret until her death,’ She thought and took her first step towards the cave’s exit.

But then she could not bring herself to move out of the cave. Instead, she rushed back and fell on top of the Ashes Lord.

“Why? Why does it have to be like this? Why did you do this to me?” With tearful eyes, she asked him.

The Ashes lord wanted to rub her head but he closed his eyes and controlled his overflowing emotions. He felt helpless for the first time in his life.