ASRAN SERIES- ACROSS THE BORDER

Chapter - 44

After giving the needed instructions, Brenda and Sussan started to search for Ashes Lord along with their team. After their first attempt, they realized that there are much more areas to cover and it would not be possible to finish in one day with such a small team.

As they couldn’t find Ashes Lord, they returned to the campsite with a sullen face. David and Sommer had come back from hunting for some time now. They had got lots of desert fruits and a few animals from their hunt.

At one side of the campsite, a few people cooked the food while at the other side someone cleaned the animals. Kids were playing in the middle of the campsite and the whole area shined as if some festival was going on.

The minute David saw Sussan and Brenda entering the campsite, he rushed towards them and stopped them from moving forward. He then looked at Sussan and asked her,

“Where did you go? And why do you all look so tired?”

“We…” Sussan couldn’t bring herself to tell him the truth.

She was tongue-tied and suddenly started to feel guilty for no reason. So, she glanced at Brenda once and then stared at her feet.

“We went to search for Ashes Lord,” Brenda said and then pushed David away from her path.

“Come, let’s go and get some rest… It’s too tiresome to walk in this hot desert,” Brenda mumbled and brought the people along with her.

David clenched his fist and stared at Sussan’s face. He wanted to ask her, ‘What's going on? And why are they searching for Ashes Lord on their planet instead of Ashes.’

But he could not bring himself to ask that and kept quiet. He opened his fingers slowly and extended his hands towards Sussan. Just before he could touch her, Sussan lifted her head and said, “I am going to meet Cathy.”

She then ran away from there. David gazed at her back and let out a deep breath. Anyone who saw him could easily say that he was trying to hold himself back. After kicking the ground and making the dust fly in the air, he stomped out of the campsite.

When Sussan reached Cathy’s dome, she saw that Cathy was not there. She was about to go back but noticed a shiny object on the ground. Just when she was about to bend down to pick that object, it showed Ashes Lord’s face and she immediately pulled her hand behind.

“Oh! You are back,” Cathy’s voice heard from behind her.

“Yes, I am…” Sussan said in a shaky voice.

Cathy bent her head and looked at Sussan’s face with her eyes bulged. She never expected to see Sussan in such an unrestful way and she also noticed that her face had turned pale. Her eyes followed Sussan’s gaze and noticed the mirror on the ground.

“Oh! This one! I was wondering where I had placed this magical mirror. Did it show you the love of your life?” Cathy asked and shocked Sussan once again.

After hearing that, Sussan’s whole body drained of blood and she gripped her dress. She then lied to Cathy without taking her words into her heart.

“No! I did not see anyone,” Sussan said without any emotions on her face.

“NO? I thought you would have seen David’s face. But that’s fine… Sometimes, the mirror might not work if it was surrounded by all the negative energy,” Cathy informed her.

She then continued to say, “Even though we all were singing and dancing on the outside, I am sure that no one in this g**g is actually happy. They miss their homes across the border and desperately want this war to be over. Anyone could see that they are already homesick and tired of the desert life. Are you sure, we do not have a way to go back?”

“I will find a way to go back, I promise. If only we could find Ashes Lord, then we would have a chance to win the war without a fight,” Sussan said in a determined voice.

“Sigh… But it won’t be so easy to find the Ashes Lord if he doesn’t wish to meet us. Also, even if by chance you found him, still it won’t be a breeze to convince him to help us. First of all, I am not certain about why he came to our planet in the first place,” Cathy said.

Suddenly, Sussan felt a prick in her heart and thought that she might know the reason for his appearance on this planet. She whisked around and walked away without saying anything to Cathy.

As Sussan behaved oddly, Cathy looked at her with a questioning gaze. Then it slowly turned into a small smile and she mumbled, “It looks like she started to get her memory back. I hope we are not too late.”

She then looked at the sky and said, “My husband in the Asran star, I am going to believe that the hint you sent in my dream is going to become true and we will join the once estranged lover together again.”

“What estranged lovers?” Brenda, who came near her at that time heard what her mother said and questioned her.

She wondered, ‘Is she talking about me and James?’

But her mother did not even respond to her and only gave her an intense stare. Cathy then muttered, “I have other important work to do other than worrying about a useless daughter like you.”

“Mom! You are… You are…” Brenda stuttered as her anger rose high and she could not even express what she wanted to say.

“Yes, I am your mom. You do not have to shout as everyone is already aware of that,” Cathy shrugged her shoulders and walked away.

Brenda punched the dome in frustration and it almost shook and got dismantled. She hurriedly controlled her emotions and hugged the dome with all her hands and legs.

“Please do not fall…” She tried to hold it together but the dome did not stop shaking.

“NO! No! No… don’t collapse…” She shouted.

Still, it was not enough and the temporary structure got demolished in no time. Cathy, who did not walk away very far, turned around after hearing the thundering noise and saw the horror happen in front of her eyes. She hastily walked towards Brenda and pulled her behind.

“Have you lost your mind? What if you got hurt? Don’t you have any brain at all? How could I face your husband, if you lost your life in this horrible desert? Why can’t you be a little more sensible?” Cathy started to scream at her daughter.

She could not believe that Brenda would try to hold the collapsing building. She almost lifted her hand to slap her daughter for her foolishness. But Sussan came over there and stopped it on time.

“Are you ok, Brenda?” Sussan held Brenda’s shivering body and asked her.

Brenda could not even shake her head as her heart almost stopped and then raced against her ribcage. She did not expect her one slight punch would make the whole structure collapse. Then her brain warned her that it was not just a slight punch but she gathered all her strength one her fist before punching the dome wall.

At that moment, David came over there and said, “I think we should start moving from here if we don’t want our enemies to find out about our existence. Right now, we don’t even have enough power to even defend ourselves.”

“No, I think we should search for Ashes Lord. Only if we get him on our side then we will be able to live peacefully. I don’t want to run any longer. Enough is enough,” Sussan announced and made everyone stunned.

“Ashes Lord?” All the people around them mumbled one after another and whispered to each other.

Sussan could understand that they are concerned because of the nature of the Ashes Lord. But, right now, he would be their only chance to help them escape from this hell.

“I know, you all have your doubts but please trust me on this one as well. I have a way to make Ashes Lord listen to our request. He is one of the oldest…" She stopped speaking and looked at the crowd.