ASRAN SERIES- ACROSS THE BORDER

Chapter - 4

Linda smirked haughtily when she gazed at the couple who were behind the small bush as if they couldn’t find any other better place to hide. They looked like two fools who didn't know about the danger that was lurking near them.

Still, when she ran her eyes around, she realized that there really was no other better safe place to give them a proper hiding place.

'After all, it’s a desert and what can one find in such a lousy place?' She thought.

Meanwhile, Sussan and David still did not notice her presence at all. They kept their watch in the front while checking around frantically for any sign of Peter.

Linda used their diversion as her opportunity and she snapped her fingers twice. A pebble flew in the air and using her ability to shift objects without touching them, she manipulated the pebble to turn into a giant bug. 

She then let it crawl near David and waited for it to create a horrific scene. Unknown to the creature inching towards him, David stared at the militants with cautious eyes.

“It seems like we might need to wait a little longer than normal times. They are doing a thorough search of the portals today compared to other days. Do you think Peter could have used one of these faulty portals and they found out about it?” David whispered to Sussan in a low voice.

She gripped the thorny bush in her hands and blood oozed out from her hands. It slowly dripped on the ground and disappeared the minute the droplets touched the ground after turning black. She was tense and frightened.

‘No, Please... Peter, do not get caught… Stay far away from these militants. I will find you soon... Mommy, I will come and get you...The minute, they catch you, they will use you and would never hesitate to sacrifice you. Please… please be safe... please...’ Tears rolled down her cheeks and blocked her vision.

She held her face with both her hands and tried to control the tears that were flowing non-stop. 

By that time, the huge bug had almost opened his mouth to bite David. But before it could even touch a part of him, he caught the bug with his bare hands without turning around and squeezed its neck. The bug turned into a pebble and dropped on the ground.

As Sussan had her face covered, David sneaked away without saying anything to her. He moved behind cautiously and once he was out of hearing sight, he uttered,

“You can come out now!”

Linda chuckled a little and shook her head in disappointment. The minute she noticed that Draven was not following after her, she made a detour and hurriedly approached the people who were bravely coming towards the border.

To her surprise, it turned out to be someone she was very much familiar with and it was her own brother and sister-in-law. She couldn't believe that they had the guts to come back to the border once again.

“Brother, when we gave you a chance to escape from here, you should have utilized it and ran away as far as possible. Don’t you know what is happening across that border? Do you want to die along with your wife who they think is the leader of the dark ones?” Linda questioned him sarcastically.

David stood there quietly and kept on staring at her without uttering a word. It touched her bad nerves and she sneered at him.

“What do you think you could make me feel? Guilty towards you and your fake family? Just run, when you possibly can! Why are you back here?” Linda smirked and then threw the pouch with flying stones at him.

David caught it mid-air and gave her a questioning look. Linda mockingly looked at his expressionless face and said,

“This is all I could do for now. Also, I hope that this will be our final meeting and make sure that we do not have to come across each other ever again. If we do cross paths even by mistake then I can’t help but bring you both back to the base to receive your punishment for trying to wreak havoc in our country.”

She then hopped on her flying machine to get away from there. Just before she could go away, David suddenly cried out loud while begging her in a sad voice. She was astonished at his sudden change and when she peeked a little to the sides, she understood the reason.

“Lin, please. Peter is missing. I need your help, so I beg you… Just this one time alone... One last time, help me… I would give you anything you want...” David fell on his feet and his face showed some sad emotions compared to before when he had no expression at all.

“No, I don’t want to help you and I will not. Anyway, what do you think you can give me? You have nothing and you are worth nothing. This ends here, once and for all. I do not want to be involved with dark ones any longer. It will only bring disaster to me and I don’t want to be banished just like you and your family,” Linda stared at him and muttered.

“Lin, please! Just for the sake of our good old times. Elly is also missing and now Peter is gone. I listened to you and left that place with him and Sussan, even leaving our poor Elly behind as we couldn't find her. I beg you now, please do not abandon your family when they are in need. What will we do without our children?” David held Linda’s hand and stopped her from going away when he saw her start the flying hoverboard.

“Looks like you are still practicing seeing that I could not release my hand from your hold. Your raw skills are pretty good even after giving all your powers to me in exchange for your escape. But listen, dear brother, we had a deal… You give me all your powers and I allow you three to escape to the other side of the border,” Linda said and removed her hands from his tight grip easily. 

Then she continued to say, “I did keep my part of the deal and helped you. Now we have nothing to do with each other. Just for the sake of being your sister, I brought that pouch to you this once... For one last time. Right now, I want you both to disappear from my sight, or else I would inform Draven about this matter. Then you do know what will happen next and I am sure, I don’t have to say it out loud.” 

Linda hissed at David and pushed him away with force. She then gazed at Sussan who was standing behind her with disgust before flying away from there. She did not want to be mingled with these two anymore and put her life at stake.

‘If their son was missing then it’s their fault for not watching over him properly. How could I be responsible for that? And he even dared to ask for help once again after being cast away by the whole clan,’ She huffed and zoomed towards the border.

Sussan held David’s hand and squeezed it tightly. She knows people change easily but she never thought that she would ever encounter such things in her life.

“I am sorry, it is all my fault. Once we find Elly and Peter, I would go away from here with them and will never come back to this place ever again. I hope that you would forget us and unite with your family. They will forgive you and take you back if we are not around you. Also, you could marry someone of your caliber and live a happy life instead of suffering with us in this desert,” Sussan mumbled and let go of his hand.

She was hurt but she understood that for everyone’s sake, she had to do this. She briskly walked forward towards the border and failed to notice the poisonous plant that was lurking near her.

She stepped her foot on the plant and it almost engulfed her leg within a fraction of a second. When David saw her being swallowed by a huge plant, he rushed towards her. He took the magical knife that he hid from Sussan earlier and tried to cut the plant.

But Sussan stopped him and snatched the knife from his hands. She then whispered in a hurried voice,

“Don’t you know if you cut it with this Sorcerer’s knife then that would destroy them completely?”