ASRAN SERIES- ACROSS THE BORDER

Chapter - 12

“If you want then I could give you all the food that I have with me,” Robert said to the Tiny man and pulled out a few snacks that he picked in the village from inside his pocket.

The tiny man looked at the food items in his hands and scratched his horn once with a scrunched face. He then said, 

“No, that is not what I need. Anyway, who would want such lousy things to be exchanged with Renlow powder. Do you know how difficult it is to get your hands on such precious dust?”

After Robert heard him say that, he rolled his eyes and wondered, ‘Then why did you hide behind the plant and ate all the food that we fed it?’

Meanwhile, the Tiny man’s eyes kept on roaming towards Peter and he bravely said, “Moreover, I don't want to do any trading with the likes of you. I want him…”

He pointed at Peter and informed Robert which caused his blood to boil in anger. Robert immediately hid Peter well behind him and muttered, 

“That’s never going to happen. Take your plant and scurry away from here… before I place a curse on you.”

“Oh! Relax. Come on, I was only kidding… I only want a pinch of the Asran he was having in exchange for a big bottle of  Renlow powder. What do you both say?” The tiny man asked them.

Robert found something off with the two-horned person in front of him. He became alerted and tried to keep Peter away from his eyes. 

“See, you just have to give me a pinch of Asran’s dust and I will give a huge bottle of this in exchange… “ He pulled out a bottle that is twice his size from out of the plant’s mouth and said.

“So, what say, can we consider it a deal then?” The tiny man asked them with a hurried tone.

Peter almost reached for his neck to get the tube pendant but Robert stopped him by shaking his head and sent him a warning glare. He then held his arms with one hand and whispered,

‘Don’t you dare!’ He mouthed those words to Peter and turned to look at Tiny man. He then informed him, 

“What you are asking is highly impossible! We do not want to make any deal with you and I hope you will leave before I turn you into a squirting animal.”

Robert then took out his magic wand and held it in front of the Tiny man. It served as a reminder that if the Tiny man tried to pull any stunt then he would receive wrath from him. 

At the same time, Peter pulled his arm from Robert’s grip and murmured, “But he is only asking for a tiny pinch of that useless dust. Anyway, didn’t you say you want to get Renlow powder to finish your magic? So, I think it would only do us good if we can exchange...” 

Before Peter could protest, Robert kicked his legs and silenced him by staring at him with angry eyes. Robert once again turned towards the Tiny man and said with confidence, 

“We are not interested in this deal, so take your plant and hurry away from here. I don’t want to see your ugly face anymore.”

After feeling the distraught in the surroundings that were caused by them, the ‘Hygelnewl’ plant woke up with a slight annoyance. The plant immediately jumped out of the bag and took its original size. 

Its tentacles spread across the place and it seemed like a giant bird that was ready to take flight within a matter of a few seconds.

“Peter… Run!” Robert shouted and tried to escape from there along with Peter.

But before they could even take a few steps, the tentacles swished towards them and caught them. The tiny man scratched his horns and laughed out loud seeing their foolishness.

“How could you both even think that you can escape from her?” The tiny man pointed at the plant and asked them with a smirk.

Robert looked at him with fury-filled eyes and grudgingly ordered, “You better ask your plant to let go of us before I slice the tentacles like a meat chopper.”

…...

On the other side of the border, Sussan took the golden flower from inside her bag and broke a small part of a single petal. She crushed it by placing the piece in between her palm and then put it inside a bowl. 

She then started mixing the crushed petal with several other rare powders and potions she took from her medicinal kit along with a pinch of Asran’s dust. She put the bowl near Nameless’s mouth and fed him. 

Nameless instantly opened his eyes but looking at the people around him, he started to shiver once again. When he woke up once before, he saw all the people around him and then made him lose his consciousness again.

He had never been with so many people alone at any time without being inside Robert. So, it made him feel very uncomfortable right now and he desperately wanted to run away from there to be with Robert.

When Sussan noticed his frightened eyes, she looked at David and Brenda and nodded her head. But before she could ask them to leave, Brenda swiftly walked near Nameless and shook his shoulders. 

“Don’t even try to hide anything from us anymore. We already know what had happened and I for one, know that you are not Robert. Tell me where did you send Peter and Robert and how can we find them?” Brenda spoke harshly to him and made him back away from her in fear.

Nameless’s body began to tremble and tears formed on all his five eyes. Sussan noticed his distress and pushed Brenda away instantly. She then hugged the poor boy in front of him who was almost on the verge of losing his consciousness and tried to comfort him by patting his head.

“Shh… Shh… It’s ok. It's ok... Your mother is only concerned about your brother, Robert and she did not mean any harm to you. It's ok... calm down... It's going to be ok... Believe me...” Sussan spoke in a soothing voice to him, so that his pulse rate would come under control and not burst out.

When he calmed down a little, she glared at Brenda and said, “Can you leave us alone for a few minutes? I don’t want him to be afraid of us and get used to at least one person. He is already weak and the more nervous he gets, his health would deteriorate constantly. In turn, it would only affect Robert…”

Brenda looked down and shook her head in dismay. As she had faith in Sussan, she left her son with her and came out of the tent. Once she went out, she looked at David and said,

“David, you too… Please stay outside for some time and try to keep Brenda calm. She must be shocked right now and might be having some hard thoughts.”

David nodded his head but was still a little hesitant to leave her alone. After Sussan gave him a knowing smile then he left the tent. 

Sussan did not start to talk to him immediately, instead, she gave Nameless enough time to get adjusted to the circumstances around them. When she noticed his body color return to normal, Sussan handed the bowl of medicine in his hands and asked him to drink it.

“Drink this fully and do not leave a drop. It will give you some energy to hold yourself together. I am not sure for how long his medicine could work but I am hoping that it could stall your aging until Robert returns.” Sussan informed him.

Nameless looked at the bowl with wary eyes. He was unsure if he could trust the lady in front of him or not. Even though he knew that Sussan was Peter’s mother, he never had any interaction with her.

“It is ok. Don’t be afraid of me. Let me introduce myself first… My name is Sussan, I am Peter’s and Elly’s mother…” Sussan said to him.

Nameless lifted his head once and glanced at her. Then he slowly said, “I know…”

He then lifted the bowl and drank the liquid inside it at a steady pace without her urging him to do so.