ASRAN SERIES- ACROSS THE BORDER

Chapter - 11

Robert transferred the powder into a small mud pot and closed it with a lid tightly before the dust could escape.

“Now all that’s left out of the ingredients to get is... Renlow powder. The magical powder that comes out of… ha… I forgot where we could find them...” Robert said and scratched his head.

Peter, who was watching him silently until then asked him, “So, how are you going to get the powder if you don’t know where to search for it? I don’t think anyone would bring it right to us in the middle of this deserted area, will they?”

He then acted as if he was searching around that place and then mockingly said, “I don’t see anyone coming towards us and handing the rarest Renlow powder in our hands. What should we do now, Robert? Your magical experiments fail the minute you don’t have enough ingredients. That’s why I am telling you to stop wasting our time on magic and do things in a commoner's way.”

“One minute… Let me check in my memoranda if we could replace the Renlow powder with something else,” Robert swiftly said and started to search inside his bag.

“That’s enough. If your useless experiment is finished then can we start already? We are behind our schedule a lot and I don't want to wait until this place gets brightened with the Asran star. The militants could start their rounds in the early morning and I want to reach the city before it gets busting with people.” Peter said impatiently.

“Peter, this is our chance to reach Elly soon. Why don’t you check your bags? By chance, if you have Renlow power then it would hardly take a second for us to reach your sister,” Robert urged him.

Peter rubbed his forehead in annoyance. Still, he looked into his bag and then said, “No, I don’t have… Now can we go?”

He asked for the nth time and Robert was not ready to leave from there without the so-called Renlow powder. Robert searched his bags for the memoranda, as he could not find it, he asked Peter,

Did you by chance come across my memoranda? Or did you take it by mistake and place it inside your bag when you were packing our luggage?”

Peter shook his head and shrugged his shoulder as if he did not care about his stupid notebook.

“It seems like we might have dropped it at the last camping site. I think we should go back and check?” Robert said and turned around to go to the place where they camped a few hours ago.

“Robert! Are you kidding me? If you are intentionally delaying me from reaching my sister then you are right now crossing the line. If you are not interested in coming to the city then just stay here. I will go and bring my sister,” Peter shouted as he had almost lost his mind over his tantrums.

“Ignorant! Ignorant! Ignorant!” Robert screamed after hearing what Peter said.

“Why do you think I am trying so hard right now? I also want to find Elly. I miss her too… She is someone special to me,” Robert said with a sad voice and became teary-eyed.

The minute he started crying, Peter ran near him and hugged him. He then apologized to him and said, 

“I am sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings by saying such rude things. I… I… I have no excuse… You know how stupid I am as I could never learn magic even though my mother is a powerful mage? And what a loser I am after how I let everyone down! If it was not because of me, my parents would have never lost Elly in the first place…”

Robert wiped his eyes and slowly said, “If only you had Renlow powder, then we could have by now rescued Elly.”

“Come on, you never said that we would need all these ingredients before leaving and you did not bring them as well. Moreover, I didn’t even know that we can use such a simple method to reach my sister until you said so earlier,” Peter stated and patted Robert’s shoulders. 

After racking his head for a second, Peter asked him, “Why don't we feed the plant again and ask to give us the ingredient? If the flower has magical properties then who knows, the plant might as well have some.”

“Good idea, my brainy boy,” Robert became excited once again and took out a small piece of a snack from inside his pocket.

When Peter gave him a disgusted look, Robert said, “Don’t look at me with those sickening eyes. I told you earlier that I went to the border village, right? I noticed some good snacks inside a few houses and as there was no one to eat them, I picked it along the way. Since I didn’t bring any bag with me, I had to stuff a few good items inside my pockets just like this one…”

He threw some marble-colored heart-shaped dough rolls into Peter’s bag. The minute the plant smelled food, it woke up immediately and caught the roll in its mouth. 

After swallowing the food, the plant just opened and closed its eyes once before continuing its sleep. 

“What now?” Peter asked him after glancing at the lazy plant. 

He didn’t know if walking that plant would be a good idea as its magical power was not something he had come across before. It felt like they were walking up a sleeping tiny dragon.

“I will try to throw some more food…” Robert pulled one more roll from inside his pocket. Peter as usual scrunched his face but decided to put up with him.

At that moment, a small voice was heard from inside the plant which made them jump up in surprise.

“I can give you the Renlow powder that you desperately want. But in return,  what could you both give me?” A tiny figure asked them after climbing out of the plant’s mouth.

“Who are you and why are you coming from inside the plant? Are you the one who was eating the food until now? How did you even go inside the plant?” Peter questioned him continuously. 

The tiny man held the two horns on his head and then put his tongue out. He then made some weird noises while moving his tongue from one side to another.

“Blrr… blrr… blrr… Why do you have so many questions?” The tiny man huffed and then let out a blurb sound.

“Are you the guardian of this plant? But why are you so small? I read in a book that you are all giants and could crush a whole army with one stamp,” Robert asked him.

Instead of replying to him, the tiny man started to laugh out loud. He has to hold his tummy as the extra muscles on his stomach started to shake when he laughed.

Peter took out a small hand knife from the bag and held it across his neck. He then ordered, “Answer us, if you want to live!”

The tiny man did not get frightened by the weapon on his neck. He only took a look at the sleeping plant before he pushed the knife away from his neck in a relaxed way. He then slowly said,

“If I were you, I would not threaten someone who only wants to help you both. Also, do you think you could actually defeat me with such a tiny weapon? Do you not see the plant under my legs?”

“Peter, stop. Let him be…” Robert pushed Peter behind him and stood in a protective stance before him.

“You said, you have the Renlow powder. Can you give it to us?” Robert asked the tiny man.

“Yes, I have the Renlow power that you want. But I asked you a question earlier which neither of you answered me yet. What will I get in return if I give you the Renlow powder?” The short-tempered, tiny man asked them while rubbing his horns.

“In exchange for that powder, what do you want from us? Food? Or Magical…” Before Peter could say anymore, Robert rushed in and stopped him.

Robert then told the Tiny man, “We only have a few snacks with us that I picked from the village."