ASRAN SERIES- ACROSS THE BORDER

Chapter -34

Elly then asked James in a pitiful voice, “Uncle James, can we free all those animals and people as well? They have suffered a lot already under the evil witch's hands and I feel that we should not abandon them. If we do that then we will also be similar to the evil witch. My mom has always told me that turning a blind eye on someone suffering is equal to a sin of almost taking a life.”

James stared ahead once and then he shook his head. He knew that it would be too much of a risk. Moreover, if they were exposed by blasting the gate too then they all would get stuck inside a cage as well. Right now, they only broke the outside wall. 

And if they try to make other changes in that room then their chance of escaping from here may turn one percent to zero percent. Also, he did not want to take that risk with so many children along with him. His first priority was to see to it that these children escaped from here with no more harm and reached the military campsite safely.

“We cannot take them with us as of now, but I will make sure to come back again and release them. I promise! Also, if needed, I will help them to get back to their own planets as per their request. But right now, we need to leave from here as soon as possible, leaving them behind,” James informed Elly.

Elly’s face immediately saddened and she gripped her dress in despair. As James knew that it would get difficult if she refused to leave with him now, he tried to push her out of the hole first. 

He noticed that the time was running out and the place may once again get shut off from the rest of the world if they don’t act fast. His team also could not hold the barrier to enter this place for long as they were already too tired because of the current war.

No one had slept for days and had been working and fighting with the unknowns for quite some time now. They would have not even agreed to come with him if they knew that they had been trying to breach the witch's place.

If they had known that the evil witch was involved in all these then no one would have had the courage to even come close to this place. 

“Don’t expect anything from him, Elly. He would never help the weak and nor would he keep his promise. Look at me and my mother for example, we are still suffering and he did nothing to help us,” Robert commented with a scuff.

Then he looked at James with disdain and his eyes showed he did not have any respect for his father anymore. Robert then pulled Elly from near the hole and made her stand behind him, so that his father, James could not push her outside.

James gritted his teeth to control his anger and his temptation to hit his son, Robert. But all he could only say to him was, “Let us talk about who did not keep the promise once your mother is also here with us. For now, why don’t we do one simple thing?”

Robert seemingly looked at his father, James with a questioning gaze. James did not show any explicit expression on his face and slowly said,

“Let us lock ourselves and sit inside this cage doing nothing as we won’t leave from here on time. Oh! Wait! Isn’t it better to stay here for the witch to come and curse us or even extract unique powers that we have in our body. Or we could even let your friend Peter die here as you don’t want to get away from this horrid place when we have a chance. Moreover, the evil witch could also destroy my whole team and us together so that you will be satisfied that you did something good by letting all the creatures escape.”

“Dad!” Robert screamed and then he blew out loudly.

He then gritted his teeth and muttered, “All I am saying is unlocking their cage. What’s so difficult about that?”

“Unlocking the cage? It’s not a normal bird cage we are talking about. Have you seen what happened to Princess Nina and Peter when they touched the bars of the cage? You want to put your life at stake by touching the remaining cage too?” James asked him and made Robert dumbstruck. 

He did not think about the poison or the electric current that surrounded each cage. He turned around once and looked at the creatures inside the cage with pitiful eyes.

“I am sorry, Elly. Whatever my father said makes sense now. We cannot delay any longer and it’s better for us to leave from here soon. Our only option currently is to come back later to defeat the evil witch and then we will rescue them.” Robert informed Elly in a sad voice.

“No… Without helping them, I won’t come with you. I can’t turn a blind eye after seeing all these creatures suffer. My mom would never forgive me if I leave them here,” Elly spoke in a stern voice and turned around to go outside their cage.

As the wall was broken from behind them because of its impact, their cage door had slightly opened and the latch had come off. All she needs to do now is to somehow fit in the gap and reach the other side. Then she has to figure out a way to open the cages of those creatures.

“Elly, Listen to me. I will speak with your mom and inform her that it was a difficult situation. We cannot waste our time here anymore as the breach might have already reached the evil witches ears. We need to leave now! As for your mother, she would be proud that you were able to save your brother and others.” James said and then walked near Elly.

He placed his hands on her shoulder and said, “Sometimes, in war, a few unfortunate people lose their lives. We do try to save everyone’s life but it’s not possible all the time. To achieve something great we have to make a few sacrifices. I am sorry but we need to get away from this place before it’s too late.”

“Can we really not do anything about this? How can we abandon them? Look at them, they have already been placed on various experiments. I don’t think most of them would survive even one more night,” Elly said and looked at him with begging eyes.

As James had been in the military for longer than he could think of, he knew what those eyes meant. He had seen so many people die in front of him. He had always thought his heart had already hardened enough to reject such silly requests.

But after looking at Elly’s sad face, he could not help but his heart wavered. He looked at Peter once and sighed. Peter looked like he doesn’t have a long time left to live. 

‘Should I just blow up all the cages and free these creatures? But we don't even know what these creatures were capable of doing once they came out of the cage. What if they create more damage to the already damaged country.’ He wondered and let out another sigh.

“Uncle, please… I beg you. Save them. If needed I will stay behind and face the wrath of the evil witch. But please save them all. They have to escape from his hell… And only you can do that…” Elly held James’s hands and said while tears rolled down her eyes.

“Dad, I understand the consequences we need to face but since Elly is not ready to come with us without freeing them, I think we have to free them. Moreover, we cannot leave her behind as it would mean that I broke the promise I made with Peter. So, please just help us release them from those damn cages,” Robert also held his hand and begged him.

He looked at the determined kids and couldn’t help but smile and feel proud for their bravery and selflessness. 

“Alright… But first, I want you all to get to safety. Later, I will come back inside and free them.” James finally agreed to them.

“But…” Robert and Elly said at the same time in objection.