Across the border – Book I - 15 Chapter

The whole team searched for more than an hour but he did not find any trace of Ashes Lord. So they decide to move a little further to a better-hidden place to take shelter for that night.

The more further they went, the whole color of the land suddenly turned to golden yellow from red and it looked like it was on fire. And it actually felt too hot and everyone started sweating. They could not understand why it changed so much in just a few steps.

So they discussed among themselves and decided to send a team of five forward and a team of five backward. And once they come back and report the situation, they would decide which direction to go further or take shelter at their current place.

The team that they sent forward had been instructed to come back in twenty minutes as they did not want them to go far away which would delay their journey.

In five minutes the team which was sent to inspect the way which they used before, rushed forward and said they did not see much difference but they noticed an astonishing thing.

When they were coming back until they reached a certain distance, they could not see anyone at all. All of a sudden as if there was fog covering this area disappeared and revealed everyone.

Sussan after hearing that wanted to check the perimeter, so she took David and went to check it out. As the team said, it was until they reached the yellow patch they could not see anyone at all from the other end.

The distance was not so big, it was just a foot difference. When they touched the yellow part, they saw everyone and even if a little bit of their body was on the red side, then they can’t see them at all.

Sussan immediately shouted, “We are near where Ashes Lord’s is! All these tricks only he is capable of doing. And the heat, it is exactly like Ashes planet’s environment. He is here and that’s why we felt abnormal heat but it is normal for him.”

David then realized something and said, “We need to rush and save the team of five which went forward. If the Ashes Lord see them, we do not know who will start the fight but the result may turn irreversible”

Sussan and David hurried forward and informed everyone about it. As it is now slightly safe for them to stay wherever they are; they decided to let them rest for some time.

“Let me join you in the search for him,” Brenda said.

“No, I want you to stay here and protect the clan. I cannot leave them unprepared like how I left them before. It was my responsibility to protect them but I ignored it, as I had to search for my son before. But now I can only entrust their safety with you. Please take care” Sussan objected as she was sure that the more people she brings, the more danger it will become.

At the same time, she needs to save the team of five. So she decided to go by herself. Ashes Lord only knew her and no one else. She even denied David’s request to follow her by leaving some distance.

But she knows that Ashes Lord must have realized their presence when they set foot on his current territory. The more uncertain he becomes, the more danger it will be for everyone.

He always lived by himself in that whole of Ashes planet with only a couple of guardian families. He was said to be created by the star Asher itself and he is almost as old as Asher.

Even when he was selected as the king of Asher’s previous time, he made a replica of himself with all his good qualities. As he would be the King and would be residing in Asher for that period of time, Asher would dim his inner demon and maintain peace.

As it happened a long time again, no one was able to predict why it actually happened and how? As that was the first time in the recorded history that Asher chose Ashes as the king.

Everything was fine till now but what happened to Asher’s Lord he had to live in hiding. Even though he cannot create lifelike Asher does, his powers are not any less so why is he trying to create an imbalance in the whole system.

As Sussan got more confused, she tried to keep the goal of saving her kin rather than defeating Ashes Lord. But when she was about to lose hope in finding him, she saw the team of five had been enjoying a feast with the guardian families from Ashes.

But what they ate looked different and Sussan thought it might be poisonous, so she hurried towards them to stop them from eating that. All the guardian families looked at one another and ran behind some cave.

It all looked suspicious to Sussan as till now she never saw anything like this cave which is made from pure ashes. She hurriedly tried to follow the guardians inside but before she could move further, Ashes Lord came out while grey ashes were falling out from his body.

“Greetings, Sussan. We meet again!” Ashes Lord bowed and showed his respect to the lady.

Sussan just stood in awe while looking at him and the ashes which now almost covered the Ashes Lord. Few of the guardian families started clearing the ashes and put it around the cave.

“Why? Why are you like this? Are you dying?” Sussan asked him.

“Yes. I am” Ashes Lord replied.

“Why are you here on our planet instead of Ashes”, Sussan asked.

“I will tell you everything but not here. Let us go inside that cave” Ashes Lord requested.

Sussan followed the path of ashes which was created by the Ashes Lord while he walked. She was not even sure if she could just walk on it like this. But almost everywhere she stepped on she saw ashes lying around.

“The answer to everything you asked and everything you want is in this book”, he handed over a grey book which is made of ashes.

Sussan took the book in her hands and tried to open it. Ashes Lord shivered and felt down. With great difficulty, he said,

“Not so fast, the book is me and I am the book. Only after I die can you open the book and it will answer all you want to know and even some which you do not want to know. I have been waiting for a long time to meet you. Remember even though you can use this book for now, but the rightful owner of this book is your son, Peter. When you meet Peter, you need to hand over the book to him and remember, no one must know of its existence except you and Peter! No one else must know”