Chapter 7 - Ashmita

Lotus Kingdom

Amy Waterfall

The sun is setting down the horizon and a group of armed bandits are crossing the waterfall to reach a nearby village to rob that night. When that group reached the waterfall they saw a light across the river and started to hear a soothing music travelling in the air which felt so pleasant.

The group moved in the direction where the light and the music seemed to be coming from. In a far away distance, they found a group of people playing instruments and looking in a certain direction. The bandits also looked in that direction and the sight which caught their eyes made them dumbstruck.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, the fleeting colours of dusk faded into the sky. The charcoal-black rocks circled around the small pools of water, shimmering confidently before dark fell upon them. Air from the mountain valleys came voyaging over the rivers filled the place.

And there.. was a girl wearing a gorgeous white dress.. her hand adorned by a neat piece of veil.. her ears bearing cute little studs twinkling for light.. and her slender neckline embraced by a light beautiful necklace.

She is dancing to the music with grace. Her moves are smooth like a floating feather and with her each twirl, the silky hair swirls spreading a mild fragrance. Also the veil does a beautiful dance as she makes such beautiful strokes in the air. When her veil touched the nearby bush, waking up a group of fireflies and those which settled on her head like a crown made her the "Queen of the heaven".

There, in that light, glows a face that can pierce through the darkness, a beautiful little chin which babies would love to play with, flawless soft skin which a flower grows envy for, an artistic pair of ears for whose attention a waterfall would stop falling, lovely sleek eyebrows because of whose wink a rainbow forgets to bend completely, a set of wide mesmerising eyes for whose stare a star would die, a straight long nose which a river would aspire to flow like, a perfect set of lips for whose tender kiss a man would sacrifice heavens.

Her beauty makes the creator proud, the goddesses jealous, the angels worship. Her beauty can inspire nature and also can blind men. The bandits could never in their wild dreams have imagined that they will see such a beauty one day.

Slowly the girl started moving towards the bandits but they couldn't notice this as they were already blinded by her beauty and within seconds she's just 2 feet away from them. Seeing her so close, they've lost all their senses and started to look at her with their jaws dropped. Suddenly, a sword appeared in her hand and she held it against the leader's neck. Everyone startled. Again.. jaws dropped.

She then slowly looked at every bandit and said, "Shall we start?"

Recovered from their stupor and when the realisation hit them, everyone drew their swords to fight. With the subtle music being played in the background, the fight started.

She slashed her sword and killed the 4 bandits at once who surrounded her and it went like a dance move. She once turned around and stood steady holding the sword, firm. This.. gave her an aura of a Queen.

Without any knowledge of what has happened and how it's happened, all the bandits around the leader fell down to the ground. Facing this situation, the leader started to sweat and his legs turned jelly. He tried to run but his legs could not even support his escape.

"W..Wh.. Who..Who are you?" his voice breaking while speaking.

"Ahh.. My Bad.. I still haven't introduced myself right..?" The girl asked with her eyes blinking innocently. Leader dumbstruck by her performance, got to the thinking, 'Is this the girl who killed all my people or am I hallucinating? Wait.. this is a dream!' and started laughing.

"Any last wish?", the girl asked coldly.

Hearing this, the bandit sensed a shiver from his head to toe. The temperature dropped suddenly and he thought that he was trapped in an ice cube. Now when he looked into her eyes again, those were not innocent anymore. She started to look like an evil goddess and her eyes burning with fire. He thought that his own eyes were playing with him.

"Your Name!?", he asked hesitatingly.

"Haha! Name..? Is that your last wish..? Hmm!! That's a happy surprise..! I have never met anyone who asked my name as their last wish before.." she said, blinking her eyes and wiping her fake tears.

"Ok.. My dear enemy.. I will fulfil your last wish and I also want to fulfil another wish you didn't ask for", she said.

Before he said anything she continued, "I will kill you with one swift motion, I promise.. you will not feel a pain. Then, as for your crimes, I will just leave you here so that you will rot on your own. Why put you through the trouble of imprisonment? See.. torturing you daily, feeding you no food or water, years and years in a hole with no air or light.. it'd be a hell for you. So, just consider me killing you a favour. Will you? "

He widened his eyes listening to his own way of dying. 'Killing me and without any burial, leaving my carcass to birds and insects letting it rot here is my best choice? Or going to jail and after long torture waiting for death is best one? Anyway neither are good for me and actually it's not my choice in the first place.'

'Wait.. why am I thinking of my own death here. Can't I defeat this girl? After all she is a girl!', he thought to himself and before taking his sword out he heard her saying..

"My Name Is ASHMITA...!!"

When he heard her name, the bandit's face started to tremble with his eyes widened. He heard that name before, heard that name is criminals' nightmare. So, never in his wild dream, he wanted to appear before Ashmita as he knew she is Angel to her people but a Devil to her enemies. Everyone calls her a "Devil Beauty".

Her way of killing people is marvellously scenic and again ruthless.Her leadership is extraordinary & everything about her is a mystery. Even if she maintains a very low profile, few people who face her know her and through them news about her travels in and around this kingdom. But no one knows about her background.

"Please leave me.. I beg you.. I will do whatever you say.. Please!!" the bandit leader dropped to his knees and begged.

"Tsk.. The one who brings harm to Ashmita's people will surely turn into A.S.H.E.S", she said coldly.

Before he replied a sharp blade cut his throat and he fell to the ground.