The men stared at Ashta in surprise.
"Who are you?" asked one of the men in bewilderment.
Angrily, Ashta swung her sword, as she looked at them, and they stared at her oddly.
"Hey, that's the girl from the picture in the old man's house!" exclaimed the other man.
"You shouldn't have come into my house and killed my grandfather," she cursed, coolly.
The men looked at each other and laughed. They were still in their armor and helmets, so Ashta still had no idea what their faces looked like.
"Your grandfather? Oh, you mean that old man from earlier. Hey, wait a second, if he was your grandfather, then that would make you…"
"The missing princess!" Ashta snarled at them, cutting them off.
The two men looked at her and scoffed.
"I was going to say a disgusting human hybrid."
"Sorry, honey. I don't know anything about a missing princess. I know the story of a dead one," said one of the men, and they laughed, as they both pulled their swords.
"Come on. Come with us," one of them coaxed.
Ashta smirked, as she took a step back, and she glanced back at Lashanna. Nervously, she nodded and pulled the string of her bow back as she quickly came out from behind the tree. Precisely, she aimed and let an arrow fly. Surprisingly, the arrow sunk into one of the men's chests, and he snarled as he grabbed at the arrow.
"Kraven!" exclaimed the other man.
"You must be Daven!" snarled Ashta, and Daven looked at her angrily.
"You are going to pay for that, bitch!" he snarled, as he ran at Ashta, and she didn't waste any time, she ran at him.
Swiftly, Ashta spun in a circle, and she slammed the blade of the sword on the ground. Amazingly, the earth began to quake beneath them, and Daven halted in his tracks. Suddenly, a rocky jail formed around Daven and trapped him. Angrily, he tried to claw at Ashta through the open spaces between the rocks, as he snarled and growled at her.
"How did you do this, witch?" he demanded, as he looked at his prison.
Ashta smiled as she picked up her sword, and she saw Lashanna out of the corner of her eye. Kralom was lying on the ground unmoving and Lashanna was poking at him with the end of her bow. Ashta turned her attention back to Daven and raised her sword at him.
"Why did you kill my grandfather?" she snarled, as she pointed the sword at his chest.
"That was his punishment for leaving the land of the kingdoms, and it will be your fate as well," Daven said with angry, wild eyes.
"Let me out of here, so I can take you to the queen," he snarled.
For a moment, Ashta studied the armored man in the rock prison, and she decided that he must be a Selvempt, because he said queen. To her understanding, the Selvempts were ruled by their queen and the Slayers were ruled by their king. She didn't think twice, and she pushed the sword slowly into Daven's chest.
"That is for coming into my home, and this…" she said, as she twisted the sword.
"This is for killing the only family I ever had," Ashta cried, as she twisted the blade in a complete circle, and she pulled it out of the man's chest.
He gasped for air, and Ashta stabbed him again. The moment she pulled the sword back, Daven fell to the ground and gasped his last gasp of air.
"And that last part was for calling me a bitch!" she snarled, as she wiped the blade of the sword on her pant leg.
"Ashta!" Lashanna screamed, and Ashta looked up as she placed her sword back on her back.
"Lashanna!" Ashta called, as she started to run toward her friend's voice.
"Stop squirming!" Ashta heard Kralom growl.
She couldn't see them, but she knew how to follow sounds to get to someone.
"Ashta!"
Lashanna screamed her name this time, and Ashta ran quickly through the trees. At that moment, Ashta saw them. Kralom had a firm grip on Lashanna as he dragged her through the forest.
"Let her go!" growled Ashta, as she approached them.
Kralom looked at her with wild, angry eyes and snarled at her.
"What did you do to my brother?"
Ashta held out her arms and pointed her hands downward as she looked at him confidently.
"You will see him very soon," she said, as she brought her hands in front of her in a fluent motion.
Kralom grabbed Lashanna by the back of her neck and held her in front of him like a shield.
"I will snap her neck if you move one muscle," he snarled, and Lashanna cried out in pain.
"A life for a life, but I think I may keep this pretty human," Kralom snarled, as he showed Ashta his fangs.
Angrily, Ashta stood still as her heart pounded with anger and fear. Lashanna looked at Ashta with fear in her eyes.
"You will be lucky to make it out of the forest alive," he sneered, and with a blink of an eye, he and Lashanna were gone.
Ashta straightened as she looked around. She sighed a heavy sigh as her journey just got a little more complicated. Inevitably, she was going to have to put her journey on hold, and she would have to figure out a way to save her friend. Ashta pulled the map out of her back pocket and looked at it.
Noticeably, there was nothing on the map between the edge of the forest and the edge of Halondelle. She sighed as she folded the map back up and put it back in her pocket. Ashta continued to walk through the green forest until the forest began to look like it was dying.
Suddenly, the warm air turned chilly, and the trees were turning from a healthy brown to a dead gray, white, and black. Ashta wrapped her arms around herself as moisture began to build in the air, making a fog, as she made her way deeper and deeper into the deadening forest.
The dirt under her feet began to get softer and puddles of murky black water started to appear. The forest was turning into a deadening swamp. The trees were dead and they were a sickly white color of decay. The leafless branches seemed to shiver, and there was no sign of life anywhere around her.
Carefully, Ashta watched her step, making sure that she didn't step into any of the puddles, and she shivered as the air got even colder. Suddenly, Ashta heard the calling again, but this time it was in the distance.
"Wait!" Ashta called, as she began to run toward the sound.
The voice sang through the trees as if it were being carried by the cold wind. She ran, and suddenly she tripped, and fell into a murky puddle.
"Ah," Ashta cried, as the mud splashed on her face and in her hair.
She was covered in mud as she scrambled to her feet. Nonetheless, she continued to run through the forest until her legs felt weak and shaky. Ashta stopped running to catch her breath, and she noticed that she had made it out of the gloomy swamp, and the forest started to come back to life.
I must be getting close, she thought to herself.
At that moment, she heard laughter and the sound of children playing. Swiftly, Ashta followed the sound and stumbled upon a single wooden home. There was a little girl in the driveway, and she saw Ashta as she smiled.
"Mama, who is she?" the little girl asked a woman standing off to the side.
The woman looked at her daughter and then looked at Ashta. The woman had shoulder-length brown hair, sparkling green eyes, and a tattoo on her cheek.
"I don't know, maybe we should go talk to her," the woman said, gently, as she looked at the brown-haired little girl.
The little girl smiled and nodded, and the woman turned to Ashta.
"Hello. We will not harm you. My name is Riah, and this is my family," said the woman, as she gestured to the people that were around her house.
Swiftly, Riah picked her daughter up and carried her over toward Ashta. At that moment, Ashta froze. She didn't know if she could trust these people when they found out who she was. Riah saw Ashta's hesitation, and she smiled at her softly as she slowed her pace.
"It's okay. Are you a human? My husband is a human, he was lost in the Swamp of Sadness when I found him," Riah said, calmly.
"My name is Ashta, and no, I am not a human," Ashta finally said, and the little girl looked up at her mother.
"Mama, is she the missing princess from the story?" she whispered, and Riah looked down at her daughter.
"Maybe," Riah whispered back with a gentle smile.
The little girl shook excitedly, and Riah looked at her with care.
"We will see," she said, and she looked at Ashta.
"Come on. It looks like you could use a shower," said Riah invitingly.
Ashta didn't move. She only nodded.
"Mama, she is scared. Let me down," said the little girl, as she pushed her mother away with her palms.
"Okay, okay," said Riah, and set her daughter down.
"Not so fast, Destiny. Don't scare her even more."
Destiny ignored her mother and bounced happily over to Ashta and then held out her tiny hand. The little one must have been about five years old, and Ashta thought she was adorable.
"Come with me, I will show you where I take my bath," said Destiny.
Obediently, Ashta nodded and swallowed hard as she took the little girl's hand. Destiny yanked her forward and Ashta almost lost her balance. The little girl looked back at her and giggled nervously.
"I am sorry about that, I am still working on my new power," Ashta smiled, and nodded.
Destiny brought Ashta closer to her mother, and Riah studied Ashta for a moment.
"Wow, you look just like your mother, you are the missing princess," she said, as Ashta looked at Riah and blinked a couple of times.
"You knew my mother?" Ashta asked in surprise, and Riah sighed.
"Just from the pictures that are displayed in the castle in Taitum. We don't go there often anymore, but I was just a baby when your parents were wrongfully slaughtered. The pictures are on display to show us we can not live in peace with the Selvempts any longer," Riah explained, sadly.
"I am sorry," said Ashta.
"That's alright. So, how did you find your way back to this place?"
Ashta shook her head sadly.
"Two men came to Eredel and killed Yinlin. He was the only family I have ever had in my entire life. I was able to kill one of them with the help of the earth element," explained Ashta in a sad tone, and Riah looked at Ashta seriously.
"Wait, you killed a Selvempt?" Ashta nodded, not sure why it was so surprising.
People die all the time.
"No one has been able to kill a Selvempt for ages," Riah exclaimed, and Ashta tapped her sword.
"I killed him with this," she said, and Riah looked at the handle of the sword.
"That was your father's sword!" Said Riah, as she studied the handle, and Ashta looked at the woman in surprise.
"How do you know that?"
"Because there is a picture of him when he was younger, and he had that sword at his side. It disappeared the day you did," said Riah, and Ashta looked at her.
"Why don't you go get cleaned up, and we can talk about this further?" Riah asked, and Ashta nodded in agreement.
She was ready to wash off all the murky mud. Destiny led Ashta to the bathroom, and she left her camping pack on the porch before she went inside. Ashta was relieved to have found someone that was kind along her journey.
Maybe Riah could help her try to locate Lashanna, maybe she would know where that Selvempt had taken her. Ashta let her thoughts roll around in her head as she washed the murky mud off of her body and out of her hair.
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