Vaani frowned at her companion as they followed behind a small mercenary group Headed towards Pearl City. She didn't know why but Megha suddenly changed her heart from following their initial plans and even abandoned them at the very start.
But it's Not just that, she for some reason thinks they have instead Rather sho following this Group of unruly mercenaries who doesn't look skilled Or dependable In the least bit doesn't sit well with Vaani.
Not only do they look like an unskilled bunch of thugs, they probably don't even have any license For Officially registering as a mercenary group In the Empire. These kinds of people were More troublesome to deal with than how they appear . Given a chance Wouldn't even hesitate to scam their clients.
Had little to no morals in short they were closer to relate Mountain bandits than a reputable mercenary group In the sect Lands. Vaani couldn't figure out why Megha Forc- convinced her to follow this annoying group.
Due to their young appearance both of them were treated like servants as most of the menial tasks were dumped on them. Thankfully they weren't traveling with them for longer periods of time.
What surprising was That Megha, Still Managed to put up with all this nonsense not once she did flare up or Cause commotion With how Everyone were treating The both Teens.
' But 'That' ba**** is too much, incorrigible Wait till we return back to the sect. I will Make sure to teach you an unforgettable lesson ' Vaani Vengeful thought to herself. The person she found most annoying was none other than the mercenary group leader Himself.
This guy is Probably in his late Fifties if not older But one couldn't give him the due Respect either be it's his position or Because of his age, simply this fellow was an disgusting and greedy P**.
Despite his soft words and bright smiles she believe He wasn't a trustworthy fellow. As soon as they joined his group he took away their horse Claiming taking care of it for them and she couldn't fully believe it. Then went on promising to exaggerate the amount of wages one would offer for newbies.
Not only that they both Keep getting weird stares from his men all over the journey. It make her Extremely uncomfortable and that ba**** eyeing them like some sort of commodity which was unsettling 'The sooner we get away from them the better ' she thought to herself.
Vaani carefully runned a simulation of how both of them should deal with this issue, If she decided to untangle themselves from these thugs unscathed. First and foremost they had to take back their horse and teach them a lesson if it was necessary.
Of course Vaani was Quite confident that if She and Megha join hands this sorry group of ban- ahem, mercenaries wasn't a threat. She was sure the two of them were strong enough to beat up all of them with little to no effort. She believed Megha alone enough to finish them but there were chances of her getting injured.
But Vaani had her concern Megha might not be willing to agree with going on their own. 'Damn it, I had to convince her and make her understand the danger in this. She might have thought it was nice to gain experience from traveling with Suspicious bunch of strangers'
'What is wrong with her? I'm not yet fully understanding why she did what she did, if she talked to me about her ideas we could come up with something. I'm sure things could have been done in less dangerous And risk free ways. It's very possible Vaani stopped herself from asking any questions to Megha.
She was already scolding herself for agreeing with this foolishness in the first place. She was supposed to be the responsible one here to protect the younger girl but Vaani had no choice. Megha almost threatened to run away from the sect if she dared to tell anyone she even left behind shadow guards what the hell she was thinking.
' Oh how I wish I'm slightly more powerful than this Irksome brat, I will surely drag her away from such foolish indulgence ' Vaani grumbled to herself.
' Well It can't be helped. I also want to find out how he Is doing these past months. I guess With this stunt I could never look uncle in the eye with this stunt. He is never going to trust me with Megha ugh! ' Vaani bit her lips in frustration.
" Such a scary place isn't it? " one of the mercenaries commented, distracting Vaani's Thoughts.
"What's there to be scared about? We are traveling through this area about a hundredth Time. With our impressive line up I don't think any bandits Group here Or beasts will show up " Another one chimed in. " Look how scared the pretty boys became, keep quiet, will ya?" he then whispered to his friend.
"Hey aren't you scaring him too much? " the third mercenary interjected as he glanced at Vaani.
With an annoyed expression He addressed Vaani `` Little brother don't get deceived by this fellow here. I know due to some orders from higher ups city guards took care of all the bandits here Or chased them away don't worry"
"Don't you know this place used to be the territory of Banyo great bear" the first one rebuked Him and Then turned around smirked at Vaani and Megha.
Vaani slowed down her steps Lost interest in their talk. Who are they kidding? Banyo great bears, unlike most predators Of this forest, don't live alone or move Around In packs but Choose to live In their chosen territory as a pair and don't like to mingle with humans.
Why would they live near Main road ' DId they think I am an ignorant boy? Banyo great bears has the strength of peak martial arts master there is no way in hell such a powerful and aggressive beasts left alive near Any human inhabitants'
Vanni waited until Megha caught up to her, who was In the teenage boy attire as well. " Megha, why are we going to the pearl city instead of following our initial plan?" This time, unable to control herself, Vaani asked in a whisper.
The whole time Megha had a Subtle frown on her face and looked Kind of confused as well. But nonetheless When Vaani asked something she turned to look at her big sister. "Later...I'll explain everything to you later..." her expression turned a little grim as she said " Vaani be ready to run away... Make sure you pay attention to me... If I signal you run for your life. I'm afraid our lives are in Danger "
Vaani frozen In her tracks For about half a minute before hurriedly catching up to Megha once more. But her incredulous expression explains what she thought of Megha's sudden absurd claims.
" Do you think it's time to joke about this kind of thing? Dangers to our lives are you for real?" Vaani glared at Megha " if this is one of your pranks... I'm telling you It wasn't funny at all? I'm already fed up with this thugs teasings "
Megha looked at Vaani For a couple of seconds before sighed, " Didn't I tell you to Wait for my explanation? You will understand weather I'm Playing around or not "
Vaani carefully noted down Megha's expressions before nodding at her solemnly in understanding her expression turned very serious, her body reflexively shuddered In Fear and thrill
Megha didn't wait for her to ask anything else instead whispered quietly " If things are really serious, Be ready we will leave from this mercenary group at the next stop...I think they are going to take a short break or altogether camp for night; sun is about to set. Even though there is no Immediate danger, we still had to leave them before they reached pearl city. Keep it in your mind And please pay attention to me okay? "
" Where Are we going then? Are we Visiting nearby villages... for spending night? '' Vaani asked, her expression said clearly she wasn't mentally ready to spend her night in the Forest. She was almost driven mad by mosquitoes one time in her childhood. Those once forgotten memories made her uncomfortable.
Megha glanced at her from the corner of her eyes and had a thoughtful expression. Her eyes, blanked for a moment before she blinked a brilliant light, passed her lips tucked up into a smirk.
Vaani Didn't notice any of this, she was quite unnerved by all of this. Try to get her emotions so she is prepared for all kinds of situations. ' She must have noticed something...yeah I'm sure of it. She would Never play with something like this' Vaani indeed couldn't fully believe Megha's claims that someone is after their lives But try to convince herself.
Well she wasn't wrong to think like this no one in their right mind would seek to harm heiress of longevity sect. Longevity City controls the Entirety of the dual mystic plain.
~ Six Hours Earlier~
After sneakily getting out of the city Megha and Vaani decided to go to Iron Fortress city and walked through one of the main roads going straight there. Both of them were pretty lax about the whole situation. As they enjoyed their travel, thankfully they weren't the only ones on that main road.
Thousands of people are said to daily travel back and forth between the city on this very road, which is very safe most of the time. It was the nearest city from longevity city about traveling distance of one and half a day journey. If they were on horseback they could reach it in less than a day.
Both of them are very keen to enjoy their new found freedom and their travel. Who wouldn't like such an opportunity if they get a chance to travel around the world. See wonders of the world , be it men or women, children and elderly everybody loves such adventures.
In Megha's case she was also very much like it. Despite being chased around by a bunch of madmen she didn't hate the idea of touring the world. Even though this short trip wasn't going to excite her In sense, seeing Vaani's excited expressions did make Megha's mood brighter. And also felt lifted from Experiencing such a Nice opportunity to run away with her friend and sister Megha will cherish it.
But unfortunately for Megha she didn't see the hidden danger lurking around for them or the holes in her planning. Something she easily overlooked would be enough to take her and Vaani's Life. This bit of carelessness was enough to put her in despair but thankfully she had a powerful helper with her.
≈ Hohoh, How exciting!....tut, tut, You are truly a naive one aren't you mouthy Brat? You thought Life is all sunshine and flowers didn't you? I'm sorry to burst your bubble but right now you are in a huge trouble And it's you who set yourself up for it ≈
A gleeful voice rang in Megha's head. Megha blinked and a scowl appeared in her face. ' What the hell were you talking about? And why are you disturbing me Right now? I thought we made it clear, certain things?' Megha asked in irritation.
Megha managed to convince Nithya to not talk to her when she was in the presence of people unless it's absolutely necessary. Megha definitely did not want people to think she wasn't right in the head so until she was trained to concentrate on multiple things at once Megha didn't want nithya to distract her.
≈Disturbing? Brat I'm letting You know the scythe hanging over your head. Things you overlooked, both of your lives are in danger. So…SCRAM from this roadway if you want to live. A vengeful grand master on his way to kill you, the more you dilly dally the more you put yourself in the danger ≈
Megha's face paled ' Vengeful? Someone after us? Who is this person? I didn't do anything though....Wait does this mean? How did he know we are on this damn road ' it's not look like a wild guessing on this person's part Megha deduced something ' The person know where we're planning on going'
≈ Let me give you a piece of advice. With his speed He will catch up with you both In less than an Hour so grab two horses from the merchants and flee towards north. There is a small mercenary group taken missions in the Pearl City; from there send a message to your father or grandpa if your lucked out they will safely take you back to the sect it's the best option for you≈
Megha ground her teeth, her mind ran through this advice and tried to think up in her mounting anger. " There is no way I'm going to return back to the sect . I know how powerful a grand master can be, I Have My ways to deal with him. If he did manage to catch up with us.' Megha snarled at Nithya ' And most importantly I had to find that Punk Or I can't Calm myself down trust me I know myself too well I would rather die '
≈ I know you would say that stupid but remember you have Your 'friend' With you Too. Don't you love her and care for her? Are you willing to gamble her life on this as well? ≈ Nithya tries to make Megha see things in another perspective.
≈ And didn't I already tell you that kid wouldn't die that easily so you can rest assured nothing happened to him. You risking both of your life recklessly if something happens that will make you regret for the rest of your life ≈
*Gulp*
Megha fell silent, she felt her throat and lips gone dry Megha reflexively glanced at her friend. As she thought everything hard once more 'Hey, so there is a chance he might get himself killed-'
≈ Is that so? don't kid yourself he was just a scrawny, talentless servant disciple who would be interested in his life...Well there is a chance for him to die but that is very miniscule ≈ in the end Nithya didn't deny the possibility.
Megha keyed up, she approached a merchant who had a dozen healthy horses under his servants care she bought one without any haggling. And force Vaani to come with her as they flee from the Road. When they reached a place where the road was almost empty, she cut into the forest and rushed towards the north direction.
" WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Slow down, slow down, Megha we are going into the forest with this much speed . What were you thinking? "
"Shhh!" Megha glared at her ' Nithya, You didn't tell me who this vengeful person was? Or why is this fellow after me?'
≈ You didn't forget that some time ago you ruthlessly killed off moles right and left, didn't you? This old man was the uncle of one of your victims. It looks like you really did not give your actions any thoughts did you? So why pretend to be intellectual ≈
Megha didn't bother Nithya's snide remarks. Hmm! Many things Megha recalled in the short few seconds, ' It's that psychopathic bas****...he was an elder of that crooked sect. How come he was free enough to wait around for me and why the hell was he after me? Tch, what a crazy old thing ' she cussed him for a full fifteen minutes straight.
≈ He is now on the move, make sure you don't get caught in his hand. I think this fellow wasn't right in his mind. At first he only wanted to kill you but he resolved to make you understand his pain and sufferings for some reason. He was muttering all kind of torture method he knows to himself how -≈
' That's unnecessary information ' Megha bit out with a shudder feeling queasy. ' If you are so high and mighty, why don't you guide me straight to where exactly Amara is right now huh? How come that's hard for you? Show Off! ' Megha coldly scolded Nithya.
But Megha after Her regression never felt this kind of fear, ' Psychopath bas**** I'll make sure you die a miserable death In my hand ' she made a promise to herself. Of course she knows who the person is chasing after her.
________
It's about an hour since the group decided to camp for the night. Pearl city was a three days' travel distance. That evening Vaani noticed two unsavory individuals kept glancing at them which made Vaani highly alert.
The hypocrite leader and few of his men come back from their hunt; they must have found a fire hen colony; each of them had a hen in their hand while the leader had two in each hand. But his men have burnt marks, dirt and wounds on their bodies.
The fire hens wild bird size almost close to that of a turkey with yellow and pinkish color feathers. They normally live in the outskirts of forests, not aggressive but that doesn't mean they are timid either. Only a select few predators dare to hunt them, humans being one of them. It said they can generate disruptive fiery energy and They use that energy to shoot red hot feathers which burn the insides of its advisories.
All of the fire hens were dead as the men grabbed by their neck without a care. " Brat, do you know how to clean them? " Suddenly one of them asked playfully. Before Vanni could say anything Megha shakes her head innocently.
" Idhuyi don't waste Our time The sun is setting let them fetch clean water from the stream, we need them to clean the fire hens " one of them said.
Megha nodded as she grabbed Vaani's hand and dragged her away. " Did you prepare everything?" the leader asked a towering man who nodded with a perverted expression. " Don't worry, luckily I have some in hands "
"Good" then he glared at the man named Idhuyi " Make him pluck the feathers till the brats come back "
" BOSS!! "
" Tch, Does this bas**** think, pretty boys like them or easy to come by, how dare he planned to ruin my money. Even if one of them died or worst got their face burned it's a huge lose for us "