“I hope the rules are followed?” I asked.
“Mostly,” Alam said. “But as the time passes and the dogmen grow stronger, some of the leaders seemed inclined towards relaxing some of the rules. There are others who seem to want to break away. It isn’t a wonder. The dogmen are attacking the towns and cities one by one. They are asking the individual cities and villages to break free from the kingdom or else the attacks would continue.”
“If the rulers broke free,” I said, “then the dogmen would take over their unit, since they wouldn’t have the support of the rest of the kingdom.”
“That is true,” Alam said, “but the dogmen do not attack straight, except when they attacked the capital. They are like pests. They create small nuisances. Murders, thefts and so on.”
I nodded. Then suddenly a thought hit hard. Amina had been in the capital…
“Is Amina all right?” I said, and I noticed that my breath was laboured in an attempt to control my emotions and fears. Amina was also the distant cousin of Alam.
Alam nodded with some slight unease.
“Yes,” he said, “she rules the part of the capital where dogmen are still allowed. But you cannot really call it a rule to be honest. She only controls small things. Most of the time the decisions are made by the dogmen… or more precisely, the Lord of the Dogmen.”
I gritted my teeth. The Lord had my master with him. The vile bastard. He was the cause of all troubles. My master had made a mistake in making him his assistant.
“The Lord shall fall,” I said with determination.
“But he is way too powerful,” Alam said. I contemplated Alam, so that he seemed to become uneasy. Alam had been an optimistic person in the past. But now he looked like someone who was just waiting for his death and to get over with life.
“I am King Kitty,” I said, my voice was loud, “the Lord might be powerful but that is not something that should matter. When I first landed in this world, I had nothing. Absolutely nothing. Yet, I became the king of this kingdom. Power doesn’t always matter. And you better understand this, Alam,” I said in a more tender tone, “you needn’t let fear seep into you.”
“That’s what I have been advising him all these days,” Riya said. “Fear and hopelessness play their own part. But the less you let those things come to your mind, the better. You are always better off without fear than with it.”
Alam nodded. He stood a little bit straighter and I could see a flash of the old Alam in him again.
“So what will be our next step of action?” Alam asked.
“I want to know how one can change their forms,” I said, “like how the dogmen spy turned himself as a cat and lived in your town.”
“There is a potion,” Alam said, “The dogmen have it in plentiful and we only realised about its existence after your death. We have been able to take some of that potion when we occasionally caught spy dogmen. I have tried the potion myself, but it does suck a lot of mana. I do have a few vials of the potion in my reserve.”
“That potion would come in handy,” I said, “because I plan to go to the capital. To the side where only dogmen are not allowed.”
Alam gasped at this. But he nodded, accepting that it was something inevitable for me.
“Not only dogmen,” Riya said, and I noticed that there was a slight trace of disdain in her voice.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“There is someone else who lives in that side of the city as well…” Riya let her words hang. Why was she creating the unnecessary suspense for me?
“Come on, say it,” I said.
“Meow,” she said and observed me. I felt like someone had landed a blow on my chest over my heart.
“Yes, I’ll have to meet him as well,” I said, recalling the time when he had betrayed me. “The tunnel is the one that leads to where your master is being kept,” he had told me. I wanted to punch the traitor’s face out of my mind’s eye. I turned to Alam.
“Send messages to all my cities, towns and villages using the fastest birds,” I said, “tell them their King has returned.”
“But don’t you want the fact that you have returned to be hidden?” Alam asked with a frown.
“Why would I?” I asked him, “Because I fear the Lord of the Dogmen would come to know?” I let out a small chuckle, “I am pretty sure there were other spies in the crowd that saw me today. They have probably already told him. So it doesn’t matter. If anything, sending the messages would help, because it would give my subjects all around the kingdom new hope. And they would resist the dogmen more. And ask the nearby places to send health potion vials, shape changing potions and whatever else they might have that I would need to survive in the capital.”
“You’ll have to wait a few days though,” Alam said, “it would take a few days to bring everything.”
“It’s okay,” I said, “I am in no hurry to go to the capital. I have another business that I need to attend to in Duarga.” I turned at Riya and pointed at the orb of her staff. “I hope you can give that little sphere to me, Riya?”
Riya seemed confused.
“It’s a family heirloom,” she said. She obviously didn’t want to part with it.
“Any idea how your ancestors found it?”
“One of my great grandfathers took it from a thief he had to kill, not far from the River of Milk.”
Not far from the river of milk… Duarga wasn’t far from the river either.
“I would have never asked it from you, but you must give it to me.”
“It’s okay, take it,” Riya said, extending her staff to me. Though by the looks of her tight grip she didn’t seem to have any wish of parting with the staff or the orb.
I took the staff from her. She watched with a sad expression as I removed the orb of the staff. I handed her the staff. I smiled at her.
“Don’t be sad, Riya,” I said to her, “this little orb is going to save the lives of a couple of thousand cats.”
Riya could only gape, her eyes on the verge of popping out.
I looked towards Alam as I put the orb into my bag. I needed to go to Duarga today itself, and it would take a good seven days. I hoped I wouldn’t have to face any obstacle that would make the journey longer or else the metal giant will cast his wrath on the villagers. Suddenly a thought came to my mind.
“We still have the portals, right?” I said to Alam.
“We do,” he replied. “But you wouldn’t be able to use it to go to Duarga because the portal seeds haven’t been planted there.”
“Yes, I remember about the portal seeds,” I said. The portal seeds were the things that could be used to create portals, which could be used to travel from one place to another in the blink of an eye. All my villages, towns and cities had portals. But one drawback of the portals was that they required mana to travel. The farther the distance, the more mana was required. “Why don’t you give me a few portal seeds? I was planning to make Duarga a part of my kingdom.”
Duarga was one of those villages that had chosen not to be a part of my kingdom when I had sent messengers. I had given them the choice to come under my rule for additional protection or to stay autonomous and as an independent state. They had chosen the latter.
Chapter 31
Alam gave me only one portal seed. That was all he had apparently. But one seed was all I required— as long as the seed grew into a new portal, and no harm came to it within the first few hours after it was planted, which was a vital time for the seed. But when I told Alam and Riya that I planned to go to Duarga that very hour, they were quite shocked. In a few sentences I explained to them why it was necessary and reluctantly they agreed. They wanted guards to go with me, but I rejected the offer. I wanted to go alone, and in secrecy. I still wanted the Lord of the Dogmen to think that I was in Zurin. I used a secret underground passage to get out of Zurin. I had constructed it myself in my previous life to be used in times of need.
Thankfully, I was not met by additional difficul
ties and in seven days I reached Duarga. The villagers were delighted, and Junaki and a few others had already been waiting at the gate for me. Junaki threw her arms around me.
“I knew you could do it!” she said. I hugged, but Amina’s face loomed in my mind’s eye.
“Let’s go to the statue immediately,” I told Junaki, “after that I have a few things to speak to you.”
Junaki’s eyes widened as though she already knew that I had regained my memory and had also perhaps remembered who the love of my previous life was. But she didn’t ask about it and simply nodded. I went with the villagers and in minutes reached the giant.
Rupasur the statue seemed pleased when I gazed down at his form over the edge of the planned lake.
“I have returned,” I said.
“Do you have my heart?” Rupasur asked in impatience, “If you haven’t you already know what would befall.”
“No ill shall befall over Duarga,” I said, “I have your heart.”
“Then what are you waiting? Give it to me!”
“First you promise that you won’t harm the village,” I demanded.
“Damn you, chieftain! I have already made that promise, now give the heart to me.”
“And also promise me that you would go far away, or at least back to your sleep.”
“Give it to me!” Rupasur yelled. He sounded frightening, so great his impatience was. I reckoned Rupasur would be happy and not make any additional trouble, observing how much he wanted his heart. I took out the sphere from my bag. I jumped down the side of the lake. I put the sphere into the hole in the metallic chest of Rupasur. Immediately a pop up appeared in my vision.
Quest completed!
Congratulations! You have brought Rupasur’s heart!
The statue would not trouble the village of Duarga.
I felt a fuzzy feeling take hold of me.
Congratulations!
You level up!
The moment the sphere was in the cavity of the chest, Rupasur sat up straight. I fell back against the soil.
“You said you won’t cause any additional trouble!” I yelled. I was frightened for Rupasur was many times my size. Even the crowd gathered around the planned lake began to panic.
And then the metal giant spoke. His voice was calm, sentient.
“You need not worry, chieftain,” he said. “I won’t cause trouble to your village, not after you have brought my heart to me, but…”
He stopped for a moment at the word, and I wondered if he was going to ask me for additional favours such as to dig up other buried giants.
“But, instead, I offer myself to you. From now on you are my master. Your word is my life. I shall do whatever you tell me to without any hesitation. If you tell me to destroy myself I will gladly do it.”
I was taken by the giant’s words, for there was nothing but gratitude in his voice.
“So, would you allow me to serve you?” Rupasur asked of me.
“Ye… yes,” I said, suddenly gripped with awe.
The crowd present began to cheer. I was about to climb out of the hole, when Rupasur tenderly grabbed me and put me out himself.
Junaki, standing by me, tapped my arm lightly.
“Are you sure this isn’t a trick?” she whispered to me.
Rupasur apparently heard this. He let out a laugh, one that sounded like thunder.
“You are mistaken, o wife of the chieftain,” he said, “Rupasur is not one who deals with words that trick others. What I say, I mean it. Every word of it.”
Junaki smiled with some unease. I placed a hand on her shoulder. The gratitude in Rupasur’s voice was real.
“I think he really means it,” I told her.
“But isn’t he a dogman at the end of the day?”
Rupasur held out a metal finger and shook it.
“No. I have been created by the dogmen, but that doesn’t make me one of them. I do not harbour any love for them. Besides, it was a dogman that stole my heart away in the first place. The filthy bastard, I hoped he met a bad end… But let’s not linger too much over the past. Everything has now ended well for everyone. Now, master Kitty, I must take leave. In truth I belong to another world, and I must go there, which is part of the reason why I wanted my heart so badly. Whenever you require me just say “Rupasur Activate” and I shall appear near you, regardless of whichever place in this world you are.”
Rupasur waved at the crowd present. The children, who had been terrified of him only a few moment back waved back at him, cheering. There was a flash of light and the great metal giant disappeared into thin air.
“I guess we can get back to digging the lake,” Abhat said.
***
When I told my villagers about the fact that I had regained memory of my past life and proposed the villagers that I wanted them to join the kingdom of Abhaya, they were at first reluctant, but they considered my brief rule over them and then the elders decided that they should join the kingdom. I planted the portal seed at the very centre of the village. A serious look came over Junaki, and she tried to hide it with a forced smile. Finally she seemed to no longer control her fears and later on that day she asked me if I had any other girl in my last life.
I exhaled. I didn’t want to tell this to her. But at the same time I wanted to be honest.
“Yes,” I said.
There was silence for a few moments. A suffocating silence. I let out a cough to break it.
“I would like to meet her,” Junaki said.
I could only stare at her with surprise.
***
General Information
Name
Kitty
Level
4
Sex
Male
Race
Cat
Health
400
Mana
150
Strength
38
Stamina
37
Luck
40
Chapter 32
The very next day Junaki and I left for Zurin. We didn’t hike our way through the jungles. We used the portal. The portal had grown over the night. The place where we had last planted the seed, there a glowing circle hovered in the air. For the time being of our absence we handed Abhat the responsibility to look after the village. Most of the villagers liked him, so they had nothing against the decision. Then we jumped through the circle. The next moment, the two of us found ourselves in the mansion of Alam, in a chamber that was underground. Our mana dropped by about a fifty. I reckoned for longer distances the mana would drop even more. A pop up appeared in my vision.
You have used a portal.
You have been stripped of 10% mana
There were steps leading upwards. When the servants saw us, they were rather surprised, but they bowed to me and told me that Alam was in his chamber.
The last time I hadn’t told Alam about Junaki. A small frown overcame his forehead when I told him of my relationship with her.
“But Amina…” he said. He looked a bit afraid that I would tell him it was not something he had anything to do with.
“Yes,” I said., exhaling and trying to avoid Junaki’s eyes, “there are things that I would need to settle in the coming few days.”
“Riya wants to go with you to the capital,” Alam said.
The old lady had a thirst for adventure. She had helped me in several perilous situations in my past life in the world of Arun.
“I would like her to come with me,” I said.
“And you would also require soldiers?” Alam asked.
I shook my head.
“I’ll send word if I require them,” I said. “Besides, doesn’t the portal only allow five people to use it in one day.”
“I want to come with you too,” Alam said earnestly. I thought over it. There were spies in Zurin. I didn’t want the town to be mayor-less when there were dogmen inside it.
“Unfortunately, that would not be something I
would want you to do,” I told Alam and noticed his falling face, “instead I want you to kick out all the dogmen spies, perhaps get them in the dungeons and force information out of them. After all there are times when they need to acquire their dogmen form despite the shape-changing potion. They don’t have an unending supply of mana.”
“I will do that,” Alam said. “Do you plan to go to the capital today itself? Know that it will require considerable mana. Perhaps 95% of what you possess. But I do have a few mana vials in my reserve. And also stamina vials and a few health vials as well. It sucks that I cannot give them to people in need in the town, but there is such a shortage of them.”
Alam opened a cupboard. And from there he took out a bunch of vials.
“I rarely use them myself,” Alam said, as I opened my bag and he kept placing the vials inside it one by one. He also gave Junaki some of the vials, though he never uttered a word to her. Perhaps he saw her as a competitor to his cousin, Amina.
We waited some time for the mana to replenish on its own. We didn’t want to use the mana vials now itself, considering how few of them were there. I reckoned they might prove to be life savers when we get into precarious situations once we landed in the capital city. Alam asked one of his guards to call Riya. In a few minutes she came, hobbling, supporting herself with her orb-less staff, an excited expression etched onto her wrinkly features.
“So we can get going, I assume?” she said. Junaki’s and my mana had climbed back to 100% in the interval.
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