“Not right now,” Aylan replied. “I have to go somewhere for some of my friends first. After that, I would follow him.”
“Would you take me with you please?” Ava asked, looking directly at his eyes.
“I’ll think about it,” Aylan smiled to her and nodded as he intended to leave. As Ava nodded back, he walked down the stairs.
He walked to the soldiers who were burying the dead bodies and asked for the dead soldiers he requested them to find for him. One of the soldiers pointed him the location. As he walked to that place, Cro joined him. He sat on Aylan’s shoulder without making any noise. Aylan didn’t bother him either.
The three Darkhors were kept unmasked. Aylan recognized all three of them, with whom he worked in the past. Two of them were his regular companions during the raids. They had a real friendship and would never betray each other for anything. Aylan sighed to see their ending. He knew that these guys had no choice but to follow the order. And he didn’t recognize them as being busy with fighting.
These dead assassins proved the universal truth about the Darkhor. They never give up on their commitments, he thought. I better expect to see them more often.
Cro cawed slowly to bring his friend back to the reality. Aylan turned to him and smiled. He took the water sack in his hand and asked, “Is you still not interested in drinking this water?”
After glancing at Aylan for a moment, Cro said, “Well, after experiencing all these incidents in the past few days, I have realized that having a longer life isn’t that bad, only if you have a real purpose to stay busy with. Bring it on, man.”
Aylan put the water into the lead and held closer to Cro. Cro drank the water in one go and felt dizzy. Before he falls, Aylan caught him quickly, assuming the consequences and welcomed his friend to his new life.
Afterword
The Midneys had left the next day and took as much as their belongings with them. Ashalandian soldiers kept close eyes on them to assure they don’t try to make any mischief. The Midneys chose to go by the ocean, rather than land. Their wish was granted.
After three days of the journey in the ocean, the ship that Lord Brirar boarded, met the three warships coming from Sarrandhar. He recognized the ships, seeing the Sarrandhar’s flag with an eagle’s picture. Lord Brirar ordered the captain to make contact with the first ship. And as the first warship responded, he went to that ship and met the commander to inform the changed situation in the Ashaland.
Commander Dabeet Durjon didn’t believe Lord Brirar’s claim in the beginning, even though he had known him for years. It was Lord Brirar himself, who sent the pigeons with the letters, asking to send help as soon as possible. Emperor Namdar did not waste a single day, as he always wanted to keep Ashaland under his control. And with the aid of Lord Brirar, he was about to make his final move to take over the kingdom, violating the truce he did with the first King Khuli.
It had been only three days since, and the situation went out of the hand. Now commander Dabeet had to bear the news to the fearsome Emperor, who never takes the failure without reacting violently. Lord Brirar agreed to inform the Emperor by himself.
***
The Old councilors were selected as King Laam’s advisors and given the houses near to the castle to live. They moved into their new homes happily. Except for King Laam himself. He declined to live in the castle and get any money from the treasury. Instead, he preferred to live in his old house and do his old job as a food supplier. He wanted to attend the court on time every day and leave for the job after; but thinking of the enemy, the advisors overruled his decision and forced him to live in the castle.
The pliable king agreed to them at last but under one condition. Anything that showed pride and ostentatious need to be removed and the rare and expensive jewels and the furniture should be sold off, and the money would go to the treasury.
The advisors had fulfilled his wishes, and King Laam of new Ashaland started living in the simplest castle in the Duray.
Lord Eko Darsor had begun to rebuild his house. By getting an example from the king, he tried to keep it as simple as possible. Daha kept his power secret from his father. He often went to the lightning mountain to learn how to control his power from Gatik.
The gypsies moved back to their regular life. They had a new leader called Mohon Shakersor, who was also very close to Bimb Halehsor. Veli and his family were disappeared from the day of the battle. Nobody had seen them fleeing.
Master Dorian had received a letter from Rudpur, the sacred place of the wizards, to join their council. He appointed Jeem as his successor at the monastery, who was also a member of the king’s advisors. Before he left, Master Dorian also appointed some of the best teachers to teach at his school, which had gained a lot of students within a few days.
King Laam wanted to appoint Aylan as his commander in chief. However, he had no intention to stay in one place; Laam’s brother Amo was selected instead.
The walls around the village were destroyed, and the houses were rebuilt. As promised the crocodiles were released into the wild.
Once everything was done, Aylan and Cro asked King Laam’s permission to leave to search for Shakchunni. King Laam made them promise to visit Ashland whenever they can. As they stepped out from the Ashalandian border, Ava joined them. She had taken her Uronto with her, disguised it as an ordinary horse. Aylan allowed her company under one condition, she would help him to get to the middle of the dark forest to collect the blackwoods.
Son of The Prisonland (The Myth Shadow Trilogy Book 1) Page 23