Everything in my life changed with a single accident. That one moment became the pillar upon which my current existence stands, If I just had avoided it, perhaps my life would have taken a different path one where I wouldn't need to risk everything just to survive despite all that had gone wrong, what mattered most was that I remained alive that alone was the greatest blessing for me
After walking for some time toward the city, I turned down a deserted street corner
I didn't care if anyone saw me. What I planned to inflict upon the people of this city would be the cruelest thing they had ever experienced
I unfurled my wings, scanning my surroundings. Jaipa stood right behind me. With a simple gesture signaling him to follow, I took flight flying was far superior to the tedium of walking at sufficient altitude, I could glide effortlessly through the air. I had learned a technique from Jaipa that allowed me flight without wings, but I preferred using them it felt more natural, more exhilarating
As we ascended, Jaipa moved from behind me to fly at my side he looked at me with that same troubled expression he'd worn since earlier
"Ask if you have something to say," I told him coldly my tone wasn't intentional cruelty i had simply grown accustomed to speaking this way
Jaipa stared at me for a long moment before sighing he glanced down at the humans below us and finally spoke
"Aren't we becoming the cruel ones? Killing them without proper cause is " He stopped mid-sentence as I fixed him with a glare, silently commanding him to drop the subject
"Proper cause?" I asked "For killing them? What better reason do we need when our own lives hang in the balance? If I thought like you, wouldn't I just be another prisoner, always bound by something or someone ?"
Jaipa suddenly laughed a hollow, bitter sound left his lips
"You speak as if you aren't bound by anything! Becoming a resource for things you don't even understand is the most pitiful fate I've witnessed "
"JAIPA!" I raised my voice sharply "Don't cross the line between us you are merely an instrument to serve me... don't forget
that ! " Even if i have grown to him I had set boundaries between us
I continued more calmly, "For my survival, I would gladly kill thousands there is no cruelty in killing people's when your own life is at stake "
Saying that our journey continued in uncomfortable silence jaipa's demeanor had grown more despondent than before
I cared little for his emotional state, but I did worry about his performance in battle. Obviously, slaughtering people in broad daylight would attract the knights' attention. However, we were heading directly toward the kingdom's castle
"Where are we going?" Jaipa finally asked, his voice awkward and strained
"To the castle," I replied flatly, and silence fell between us once more
When we were a few hundred meters from our destination, I looked at Jaipa's dejected face and announced "We will kill the princess of this kingdom "
"What?" he gasped
"We kill the princess or any royal children we find "
It wasn't as simple as I made it sound
Only a maniac or a fool would think it as easy task and as for me a nine-year-old child to infiltrate a heavily guarded castle and assassinate a princess seemed absurd like an exaggeration or a child's joke jaipa turned to me with disbelief
"Why kill the princess?" he asked
I regarded him for a moment i had thought on him i thought his mind would work faster now that he possessed a physical form, but he just remained as dumb as ever
"Why kill the princess?" I repeated his words
"Humans are always bound to something The king and queen are bound to their child by a thing called emotions, and why should we lure people when they will willingly come after us ? "
Jaipa studied me carefully for a moment "What do you mean?"
Shaking my head i said " I'm targeting the emotional bond, by killing the priencess i will introduce them to a overwhelming emotion called rage "
"By killing their child?" he repeated my words
I nodded coldly
"In the name of truth, what is this child made of? Even after living alongside him, I couldn't begin to grasp the essence of who or what he truly is Rudra… his mind, his temperament they defy the bounds of human nature. He speaks of slaughtering thousands with a calm certainty, despite lacking the strength to do so. And yet, every action he takes, every decision he makes, inevitably leads to one haunting question: What is his true nature? At times, he behaves in ways I can almost comprehend him as if he's letting me glimpse the person beneath the surface but in the very next moment, he overturns that image entirely, like a bottle filled with colors both vivid and void, swirling with everything and nothing. I'm left starving for answers, yet the more I search, the more I realize... I may never truly understand him."
"What are you thinking so hard about, Jaipa?" I interrupted him whatever he was thinking
"Uh... nothing," he stammered
"Killing the princess will leave the king and queen consumed by rage," I explained. "And rage leads to hasty decisions the king's first order will be to capture me alive "
"Jaipa?"
"Yes? What is it?"
"Come closer for a moment."
When he approached, I whispered something in his ear
"THAT'S " Jaipa's voice rose before he controlled it "That's not going to work! How can you go there alone? You'll die ! "
"Listen to me," I insisted to him "Killing more than two thousand people is impossible even contemplating such a feat would be madness. But we have no choice And remember, the people we'll face are trained knights, not ordinary humans "
"But what if you die in the castle before reaching to the well ? "
"Trust me on this," I urged "I'm not strong enough to handle thousands by myself, nor am I delusional we will succeed if you just trust me and follow my instructions "
"Now go.... I'll handle things from here "
Jaipa remained motionless, staring at me i was essentially telling him to abandon me to what amounted to suicide
"DON'T DIE," he said softly, his voice genuine with concern...
Then he took flight, returning to the well as i instructed
I was Left alone, to face what lay ahead a game of survival where the stakes couldn't be higher for survival....as always for me there was no easy survival...as if someone had written my struggle story too gorgeously