Chapter 54: Dangerous Deceit!!

**Nora’s POV**

“Ghouls infiltrated our north-eastern border near some village in between Westfall and Zephe through an ancient tunnel led by their commander Dasan on a legendary flying ghoul,” Rorik spoke with a strained tone.

“Shit! What about our forces?” his mother asked with a genuine concern in her voice.

“They fucked us by increasing the attacks on the North-Western borders. All our troops and Ronin are there. We don’t have much security on this side as infiltration from the north-eastern border was impossible. Never in our history, they dared to penetrate this near to Westfall,” Rorik sounded frustrated as if losing his cool.

“Now what? How are you planning to defend?” His mother asked.

“I will have to enter the battlefield. Zach is readying his troop of combat warriors and fighter rovers. But as he is at Zephe, it will take at least an hour for him to reach here, till then I will engage them as we can’t let them breach the walls of Westfall,” Rorik retorted, increasing the speed of the rover.

“They are so thick-skinned and giants, it will be dangerous to attempt fighting them without Ronin and fighter rovers”, his mother raised the concern.

“We don’t have any other option; we will have to stall them till Zach arrives. Ronin will at least need half a day and the same for uncle, and this time we are dealing with Dasan, their ruthless warlock,” he replied as he moved the rover towards the royal palace.

The name ‘Dasan’ intrigued my mind. What is wrong with me? Why do I feel a sense of familiarity with every fucking mysterious person on this planet?

Everything was almost ready when we reached the palace. Around fifteen men were standing in their iron armours. Rorik grazed at them, explaining the whole strategy while adorning his armour. I was pretty worried for him. He looked into my eyes and said, “Stay here; you will be safe in the palace. I will be back. Those ghouls won’t win from us.”

“But you are taking only fifteen men; what about these soldiers?” I mumbled with a sad yet curious face pointing towards the few soldiers.

“They are not trained to fight ghouls; besides, we need some of them to defend the palace as well. Take care,” he said, caressing his fingers on my tummy. I nodded. Sypha was giving me killer looks from the corner of her eyes.

Once Rorik left, she also started going somewhere. I was a bit suspicious of her, so I followed her. Luckily instead of the elevator, she took the stairs, so it made me easy to follow her undetected.

“Stalker bitch”, She chuckled, hiding behind the corner wall as I moved through the stairs.

“Why did you try to sneak out from there? Are you going somewhere?” I asked her before continuing, “Remember, Rorik said you are supposed to take care of me?”

She rolled her eyes, “Fuck you! I don’t give a shit whether you live or die. But if you are interested in dying, then come with me. I am going to the battlefield. I am not like few fucking bitches who prefer staying at home when their kingdom is under siege,” she said as she moved inside the rover. I slipped on the passenger seat as I also had no intention of staying in a palace. The part reason for this was my experience with ghouls at Northern camp. I knew how one of them was hurled back when it tried to touch me. Maybe I can be of some help.

She was a reckless driver, but I didn’t want to clash with her unnecessarily, so I ignored her, and the same can be said for her, and I was pretty relieved for it as my mind was elsewhere.

We soon reached the vast plain ground nearby a village. It was like a vast expanse of emptiness stretched underneath the alit clouds. There was a small platform in the outskirts of the village; I saw Rorik’s rover parked there. Sypha parked near him and took out a big fighter gun, loading it with rounds of bullets, “Already scared, sweetheart,” she chuckled at me as she left the rover.

I could see Rorik on the battlefield as he was shooting at the ghouls approaching closer to them. But as Rorik’s mom said, bullets hardly affected these thick-skinned monsters unless they hit their eyes or neck directly. Ghouls were double the height of Rorik and his warriors, making them more difficult to target their eyes and neck. Slowly the distance between soldiers and ghouls closed in, and they were forced to induce hand-to-hand combat.

“How do these ghouls die?” I asked Sypha as they seemed to be unaffected by bullets. “Through small missiles of our fighter rovers, striking them with the sword or if Ronin eats them”, she replies as she sets up her gun and starts to aim towards ghouls. She had fired many bullets, but it hardly made any difference; instead, they were making ghouls more aggressive.

Rorik was already fighting with five-to-six giant ghouls simultaneously as they all had circled him. One single mistake or lowering the guard will send him to the ground with a deadly blow.

Shit!

I was damn scared and silently prayed for Zach’s team to come and take over. Ghouls outnumbered Rorik’s forces. Two trained armies were fighting each other, but the battle was in nobody’s favour yet. The dead on the ghoul’s army side were abundant as they lay scattered throughout the field.

The faces of fighters were hopeful with swords clenched in their hands with their boots stepping firmly as they pushed harder and harder on enemies. The emotions of confidence, as well as panic, was flowing through the field. Few of the soldiers have succumbed while the remaining were on rage and rampage to kill anyone standing their way.

And there he stood, clad in lustrous gold armour, his flying ghoul basking loudly at the sight of the enemies, the eyes glaring and burning. The thick muscular legs of that man were preparing to enter the fighting arena as few of his creatures had already succumbed to the enemies’ blades. This man seemed to be a malicious and ferocious warrior as the unclad part of his body was scarred with wounds acquired from countless battles and skirmishes. His eyes were full of hatred and anger, eager to slaughter the enemies. His piercing stare seems to penetrate the opponent lines, specifically on Rorik.

It was Dasan!!

Rorik was already fighting on all the sides with giant ghouls, even though he had laid so many. Dasan was on the flying ghoul. He sliced forward with the force and accuracy of a raven, and I knew if he stood in combat with Rorik, then Rorik had little chance as Rorik was already struck at multiple places with blood oozing out. I knew I had to do something, and I stomped towards the fight.

“Hey”, Sypha gasped behind me, but I didn’t seem to care as I rushed to Rorik’s side. I encountered two-three ghouls on the way, but as I expected, they jolted back on touching me as if I am emitting some current they have no resistance.

I was acting impulsively; I didn’t know if I was in a sound state of mind. The feeling of deja vu created my mind as if I had fought the battle with ghouls before; I had struck and killed them in the past.

I took a sword from a fallen soldier’s hand and struck three of the ghouls who were attacking Rorik from behind.

But Dasan was in front of Rorik, subduing him by hitting him on his left leg, marking a deep cut through his thigh while his second aim was darted at Rorik’s neck. The effect of the first stroke already made Rorik scramble on the ground while that man aimed for a second clean strike, Rorik’s neck.

“No” I screamed and stood in between them.

The anger and hatred in Dasan’s eyes were suddenly replaced by shock and stun as soon as his eyes laid on me. His deep eyes swirled into a vicious whirlpool of emotions as his lips parted to say something, and sword yielding hand recoiling backwards. He almost froze on his foot; his strained muscles showed the signs of slackening down as his frowned face softened. It felt as if he was sobbing under his skin as his eyes became glassy, too shocked to display his emotions.

Rorik took the opportunity of the situation and shot him with a bullet puncturing his left shoulder. Dasan gasped in pain, with his body slightly jerking back. Soon the sky was dominated with the sounds of fighter rovers approaching us.

Darkness surrounds me, and I was lifted in a trance with little control over my body as I snatched the gun from Rorik and aimed at Rorik’s temple, “Nora, what are you doing?” Rorik shouted as I hit the muzzle of the gun at his temple and shouted, “Run, Dasan, go away fast”, still aiming the gun at Rorik’s forehead to prevent the rovers from shooting Dasan.

Dasan was equally perplexed as Rorik, unable to comprehend what to do next. “Come with me”, he muttered in a croaky voice, as if he was about to cry, but I was quick to respond, “No, I can’t, you go now!”

I shouted, warning Zach and his forces, “If anyone shoots Dasan, I will blow Rorik’s face”.

I saw Dasan airlifted high in the sky by his flying ghoul moving towards the tunnel as darkness left me, and I fell with a gun falling from my hands and a pair of handcuffs taking its place. A cold touch of metal against my hot skin made me gasp as the last thing I saw before losing consciousness was Rorik’s shocked face.