Chapter 37

Kassy was amused to see Ash walk into the room. She widened her eyes and looked between Myan and the lord, she stood to her feet from the bed where she had been sitting and swallowing hard. It was as if she was expecting him to try and hit her or something in that likeness.

Ash went straight to Myan and eyed her from head to toe, "do you feel better now? Did you sustain any physical injuries?" He asked her.

She shook her head with a forced smile, "it's fine Ash, it's nothing, don't worry about it,” she assured him.

He looked up from Myan and his eyes went straight to Kassy. "Why are you out here living your life in fear? I would never accept you back. You had better return to the palace where the world is under your feet and you can be the spoiled brat princess once more,” he reminded her.

"I'm…I'm not welcome into the palace anymore, my lord." Kassy bowed her head. She still had a mission to accomplish and would receive any insults until she did so.

"Let me warn you in that case, if I see you taking to Myan in any way that makes her uncomfortable, if you dare to blame her for your misery, I promise you, I won’t hesitate to take your life." He glared at her and when she stood frozen without providing a response, he shook his head and added in his deep voice, "do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, my lord." She nodded in understanding.

"Out of this bedroom, and for there last time, I don’t want you in here. The next time you step into this room, you will be leaving with no feet. I know your scent now, so do not disregard my absence and take it for granted."

Kassy speed walked out of the room before he said anything else.

"Was she giving you any trouble?" Ash turned to Myan with a sigh.

"No,” she lied.

"Okay." He nodded and turned around to leave, "I'll talk to Minrad for a while, I have to go back to the ceremony ground and make sure that everyone is doing fine. I only came back here to make sure you were okay."

"Wait." She held his wrist and that him turn around on his heels to look at her, waiting for her to speak.

"You're trying to make sure everyone's okay, are you okay?" She had worry in her eyes as she looked up at him, trying to read his expressionless face to no avail.

"I am." He nodded.

"Ash, are we really going to pretend that Yugi didn’t say anything?" She pushed the discussion.

He withdrew his wrist from her and closed his eyes with a frown, reopening them and folding his hands across his chest. "Don’t worry about it, I'll figure things out."

"Ash, this is serious, we have to take the next step, don't avoid this topic,” she argued.

He made his way to leave the room, but she followed right behind him.

"I said, I'll figure things out, don’t push me. That is final,” he said.

"How can you expect me to stay quiet? He didn’t say we had to separate for things to go back to normal, he literally said we would have to sacrifice my life. My life is at stake here, how do you expect me to remain silent on a matter that serious?" She raised her voice, self aware.

"Is talking about it going to solve the problem?!" He turned to yell in her face, "look around you, there is still food, and there is water. They are simply threatening us just to make us afraid, and you're letting it get the best of you. Calm yourself down woman, everything will be fine!" He barked and scoffed at her before leaving the room.

She stood in the center of the room in shock, hugging herself tight. She knew there would be a problem with him waking the ancestors. She remembered what Frost had told her about the taboo between both worlds falling in love. She knew her parents had been a part of different worlds but they were gone before she was smart and so she had basically no idea what their fate had been.

She had no idea she was crying until she heard the door slam behind her. Quickly, she dried her wet cheeks with the back of her palm and looked at the beautiful woman with long, kinky hair, standing in front of her in a beautiful yellow gown that looked like it belonged to the royal family.

"I heard you two." Asha walked closer to Myan with her hands folded across her chest, "are you really that scared to lose your life?"

Myan had no idea what this woman was, but she didn't care. "How can I not be afraid? He asked for my head. What does that have to do with solving any problem? I've never been so scared to lose my life. These past times, there has always been a way out, and so I felt so used to it. Now, it seems like this is the end and I'm stuck because I have no idea what way can get me out of this,” she began to sob.

"Calm down." Asha placed her hands on Myan’s shoulders and shook her head, "trust me, it will be fine, like Ash has said, it is probably just a threat. Ash won’t be the first lord to fall in love with a woman from a different world and I don’t see anything in the history books about a beheaded woman, do you?"

Myan shook her head in response, she had no idea why Asha cared but she confirmed that was everything that she needed.

She was taken by surprise when Asha extended her arms for a hug, but she didn’t argue and received it with the best intentions.

"I hope you are right."

"I know Ash won’t go back on his words. He will have countless meetings with them. She found a new way out of this. Trust him okay." Asha offered her a smile again.

Myan nodded in understanding and went to sit on the bed, knowing Asha was possibly right. As long as Ash was alive, she was safe. There was no way he would permit some psychotic dead people to take her live over a matter that little.

"Love is love,” she mumbled under her breath.

***

Crawling animals moved aside as the huge feet made their way through the wet grasses on rushed motions.

Looking sideways every minute, he expected someone to pop behind him. He seemed to expect someone to be following him. Bowing his head, he increased his pace and patted the side of his pants to make sure that his knife was still in place, just to be safe.

Confirming this, he took his heels and hurried so he was closer to his destination.

Minrad had left the mountains after Ash had gone to join the soldiers in taking the citizens to the doctors and found a place for the homeless.

He knew people were too busy with the crisis to pay attention to his absence and after assuring Asha that he was going to be assisting Ash in helping the people, he had the best chance to do just what he had in mind.

A few moments passed and he finally arrived at his destination. Looking over his shoulder, he had to confirm that there was nobody watching him before giving the signal off.

He made three bird calling sounds, standing by the border between both worlds.

He frowned, thinking he had been disappointed and tricked and no one was going to show up but after a few minutes, Frost walked into his view with his hands behind his back. Both men were standing a few feet away from each other because the invisible barrier the ancestors from the fire world had created.

"So, feed me on everything that has happened so far." Frost asked in his commanding tone.

"Well, twist, lord Frost. While we were at the ceremony today, an ancestor intervened with destructive intent. To cut the long story short, he has made things easier for us. He ordered that Myan be beheaded for Ash's decision to marry a woman from a different world."

Frost frowned and began to pace from left to right, "but that's not right. Ash would never do something like that, what did he expect?"

"I don’t think he will but that's not all. It comes with a heavy price; their bond will cause a famine apparently." Minrad smirked, openly giving his thoughts.

"That is still stupid. You think Ash would let her go, to end famine?" Frost hated where their discussion was headed.

Minrad pulled his lips into a smirk, "don't you get it? This is a way to lift the boundary, and you and your men can gain access into the fire world."

"What do you mean by that?"

"All these years, I've held things back, I never got the revenge I truly craved all because Ash was made lord over me. But we were both trained, he was just lucky to be selected. I know everything about calling the presence of an ancestor, if I can promise to take Myan’s life in return for lifting the barriers, they would do anything to get rid of the problem they have, and I'd be willing to do it. You can gain access to this world and proof to everyone that Ash was never the better choice for a lord. It’s crazy because they will never see it coming." Minrad sounded so proud of himself.

He knew from that Smirk on Frost’s face that he had his support. All he needed now was a plan to make his thoughts a reality and he had a way.

"How do you plan on making this work?" Frost wanted to know, he wasn’t in for the words, he was more of an action man. "And how can I be certain you were really on my side? Trust me, I would strangle a man if he tried to betray me."

"I doubt I’d be summoning you here if I wanted to let you down. The best you can do is trust me. All my life, I've needed the perfect revenge on this man and would do anything to please me because he knows very well that he still feels guilty over issues occurrences." Minrad hoped he sounded as assuring as he meant to be. "Hey," he frowned. "About my plans…"

***

Ash walked into his bedroom and was glad to find that Myan was there all by herself.

He had never been so stressed out like that and he wondered if he could take a bath although he really needed to have one.

Myan was lying on her side, her back to him and he knew for sure that it was well past midnight. They had spent the entire day trying to fix things and after making sure, everyone had a roof to sleep under and food to eat, he had come back to the mountains, entrusting construction into the hands of those in charge of work the next day.

Ash tiptoed into the room, knowing how bad he smelled from all that sweat. He went on one knee and put one hand on Myan’s shoulder, leaning forward to plant a kiss on her forehead.

It was not a gentle kiss, and it was not his intentions to wake her up, but she budged in her sleeping position and flinched awake. He thought she was especially sensitive to touch and her flinching had caught him by surprise, making him withdraw from her.

She turned to lie on her other side, now facing him. She had fly away parts of her hair getting into the way of her sight, and she had cramps in her hands from using them as a pillow.

She struggled to bring her eyes fully open and with a rusty voice, she called gently, “Ash?"

"I'm back." He stood from his kneeling position and sat beside her on the bed.

She stretched, yawned and sat up, rubbing one eye and gaining a second time.

"I tried to wait up for you, but I must have fallen asleep. When did you get back here?" She asked him, looking around the room, not remembering when or why she had fallen asleep.

"A few seconds ago," he simply said, "it was a stressful thing."

There was silence for a while until Ash broke it. He looked directly at her, cupped her face in his hands and drew closer, "I'm sorry for earlier and what I did, I shouldn't have raised my voice at you."

"No, it's me, I knew how pressured you were and still went ahead to put the blame on you, I should not have done that and I'm truly sorry,” she said, closing her eyes and pressing his hands on her face with her palm.

"You're so sweaty," she reopened her eyes, "do you want me to run a cold bathe for you?" She suggested.

"I'm too lazy for that at the moment." He grinned, gently pulled her face closer to his and when he had it only a few inches away, he planted a kiss on her forehead. "There will be no one to clean my back."

She knew her cheeks had gone a bright red from having that kiss and her lips reflexively pulled into a smile as she tried to hide her blush in the dim candlelight, looking down.

"Do you want me to come with you to have a bathe?" She asked him teasingly.

"Only if you want to,” he added.

She smiled and stood to her feet, expecting him to tag along.

***

Myan was unable to resist the water so as soon as he was in that bathtub, she was literally in there with him in a couple of minutes. Running the rag down his back, she wanted nothing but to have access to his bulky muscular back. Everything about this man made her feel comfortable and in love.

"Ask." Ash said in a low voice, making her flinch a little.

"Hmm?" She looked up at him.

"I know you have a question for me, do go ahead, feel comfortable and ask,” he said.

"O…okay." She was a little surprised to know that he had read her expressions even though she had been silent. She had a lot she wanted to know from this man, she knew she should expect a lot more of the surprising tone.

She heaved a sigh and drew closer to him in the large wooden pool-like tub and leaned her head against his back. "You won't let anything happen to me, right?" She knew the answer to her own question, but she wanted to hear him say it. She wanted the reassurance more than ever and she was a hundred percent determined to have it.

Rather than respond, Ash spread his arms away from his body, turned around so he could face her, he wrapped his arms around her, so she was still leaning on him even though he had turned. He pressed her head against his chest and leaned his jaw against her head. "Not even the ancestors can change my mind." He stood firm on his words.

She nodded against his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist, closing her eyes as she remained there.

Ash lifted her chin so she could look at his face. He craned his head downwards and planted a soft kiss on her lips.

He was about to pull away when she pulled his face back with her small hands, pressing his lips harder on hers and separating them with her lower lip. She sucked on it like it was her first time tasting any human lips and admittedly, every time felt better than the last, like a whole new experience.

When the tip of his fingers played on her back, she knew for sure that if there was anything she loved, it was foreplay with Ash in a cold bathe. The coolness of the water made her shiver twice as much and it was a feeling she never wanted to escape.

Ash had both hands on her waist, and she wanted things to take a deeper turn, he pulled her even closer to him until his naked body was pressed against hers.

She tightened her eyes and made her hands move all the way to his neck.

He tried to find her fingers when she moved them away, he wanted them back on his neck just so he could feel the tingling sensation of them again.

Ash's body was making him feel things he wasn’t sure he could control, he wanted everything at once and couldn't decide what pace he had to go. He ran his hands over her body fast, not knowing where to place them but took his kiss slow.

She would have laughed at his indecisiveness if she wasn’t put in the mood as well.

Ash slowly backed away and was panting in a low tone. "You could catch a cold if you stay here any longer,” he reminded her. Although, he lacked little knowledge of waterpowers, he was trying his best to he as conscious as he could possibly be for her sake.

She smiled at him and nodded on understanding. "Let’s go into the bedroom then,” she said. She wondered where Minrad and Asha must have spent the night. It hadn't been her will to sleep off like that but when she had been there, neither of them had come around to necessarily bug her or ask her to leave and so she assumed they were coming in late and she would move herself to the bedroom Ash had prepared for them the night before, as soon as they would show up but that was the best thing on her mind at the moment.

She wanted to get a comfortable bed to stay on and pass time away.

Ash wrapped a huge towel around her and took the same activity after they had come out of the tub. She left the rag by the edge and together, leaving water trails behind them, dropping from their skin, they made their way to the bedroom silently.

Myan loved how even though there were a massive number of people living in his mountains, they could have such a private time without having to bother about intruders.

She almost laughed aloud at the thought of being caught in the middle of an intercourse with Ash. She did not think she could ever live with herself.

"It’s not going to happen." Ash assured her, startling her for the umpteenth time that night.

"What?” She drew her eyebrows together in confusion.

"No one’s going to catch us and if they do, I still have the power to freeze people in place,” he laughed, holding her face tight in his grip and leading her to the bedroom.

"Can you really read thoughts?” She asked him out of plain curiosity. It was not the first time he was doing something like that.

"No,” he smirked at her.

Lying on the bed, Myan closed her eyes and waited for Ash to take the first step. He settled on top of her, balancing both hands by the sides of her head.

He crouched lower and kissed her a little. She kept her eyes closed, loving how hotter it tasted in that manner.

Ash let her towel go loose and she lifted her hip from the bed a little just so she could permit the motion.

He carefully placed it beside her and eyed her breasts lustfully.

With a sigh, he leaned his head downwards and pressed one ear against her breast. She hugged his head against her chest, not wanting him to pull away.

"You love it this way?" He asked her softly.

"Hmm." She simply nodded. She thought there was no need to rush things in the first place. "We can take as long as we please, right?" She asked him hopefully.

"Right,” he responded and stayed in that manner the entire time.

After a while, he trailed one finger from the center of her chest, all the way down to her belly button until he had access to her clitoris. She bit her lower lip and sucked in a moan. Although he had assured her that there will be no spying on them, she found herself withdrawing from waking other people up by moaning so loud although she doubted that she would have the ability to keep up with it. He had barely touched her vaginal lips and all she wanted to do was scream in pleasure.

He noticed her pursed lips and smirked to himself, softly massaging his thumb on her clitoral button.

She pressed one hand against her mouth softly and he did her the favor of pushing it down her face after a kiss on her nose. "Let it go,” he assured her.

She nodded and widened her eyes, relaxing them once more enough a moan of satisfaction when he decided to go in with his tongue. He stamped the tip of his tongue along her vaginal lips before returning to pleasure her clitoris after he found it was her pleasure button. She was wet for him and that was a major turn on. He closed his eyes and continued with his tongue, using his fingers for support every minute.

He kept it up, increasing his pace, graduating from licking it to sucking until she released in his mouth.

She had no reason to feel shy although a part of her knew that she eventually would.

He moved forward and found her lips once more. Not wanting to disgust her, he kissed one side of her cheek and started from the top all over.

She knew her recovery time would be less, thanks to his terrorist kisses and she wasn’t complaining.

Ash began to pressure her by flicking his tongue on her nipple, fiddling with her other one between his thumb and index finger.

"Myan hugged and pressed his head against her breast, her head raised, her forehead wrinkled from frowning from all the pleasure. She wasn't making an exact moan and her small sighs made his ears tingle.

He noticed that she looked to keep him in a spot if she was enjoying what he was doing and found he loved that way of communication. He didn't withdraw from her nipples until she began to twitch her legs, hungry for his touch.

"Do you want me to stop?" he decided to tease her. She snapped her eyes open and stared at him like he had sprouted a new head. Even though she had not given him a response, her reaction was indeed everything to him.

He was hard and it was a lot for him to withhold from gaining instant pleasure. He loved to tease her and make her feel aroused before giving himself anything.

He penetrated her slowly and once he was in, he knew that the cold bathe was most likely a waste of time because he would be sweating all of it out. He craned his head backwards, still balancing his weight on his hands.

He had a lot going through his head before but at the moment, his brain seemed blank and all he could focus on was how every single thrust felt better than the last.

He kept calling her name as he pulled out then in, his veins were palpable all through his arms and he didn’t want the feeling to end.

Coupled with her moaning, the two of them filled the room with skin flapping sounds, heavy breathing and silent moans.

It felt like a peak she wouldn't return from. She opened her eyes slightly to look at Ash. She was certain, she loved this man and there was no going back from here.

***

The next morning felt refreshing for Myan. She was not surprised when she didn’t see Ash lying next to her. She stretched, stood to her feet and left the room to see what was going on.

She peeked out of the bedroom to see if there would be people in sight. The servants were nowhere to be seen but Ash was concluding a conversation with Minrad.

When she noticed he was approaching the bedroom, she shook her head and went back inside the room, so she didn’t seem like she was eavesdropping. Ash walked into the room to find her rummaging through a small collection of gowns and hugged her naked body from behind.

"Good morning." He smiled at her and kissed her neck.

She blushed and muttered in response, "good morning."

He pulled away from her and went to sit on the bed, watching her get dressed.

"What do you have planned for the day?" She asked him.

"Il not sure yet,” he answered her, "hopefully, to rest. These people have been overworking me all day just because I'm lord, they seemed to forget that I'm just a human at the end of the day." He rolled his eyes.

"You're not any ordinary human,” she chuckled, attempting to clean the room although it wasn't messed up.

"It doesn't matter. Breakfast is ready, what would you like to eat?" he asked her, stopping her movements to clean up things on request.

"If there is a menu, whatever is on it,” she chuckled.

"Hmm. Get clean and join me on the breakfast table,” he said and left the room.

She nodded even though he could no longer see her and decided to take her bathe. She packed some charcoal so she could clean her teeth and get rid of her morning breath.

She was on her way to the bathroom when she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder from behind. Without turning to look, she knew exactly who it was. She closed her eyes, took a deep sigh and reopened them before turning around to look at Kassy.

"Fourth princess,” she simply said, acknowledging Kassy's presence.

"You must really feel on top of the world now, don't you?" Kassy asked in a harsh tone.

Myan knew there had to be more to Kassy’s presence here. The Kassy she knew wouldn't intentionally put herself through the terror just to prove a point, she had something in mind and just wasn’t spilling.

"The lord warned you against talking to me." Myan had a little confidence to speak back, and it was especially because she wasn't in the mood to talk to her. She had never been. "I wouldn't hesitate to tell him if you bother me." She frowned.

"Is that a threat?"

"For someone like you who left someone she claimed to love over something so little, maybe you aren't worth talking to." Myan resumed walking. "You didn't even think about the child in your womb." Myan felt irritated. No one had forced Kassy into leaving. It had been her personal choice and she couldn't help but feel bad for Achu wherever he was.

"Oh, shut up, you idiot. I was never pregnant, you're just some gullible servant and that's what you will always be, you think this man would give his kingdom up for some woman he's just met, yes only using because you're a virgin and probably still tight for him. Give it a few more weeks, when people begin to suffer and…"

"Ash." Myan called in a semi loud voice. She was trying her best to hold back from slapping Kassy across the face.

"No need to be dramatic," Kassy rolled her eyes. "I'll leave. I need to use the bath when you're done,” she smirked and turned to leave.

Myan continued towards the bathroom, pretending the conversation never happened. She wasn't going to let a woman that could barely hold her own home, get in her way. She sighed and shoved her out of her kind.

Meanwhile, Minrad had been watching both women from where he stood and when he saw that what was going on, he pulled his lips into a smirk. "Things just got better,” he assured himself.

***

Myan was drying herself off in the bedroom when she heard a panicked yell from the living room. She held her breath as if that would help her head what the conversation was all about.

She moved closer to the door and picked the unfamiliar male voice. "…We had to get here as soon as we could. Two kingdoms have been affected, Burn Kingdom and Smoke kingdom." The man seemed to be talking to Ash.

"Oh no. Quick, warn every other kingdom and ask them all to start storing their foods before things go down." Ash was talking confidently but Myan knew deep down he was just as worried.

Although she didn’t know what had gone down, she was still curious to know if they were in trouble.

She waited patiently after dressing up for him to come into the room so she could ask him what had gone down.

After what seemed like forever, Ash showed up in the bedroom looking like the most troubled soul.

She stood to her feet and went to where he was, "what's happening?" The way he looked troubled bothered her more than it should, and she was curious.

"Are you okay?" She asked him.

"I'm not. This morning, when the people of Burn and Smoke woke up, all their barns were infected, their farm crops were dried and their animals had died,” he said, pacing around the room."

"Oh my God!" She panicked, "what are we going to do now?" She swallowed in fear.

"Store food. It is slowly going to affect us all. I'll summon the ancestors and talk to them but before then we need to make sure everyone doesn't run out." He said, "for now, I'll find a way to reach to the people."

"I'll come with you,” she suggested rather too sharp for her own good. ,"don't argue, this is happening all because if me whether you choose to admit it or not." she reminded him.

Ash wanted her to come with him, for some reason, her presence and her being by his side gave him a sole feeling of calmness he knew he had to talk to Yugi the soonest he could if he didn’t want things to escalate.

Like wind, he set out with Minrad, Asha and Myan, ordering the servants to store the food available in the mountains. He planned on preserving things with his fire, but he could only be at once place at a time.

He had set a torch on fire and handed it to the head servant so every thing they stored, they set stones around it and burned it with fire from that torch. It was supposed to ward off invisible attacks since they were directly from Ash's fire.

"I'm scared again." Myan told Asha as both women trailed behind the men who were a few feet ahead.

Asha liked Myan for reasons unknown to her, especially after hearing her story and how her marriage with Ash came to be, she thought Myan deserved all the love and attention she could get.

She placed an arm around Myan's shoulder and drew her closer, "there's no need to be.”

"But this is happening because of Yugi's conditions,” she sighed.

"Ash is here remember, everything will be fine, I promise." Asha sounded so sure of herself, "at least, if you don’t trust him, believe me, my husband will to his best to protect whatever involves Ash, they are like brothers. As soon as he heard the water lord wanted to fight, he rushed us down here and believe me when I say Minrad is all you'll ever need to feel safe." She smiled. This tall, beautiful woman had everything that made Myan feel safe.

"Thank you,” she said in understanding.

They continued in silence while a constantly distracted Ash led the way go Flame kingdom, the closest kingdom.

Myan was almost disappointed when they arrived there before an hour. Ash had taken a shortcut and never thought to tell her about before now. According to him, this had been important, and he had just let this route known to her.

She was grateful that she had come along for that reason.

Things were fine as soon as they hit the streets especially because no one paid any extra attention to their presence. Everyone was busy trying to find ways to deal with the problem they had heard from the other kingdoms. In fact, they had begun to store food as no one wanted to be left out.

Everything would have gone well if a random person hadn't yelled in the direction of Myan. "There she is!"

Myan furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as there was silence for a mini second, but soon, the people began to murmur again. There was no time for her to think because a huge stone almost hit her forehead. She had dodged it by creating a barrier with her arms.

She groaned, still in shock from the occurrence when a smaller stone touched her lips.

Ash realized that the people were attacking Myan intentionally and his protective instincts became dominant in that instant.

He frowned and grabbed her arm, pulling her against his chest and wrapping his arms around her.

Myan’s heart raced fast, and she grabbed a fist full of Ash's shirt in her grip, closing her eyes tight, breathing heavily, fear of being hurt getting up her.

"What are you doing?" Ash snapped, serving as a human shield for Myan as the people refused to let go of their grudge. They kept attacking with stones, careful not to use their food items.

"Minrad, hold this crowd, I'll be back to talk to them." He frowned, knowing that if he stayed any longer, he would burn them all alive, and his anger level was rising. There was nothing he hated more than being ignored. He knew he should ask Minrad to protect Myan so he could address the crowd immediately, but he didn't trust him with her safety.

"Noted." Minrad nodded and stepped forward while Ash shifted into his Aeu, still holding Myan tight. He grabbed Asha with his other hand, causing her to scream in shock.

He took a high jump and was out of their presence before they had the chance to wonder where he had gone.

He was soon away from them and landed on the deserted path they had taken.

He set both women on their feet before transforming to his human form.

He held Myan in place, placing his hands on her shoulders and scanning her face to check for injuries. Her lip was bleeding. He opened his mouth to ask how she was doing when she suddenly burst into tears and jumped a little to wrap her arms around his neck.

He closed his eyes with a sigh and let her cry against his shoulder, nodding when he tightened his grip that was around her waist.

"It's okay." He pats her back with one hand, running it through her hair. She held on tighter to him, wailing and sniffing as if letting go of him would set her in trouble.

He tried to pull away, but she dodged the motion by squeezing him tighter to her. "Please don’t go." She could hardly manage the words. She was still traumatized by the unexpected event.

Ash hated himself because he had to do his job as lord, but he didn’t want to leave her when she was so emotional. He kissed her forehead and gently let go, "I will be back. That's why I brought Asha along, I didn't want you to be lonely. I promise, I'll be here as soon as possible,” he assured her.

Myan couldn't find the words to say so she only nodded in response.

***

Ash had returned only a few moments anger. His people were determined to tear him down, threatening to take Myan’s life if he didn’t sacrifice her as it had been requested.

He hated that the same set of people that had been cheering for her after she had saved them, could wish her misery just because of a recession.

Although he did well to hide it, for the first time, he was really scared. He knew he wouldn't allow anything happen to Myan, but he didn’t know how. Once the ancestors made their minds up, there was no going back. If only he had not been irrational to call for their presence. Everything would have been fine for him. That would never deal with this presence because she could carry on living as a woman without powers.

He warded the thoughts off so he could concentrate on Myan that was sitting silently by the edge of the bed.

He had a bowl of warm water and clean rags in his hands and sighed when he knelt in front of her so he could treat her wounds probably.

"I'm sorry,” he said for the umpteenth time since he had come back home.

"It is not your fault," she sighed, looking away from him. She had only wanted to assist with their well being and they had all turned against her without care that it made her wish she hadn't gone. "Ash?" She called after a few seconds and that made him look up at her.

"Hmm?" He sighed.

"Can we not talk about it anymore? It's triggering,” she said in a low voice.

He nodded in understanding and assured her he wouldn't bring it up again.

"Ash, where is your spirit animal?" She asked him after a few minutes had passed of him dabbing her lips with the warm clothing piece.

"I don't want to talk about it,” he teased her.

Even though he didn’t sound serious, she didn't push it.

"I want you to take a rest, okay? Minrad and I have decided to go hunting before the forest animals are dead. We need to have more meat in store in case of the unknown." He stood to his feet, squeezing the excess water out of the rags before turning to leave the room.

Myan wished he didn't have to be so occupied at all times, but she was certainly not going to hold him back for her own comfort. "Okay." Resting would mean having to fall asleep and he would possibly be back by the time she came awake.

"I love you." Ash added before he left the room and definitely was the tool, she needed to lift her spirit.

“I love you too,” she added in a low voice after he was gone.

She used her hands as a pillow and turned her back to the door, hugging her knees. She wanted this to pass as soon as possible.

She was worried but it sucked because she didn't know there was a way out for sure.

She sighed as a tear drop slipped down her cheek, knowing she would forever be terrified by today's incident.

She closed her eyes hoping that sleep would find its way to her eventually.

Minrad and Ash were a few steps away from the mountains talking about the changes and when Ash was going to call for Yugi's presence.

Minrad cut Ash’s sentence off midway, "I forgot my trap,” he snapped, frowning and placing his hands on his waist.

"We were just a few minutes away; you can head back to the mountains." Ash shrugged.

"I'll be right back." Minrad assured.

He turned around and went straight to the house without wasting time. He was heading straight for the bag under the bed in the room he had spent the night with Asha on their first night here.

He knew Myan would sleep immediately when she closed her eyes because he had spiked the tea he'd asked Asha to give Myan earlier, claiming it would help clear her mind.

"Why are you going in there?" His wife startled him, coming up behind him, eyeing him suspiciously.

He turned around with a nervous smile to look at Asha. "It’s nothing,” he assured her. "I forgot my trap. I left it in our travel bag. It's still in that room we didn't unpack, remember?" He pulled her closer to him by her waist. After a forehead kiss, he proceeded into the bedroom closing the door behind him.

True to his guess, Myan was asleep already. He smirked and looked over his shoulder just to be certain there was nobody watching.

He pulled a black bag from his load and unzipped it.

It was a black mamba snake that had been possessed after a possession ceremony he had performed.

He let the snake go and stepped backwards, a smirk on his lips as it crawled up the bed and where she was laying.

He watched with interest how the snake took its position around Myan’s neck. He knew that she was too deep to even wake up, so the snake was going to choke her to death.

The snake wrapped itself around her neck thrice and that was when Minrad’s eyes widen as she sat up sharply, tugging at the strange creature around her neck.

How was it possible for her to even come awake?

She made choking sounds but could not utter any word, he relaxed and sighed in relief, what better way than to watch a woman die in horror.

Myan’s eyes were red and teary as she tried unfailingly to pull the slimy creature off. She noticed Minrad standing there…smirking?

She wondered why he was not helping her and tried to reach for the nearest tool to stab the serpent.

Minrad wanted to rush things, knowing he had a limited time before someone came walking into that room and so he decided to finish the job with his own hands.