Anything For You
Chapter 72

Stepping inside the cave which looked like it was monstrously ancient and was giving off the vibes of being mysterious, both the men tightened their holds on their respective weapons which they had been carrying all along for their safety. Anything could be in there, and they had to be ready to march attack in case of any lingering danger and sudden attack by any animals. But to their utter surprise, no animals were spotted in the range of their vision. The atmosphere inside that cave was totally different from the outside. It looked like it was some kind of magical formation for the whole land was barren and lifeless but the drops of water dripping with the patches of mosses and some little grasses could be seen from its roof. Moisture !!!

But how was that possible. !! When there hadn't been any rains in the past then how come this cave was having water? This question started to pester Akhim while the young king was taking it as a miracle to find a good place to rest while the downpour was still going on.

Akhim noticed the expressions over his face and couldn't decipher what had been going on in his mind.

"Your Majesty, just be careful. There can be dangers here." Akhim kept on peeking here and there for any lurking dangers as the presence of this life-sized cave filled with moisture and the other living feelings was nothing but a trap to him. "I think for some time I can just be a boy and not a king, Akhim." The young king was tired and he just wanted to relax. Despite of being aware of the fact that it was dangerous to take down his guard still he was taking risks.

Just as Akhim wanted to say something, The young king gestured him to stop talking with his hand and continue moving ahead. He was sure that if they had found water drops and mosses at the entrance, there could be more surprises inside that cave. Taking out a lamp and lighting it to illuminate their paths, Akhim took the lead only to safeguard his King and started moving ahead of King shielding him behind being alert. In a swift moment, there was heard a sound of crushing leaves beneath their feet. Casting the lights over that place, they found some dead and fallen leaves which were now turned into a powder after being under their feet for quite an amount of time.

The presence of those dried leaves was not a surprise to them for they had been hanging in this area since the last two days.

"You had been on numerous missions in the past. Have you encountered any caves prior to today, Akhim..?" The young king kept on moving while trying to talk. Although he was brave, quite brave yet he didn't want another round of a long unending silence to kill his nerve cells.

"Yes, Your Majesty. This is the same reason that I am more careful because nothing like this had happened In any of my missions.

Presence of a cave this lively in the middle of nowhere and that too in a barren area, is something unacceptable." Akhim wasn't a mere General. He was way too experienced.

They kept on moving further and suddenly a voice caught their attention.

"Who are you? How and why did you come here? Tell me right now before I change my mind and end up killing you both."

The lady ahead of them roared on top of her lungs. Lifting up his tired and hooded eyes, the young king spared a glance to the owner of voice only to notice a young, beautiful girl standing in front of him with a sharp spear in her soft hands but her hold was tight showing that she wasn't a naïve girl.

Her upturned forest green eyes were now appearing to be doubled in size because off anger and were emitting a killing aura while her little rosy lips were quivering lightly as If she was awoken from her slumber sleep. She was all dolled up with a brown tulip skirt and a strapless crop top successfully showcasing her navel and warm beige complexion and her hair being all loosened up from the sides while the hair being were nearly braided. The side hairs were falling over her previously flat eyebrows making them scrunched a little and change to steep arched which was adding more to that fury and her boldness.

The young king was busy adoring her beauty and caressing her features with his eyes without paying any attention to the fact that it was making her even more enraged. Akhim was the first one to react in that situation. He held his sword and marched towards the girl who was ready to launch an attack on the duo.

"Who are you?? What are you doing here?! As far as I know, here lives nobody in this barren land." Akhim stepped closer to her questioning her which she took as a warning and was just about to pierce the spear into his heart when the young king held her soft hands stopping her in her tracks.

She spared a look to him and held back her hand only to say....

"Don't!"

It came as a warning which was obvious for invading into her private space.

The king understood her concerns and backed off two steps while gesturing to do the same to Akhim which he complied reluctantly. When she confirmed that the two men had backed off, she placed the spear away making it rest with one of the walls of cave and gestured them to follow her inside.

Although Akhim was sensing something dangerous from her but right now following her was the best option. Her paces were slow yet confident and charismatic as it appeared to the young king. Soon her steps halted and the duo sensed their surroundings only to get astonished.

There were placed so many pots which looked wet as if filled with water or some liquid and eatables containing fruits, some vegetables and animal carcasses. In addition to these, there was an uplifted area formed with the stone over which were kept a dead snake. The place was looking lively with fire keeping it warm as the interiors of cave were emitting coldness. But the things adding to suspicion were this Mysterious girl and that dead snake. The attention of two men was diverted when they heard the girl arranging some eatables in earthen bowls.

"You must be like the other people who came here out of curiosity and got trapped in this Cursed Land."

Gesturing them both to take seats over the nearby stone tables, she handed them the bowls which contained some warm semi-solid contents without any aroma.

"Why did you not poke that spear into me?" The young king was quite curious to know why she let down her guard and let them both in her house, which he imagined that she must have been living here since it looked like.

"You looked harmless. And answering to your next question, you invaded in my private space, so I just warned you to stay away." The girl gave off an aura like she was a mind-reader as she guessed the other question from the man besides her and answered it without letting him even ask it.

"Anyhow, you can stay here till the weather clears and leave immediately afterwards. I don't do serving the guest things." She distanced herself after being logically rude and making her point clear to them.

"Pardon me lady, but does the weather always change like this in here?" Akhim was still curious about the changes he gad been noticing but the next words made him almost frozen in his spot while the spoon fell off from the young king's hands. "No, it never does. In fact, I don't even remember the last time it rained. But today I was getting bored as hell, so I just thought to make it drip.

Isn't it good!!"

The girl held no expressions of being illogical but the two men were dumbstruck and weren't able to form any sentences to say. One thing was sure, this girl wasn't any ordinary one. And the way she spoke so casually, she wasn't the one to be messed up with. Although they had to leave to continue searching for life and people beyond this area, yet this girl arose the hidden curiosity of that young king and now he wanted to know more about her. Besides that dead snake was also a matter of concern for him. Trying to connect to her more, he hauled up from his sit to hand over the empty earthen bowl to her only to find her smashing it to the rocky ground of that cave and found it shattered into pieces. Each moment with this mysterious girl was making him curious more and more.

"It's of no use now. The sand particles absorb the contents easily and so every time a new bowl need to be used."

Finding him scrunch his brows to her saying, she maintained a calm face saying...

"I will cast another one after the weather clears."

But the next moment his question came to hear ears drifting her into an endless world of memories..

"What's your name, lady?"