Chapter 7:

His wounds were now all bandaged; his once-dirty face is now clear and smooth, and a slight scar on his right eye made him so attractive that any girl would shy away. His toned body and the old scars covering all over his whole back, It got me thinking about, what kind of life he was living before.

  Ray and I looked through the newspaper, and upon flipping through the pages, we arrived on the first page, Our eyes bulged out of our sockets; all three of our photos were on the front page, and out of all three, mine is the biggest. All our posters covered up to half of the front page.

"Wanted… Ashu L Stark and Ray Falcon forced their way into the Valshiri prison on May 3, 2421"

"They disguised themselves as one of the soldiers and managed to free a heinous criminal named Cale Valtia; together, these three injured four military soldiers and severely injured  genrale Luke Tail of Valshiri Prison and the captain of the base town, Lieutenant Lester. " Ironically, Ray read out loud, the lines from the newspaper.

"These three are now on the run; due to the severity of their crimes, the Justica decided to place three bounties on these three and issue rewards on their heads; if you see any of them, please notify your local authorities." Our bounties were quite high: I was a five-star criminal with a $20 million bounty, Ray was two stars with a $9 million reward, and Cale was three stars with a $10 million bounty.

"What the?! ", we both exclaimed, looking at the massive amount on our respective heads.

"Why is the bounty on my head so huge?" I asked, disbelief etched in my voice. "This amount could buy me a small island. What did I do to warrant this kind of reward?" Cale continued to cook as he explained, "Lester wasn't just any ordinary person. He was one of the Justica’s fine lieutenant, a highly respected position. It takes a lot to become a lieutenant, and his defeat has caused quite a bit of stir. But what made you more dangerous was that you were the kings candidate."

I raised an eyebrow, still in disbelief. "So, you're saying just because of that they placed a bounty that could fund a small war on my head?"

"That's what I'm saying, I get why yours is big, but mine is too much for me," said Ray with a hint of frustration in his voice.

"Well, now it doesn't matter, does it? You can't put the genie back in the bottle, can you?" Cale chimed in with a smirk, "What matters is that from now on, we're considered some of the most notorious criminals on the run. The government hounds will be on our tails, and with this kind of bounty, even the strongest and most dangerous of people will be after us. So, say goodbye to the freedom you once knew, my friend, because it's gone forever." 

"Ugh, why did we have to get caught up in this mess?" Ray sighed. "Hey, at least we'll have each other to watch our backs," Cale said, trying to lighten the mood. "Besides, think of all the adventures we will be going through, dodging bullets and outwitting the authorities. It's going to be a wild ride!" I said.

"Well, you're right about that." Replied Cale.

"It's funny... now I'm worth 20 million…" I mumbled lightly to myself, thinking that its no going back now; all I can do is move forward;

"Speaking of which, you never told me you were a power user, Ashu, how so!?" Asked Ray.

"Well, you never asked, and I never got the perfect opportunity to use the power Infront of you before."

"Yeah, you might be right. But dude! It’s so cool, I knew king candidate have the power but its my first time seeing the in action. What's your power?"

"Unfortunately, I don't know, one day I woke up and puff, my body all glowy and my hair turned ash white, that's all I know."

"Hmm… with the strength you shown, it may be a superstrength." Said Ray.

"May be."

"What about you Cale, I didn't knew you too had powers just like mine? Why didn't you tell me, when I asked you, while we were in prison?"

"I was about to but we were interrupted by the alarms."

"What yours do exactly?" I asked.

"Mine are kind of different than yours, you see, while you were directly chosen by the Ark of covenant and blessed with one of the king's powers itself. I was chosen by the someone like you, a candidates for the supreme King." Said Cale, as he was chopping the vegetables.

"Huh!? I don't get it?" Ray said, then Cale replied, saying "You see, there are two types of power users in this world as we know of, one those who are born with their powers. They are what you call  a king's prospect, they who are chosen by the Ark as one of the supreme king's candidates, just like you. They are said to be super rare individuals and not many presents in this world!"

"But it's odd." Said Ray.

"What!?" I asked.

"You see, I'm not sure why but those that are born with it are either be killed by their own bodies or by the misfortune, they bring in with it."    He continued as he put his hand on his chin while staring at me with a curious look.

"Second power users are like me they are called Clansmen."

"As the name suggest, the clan members, also known as clansmen are the individuals who are deeply connected to people like you, who are chosen to aid the supreme king for the Ark."

"They are the personal aids of the king, and supports them, their power is what you call a burrowed power. What It means that, their powers were given by the kings themselves."

"But how would you then classify between a king and a clansmen?"

"By the tattoos like insignia that are itched on the clansmen bodies, after they received their powers from the king." Said Ray as he pointed towards Cale, who in turned revealed his back to show his insignia.

Green roaring sabretooth tiger with a pair of bats like wings. His whole tattoo covered half of his back.       

"By the way, there's something on my mind... about what the guy dressed in black said, what's the story?" I asked,

"…"

"…" silence erupted, and nobody said anything, by the looks of it Ray too was curious about it. We both waited, for Cale to answer, sounds of the flame cracking around us;

He let go his shirt, and continued dicing vegetables.

"What I told at that time was not the whole story…" The silence broke, as he began to foretell his story, in that moment;

"…" I remained silent and let him continued. Ray on the other hand turned to with a question mark hanging on his head.

"At that what I told was not complete, my friend Vickram, who had committed suicide was not actually dead."

"What!?" I reacted.

"You see right after his death I changed my life completely; his death had scared me and I was determined to get his revenge. I trained, and trained for years, never missed a single a day."

"After few years, just when I turned twenty, my life changed again, this time much worse…" He too a pause, stared blankly at diced carrots, after few seconds he continued.

"You see, Valtia Clan was made by genrale of one of the 4 kings. Gregorg Valtia, the clan was comprised of hundred thousand people, my family included."

"My dad was in the second in command in clan because of his strength. We were a clan full of assassins and strong fighters. Children in our clan were begin their training at young age, those with good strengths and mindset are then given their powers from the king. Vickram and I got our power, when we were just ten."

"Getting powers meant that our training will get harsher and harsher. Vickram and I turned thirteen, and our training got much rougher. Me and like many others like me, gotten used to it but Vickram couldn't. He may have been stronger than most of us because of his will but when we got into middle school, things changed."

"His brother committed a serious felony, because of which he was set to be executed but unfortunately before he could go through his punishment, he broke free from his cell and ran away."

        "Many died because of him, including Vikram's parents except his grandma. But what worse is that, Vickram and his grandma started facing criticism because of his brother's action. Many in our clan out right hate them, and started treating him as one of the criminals."

"Our clan leader banished Vickram and his grandma from their house and relocated them in outskirts of our town. Nobody was allowed to talk to him but I still secretly visited him at that time.  Unable to hear taunts from others, he got tired, that's when he committed suicide to escape from his fate."

"At that time for us, he died but… that was not the case."

"I don't know how, but when I turned twenty, my life got worse for me."

"When children for our clan turned twenty, they were assigned their first task by the leader. We were ordered to protect kings or queen of a nations. I was assigned to protect the royal family of Elsia empire."

"…"

"…"

"When I arrived Elsia, I saw something horrendous  something that I had wished I never came across."

"What!?" Ray and I simultaneously asked.

"Vickram…"

"!!"

"He was there, but not Vickram I know of. The person Infront me was the sheer personification of anger. He was covered in blood, but the blood was not his.

The scene was horrifying, he sat at the top of pile of corpses, all butchered in a very gruesome way. He turned his eyes to me and suddenly  a evil smirk plastered on his face."

"Shocked by the scene in front of me, I couldn't move. The pressure, oozing from my childhood friend was menacing. Suddenly the pressure disappeared, same said for the Vickram."

"As he disappeared, many soldiers that were alive entered throne room and saw me standing at the pool of blood and the horror in front me, the corpses of many humans, including the royal family."

"I ran away as fast as I could and returned to the Clan. But upon returning what I saw was more horrifying than what I saw before. Whole town in which I grew up in and the people I know of, all of them not a single sole survived…"

"The whole town was massacred including our clan leader by a single individual, and that person was no other than my best friend Vickram Valtia."

"!!"                                                                                                         

"Whole town was destroyed and once renowned Valtia clan ceased to exist disappeared from the face of earth in a single day."

"I don't know why but I was spared by the king, in exchange I leave the party…"

"I don't know how or why, my name got out, saying that I was the one who murdered my own clan."

"I was sentenced for death by the Justica. With a desire of vengeance, I was not ready to die and this time for myself I broke free from the prison."

"I roam for three years in search of Vickram, but with no luck on my side I was unable to find him. Unfortunately, I gave up my pursue, tiered from my life I visited nearest military base and got myself intentionally arrested."

"While I was locked in the prison, that's when I met you. You were the one who sparked the fire in me, I'm quite grateful for that." Said Cale as bowed his head Infront me. Shocked by his action, I immediately asked him to get up and stop bowing.

"I promise you this… I will make sure you will have your vengeance;"

"Thankyou… And I'll make sure you archive your dream;" and with that, he continued skinning the boar he got for us; Ray with puffiness under his eyes, I looked at him and smiled;

"What!?" he asked;

"Nothing. Where are you going?"

"Peeing."

"Oh!" and with that sun came over our heads; it was noon, all three of us filled our stomachs and Ray started packing all our stuff and then put everything back into the trunk of the car;

"I'm full!! I haven't eaten for nine days. Almost starved to death!!" Said Cale joyfully, as we both stood up;

"Hey! you can help you know!" Said Ray, with an angry voice while slamming the trunk's lid;

"Nope, I did the cooking and hunting so. It's up to you guys;"

"And I quite tired from the fight so." I said, while avoiding any eye contact with him;

"Sigh…"

And with that everything was done, all three of us sat in the car, this time Cale in the driving seat while I was in the back; Ray in another frontal seat;

"So where to?" asked Cale as he ignited the engine.

"Well, we had planned to go Vally of lutia but now I don't think it's possible for quite some time;  So we need to let some heat settle down first; going anywhere now will make us the easy target." Said, Ray.

"Yeah… Kings-landing will be swamped with police and authorities everywhere;" I remarked;

"So, what now?" Ray asked;

"First of all, I think we need to lay low for now, second we need some finance for our spending and fake IDs," I replied.

"About finance, I know an organisation that has a job for us; this organisation is sort of a guild, and all the risky jobs are placed there, from bodyguarding to assassinations and murder;"

"It might be able to solve our financial problem.  All the jobs placed in this guild are with huge pay because of the huge risk, And best part we can remain anonymous;" said Cale;

"But we still need temporary Ids; I know a guy that can help us. He is an underground merchant; he buys and sells rare goods in the black market; I sold him many of my artefacts that I got from dungeon hunting;" I said;

"Can we trust him, I heard people like him tends to be untrustworthy and corrupt; the only thing they love is money, which means, with our huge bounties, we are like walking taking treasure box for him;" Ray remarked; what he said is true, without a doubt, guys like him tend to love money more and nowadays information fetch at a high price if it was given at a right time;

" Don't worry the guy I'm talking about is like a parent to me. On the contrary, I'm quite afraid to meet with this guy."

"How so?" asked Ray.

"You'll know soon enough."

To be continued;