We walked the whole day taking short rest once in a while. Earlier on the merchant ship, I pretended to be a pirate and killed a noble; looted his treasure and kidnapped Elena, so it’s safe to assume that the noble family of Paranthean will be after me and not Elena and her family. Right now we are travelling through Katmiria planes; there is nothing but grass everywhere I see. Occasionally we come across wild animals, who were so involved with their food that they ignored us and continued to chew on the grass.

I checked the map again to make sure we were on the right track. At the edge of the plane there is a small village and after there is a mountain range, then another village followed by a large forest, if we follow the edge of the forest we will come across Levylon but I preferred to avoid Levylon for obvious reasons. Hence I decided that we would go through the forest to reach Elena’s village, It’s a bit dangerous as there are beast know to linger all over the forest but if we are careful we can avoid them.

I was so keen on keeping an eye out and checking our direction that I didn’t talk to Elena the entire time. Elena was walking behind me carry food and other stuff. I could still see hesitance in her eyes along with a little bit of fear. I don’t blame her though, I was also afraid when I saw myself turning a man into dust. I am still not sure what happened back there, if possible I would like to keep an eye out and be safe rather than rely on that power. I don’t even know how to activate it as it happened instinctively. As we crossed nearly half the plains sun started to set. I motioned to Elena that we would camp out near a big rock. We both settled down placing our baggage against the rock.

I gathered the small dried sticks lying nearby and started the fire, as if on cue Elena unpacked her bag and gathered materials to make broth for us to eat. I watched her as she was making the broth; this is the first time I have seen her up-close for so long. I can’t help but think why the noble got interested in her. She is indeed beautiful, her long brown silky hair hung upto her thighs and she had these alluring big blue eyes coupled with those eyelashes made her even more beautiful in the full moon light. There are many things beautiful in the world like butterflies, birds and even animals but that does not mean we should plunder those beauty with force. It will lose its attractiveness if forced, caged and treated with ill will. As I pondered over these things Elena looked at me, I quickly averted my eyes embarrassed at being caught looking at her.

She cleared her voice and said that the broth was ready. She brought one bowl for me, took another bowl for herself and sat across me.

“This is very good, I am really fortunate to get to eat this stuff” I said trying to lighten the mood. She didn’t respond and continued to chew on the vegetables.

I again opened my mouth to reassure her “When I said earlier that didn’t know anything about my past, I was telling the truth. Honestly I don’t know how I did that to the noble. I don’t know if I am capable of doing it again. So it will be better if we are careful on our way. I also don’t know if I am mage or anything else, the only thing I know is that my body is not like other people”

She looked at me and nodded then said “Thank you for saving me back then, if not for you I would have lost my life. If possible I would repay your kindness someday.” She said casting her eyes on the fire deep in thought.

“No, it’s ok. I didn’t save you in order to get a reward or something. If you were in my position I am sure you would have done the same, besides you treated my wounds and serve me good food. I am truly grateful for that, you don’t have to feel that you are in my debt” I said hurriedly not wanting to concern her.

“No, I did those things because I was told to and it was part of my duty as a servant of the noble. You offended them and even went through the trouble of making yourself their enemy by declaring that you were plundering their things like a pirate. They would surely come after you. You took such a risk for my sake. I cannot be so shameless to deny the kindness shown to me by my saviour.” She said feeling troubled.

I scratched my head not knowing what to say in such a situation then I said “If you really feel that way, then I will allow you to repay me. I love the food you make, it’s so delicious and I feel like doing my best as long as I look forward to eating it again. Why don’t you make me food till we reach your village? I will consider it as a settlement of your debt.”

“Even without your request I would cook food as we are journeying together. But it will still not clear my debt towards you, please stay in our village as a guest for as long as you like. I would like to do that much to show my appreciation” she said hopefully.

“Ok, that’s settled then. I would take rest for a while in your village before heading out. Hearing that sure motivates me to make it to your village faster.” I assured her with a smile on my face.

“May I know your name? It’s difficult to address you without knowing your name” she asked me after a moment.

“I don’t even know what my name is. But yeh you are right, why don’t you think of some name. I wouldn’t mind having a new name until I gain my memories back” I said to her hopefully.

She paused for another moment “Is it alright for me to suggest a name? I like the name Cleon, before my sister was born that’s the name me and my father decided if my mother had a boy” she looked visibly sad as she said that, I guess she still has not recovered over the loss of her father.

“Cleon..hum.. I like it. Ok it’s decided then. You can call me Cleon” I said in a happy tone. I am sure anybody would be delighted in having a beauty naming them. She said that it was meant if she had a brother, I didn’t like the sound of that. But it’s a nice name though so I agreed to it.

“You sleep first and I will keep a lookout and after a few hours I will wake you up before taking a nap myself” I told her and stood up, climbing the big rock I sat above it keeping a look out.

Elena went to sleep soon after and the fire died out eventually. I could still see in the darkness as clear as in the day. I was surprised many a times over the few days at the capabilities of my body. Could I really be a mage like Elena said or a well trained knight, perhaps I was actually a pirate to begin with. Someday I would find out for sure, my mysterious identity.

After a few hours I went towards Elena to wake her and ask her to be on guard. I hesitate for a moment but nonetheless woke her up after considering the fact that I had to sleep in order to effectively keep an eye out throughout the journey tomorrow.

Elena went a few meters away from me to stay as a guard and sat there. I guess she didn’t want to disturb my sleep. I lay on the grass with my eyes closed waiting for sleep to overtake my consciousness.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back after the weekend with another chapter. Weekend would be family time and hence there won't any chapters as I won't be writing on those days. But I try to write as much as possible on the weekdays.