As Marie watched her enemy get torn into a thousand pieces, the others inside the caravan did the same. They were beyond scared after witnessing the show of strength between these powerful mages. She thought to investigate the caravan to see if she could find any useful information. Even though her mission was over, she wanted to at least find something about the powerful spell that came from an enemy kingdom.
As she moved closer, she felt a chill on her shoulders, as if death hung over shoulders. It was so unexpected and frightening that she impulsively halted her movements. Her will was no longer enough for her legs to move, as she forced them desperately. Then, with a hand placed gently on her shoulder, "you have done well sending my men to the afterlife. Indeed, an outstanding achievement." A mysterious man said with a calm and paced voice.
Walking past her and towards the little to nothing remains of the guard, just some blood, he spoke.
"I must say Caius, I'm disappointed. To let such a little girl beat you… She was stronger though, sorry it is my fault for only being able to make you this strong. It seems I'll have to be less lenient."
Now, Marie seem to have gained a little liberty in her movement, as the man spoke. She thought to herself whether to run or try a sneak attack on the mysterious man. If she tried running, there is no guarantee she would be able to escape, and if she were to attack… She came to a conclusion to use her teleportation spell.
Just when she was about to initiate the spell, the mysterious man before her waved his hand. With a wave of his hands, a sharp pain braced Marie's body, running through her like she was stabbed with a needle, as she fell to the ground, a trail of blood rolling out of her mouth. Whatever magic this man had used seemed to have caused some serious internal injuries just then, as it felt like her insides were torn and loose.
"To think someone would be bold enough to try escaping me, Uruak. The world really has changed. You seem to be from the Kingdom of Esnoch. That's good. I'll leave you alive for now. Killing you now will only justify those idiotic claims of me being a senseless murderer." He said with his slender face eluding confidence and superiority. He then pointed at someone from the last wagon. "You there, get someone to assist you in carrying this one into one of the carriages. No need to bother about her escaping, that'll be impossible."
As Uruak walked away towards the carriage with the best design and quality, all Marie saw was his cloak flapping graciously as the wind greased through it. 'Uruak? The one who changed his name from Geld? The medicine king?' she thought as she lost consciousness while lying on the ground.
When she finally woke up, a sharp pain greeted her, as she squeezed her face from the pain. She could tell that it had been at least two days since she passed out. 'It seems I won't be able to escape from here. I can't even move my body, it's as if I'm completely paralyzed. I'm not surprised. If it's the Poison King Uruak, aside from the fact that he is a mage in the realm of Ruler of magic, his knowledge of poisons are unrivaled. Why would the Poison King be riding in a caravan of this level? Something's not right...' She said in her mind.
'Could it be that the King knew of this? If so, I would be playing straight into his trap!' Marie was not stupid, she suspected the king for her brother's disappearance, and never for once trusted him completely, but this time, she wasn't lucky.
'I might as well just wait now. I won't be able to do anything even though I wanted to.' She remained on the floor of the cart facing up, as these thoughts went through her mind. The situation was quite troubling. She could only lay there in the cart through the bumpy ride to the Capital.
After some days, they arrived at the Capital. The caravan was well received and on inspection, the guards found Marie in one of the carts. She was quite famous in the kingdom for many things, beauty, strength, talent, plus the fact that everyone knew of her connection to Aaron, but as his sister, they immediately moved to apprehend the whole caravan, as it was clear that Marie was been held captive.
After much hassle, Uruak demanded an audience with the King of the Kingdom, King Gerald. Throughout the ordeal, the guards couldn't stand the arrogance of the man who claimed to be Uruak, a name they the guards have heard only in the stories told by their grandfathers, and yet someone could boldly declare himself as he, while barely looking 50 years old, preposterous!
The caravan was led to the castle courtyard after some threats were made, and was not allowed access any further than that. Every guard aware of the situation was already agitated and ready for battle at any moment. Not only has this imposter been arrogant through the entire time, he dare to treat Miss Marie like some slave, one of the young beauties of the kingdom like a slave? This imposter was surely dead.
"This guy is tired of his manhood." A guard who was passing by on duty said to his partner while gnashing his teeth as they went by the caravan.
"Hmm, I just want to stab him, too bad I'm a guard." His partner responded.
Uruak who could hear their every insult contained himself inside his carriage. On a normal day, he would have killed all the guards who even dared to talk to him, but that attitude was what led to him changing his name, he didn't want to stain his new one.
Soon after, the king himself came in person to see the one who claimed to be Uruak. "I, am King Gerald, the ruler of this Kingdom. Let the one who claims to be the Medicine King Uruak come out!" The King's voice travelled through the entire yard and carried a hidden ferociousness behind it. It was almost like a tiger's growl, but more subtle in the tone.
"Calm yourself Gerald, you are scaring my men an awful lot." A voice came from within the carriage that looked the best out of the other wagons and carts. As King Bael heard the voice, he let out a tiring exhale.
"Uruak, it really is you. You sound as sly as ever."
"Oh come on now Gerald, don't paint me out a the bad guy. This time I didn't kill anyone from your Kingdom for disrespecting me. Even the assassin girl was left unharmed." Uruak said as he stepped out and walked towards King Bael.
King Gerald glared at Uruak for a short while before responding, "What do you mean by assassin?"
The tension in the air was heavy. As Uruak read Gerald's eyes clashed, he immediately understood what message Gerald was trying to send across. 'Hmph, he calls me sly but does the worst.' "Why don't you invite me in first, before we continue our discussion." Uruak said while gesturing with his hands for them to head inside.
"My apologies. Let's head inside." Gerald said as he turned to lead the way.