Naagin (rise of the serpent)

Chapter Twenty-three: Recovering Bad Memories.

"Retreat?" The warrior asked.

I nodded.

"But we can't just retreat. We got people to protect" the warrior argued.

He shot one Agbejor warrior before turning to look at me squarely.

"What are you going to do if we retreat?" He asked giving a low growl.

"I will surrender myself to them while you and your men retreat. I know Huck is behind all this and I need to confront him" I said answering with a low growl.

"What if you are shot at?" The soldier asked.

"I got powers and besides this is a war. I don't want anyone to get hurt and it looks like you lost a lot of men" I said to him "and also take my son with you and keep him safe"

"Mom, I can't just leave you here. I need to protect you. It's a promise I made to dad before we left the house" my son who seems to have been listening to the conversation argued.

I let out a sigh.

"Son," I called out as I looked at my son's face" you can still protect me by being safe. I love you so much and I don't want anything to happen to you. I already lost your father and your siblings so don't make it harder for me"

My son gave a pout. He kissed my cheeks as I gave a chuckle.

"I love you,mom" he said.

"I love you, too"

The soldier I had earlier talked to raised his left hand as a sign to the Umuguor warriors who had taken different positions. Looking over from where I and my son were hiding, the Umuguor warriors had taken different positions in different places. The Umuguor warriors had stopped shooting,so did the Agbejor warriors.

"Before I leave, if I don't get to the river bank in an hour or so, tell the chief commander to get everyone to cross the river. And I hope there's a ship" I said giving the warrior a goodbye smile.

"Yes, my priestess. We provided a war ship to cross the river. I hope our god protects you and keep you safe" the soldier said and gave my commands.

Seeing that the Agbejor warriors had lowered their guard and stopped shooting, I stepped out of my hiding place. I raised my two hands as a sign of surrendering but I also had a backup plan.

"You guys think you can just come and attack my community after sending threats" I said to no one in particular.

Maybe it was time for me to unleash my powers.

I closed my eyes as I took a deep breath allowing swift energy to run through my body. As the energy ran through my body and soul, I immediately transformed to my half-snake form. I was only human from my head to my waist and the tail of a snake.

Allowing more energy to flow through my body, my tail suddenly burst into flames that lightened the foggy area. I could hear my son scream seeing my new form.

I don't really blame him cause he had never seen me use my powers. But I'm really not going to dwell on that cause I hope he would be safe.

With an incredible amount of speed, I attacked the Agbejor warriors bringing them down one by one. Magic fireballs flew in the air as I attacked the squadron of Agbejor warriors. It seems to be that the Agbejor warriors had a lot of losses. Looks like our warriors did a great job on holding up the Agbejor warriors at the borders.

Thrusting fireballs at the Agbejor warriors and squeezing the life out of them with the grip of my tail. In less than an hour, I had took down all the Agbejor warriors. I made sure to avoid the bullets of the Agbejor warriors.

I was at the last warrior when a car was driven violently and parked a few miles away from me. The car didn't look like a warrior van. Tightening the grip of my tail on the last warrior, he immediately burst into flames. My tail left his burning body on the ground as I stood in a fighting stance. My eyes examined the car as I could sense evil from the car.

I knew who was in the car and I was certain it was Huck. I looked back to see if there were any Umuguor warriors and it seemed there were none.

A pretty tall man came out of the car and he went over to open the door of the back seat. Another man wearing a purple suit matched with a purple trouser stepped out. They stood right in front of the car as we seem to have a staring contest.

I recognized the man who had first came out of the car. He was known as Lance. He was a sorcerer also but he was not that good at it. He was Mr Huck's partner and also maybe his lapdog. He followed Mr Huck everywhere he went, even to a war.

The other man on purple clothes was the man who I had always known before. It was Huck. His arrangement of the clothes would have made me think he came for a transaction. He looked more like a businessman than a fighter. I hope he isn't playing games with me.

"Boss,looks like our little witch has arrived" Lance said with a heavy chuckle.

A smile plastered on Huck's face as Lance said those words.

"Who are you calling a witch?" I snapped back, preparing for battle.

"See, she has already taken a battle stance because she knows she is a witch" Lance laughter filled the air.

"Hey! Lapdog, you better shut up let me ask the real boss in this place" my taunting voice came out with much confidence.

"Who are you calling a lapdog?" Lance asked,his eyeballs clouded with anger.

I laughed.

"You,of course. Who else follows Huck anywhere he goes without even having a good sorcery skill" I laughed again at my words.

After laughing hard at my own joke, I narrowed my eyes to Huck. He seems to be quiet, like he was certain I would give him the Jewel. Which would never happen.

"What do you want, Huck" I groaned loudly at him.

He chuckled. Even turning into a laughter which irritated me.

"You know what I want. I don't need to spill it to you" Huck's cold voice was heard.

"And what if I say I don't know what you want" I said.

"Not to make things worse, Papirus. Hand me the Jewel" he says as he stretched out his right hand. "You could as well hand over the chosen one,if you are that kind enough"

He gave a loud chuckle as I gritted my teeth. What does he take me for? Does he think that I would just simply give the Jewel over to him? Just like that.

Well he thought wrong, cause I'm not going to give the Jewel to him without a fight.

"What if I refuse your request?" I asked, making it seem like it was a business transaction.

He gave a sigh then took few steps closer.

"The last time I checked, I sent letters or otherwise known as threats of our arrival, if you don't hand over the Jewel. So that means, you knew we were coming"

"So, you were the one that sent those threats" I snapped at him angrily.

My eyeballs immediately turned thin as my facial looks immediately changed. Anger coaxed everywhere of my body making me to slowly unleash the monster in me.

"Don't make things harder for you anymore. Just give me the Jewel and no one would get hurt especially those at the river bank" he said with a curly smile as my eyes shone with surprise. "I already know that some Umuguor civilians are at the river bank. Just hand over the Jewel and they be safe".

"Not in my life time" I said through gritted teeth.

The flames of my tail immediately increased.

"Anyways," I growled. "This isn't a war anymore, cause your men are already dead. It's just me and you, Huck. We already won and I don't care how powerful you are, I can take you down"

A cold laugh erupted from the mouth of Huck. It was like I said something funny. Lance couldn't help but laugh. When they were both done laughing and cleaning the little tears which irritated me,a smile crept into both their lips.

"Lady Papirus, I'm so sorry for you. ..... You think you have won this war or do you think you can take me down" Huck says as he laughs. "The truth is bitter but it has to be told"

"What do you mean?" I snapped at him.

"Oh, little witch" Lance calls out as he approached me.

I used my tail of flames in gripping his tall body. I quickly tightened my grip, almost choking him to death.

"Do... you... want...me .... to.... tell... you what he... means" I could hear him say through gritted teeth.

"Talk for all I care" I said as I threw his tall frame on the ground.

I could hear Huck give a chuckle, but I simply ignored him. Lance coughed violently before getting on his feet.

"The battle at the borders was just a diversion" he spat out quickly making me not to hear him.

"Wait, what?"

"The battle at the borders was just a diversion. The real war is yet to take place. My boss here, didn't want to be heartless to wipe out a whole Community without some negotiations. The real battle is just up ahead" he explained as I opened my mouth in total shock.

"So, it's two options. Either you surrender the Jewel or I'll burn this Community to the ground" Huck's cold voice rang a bell in my ears.

"But I thought I killed all the Agbejor warriors" I muttered under my breath which I was sure they could hear.

Lance immediately pointed his index finger at the borders. Looking over at the borders, my eyes caught sight of two Agbejor warrior van. An Agbejor warrior van takes up to 30 warriors so over 60 warriors may have likely occupied the two vans.

"You think you have won but you have not. Like you said it's a war and one must emerge victorious" Lance said.

But to every sad tale there must be a happy ending.

A smile graced my lips when a dove dropped a piece of paper in front of me. Reading through the contents of the letter, my smiles immediately turned into laughter. I squeezed the paper and turned it into flames allowing it's aches to float in the air.

I looked at my back only to see Umuguor warriors well armed and ready for battle with the chief commander in the lead.

"Like I said Huck it's a war and one of us must emerge victorious" I said.

Just then, the two Communities clashed at each other bringing a heated war and a bloody one. I also fought with Huck but he seems to have the upper hand. Luckily for me, I escaped. Leaving my people to be captives but not without making sure the chosen one was well and alright.

###

As the old lady told me this things, all I felt for her was sorrow. Losing a whole family to a stupid war. It's painful.

"Old Lady Papirus" I called out to the old lady." It's not your fault that the people of Umuguor community are captives. It's not your fault that you ran away during a war. So you don't have to blame yourself instead I'm happy that you ran away. But don't worry all will be well" I said as I hugged the old lady.

I could feel her sobbing uncontrollably and I felt for her.

"I'll rescue the captured people of Umuguor community and make sure that Huck is dead" I said with anger in every strain of my voice.

A smile crept on the old lady's lips.

"Naagin, there's something you need to know" the old lady said in between my hug.

"What do I need to know?" I asked quite curious about what I needed to know.

"It's about your parents".