chapter 32: "We're family"
jeheria was the leader of a group of scout soldiers in the forest on the borders of the Avarya Kingdom on a snowy day. Their mission was to scout and gather information about enemy activities to report back to their kingdom. As a meticulous leader, Jeheria kept her team under strict discipline and carefully planned every step. He didn't allow any detail to distract their focus as they ventured deeper into the forest. Her eyes keenly watched every movement around them, ensuring they were prepared for any potential dangers.
Jeheria needed to gather information from a fortress built to oversee the border of the Avarya Kingdom and protect it from potential attacks. Since the fortress was situated atop a hill, it would be challenging. However, orders had come directly from the capital to gather intelligence on this fortress, and revealing Asina Kingdom soldiers wouldn't be a problem if necessary. There was a direct order from the capital that Jeheria wouldn't face any consequences in case of any diplomatic crisis. Therefore, Jeheria devised a bold plan to infiltrate the fortress, gather information, set a fire, and escape. To ensure the plan's success, he couldn't afford to have too many men with her, as they needed to be swift and leave no one behind.
So, Jeheria set out with only one of her men towards the exit of the forest. The other side of the forest led to the rear of the fortress. They spent about a week navigating through the forest to reach the rear of the fortress. When they finally emerged from the forest, they saw a fortress with thick walls. Two guards approached them.
"Identify yourselves!" the guard demanded sternly.
"Do you see stars at the top of the fortress?" Jeheria asked. Both guards nodded, and Jeheria allowed them entry. In fact, these two guards were also spies from the Asina Kingdom. The Asina Kingdom sent them to spy on the Avarya Kingdom when they were around 14 years old. Their mission was to gain trust within the Avarya army. Eventually, they had risen through the ranks enough to be stationed at the border fortress. However, to avoid suspicion, they had never been in direct contact with the Asina Kingdom.
As Jeheria entered the fortress, he carefully surveyed her surroundings. He had to be cautious with every step, as there was no room for error from this point on. In the flickering light of the lanterns adorning the walls, he moved cautiously, avoiding drawing the attention of the guards. The icy wind seeping through the cracks in the stone walls sent shivers down her spine as he advanced.
As he made her way along the corridors, He observed military strategic points, depots, and watchtowers. Fearlessly advancing, Jeheria had to be prepared for any dangers that might arise at any moment. Finally, reaching her target, he gathered the necessary information about the fortress. he meticulously noted down the security measures, military presence, and strategic points within the fortress. Lastly, He marked the weak spots on the fortress walls on her map.
Time had swiftly passed, and evening had descended. Jeheria realized it was time to leave and made her way to the fortress's storage area. There, He discreetly started a fire before quickly making her escape. Her accompanying soldier, well-trained, didn't pose any issues. Together, they observed the changing of the guards for a while, and when the fire diverted the guards' attention, they used a rope that the two spies had prepared beforehand to descend from the fortress walls. By then, the two spies had already escaped from the fortress. With their mission accomplished, they happily headed towards the Asina territories to claim their rewards.
As they advanced towards the forest, they hid among the protective trees surrounding the castle, observing from a safe distance. The castle was in complete chaos. Then, Jeheria quietly proceeded deeper into the forest to relay the information he had gathered to her kingdom, thus taking an important step in protecting the kingdom's borders.
After traveling through the forest for a while, Jeheria's instincts began to alarm her, and her hairs stood on end. Signaling to the soldier beside her to halt, Jeheria noticed the eerie silence around them, which was quite unsettling. He examined the forest for a while, but finding nothing, they continued on their path cautiously. Just then, a huge log flew towards Jeheria from the side. Jeheria narrowly dodged it and looked to where the log had come from. Then, a barrage of knife attacks came from one direction. This time, Jeheria prepared herself and skillfully dodged all of them.
"Come out, you cowards!" He shouted into the forest. At that moment, Jeheria saw her beautiful and delicate sister emerge from behind a tree. "Anna! What are you doing here?" He exclaimed. Jeheria was trying to remain calm in the face of what seemed like a scene from a horror movie. Anna stared at her brother with empty eyes, which soon turned into eyes filled with anger and hatred.
"Brother, I've come here to take your life! Today is the day you will die. Nobody will know who killed you, and they won't even find your body..." Jeheria couldn't help but gulp at her words. In the midst of the white-covered forest, his sister had suddenly appeared, declaring her intent to kill him. Even if he survived this day, it was certain to haunt his nightmares.
"Anna, what are you saying! I'm your brother, and you're my sister. We're family. Now, quickly apologize to me for this foolish joke!" Jeheria said, trying to maintain his composure. Just then, he felt a weight on him. His body felt as if it were stuck in quicksand, and soon he began to struggle to move. Then, a spear flew towards him. Normally, he could easily dodge such a spear, but his body wouldn't move, and the spear pierced his shoulder tightly.
She couldn't cut off Jeheria's head with a single blow as he screamed "AHHHHHG..GG". This allowed the screams to spread throughout the forest. After a few blows, She cut off her head. In the process. Ethan had already killed the guard next to Jeheria. After looking at her brother's body for a while, Anna quickly leaned against a tree and began vomiting. No matter how much she wanted his brother dead, he was still his brother, and she killed him. "Don't blame yourself for what you did, Anna. You made the right decision. Some people in this world have crossed a certain limit of evil, and no one can reintegrate people who have crossed that limit into society. So sometimes the best thing to do is to kill people like that, even if that person is your brother." "The good thing is that he can't hurt anyone anymore," Ethan said, patting Anna on the back. Aphrodite and others also came to support Anna. The group consoled Anna for a while and then took her away from the scene. Ethan and Ulric then began digging holes to bury the bodies, obtaining information about the Avarya castle before burying Jeheria's body.