So close yet so far

The men merrily went towards the south eastern side of the city where a minor tributary of the Amazon river lies. Due to increased water levels there were no transport boats and no fishing boats in the creek. Fish is scarce at this time of the season because there is just a huge expanse of water to fish unlike in the dry season.

Horseback was not an option. The roads were now waterlogged swamps. Alexis fought an uphill battle to overcome the obstacles that prevented him from being with Rosa and now he felt like the gods were really against this unprecedented union. For the first time he felt pessimistic. Duncan and the eight men encouraged him to not despair and they foraged the town looking for anyone dumb enough to transport them to Onis.

Everything that Alexis was searching in this world seemed to be hard to find. The girl he loves, the puppy he bought at Onis and now a damn boat. And they are costly too. He bought the puppy at four times the price and the boat he paid an arm and a leg for it. Yet he was over the moon to have found someone willing to take the risk to transport them.

This man was Carlos, a middle aged fisherman with auburn short hair and dark brown eyes. He had been fishing in this river since he was a boy. He knows the dangers lurking beneath the murky waters. But the 50 silver coins were enough for him to make the most irrational decision of his life. What is it about coins that makes even the most intellectuals lose their minds?

It was already dark when they set out for Onis. Moonlight luminescened in the darkness, beaming the expanse of water.

The boat was large enough to fit them all. It had a cabin at the end, and the top of the boat was covered with water proof woven leaves. Alexis noticed that Carlos's hand was hanging out the boat and his fingers were submerged in the browned waters.

'He must be a sensory magician.' He thought while paddling the boat.

The whole night was serene and calm, with no sign of any monsters. At daybreak, Duncan even deduced that the river monsters were a myth.

"I don't think there are any monsters in this river." He said ignorantly.

The eight men gave him side eyes, wondering if he was okay upstairs.

Duncan didn't peek at Carlos, if he did, he could've seen the shock and and some kind of traumatic expression in his face that almost seemed like it triggered a memory. Alexis observed Carlos's expression and he was convinced there were terrifying things Carlos had seen in this river.

They rowed the boat the whole day, taking turns to rest. As the sun was getting more crimsoned in the distant sky, Carlos sensed something that was strange. A water wave that he could pick with his submerged fingers. It was not from a monster. But it was quite odd because he didn't think they would run into another boat.

The boat made its way out of the serpentine curve of the river into their full view. It was a boat he had never seen before. It was bigger than his and looked expensive.

Between them and the boat was a river bifurcation and a river island at the center. The river was separating into two channels and confluenced back together two kilometers ahead, further north.

The left channel was a vast stretch known as the brood. It is a perilous part of the river that is not used by fishermen because it is a breeding area for the river monsters.

The boat ahead moved directly towards them as if to force them into the brood channel and immediately the water flow began to change.

Out of nowhere, rapids water flow abruptly formed. The water velocity increased drastically and the turbulence skyrocketed. The rapid current sucked Carlos's boat into the brood and the expensive looking boat followed them in.

Alexis and his men were confused by the sudden change in current. They were flustered but they tried to keep their cool. Carlos was not in anyway cool, he was overheating with blood pressure. Shaking like a leaf. They were in the brood, the most treacherous part of the river.

The boat came close to them. There were about 6 of them and a scrawny looking man with a mean expression asked.

"Where are you guys going this time of the year."

"We are going to Onis." Carlos replied with a faltered voice.

"And where are you going?"

"To kill Alexis." Scrawny answered coldly.

Immediately the words reached Alexis's ear he broke out in a cold sweat.

The already terrified Carlos was unnerved. He couldn't turn the boat around because of the rapids and ahead were the things he wished to avoid.

"If we survive then you will pay 100 silver coins." Carlos demanded as he veered his boat away from the expensive boat with his magic.

Alexis agreed to the demands because he acknowledged that they put him in grave danger.

"Ahead of us are the river monsters play ground." Carlos said.

"We have to go back."

"No keep going, I will protect you." Alexis said grimly.

He had been grasping at straws to be with Rosa and he wasn't going to let mercenaries or serpents get in his way.

Behind them the boat was fast approaching. The scrawny man jumped in the air and swiftly propelled himself through the water like a dolphin. He caught up with them and leapt out of the water, and landed into Carlos's boat right next to Alexis. Alexis's eyes instinctively turned to a glowing shade of orange. He mustered all his strength and might behind a single magic infused power punch. And before he threw the punch he clung to Scrawny's jacket. The punch was too powerful that Scrawny was hurled out the boat like stone from a slingshot. Not only that, his body tore out the jacket in a way that Alexis was left holding what remained of the jacket.

He never imagined he had such kind of power before. Maybe It was a momental power confluenced by strong emotions. He was thinking about how he risked life and limb for Rosa just when the men appeared out of blue. Perhaps that is the reason behind such a remarkable increase in power.

The crew members couldn't believe what they had just witnessed. Especially the ones chasing them. Whoever sent them, certainly did not tell them who Alexis really was. But it seemed they still had something up their sleeves because suddenly there was a shift in the wind and water waves became more twisted and crooked.

'The river monsters are here.' Carlos shrieked.

Immediately out of nowhere, a giant scaled anaconda rose from the murky river surface. Alexis jumped out the boat to meet them. He pelted on the water surface towards it. Duncan and 3 of the eight men were closely behind him. The other five jumped out of the boat leaving Carlos to control it. They were human wall around the boat, running at the boat's speed.

Alexis unsheathed his swords and orange inscriptions in the sword glowed orange one after the other. He swung at the head of the serpent once and the snake was cut a hundred times. To Alexis's surprise the snake was still alive, it was badly injured but it still had a fight in it.

The brood of snakes that were on the river banks submerged in the water and charged towards them. What was peculiar was that the snakes seemed to ignore the boat that was chasing them. These snakes are already vicious enough to make a man like Carlos avoid them at all cost but mind controlled snakes are even more dangerous. Who is this sorcerer who can even control wild snakes and to what end will he try to kill Alexis?

As Alexis and Duncan were engaging the snakes to clear a path for the boat, Mr scrawny appeared out of nowhere. He was a merciless mercenary with innumerable kill counts. He was visibly wounded but his pride was the most wounded. He was shocked when Alexis catapulted him with a power punch. But he came back at just the right time for a real shock of his life.

As he was charging towards Alexis, who was fighting off huge snakes, Mr scrawny charged up his spectra and an orange color gleamed in his eyes and all around him. He summoned his elongated sword with a spell and as it appeared before him, he was struck by a powerful electric shock. The snakes too were temporarily paralyzed by the electric current. A blast wave violently rocked the river sending jets of water and steam into the air.

When everyone's gaze landed on Alexis, his eyes were red as a rose. There was an enormous energy being generated from him that could be felt as far as Onis. He had unlocked the red spectra. The highest rank in magic. That explains the power surge in the earlier power punch. It wasn't just a momental power boosted by emotions. It was a red spectra punch. His eyes just delayed the color change.

The torture he put himself through triggered his magical powers to surge on a new level and in so doing it awakened the red spectra. His love for Rosa gained him enormous powers and it was poetic because red is their color. Now he might have the power to take back his kingdom.

He leapt up in the sky and vanished in thin air. Instantly he appeared infront of the expensive boat. He reached out his left hand to the boat. As soon as his red glowing hands touched the boat, it broke apart in a billion pieces as it was detonated with an intense explosion killing everyone on board. They could've jumped in the snake infested waters willingly if they had the time to but before they could even blink they were already being blasted off the boat by a massive explosion.

But where did they get such a splendid boat? With no one to interrogate, they paddled against the wind to Onis throughout the moon lit night. They were still a little distance away from Onis at day break.

The ceremony was just a few hours away and Rosa was already thinking of digging a grave to bury herself alive. She had no tears left to cry. She had been ruminating about Alexis ever since he left, wondering what could have happened of him. But now the thought that he was maybe dead was her constant companion. She went to pieces when day broke with no sign of him. The little traces of hope dissipated.

Tommy's family promised to give the royal family plenty of gold, silver and precious stones for the princess and everyone seemed to agree with the union, except Rosa. She knew she was outnumbered and sooner or later she was going to give in to their demands. She is a princess and princesses don't marry for love. They don't have lifes of their own. That's the sad truth.