4.6 Escape plan

"Mom, please. We'll be okay. Everything will be okay." A young girl was comforting her mother, the surrounding area was hazy and red. It seemed like there was fire everywhere.

The mom, the young girl was holding onto, said "Ariya, My little girl. You have to live. You have to make it out alive." The mom held her face gently looking into her eyes saying "Goodbye. Live Ariya. Live well." Saying this the mom lost all strength in her body. Ariya screamed voiceless cry as a muffler was wrapped around her face. She couldn't even express her pain properly.

The wooden panel on the roof was about to come lose, it would directly fall on Ariya, if she doesn't move out of place. Ariya was still grieving without a care for her surroundings.

At this moment someone rushed forward and covered themselves over Ariya. "CRASH!" the burning wood fell on top of a beautiful set of blue wings. Ariya finally realised what was happening around her. She looked up to see a very beautiful face, of a women with red eyes, the rest of the face was hidden by a scarf. The red eyes looked at Ariya and said in a firm yet comforting tone "Little girl, if you want to give your mom a proper burial then come with me. You don't have to be scared. I won't let anything happen to you."

Ariya looked at that women and thought, I want to become like her. Never in her life could she be brave like her. Ariya nodded and stood up holding her mom's lifeless body. Although, Ariya may look like a young innocent girl. she had faced the world for almost 200 years. At this moment Ariya held firmness in her green eyes, that she also wasn't aware she was capable of having.

The women with red eyes, held her hand gently and the 3 of them escaped the vicinity to reach an underground cave, through the raging fires around them. The women with red eyes, removed her scarf and faced Ariya saying "Go in. Don't trust anyone. Stay strong. I will be back soon."

Ariya was dazed for a while looking at the women's extremely beautiful face. She still found courage to say "My name is Ariya. I will wait for you so take care and please return."

The women with red eyes smiled saying "My name is Mira. I hope we meet again."

Ariya turned around to enter the underground camp. She looked back just to wave her bye, when she saw the women with blue wings get engulfed in raging fires. Just like that. Never to be seen again. Ariya still held hope for her to return alive but she never did. The women who saved her was engulfed in flames right in front of her eyes, yet Ariya could only stand and watch. At this point Ariya felt true loss.

Shu XinYi retracted himself from the dark energy around that creatur-.. around Ariya's head. Shu XinYi would never admit that his eyes would be tear stained if they were open right now.

At this point, Shu XinYi knew what he should do. He used the grey fog to disperse the dark aura around Ariya's head. It took some effort since Shu XinYi didn't want to hurt Ariya's memories or mind in anyway. Soon enough the dark aura dissipated. The innocent face of Ariya, became more relaxed. Shu XinYi then moved with the grey form towards Mira and repeated the same process without entering the dark energy. He didn't want to actually cry seeing Mira's PoV as well. Soon enough Mira too had relaxed.

Shu XinYi could "see" that Mira looked more alive. Her wings were pure sapphire blue. Her wings normally looked colorless. Who knows what Mira and Ariya had to face on Sivaal for 100s of years, that they had now become lifeless. Mira's bird form still had her blue wings, but they too weren't as full of life. Ariya too had a pair of beautiful pure black wings in her original form.

Shu XinYi joined the grey form and his consciousness, back to himself. He opened his eyes and saw the battle hardened and starving forms of his two cell mates. He carefully reheated the rabbit that he had saved. He hadn't eaten himself either. While it cooked, he woke both Mira and Ariya. It was not his place to inform both of them about their past and present. It was obvious that they wouldn't recognize each other, or even remember each other. But Shu XinYi left those matters to fate.

Ariya was a bit skeptical and defensive as she woke up from her lucid dreams. "It's okay, You're awake now. There are several open wounds on your body. They will worsen if you leave them unattended. You can attack me if you sense danger. I'll approach you now okay."

Shu XinYi slowly approached her. Ariya was still backing off further into the wall. "Your wounds will get worse, if I don't heal them. So please calm down." Shu XinYi had this soothing voice, that Ariya actually let Shu XinYi approach him. Shu XinYi hovered his hands over her most apparent wounds.

He didn't heal Ariya in her dazed state, since it could harm both him if Ariya subconsciously attacked, and herself, if she closed her body even more to avoid the pain. "This will hurt a little, so please endure it for a while." Shu XinYi warned.

Ariya breathed in a rough manner trying to endure the pain. She subconsciously raised her hands to attack Shu XinYi's arms. He continued the process of healing her. He could tell that Ariya didn't meant to harm him and it truly was just a subconscious reaction. Shu XinYi fully closed all her open wounds big and small. He also healed her tongue, which unsurprisingly to Shu XinYi, reformed her tounge. Although Ariya seemed to be in a lot of pain as he did so, her eyes didn't have any complains. So Shu XinYi didn't have a reason to stop. Seeing that all her wounds had healed, Shu XinYi retracted his hands and moved away from her.

Shu XinYi healed his hands then he offered half of the remaining rabbit meat, to both Mira and Ariya. Ariya snatched the meat out of Shu XinYi's hands and excused herself to a corner to eat.

Mira too had her meal, witnessing the scene Mira said "You really are generous, boss. But In the world we live in, this kind of generosity only gets you killed."

Shu XinYi politely smiled looking at Mira and softly said "Hypocrite."

Mira's face was inlaid with subtle embarrassment. Although she didn't understand how boss knew about her past feats of helping people during the downfall of Liyu. But she understood that boss's intelligence was above any of them, so it was not a suprise that boss could speculate.

Mira didn't speak more as she ate her fill. Shu XinYi didn't have more food, and all he could do was offer his healing form. He had already set aside 20% reserves for Xuval and he still had 70% left from the previously stored 100%. He wrapped a thicker layer of blue form around both of them.

Although Ariya was still wary of them, that unknown man had still helped her. So she was willing to atleast listen to him. Shu XinYi explained the situation about mind barriers and requested them to continue acting. He also told about his plan to escape after some hours. It was obviously upto them if they wanted to follow along. Mira said yes without a second thought. Ariya remained silent. Even though she could speak now, she remained silent. Shu XinYi didn't force her.

It would be essential to get out of here without raising an alarm. Shu XinYi spent the next few hours learning his Purple form correctly. Attaching a little of himself to the grey fog, Shu XinYi toured the whole encampment. There were a total of three openings in and out of the cave. Shu XinYi carefully outlined the route he would take.

There was only one problem. The room in which the maps and other things that Shu XinYi wanted to steal were kept in, was always occupied. Mostly by the protagonists since they would do all their planning there. Shu XinYi smiled thinking of something, this problem might not be so much of a problem after all.

The reason for not raising an alarm was not because Shu XinYi wanted a safe exit for himself and his "pets". Shu XinYi could achieve that easily with his current combat ability. But Shu XinYi didn't want unnecessary fights. Killing men and beast alike, for no reason at all.

Shu XinYi waited until the time was right. Reki was not on gaurd around the cell. Most people residing in the encampment were asleep including most of the high level beast. Shu XinYi slipped out of the cell following after Mira, who indicated that the area was clear. Shu XinYi looked back to Ariya who still refused to move. Shu XinYi again, politely smiled saying "You still owe me a favor, I did after all, save your life." Saying this Shu XinYi didn't wait for Ariya's reaction and moved forward without looking back.

With Mira in the lead, Shu XinYi and her, silently walked towards the room, without alerting any of the active gaurds. Shu XinYi had already explained the escape plan to Mira, obviously he hadn't made any effort to hide it from Ariya. If she changes her mind later on, then at least she would know what steps to follow.

Both Mira and Shu XinYi were close to the room. There was no easy way to describe the room better then, 3 walls, one curtain. That's all the room was. Obviously there was no door and you could only enter parting the curtain. As they reached closer, Shu XinYi and Mira's steps became heavier. The previous lightness from their feet was gone.

Manix was standing next to a table full of different kinds of herbs and flowers. He was writing down whatever Eclipse told him, after evaluating each object. Luxin was trying not to be distracted by their voices, as he was absorbing moon energy. There were small holes on the ceiling, in this part of the cave; Purple light was spilling from these holes, making it easier for Luxin to absorb Moon form.

"Tell Calian to bring more of these blue fruits. Harvest only the ripe ones. We need more of them for new poison tra-" Eclipse paused, his ears perked up. Manix who was taking orders from Eclipse also tried to listen what Eclipse had heard. Footsteps. They were two people, going towards the east gate. No one from the encampment uses that gate.

Eclipse looked at Manix and he understood. Manix swiftly exited the room and 30 seconds later he brought in, Sceptor and Mira. Holding them by their necks, Manix presented both the traitors to Eclipse and Luxin.

Mira and Sceptor were both terrified being caught like this.

"Ha.. You little bit*h. You think you can escape from here this easily. Boss should I tie them up?" Manix asked waving both of them around like a piece of meat.

Eclipse was angry, not only has that little human failed to make a usable weapon, but he also dares to escape with his pet right below my nose. Eclipse wanted to rip the little man's throat but he had to be patient. He said to Manix "No need. Beat him up as is. He should atleast be allowed to protest." Even if the little man is not tied up, he can't even raise a hand against Manix, much less him.

Manix threw Mira on the ground, focusing on Sceptor. He raised his fists and bought it down, with it came the force of a tall and thick falling tree. Shu XinYi felt the rush of air, and without even batting an eye he caught Manix's huge wrists in his small hand. Manix's wrist was stopped with a force equal to an iron wall, but when Manix realised that it was only the little man's little hands, he panicked saying "What the hell are you doing?"

Shu XinYi poked out his little face from Manix's huge hands and said to him with an innocent smile "Protesting." Saying this, Shu XinYi twisted his wrist and threw him across the wall crashing Manix into and actuall iron wall. The impact was so heavy that Manix's body burst open from multiple places, like he had fallen from a 20 storey building. Shu XinYi's calm expression didn't change as he wiped his hands with a piece of cloth. He then offered a hand to Mira, helping her up.

Eclipse was taken aback by the atomic power in this little man's body. This meant that the little man had been toying with them from the beginning, appearing docile and approachable. But why? What purpose does be have to hide his true power like this? Is this even the full potential of his power? This little man is not as simple as it seems, even now. Eclipse was now actually on gaurd against him.

Luxin on the other hand thought, I can do the same even now in my weakened state. Is this man trying to show off? Luxin Scoffed as he walked forward towards Sceptor. He raised his right hand to hit Sceptor, the hand was unsurprisingly caught by Sceptor. Luxin smiled looking at his wrist and the man's palm, being connected. Through his right hand Luxin birthed Pure flame, engulfing his own right hand and the man's left hand. Both their fore arms were shrouded with purple fire.

Obviously, Luxin had protected his hand using the blue form, but Sceptor is different. Shu XinYi thought, indeed I am different, I don't need to use the blue form to protect myself from Pure fire. Seeing the unchanged calm face of Sceptor, Luxin became a bit nervous. It should be impossible to protect oneself fully against Pure fire, the blue form or other methods of healing or blocking all had a limit. Luxin had higher control over blue form, even then he could hold out for only 18 minutes without scalding his own skin.

Sceptor finally reacted after two minutes, his calm face turned distorted from pure agony. The amount of pain was unbearable, his breathing had become irregular and his eyes had teared up. The small room soon started to echo with his screams. Seeing this both, Luxin and Eclipse relaxed. Atleast they found the man's weakness, now they won't have to worry about him too much.

Luxin, could still feel his wrists being held by a hand. He wanted to see the charred bones still holding on to his wrist, so he retracted the fire. Simultaneously, the screams came to an abrupt stop.

After retracting the flames what Luxin saw was not bones, but a whole, unscathed hand full of vitality. Not even a scratch. Luxin looked up to see the man's face, which was although still covered in tears, it had a calmness that Luxin could never even imagine having. Luxin finally knew to be scared, he pulled back his wrist but the grip of the man was so strong that he couldn't move an inch. His hand had also started to go numb from the pain.

Shu XinYi used his other hand to wipe his tears. He then raised his free hand into the air and from it he pulled out a beautifully crafted pure black dagger. The edges shined under the moonlight, reflecting off the sharp smooth surface. Shu XinYi held the dagger out for the protagonists to see and said "You wanted this right, I'll let you have it."

Eclipse was obviously disbelieving, but looking at the finely crafted dagger he reluctantly asked "What do you want in return? A safe escape? Granted. Give it here now."

Shu XinYi scoffed looking at Eclipse saying "You are too kind. I don't want much from you, just a hand."

Eclipse asked in a confused tone "What do you mean? What hand?"

Shu XinYi looked at Luxin's hand saying, "His hand, I saw that this hand is able to birth pure fire. So I want it."

Luxin tried to pull back his hands once again, he was genuinely terrified now. Obviously he failed.

Eclipse thought for a while and said "How can I trust that you will leave this dagger behind after having the hand?"

Luxin looked back at Eclipse with a horrified face "What? What the hell are you saying? Y-You let go of my hand right this instant." Luxin said facing Sceptor.

Shu XinYi ignored him and replied to Eclipse "I have no use for this insignifant item, and I don't like carrying around dirty things unless they are useful to me. After I cut this hand, the blade will be dirtied so I will just throw it away. You can pick it up if you want. Obviously, you can decide on not letting me go peacefully, if I don't meet your expectations. If you agree hold his other hand, let me do the dirty job."

Luxin started to struggle feircly, saying to Eclipse "You Motherfu*ker, don't you dare move any closer."

Eclipse sighed and said in a calming tone "Luxin, listen to me. The man wants your hand to be able to use pure fire. And he will give us the dagger for it. Isn't it a win win, I know it will be painful but trust me okay."

Luxin understood Eclipse's words, obviously the man wouldn't benefit at all since the hand would be rendered useless once it is detached from the body. Moreover Luxin could just regrow his limbs. Although it will be a very painful process, in any case, they were the only ones who benefited from the situation.