Chapter 30

Normally, the entrance of a town, most especially a big town like Fleming town, was supposed to be bustling with activities. Stalls, stands and small shops, where food items, cooked, delicious meals, clothes, weaponries and other goods were displayed, were meant to be stationed at the entrance of the town, in order to mainly attract the interest of weary travelers, entering into the town and whet the appetite of this travelers, before they rode into the main town, as well as, satisfy the needs and interests of folks living close to the entrance of the town. This stalls, stands or shops, which were supposed to be positioned on both sides of the street of the entrance to the town, were meant to be manned and managed by sellers, who would engage in the process of attracting and selling their wares to interested customers.

When one enters into a town, at least the first thing that should catch his/her eye is this stalls, stands and shops, and individuals buying and selling certain goods. That was how the expected entrance of a town was meant to be. At least, that was how the eight towns Senro passed through, before arriving at Fleming town were.

But contrary to such expectation, when the carriage passed through the gate of the town, Senro found the entrance to be completely deserted, desolate and dingy. A swarm of dust and dirt greeted the carriage, as it headed down the straight, narrow, rugged street of the entrance, dirtying the carriage in its entirety. There were no goods or wares of any kind on display and even the structures of the stalls and shops were in a very precarious and devastating state. They were almost devastating to the point that repairing this structures seemed like a thing of impossibility and futility. Not a single soul or living entity could be sighted. The whole place was just desolate and in a saddened state.

As Senro noticed this sad and desolate scenery, he couldn't help, but shake his head unhappily, as the emotion of sorrow and compassion for the poor, helpless people of Fleming town overwhelmed him. He was certain that this area, once upon a time, was bustling with activities and business and this stalls and shops, which were now in a sorry state, housed attractive goods, wares and equipment that would have piqued the interests of travelers and folks, alike. Just this scenery alone was enough to depict to him, how terribly the negative influence of the Black Moon Bandits had severely affected Fleming town and how they had gravely intervened and destroyed the daily livelihood of the people of Fleming town.

A gargantuan amount of enthusiasm flooded and coursed through his body, as he tightly clenched his fists in eager anticipation, to the extent that green veins popped up from underneath the skin of his front arm and the back of his palm. He couldn't just wait to get his hands on the idiotic assholes that had caused this desolateness; starting from the ambush unit, whom should just be around the corner and the two 'guards', whom he was certain beyond any doubt, that he would be encountering once again.

After the carriage had rode down steadily through the straight, narrow street of the town for close to three minutes, Senro, who was already picturing in his mind how he would go about attacking the bandits, was suddenly alerted to a minute, metallic 'CLANG, CLANG' sound, traveling from way behind the carriage. Though the sound approached from afar off, Senro could make out the sound clearly, like as if it was just right beside him. This wasn't because he had some sort of super hearing or whatever, though his hearing was sharper than the average person's, but it was because he had been eagerly expecting to hear that sound and his enthusiasm had sharpened his senses to a great degree. The metallic sound was the sound of the opened gate, they had just passed through, some three minutes ago, been closed and locked.

Senro was a hundred percent positive that the closing of the gate was the signal for the ambush unit to commence their operation. He was so certain about this because, if that wasn't the signal, then why was the gate just been closed now? Why did it take so long for the two 'guards' to close gate? The gate should have been closed, immediately the carriage went through or at least it should have been closed halfway, like how it was, before the carriage arrived.

Senro clenched his fists, even tighter than before. The enthusiasm coursing through his body right now, was completely off the charts and he was finding it really, really strenuous to keep himself calm and composed. If it were entirely up to him right about now, he wouldn't mind forcefully destroying the bad passenger door of the carriage, next to him, and seek out the ambush unit hideout, in order to initiate an immediate assault. That was how restless he was right now. This was how severely an absence of a mission, for more than three months was affecting him.

"Kassim, stop the carriage, immediately!!!" Zedd suddenly commanded with a sharp voice.

"But, why Madam? This area is deserted and th-"

"Kassim, stop the carriage, if you don't want to die!!!!" Zedd cut off Kassim, the carriage driver's, sentence.

Immediately Zedd uttered that statement, Kassim frighteningly hesitated for a moment, before he then halted the advancement of both horses pulling the carriage and forced them to move no further.

"Bu-bu-but Mad-Madam Zedd, wh-why did you s-s-say that I will die if, if I d-d-don't stop t-t-t-the carriage? Kassim stammered in fright.

"We have been ambushed by bandits, Kassim. If you had moved the carriage a little distance further, you would have been shot and killed by an arrow or by a spear." Senro said.

The carriage the trio were in, was an enclosed carriage with a roof and windows, which had been closed up, so they were protected from any external and unexpected attacks, like arrows or spears, but that wasn't the case for Kassim. The driver's area was completely unprotected and exposed, as it was in the open.

"A-A-A-A-AM-AMBUSH?!!!!! WHY?!!! HOW?!!" Kassim was beginning to lose it.

"Kassim, calm down. I will tell you the whole story later. For now, come down and open the door. I and Sasha will be coming down." Zedd calmly said.

"Al-alright Madam." Though Kassim was severly frightened by this development, but he obediently alighted from his seat, in order to do as he was told.

"Wait, Zedd, what about me? I am coming down, as well, right?" Senro asked perplexedly.

"You and Kassim will be staying inside the carriage until we are done." Zedd replied.

"WHAT?!! No way! I want to fight too. I am coming down, as well." Senro immediately retorted.

"No, you are not. You are staying back in the carriage." Zedd coldly said. Her voice rose an octave higher, when she said this, as she piercingly glared at Senro, to make her point known to him.

Though Zedd's piercing glare startled Senro a little, but he resolved himself. He was not gonna back down from this. Where else would he channel all this enthusiasm, that was coursing through his body and was almost about to burst his skin open, if not in channeling it into beating up some unlucky bastards, who thought they had hit a jackpot.

"You are definitely not going to stick me in the sidelines and leave me hanging like this. I am coming as well." Senro said, as he managed not to allow Zedd's glare, which had a way of making one feel like his insides were been viewed, hold him back from communicating what he felt.

"Senro, you will have a whole lot of other opportunities to fight. Just listen to Aunt Zedd and stay back in the carriage. She must have a reason for wanting you to stay back." Sasha said, in a bid to alleviate the tension between Senro and Zedd.

When Sasha was uttering her statement, Kassim, who was now sweating all over and trembling like a leaf, opened the door, as per instructed by Zedd.

"Then, she should tell me the reason, why I am staying in the carriage. I can't just be left out like this, without knowing the reason why." Senro said to Sasha.

Senro was expecting to get some answers from Zedd, but Zedd been Zedd, just got out of carriage, without saying a word to justify her reasons for putting Senro on the bench. Sasha quickly followed closely behind her. Neither of the two seemed to mind the aggrieved Senro, who was now fuming with rage, like a kettle of boiling, hot water.