Queen Of Monsters

The witch grew closer and closer to Zan Mei's sleeping body as Ru Naya watched, frozen in her spot. No matter how much she willed herself to move, her body didn't listen and she was stuck watching the horrible scene in front of her.

Zan Mei, please move! she thought frantically.

The witch laughed as she took out the rusty blade from her arm, and used it to stab Zan Mei repeatedly. Blood spurted out of Zan Mei's body and formed a sea of red as her skin turned lifeless in front of Ru Naya's teary eyes.

Then the witch turned to look at Ru Naya, and her features transformed into a youthful face that would have been beautiful had hatred not contorted it. She smiled maliciously at a crying Ru Naya and intoned in a deadly voice:

"I, Yu Han, will be your worst nightmare."

"No!" Ru Naya woke up covered in sweat. She looked around wildly and trashed about until a set of hands forcefully pushed her down. They were trying to keep her still but Ru Naya became even more frantic as thoughts raced through her mind.

Where was she? was she dead or was she about to be tortured till she died?

Questions flew around her mind as the memories of the witch and the lyren bird chasing her came back. Then she remembered that the witch had finally caught up to her and had wanted to torment Ru Naya to death for her own entertainment.

Was it finally going to happen now that she had been captured?

"Calm down or you'll hurt yourself!" an elderly voice admonished her.

Ru Naya's eyes widened as they focused on the speaker. Her hazy eyes stared at the man who was sitting beside her with a worried look. The man was an older gentleman whose eyes brimmed with care. He looked normal and certainly not like a witch so Ru Naya relaxed a little.

"Good." The man finally pulled back his hands and snapped his fingers. Immediately, someone entered the room following the noise, and Ru Naya peered at the stranger that had just walked in.

"Miss," the old man beside her spoke, "I am sure you must be confused as to what is going on but I would like you to calm down. We are not your enemies and you are safe here."

"No-not enemies?" Ru Naya's hoarse voice was suspicious as she stared at the man near the entrance. The man was younger than the gentleman sitting beside her, but he had the presence of an army general. His eyes were hard and his nose upturned, and he looked at Ru Naya with distrust. Ru Naya was immediately on high alert. After all the events she went through, she wasn't sure that this was yet another enemy that she had to deal with to save Zan Mei.

She sat up quickly, and winced as pain lanced through her. The man sitting beside her quickly put this hands on her shoulders once again to stop her from doing something stupid.

"Miss!" he said tersely, "you must not agitate your injuries!"

"No!" Ru Naya was adamant, "my friend.. my friend is hurt!" She had to get Zan Mei to safety. What if the lyren bird went back for her? what if another witch had found her? She couldn't stay still when her friend was in danger!

"Is that the girl from your camp?" Finally, the younger man questioned.

Ru Naya stared at him in confusion but nodded nevertheless. There were just so many questions in her mind like how they knew about Zan Mei and the camp. However, she knew that she had to be cautious. If these men knew about her best friend and their camp then they could very well hurt all of her friends if Ru Naya didn't play along.

So she forced herself to be patient, and thus she reluctantly leaned back. She had to show that she was being obedient till she figured out who these people were exactly.

"Is she alright?" Ru Naya asked worriedly. Friendly or not, if these people knew anything about Zan Mei then she had to get all the information that she could.

The younger man replied, "She had just fainted so she is fine now. Once she was up again, we escorted her back to the imperial city along with your other group members."

Ru Naya sagged in relief when she heard that Zan Mei was fine and all of them had managed to go back to the city safely. Though she didn't fully trust these people, at this point all she could do was hope that what these men were saying was the truth.

"Now," the older man took over, "you are an entirely different case. I am surprised that you even survived with all the bleeding and injuries! The lyren bird and the witch did a number on you. Fortunately you were saved at the very last second or you would have been far too gone!"

The man looked at her kindly as he continued, "I treated you as best as I could using my abilities so I believe that you are going to be alright. For now all you need to know is that we are also humans from Bon Sicini who were hunting in the forest as well. You are with your people, no one will hurt you anymore."

Hearing Bon Sicini's name made Ru Naya tear up. Oh how she missed that place and it's urban surroundings that were so different from the forest. She finally met the eyes of the older man and gave him a watery smile.

"Miss, I must ask you for your name and what you were doing so deep in the forest." The other man spoke up suddenly.

Ru Naya turned to face him and said slowly, "My name is Ru Naya, and I was out in the forest with my friends from the other camp to hunt animals. I got lost when I went to search for my best friend."

"Your group were asking about your whereabouts when we handed Miss Zan over to them. Their leader told us to tell you to come and meet him right away once you are back." He told her after she was done talking.

She relaxed completely at the message. Yan Lin and the others knew that she was with the people from Bon Sicini and thus, was not lost in the jungle. This would keep them from trying to sneak back in the forest to search for her.

And she didn't want any of her friends stepping in the jungle ever again.

The man looked at her thoughtfully and then he turned around and headed back outside the room. After he left, Ru Naya turned to face the older man and asked him curiously, "Sir, how long have I been asleep in this room?"

The man looked at her gently and said, "Miss Ru, please call me Doctor Li. You have been asleep for two days now."

Ru Naya frowned, "two days? that is so long."

"Not really, your injuri-"

That is when another man entered the room. He interrupted Doctor Li's speech and turned to look at Ru Naya and commanded, "Miss Ru, you must come with me now."

Ru Naya frowned at the man's order but she couldn't refuse it even if she didn't want to go. After all, they had not only saved her but also made sure that Zan Mei was safe as well.

So she nodded reluctantly and the man helped her up. Once she got up she realized just how hurt her body was. She was covered in numerous bandages all over her body except for her face. She couldn't even walk without support as her feet hurt every time she put her weight on them.

The man made her lean on him as he helped her to limp outside the room. Once she stepped out Ru Naya realized that she wasn't in any room. Instead, she had been in one of the enormous white tents that were littered around a huge grassy field. The elevated land she had been camping on earlier looked pitifully small compared to the vastness of the grassland. Since there were no trees she could see the clear skies when she looked up. The sun illuminated the area and Ru Naya was so happy to be finally out of the oppressive darkness.

The campground had at least fifty people in uniforms milling about. Some were laughing, chatting or practicing sword fights. It was quite a shocking sight for Ru Naya because she was used to travelling in small groups, and her current group of eight members was the biggest one that she had ever travelled with.

Each one of them stopped and saluted the man while ignoring her when the man and Ru Naya walked past them. She noticed that each one of the uniforms had a huge insignia of the royal court etched on them. Were these the imperial soldiers? Ru Naya wondered as she gawked at the camp. Her thoughts were interrupted when she got a waft of an amazing smell and her stomach grumbled in response to the mouth watering scent.

Oh, she was ravenous! she hoped that the man was going to take her to eat now.

But the man took her away from the amazing smell, causing Ru Naya to be affronted, but she refused to beg. These people had saved her life and she wouldn't burden them with taking care of her anymore.

"So, can I ask you who found and saved me?" Ru Naya inquired curiously. She didn't know who had saved her or carried her to this camp. She really wanted to thank the person who she owed her life to.

The man replied in a clipped tone, "I am taking you to him."

Ru Naya quietened down after that. She remembered the lethal aura she had felt from before when that person had saved her. Though she didn't want to go anywhere near him, she still had to thank him for saving her.

The man veered her away from the tents and pulled her towards an empty foggy area. Only Ru Naya realized on a closer inspection that it was actually a river.

And there was a person swimming in it.

From where Ru Naya was she couldn't see him clearly but she could still feel the icy aura surrounding him. However, it was much more muted and neutral this time. The man beside her helped her to sit down on the bank and before Ru Naya could ask what was going on. He turned around and left quickly.

Confusion marred Ru Naya's pretty face. She had no idea what was going on and the curiosity was killing her. She stared at the individual swimming gracefully, not paying any attention her, though it was fine by her if her saviour was ignoring her. She instead wondered how the man was swimming so nonchalantly without caring about the predators deep in the water, but she didn't dare to call out to him to ask about it.

So instead she looked around inquisitively. She saw the camp at the distance and ever so often the sounds of conversation would drift towards her. It all felt so peaceful that Ru Naya almost forgot that she was still in the jungle had there not been reminders engraved in the trees.

The symbols were glowing brightly and the lines were numerous. Ru Naya realized that she was still deep in the forest. She wondered how a group as big as this one had managed to travel so far in without many casualties.

There were so many questions and Ru Naya's brain hurt. She felt as if she would start screaming if she didn't get any answers soon.

"You've got the most interesting way to propose, Miss Ru." A melodious voice drifted over to her.

Ru Naya quickly turned around at the sound of the voice. She had been so distracted by her surroundings that she hadn't realized that the person in the water had swum towards her. The fog cleared as the man drifted closer.

And she gasped.

She didn't know how to describe the man, no, how could a mere man be this handsome? She stared at the person in front of her, awestruck. He was submerged in the water save for his face and droplets streamed down from his luscious black hair and his soft skin back down in the water. His face was heavenly, as if gods had personally crafted it with all the love and care for over an eternity. Sharp nose, sharp jaw, high cheekbones and the most striking green eyes with flecks of gold she had ever seen. This man exuded extreme royalty and class.

And why wouldn't he? Ru Naya realized in horror. This god, no, man, was no stranger. She knew about him very well.

Ru Yaya had spent years talking about him after all, so did most of the ladies.

He was the most talented and dangerous man on the mainland. His majesty, the crown prince of Bon Sicini.

Jun Liyun.