The Lost Princess

Chapter 29

"Prince Jasper!" saad ko at mabilis na lumapit dito.

"Saan kayo nanggaling?" tanong ko.

"Well, napadpad kaming dalawa sa isang maliit na village malapit sa hillside. Hinanap kita pero hindi kita nakita kaya lumabas ako ng village. I thought may nangyaring masama sa iyo pero bigla akong hinila ng babaeng ito ng sinabi niya na alam niya kung nasaan ang kasintahan niya." saad nito.

"I was worried dahil baka anong ginawa sa iyo ng lalaking iyan pero mabuti naman at wala. Nga pala nasaan kayo nanggaling?" tanong nito.

"Napadpad kasi kaming dalawa sa gubat na sakop ng teritoryo ng mga hunters kaya nanggaling kami sa village nila." sagot ko at kinuha ang takip sa ilong ko. Biglang nagbago ang ekspresyon ng mukha nito kaya nagulat ako.

"Anong ginagawa niyo doon? Alam niyo ba na wala pang nakalabas na buhay doon kapag pumasok ka ng walang paalam?" galit na tanong nito habang nakatingin ng masama sa dark prince.

"She is the one who insisted to enter the village. Before I decided to fight those hunters back she already told them to help those hunters na nasaktan ko kaya huwag mo akong tingnan ng masama." saad naman ng dark prince.

"And you believe naman na hahayaan nila kayong makalabas?" tanong nito.

"Even me was surprised." saad nito at nilapitan ang kasintahan.

"Tell me kung sinaktan ka ba ng lalaking iyan?" tanong nito.

"Almost." sagot nito kaya napatingin siya ng masama kay Prince Jasper at biglang inatake ito.

Mabilis naman akong tinulak palayo ni Prince Jasper at nakipaglaban rin. Sinubukan naming dalawa na pigilan sila pero masyado silang galit sa isa't isa lalo na ang dark prince at mabibilis ang mga atake nila.

"Raven stop it now." saad ng kasintahan nito.

"Prince Jasper tama na." saad ko naman pero mukhang hindi sila nakarinig.

"I SAID STOP!" sigaw ni Lady Samantha at biglang yumanig ang lupa at dumilim ang kalangitan.

Napatigil naman ang dalawa pero hindi pa rin tumigil ang pagyanig kaya mabilis akong kumapit sa pinakamalapit na puno para hindi matumba. Tiningnan ko ang kalangitan at nagulat ako ng makita na napaka-itim nito at mukhang ilang sandali ay sasakupin kami nito.

"Samantha, calm down." saad ng dark prince pero hindi nakinig ang kasintahan nito.

"I've told you many times to stop yourself for being reckless." saad nito at mas lalong dumilim ang paligid.

"Come here, Claire." saad ni Prince Jasper kaya mabilis akong lumapit sa kanya.

"You two solve your problems, don't include us especially Claire. And to tell you Raven, I do not intend to kill her." saad ni Prince Jasper at hinila ako paalis.

"Remember this, Jasper. I will make sure you live a life a living hell if you dare to hurt her. Or I can easily kill the most important person to you." saad ng dark prince at hinila paalis ang kasintahan niya.

Tiningnan ko lang naman ang kasama ko at masasabi ko na galit ito. Hindi ko alam kung paano siya pakalmahin kaya hinayaan ko na lang siya.

"I want you to stay away from them." saad nito at naglakad paalis kaya mabilis akong sumunod sa kanya.

"Pero paano iyung mga mamamayan sa Hunter's Village? They are dying, your highness." saad ko na nagpatigil sa kanya.

"We can do nothing. We only need to finish the task and go back to the academy." saad nito.

"We can do something. We only need to find out what is happening there and find cure to it. That's all." saad ko at mukhang mas ikinagalit niya ito.

"You don't have to be mad at me. If you saw their situation you will also find ways to help them. Your a prince of one of the most powerful kingdom, so many people will help you. You can't just let them die." dagdag ko pa.

"Those people cut ties with all the kingdoms. No one can help them because it is against the law." saad nito.

"Who cares about the law when it includes someone's life." sigaw dahil nagagalit na ako.

'How can he still think about law and rules in this kind of situation?'

"Claire, please! I know what you are trying to convey but we can't. Even the dark prince can do nothing. We cannot evade that village just to know what is happening." saad nito.

"Whatever. I will do it on my own then." saad ko at naglakad pabalik sa pinanggalingan namin kanina.

Mabilis naman siyang humabol sa akin at sinubukang pigilan pero hindi ako nakikinig sa kanya.

"It's dangerous, Clary." saad nito kaya napatigil ako.

"Even if I wanted to do it but it is too dangerous." saad pa nito kaya napatingin ako sa kanya.

"But-"

"We need to go to the village of witches." saad ni Lady Samantha na mukhang bumalik sa amin.

"Their situation is something that includes dark magic." saad naman ng dark prince.

"Look, your higness the fire prince we all know the danger it will bring to the four of us pero we find out na hindi ito simpleng pangyayari lamang." saad pa ni Lady Samantha.

"We come across a dead body of a young girl just outside the gate of the hunter's village. We checked it and it is something we didn't expect. That corpse is surrounded with dark magic that even us didn't know. We took some samples before burying the body." saad nito at may ipinakitang vial sa amin.

There is a dark liquid inside that bought shivers to my body.

"You mean that dark magic doesn't belong to the dark kingdom?" tanong ni Prince Jasper.

"It is more darker." saad ni Prince Raven.

"And more dangerous." saad naman ni Lady Samantha.

"You want to check the sample? Why you didn't take some blood?" tanong ko.

"This one is enough already." sagot nito.

"We need go there now." saad ni Prince Raven.

"Hold my hand, Claire." saad ni Prince Jasper na agad kong ginawa ng biglang nawala sa paningin ko sina Lady Samantha at Prince Raven.

Bumago ang paligid at halos masuka ako dahil sa hilo na nararamdaman ko. Nasa harap kami ng isang malaking bato na may naka-ukit na Witches' Village at sa taas nito ay isang ulo ng matandang babae na nakasuot ng matulis na sombrero.

"We're here." saad ni Lady Samantha.

"Welcome to the village of witches. Where you can find all of the ancient witches from centuries and ages ago." saad naman ni Prince Raven.