The Woman Ruler of the Altan Clan

Chapter 12 The City of Witches

Shanum's entire body stiffened. "I can't believe it, don't ever lie to me." The man looked solemn, his golden eyes staring at the girl sharply. It was as if he wanted to find out what was stored in Shanum's mind. If he said honestly any further, would the girl stay, or would she run away out of fear. "This time I'm not lying, I'm telling the truth."

"Why? Why me?" Shanum rubbed his hands against his face. Then he looked at Khan, his facial expression unfathomable. "I don't know, Shasha. From the beginning you've awakened a protective instinct in me. You know when you drowned I was there. I followed you, watched you, I wanted to know about you. And when you visited that park, I was nostalgic at the same time. I haven't enjoyed Lotus' blooming season for a long time. The flower reminds me of someone."

Khan looked at Shanum, but his eyes were empty, he looked like he was somewhere else. Shanum's heart felt pinched, he felt dislike the man was remembering someone while with him. His heart knew that the man was remembering a woman.

"Em, Adri, about what you said, that I was in danger. Is there any evidence of that?" As Shanum made a sound, the man regained his senses from his daydream. "Yes, I saw a man pushing you into the river." Suddenly the girl's head felt dizzy. Shanum recalled the moment he drowned. He seemed to gulp his saliva, his face deathly pale. "Shasha, are you okay?" Shanum did not hear the question. His mind was full of horrifying memories while inside the river.

"I can't move my right hand or foot. I'm sinking further to the bottom, my breath feels suffocated." Shanum looked increasingly pale, his face started to turn blue. Khan Adrian immediately moved to pull Shanum's hand. He patted her cheek. "Hey.hey, you're safe. I helped you, you remember. Shasha, take a deep breath. Well, you're safe, you're in my house now."

Shanum took a deep breath, his face color gradually looked normal. But he still looked limp, his body smeared by Khan. The man took her to the sofa. "What happened to me?" tanyakanya. "You're having a panic attack. Drowning leaves a deep trauma in you. You have to seek help, otherwise it will eat away at your sanity."

The girl smiled bitterly, she seemed to swallow her saliva. "You know, I'm actually not normal. I'm used to traumatic events." Khan furrowed his brows, he was confused.

Shanum tried to move his tongue and with great difficulty, managed to say, "Since the age of seventeen I've been in a dream. Repeated dreams about a woman. I heard the woman was called Sintai."

Shanum watched the man, seeing his reaction. The man frowned as if Shanum had just punched him; his jaw seemed to harden, his eyes glittering. "Where do you know that name?" If Shanum thought the man was angry, it was only because the girl had not seen the man really angry. "I know from my dreams" Shanum said. "Who are you really?" sniff the man. The man pulled his hand and grabbed it. "Let go!" Shanum tried to escape from that grip.

"Don't move!" raung the man. Shanum stopped moving. He barely noticed when the man reached out to the weapon that appeared out of nowhere. His mind somewhat soared as his imagination was fulfilled the presence of an imposing sword. Until, with a flexible movement of his wrist, the man pointed the deadly weapon at him.

Shanum was stunned, not expecting to be under the threat of a sword. "What am I supposed to do?" speak his inner voice.

"Don't think of distracting me," the man growled. "What do you mean?" shanum asked, somewhat jerked. At that moment the door opened hard. The second man, black-haired, burst into the room. Shanum took advantage of the situation, he brushed off the sword. Then he turned his position, the man's hand was now locked by one of his martial arts, and he pointed the sword towards Khan Adrian's neck. "Don't move, otherwise I'll scratch this sword around his neck." Shanum looked towards the man who had just entered.

The man who had just entered stopped stepping, he was fixated on seeing the sword on Khan's neck. The sword did not come off Khan's neck. The girl's grip on the sword hilt looked steady. Khan felt the liquid slowly drip down his neck, he looked at the girl in astonishment.

"Never do that to me! I know who you are His Highness Khan Adrian. I also saw you in my dreams, with Sintai." Shanum gritted his teeth, looking furious. Khan Adrian's eyes widened, his face looked in disbelief. The man closed his eyes, then reopened those eyes, and Shanum was stunned. The two golden eyeballs emitted a poignant feeling that could no longer be covered. His entire face revealed a deep pain, he tried to shift his gaze.

But Shanum saw it, he kept the sword away from Khan's neck. He threw the object away, as if his hand was on fire while holding it. Then Shanum looked at the man, he took a few steps back, keeping his distance. The other man who was in the room, immediately took the sword.

Khan Adrian noticed it, looking at the man's movements through the glances of his eyes. "Leave us, Dario," ordered Khan Adrian. The man named Dario stopped stepping, he said nothing, just bowed respectfully and walked out of the room.

Khan looked at Shanum, his eyes not being separated from him. The girl could barely resist the urge to hug the man, even though she had tried to hurt him earlier. His hand still hurt from the grip, Shanum rubbed his hand.

"I also don't know why I had that dream. That's why I came to this city, to find answers" Shanum said. Khan looked bellowed, he raised one of his hands. "Please leave me alone! I don't want to talk about this right now. Not at the moment. Maybe never will." They looked at each other without a sound with judging gazes.

Then, for reasons he could not explain, driven by a force he was unable to withstand, Shanum moved closer to the man. This time the man backed off. He then turned around, subtly telling the girl to leave the room. Shanum shook his head bitterly, worried about his choice, stay in this room or get out of here. But Shanum realized, he had been expelled, with one slow move, Shanum came out of the workroom.

As soon as the door swung shut, Shanum lunglai's legs and the girl fell to her knees, her heart pounding painfully in her chest. Tears seemed to drip down her cheeks, she tried to wipe them off. But the clear liquid continued to fall without being held.

Suddenly Shanum felt someone looking down before him, and rubbed his shoulders. Shanum looked up, seeing Farah staring softly at him. Shanum could not help but hold himself back, he immediately stood up, then pulled Farah into his arms, he cried sobbing on Farah's shoulder.

"Shhhhhh...Sha, let's go to the room. Don't stay here, Diva's been waiting for you there since." Farah guided Shanum towards the room on the top floor of this mansion, which Khan Adrian had provided for them.

Meanwhile, inside the room, Khan Adrian looks wrathful. He hit the wall in front of him. The wall was cracked and fragments were falling to the floor. He didn't care if his hands started bruising, there were cuts along his fingers. Wounds that will soon improve, because he is not an ordinary man.

Khan Adrian was a leader of the Altan Clan. Although he looks 30 years old, but he is very old, he has lived for 635 years. What an unreasonable age for humans in general. The average member of his clan is indeed long-lived, they can die, but age slowly.

Some of them also have magic that is passed down through generations. Although there are some who do not have it, but because their genes are superior, people in the clan still have different intelligence and a longer age than most people.

"Do we need to punish the girl, Khan?" dario asked, as Khan entered the training room. "Why?" Taban frowned. "This is about the event I was telling you about." Dario reminded Taban. Khan took a short breath hearing Dario's words. "Punish for what?" He rubbed his jaw, covering the furrow of anger behind his hand.

The conversation with the girl was disastrous. He left his study room with a lot of wall fragments splattered on the floor. Khan planned to channel his anger by practicing. In the hope that he can clear his head, and make some decisions - especially, what to do about the girl.

Khan's face turned sour. "I think the girl is innocent, I put the sword on her. He will not harm our clan," Khan dodged, carefully measuring Dario's reaction to his words. Without saying a word, he also judged his own reaction.

Usually the rules he set himself made him calm, gave him purpose and direction, but every inch of his heart defied the thought of hurting the girl. Khan began to consider the possible consequences of letting the girl know about the Altan Clan.

Dario and Taban had been trusted associates of Khan for a long time within the Altan Clan. Although the real world knows Taban as his Personal Assistant and Dario as his Personal Guard. They had been together for hundreds of years, warring together, organizing clans, and developing current businesses together.

Dario slipped his fellow fingers and watched the segments as he spoke, "I find it a bit difficult to think about this matter. You let go of a girl who intimidated and hurt you. While I can understand that the girl can cause sympathy, you don't know who she really is. The girl is from another country, could she be one of our forgotten clan descendants?"

"I guess not. I didn't feel any magical ability from him" Khan replied.

"You sure? I'm surprised he can hit back at your attack on him with just one move." Khan was silent, suddenly he remembered a bright light coming out from the girl's right palm and neck, while inside the river. He looked in surprise at Dario. "Why Khan, does anyone remember you?" Dario's insist.

Khan sighs. "There, I've seen a dazzling light come out of his neck and right hand, while in the water." Dario was stunned, and said, "More reasons to be suspicious, more reasons to find out about this girl immediately." Dario squinted his eyes. "Just like any other potential threat, one has to study it first and figure out how widespread it is" Khan said.

"Your oath Khan, beat the others. Your thoughts should be related to the Altan Clan and solve the problems that have come up a lot lately, not to a girl who should have drowned dead by then," Dario reminded him. Khan looked offended, he closed his lips.

"Have I ever failed in my duties?" Khan looked at Dario straight. "No," Dario admitted. "Not yet" he added. "No" said the Taban casually. "Then why do you doubt me? Is my experience of people, and the various options no more than the two of you?" ask Khan. Dario nodded wryly.

"However, if you break your oath, how do you explain to the Clan Elders?" Khan's body is stiff. Words breaking your vows ring, making his mind restless and forming a shadow of failure, defeat, and possible fraud. It was like defiance while he was always obedient to the rules. "Let me handle the Clan Elders, as always," Khan said coldly.

Dario shook his head. "Those people won't like this, sooner or later they'll find out. You know the Elders are the brash type and especially careful on the ladies-"

"Because they can't have women" Taban cut. "They look for reasons not to trust women in order to keep holding back as hard as their passionate thoughts. Determined not to relate to women is unnatural for men, it makes them cold and annoying bastards. I, on the other hand, have always been calm, flat-tempered, and friendly." Taban floated a pleasant smile at the other two men, as if to prove the truth of his theory.

Despite facing various problems, Khan's mouth unabated form a grin. Taban has a tendency to behave as a man who is excessive, but still has ingenuity, his mind does not miss anything around him. "You are an extreme person and the Elders are the opposite" Dario said. "Enough," Khan cut. "We're talking about the girl, and I promise I won't recklessly punish an innocent girl."

"You don't know if he's innocent" Dario protested. "I don't know if he's the other way around either" Khan said. "Until I get some sign of a dangerous mistake or magic, I-" her words are interrupted and she sighs heavily. The man could not say the next sentence.

"You what?" dario asked, watching him with interest. When Khan did not reply, Dario urged him, "You will refuse to punish him? You're gonna break the vow you made yourself?" Disbelief was apparent all over Dario's handsome face. "I didn't say that" Khan said. "You didn't say it" Taban said worriedly.

"Then we won't tell them about the girl, will we?" khan said slowly, knowing the two men would support his decision whether or not to agree.

They were like brothers, the two men had always stood behind the leader of the Altan Clan - a blood oath uniting the clan to be as great as it is now. "I think you should keep telling your mother Khan" Taban suggested.

"He'd be very angry if he knew you were hiding this from him. I'm more afraid of your mother than the Elders" Taban added. Khan nodded wryly. Taban's words are very true, he must immediately visit his mother.

"Then I leave my business in this city. Please keep an eye on that girl too, never dare to touch her without my permission." Khan stared intently at Taban and Dario. They both nodded their heads, a sign of understanding.

"Welcome back to Och, Great Khan." The man seemed to bow his head. He was one of the gatekeepers of this residence. Since Khan's reign, his mother moved to their home in this city. For five years he did not come home.

Khan's mother usually contacts him through his mind, they communicate like Vicall if in the modern world. There is no need for a cell phone to be able to see the form of the person you want to meet, with magic all that can be done.

Och City was a city for the inhabitants of the Altan Clan. Although it was not closed to other clans to stay in this city, it was still that other clans needed special permission to settle there for a long time. Only people who have magic can enter this city.

A city located between Astrakhan and Tambov, this city which means Glitter in Mongolian does look full of luster. The city is built on a steep downhill hill flanking the river, its buildings are made of white marble, looking sparkling like the meaning of the name of this city.

There, like the city's guards, stood mountains of flat-topped red rock-like stones used to construct some of the buildings. In the north, different mountains surround the city crossing rivers of sharp peaks like the tip of a stone spear that cuts through the city from the far sea.

Khan breathed in the air on the balcony of the house, then he raised his hands and flowed a golden light. As if to answer, the wave of devotion reached Khan's body, like a cat stroking his legs to call for attention. Khan looked smiling, he felt he had returned to his real home.