With a sudden surge of new energy, the soldiers began digging harder. The clank of metal was the ominous sign that they had been looking for.
When they had reached the fields of Ambracia, the gut-wrenching sight of the dead bodies of their own made them think if this whole madness was even real. They didn't understand or believe in those tales that they had been hearing since ages about the ingot.
Along with their master, they had searched for it in various land terrains, but all their effort was in vain until today.
'Clank'
'Clank'
Echoed the sound as multiple shovels hit that metal. The more they dug, the more powerful was the vibration that he felt in his hand, the more ecstatic he became. His men finally removed all the soil from the surface of that chunk of jet black metal, that glistened under the light of the moon and the flicker of the torches.
It took six men to hoist the ingot and bring it close to their master whose eyes gleamed just with the thought of the power that he could amass from the unification of the two parted parts of the guide.
He bent down and with his own bare hands, he cleaned whatever remnant soil was present on that metal boulder. He looked at it fondly as if it was a creation of his own and then said,
"Each of you... Mark my words... Each of you who has helped me with this journey of mine will receive fifty gold coins. You shall also get one year's worth of wheat and oats supply, from the state granary for your entire family, no matter how large is the mouth that you need to feed.
"My words shall be placed in a royal dictum for your name shall go in the pages of history. This, my men, is the beginning of a new era!"
He said and let out a grating and boisterous laugh that echoed through the emptiness of the cropland.
The soldiers hailed their master and forgot the sadness that had gripped their hearts a moment before. The dead bodies didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was the glitter of the gold.
But then they saw a tiny shadow approaching them and that quietened their laugh.
As that tiny soul closed in her proximity, Nubeous turned back to find out what caused the uproar to silence all of a sudden, and the moment he saw her, he chuckled.
"Some people never learn!" he muttered.
Holding nothing but revenge deep inside her soul, she walked towards them all by herself at the same pace. She wasn't scared to see the staggering number of soldiers around that place because deep down she knew that even one soldier was enough to kill her, but that little one had something else in her mind.
She knew that all by herself she couldn't do anything, so she wanted to still a rebellion in the minds of hundreds. She wasn't scared of dying but she wanted people to know that a man who could kill a defenseless thirteen-year-old girl, could never be the 'chosen one'.
"Looks like your mother still didn't teach you!"
Lamented Nubeous as Eva came closer.
With her stone-cold eyes, she looked at Nubeous and said,
"How could she when she didn't survive? Her blood is on you, monster!"
Her voice echoes in the emptiness.
"So what do you want me to do? Beg for forgiveness? Bring them back to life? Nothing can change what has happened in time," Nubeous muttered and suddenly those words got etched in her heart.
'Nothing can change what has happened in time.'
'Nothing can change what has happened in time.'
She mumbled to herself.
'They had died earlier in the fire and brother and I had saved them this time. But still, they died.'
'That means...'
And a faint laugh flickered on her face.
'Then probably that means my brother isn't dead. He can't be dead. Nothing can change what has happened in time.'
She babbled and kept on babbling,
"Nothing can change what has happened in time."
Irritated with her rampant mumbling, Nubeous said, "Take her away. I am not in a mood to kill anymore. Prepare a march to the kingdom."
His restless mind didn't care about her audacity for the vibrations that he felt in his hand had become stronger. He could feel his stone being pulled like a magnet. The ingot was craving to encompass the soul ring.
Hearing the words of their master, two soldiers came and captured the arms of Eva. They didn't want the little one to face the wrath of there master because once angry, he was the most unforgiving person in the entire world. So they dragged her away, to take her as far away from their master as possible.
But as they dragged the reluctant soul, she yelled,
"You will die..."
"You will die the most merciless death in the hands of my brother..."
"A death so merciless that even the vultures and crows will not be able to touch your flesh..."
.
.
"Shut up girl! Do you want to die? No mortal can even touch a hair on master Nubeous's body. Shut urself up, else you won't see the light of the day," mumbled the soldier who was holding Eva.
But instead of getting angry, Nubeous's face reflected a smug laugh instead.
"Who... Morpheous? Do you think your brother will come back from the dead to kill me?
"Hah... the insanity!"
Then looking at the girl with the murderous expression that he looked at Morpheous with, he said, "With these hands of mine I had silenced your brother to death. And like you said, no crows and vultures will be able to eat his flesh for he has been turned to dust. Consider yourself lucky that you have dared to defy me in the happiest moment of my life, for I have chosen to forgive your audacity."
He then turned towards the ingot as the soldiers dragged her away.
Suddenly the vibrations in his hands started to recede.