Kapitel 3: Thrown back in time

No one in the crowd dared to say a word and how could they when their master himself had been silenced in front of them. But ignoring the enormity of the happenings, a tiny tenacious soul was seen running towards the center of the coliseum.

That battered and fragile-looking girl came running towards Morpheous with all her might and the moment she neared him, he opened his arms wide to embrace that little child who had been orphaned a day before because of Nubeous. A mere mistake of her parent's inability to let go of their ancestral fields had cost them their lives.

This was not the first time it had happened to his clan. There were innumerable tales of atrocities of Nubeous. His blood had boiled every time when anything had happened to his clan. But this time it was someone who was extremely close to him, someone who had given him food to eat, a place to rest his head upon. He couldn't stand the sight of a bawling Evangeline over the ashes of her parents. Her tears were too precious for him.

Evangeline's parents had adopted him long back, much before she was born. He didn't speak much, didn't respond much to their human affections but he treasured little Eva. She was his lifeline. She was more like a daughter to him than a sister. But at the age where she should have been playing and studying under the shade of the love and warmth of her parents, she made to see the brutal shades of death and that was something that he just couldn't let pass.

He had lost men, women, children, their animals, their lands. His entire village was destroyed in that fire because of the greed of that man.

His soul always craved justice, but he stayed put because of Eva, because he had promised her parents that he would be there to take care of her in case anything ever happened to them. But yesterday, everything had changed. Their world had been torn apart, his entire village had been destroyed and he couldn't bear to be a mock spectator anymore.

"You served us justice, brother !!!"

Saying that she twined her tender limbs around him. "Their soul can now rest in peace."

He lowered his head, trying to find words that he could speak. His blank eyes that showed no emotion suddenly started brimming with tears. The man who had seconds before blinded everyone with his might had suddenly crumbled with human emotions.

She knew that he was a man of few words. She knew he wouldn't say anything to her. So she softly whispered into his ears,

"Now I know why my parents made you my Godfather. Damianos would be proud of you. He must be watching you from heaven."

Morpheous closed his eyes and let that unruly tear land on the ground. The dying words of his Godfather - Damianos, rang in his ears again.

He ran his fingers through her unkempt hair, trying hard to stop his emotions. Even when his sword tasted the iron of the blood, his soul didn't feel quenched. But just this one sentence of her lifted up all the burden from his heart. Deep down he felt that he was the reason for her pain. Deep down he felt he couldn't do enough.

Without saying a word he lifted her in his arms and wiped away her tears. He just gave her a nod and her heart rejoiced, forgetting the insurmountable pain that was encasing her heart. A beautiful smile etched on her face and she said,

"Will we go back now?"

He let out a gasp of air and nodded his head and then he turned to pick up his sword which he had dug deep into the soul of the earth, wanting to reclaim the weapon that led him to victory. But before he could do so he heard her say,

"Morpheous !!! What are these people doing?"

And true to her saying the sight in front of him rendered him speechless. The entire crowd was kneeling in front of him. Their head hung low with the amalgam of fear and shame. Because the man who stood in the coliseum was no ordinary man. He was a mortal who made the owner of the soul ring taste the crimsonness of death.

Suddenly the foghorn was blown again and descending the stairs of the coliseum entered that old man, who had tried to stop Nubeous but had failed. He looked as old as the withered pages of the bible. In his hands, he held the holy flag of the Kindom of Nubia and the baton of legacy.

His eyes were soaking in anger and despair but somehow he was masking it underneath his skin. The moment he crossed the severed body of Nubeous, a silent tear trickled down his cheeks for his lifeless body was a constant reminder that he had failed.

Pushing away his emotions. as he reached Morpheous, he knelt on the ground to mark his respect.

"Who are you?" Morpheous asked.

A gentle smile was spread of the face of the man and he replied.

"I am Balthazar. The head of the council of Nubia."

His voice was steady and calm and flowed like that of an irresistible spring.

"I see. Please get up. You do not need to kneel in front of me. You shall now rule this kingdom justly and show mercy to common people like us. I believe in the council and I believe that you would not disappoint us."

Saying that Morpheous pulled his sword and started walking towards the exit as if nothing had happened, as if he was just flipping a page of his diary.

"But I don't think we are done here."

Echoed the voice of Balthazaar and that braked the pace of Morpheous. Turning towards the old man he said,

"What else do I need to do? I have done my part of the condition. The reason I was here..." and then taking a deep breath he completed, "is done!"

"But you haven't fulfilled the royal dictum."

"What royal dictum?"

Saying that he looked towards Balthazaar and then looked at all the people who were still kneeling intact. A sense of weirdness started hounding him as he started to feel that probably he was the only person who was not aware of what the dictum was.

Balthazaar plastered a fake smile on his face and started explaining,

"The Royal Dictum states that in case of natural death of the kind, the throne shall be passed on to his progeny. In case the king is defeated then the throne shall be passed on to the emperor of the attacking kingdom. In case ..."

"If I may?", interrupted Morpheous.

"Yes."

"I am no king. I am a mere peasant who challenged the king for a duel because my heart sought revenge, not the kingdom. I am a nobody. So if you think that the kingdom shall be ruled by me as per the dictum, then I dare to deny that. I want to return peacefully back to my old life and rebuild my village," Morpheous spoke looking at Eva and gave out a faint smile.

Balthazar took a deep breath and then asked,

"You are no common peasant. The soul ring couldn't kill you. Rather it was destroyed in an attempt to kill you and you still feel you are a mortal man? This man, who has ruled over Nubia for centuries, the one who cannot be killed, has been silenced to death by a blunt sword, and yet you dare say that you are a peasant?"

Morpheous stood there in silence for a second because he was himself wondering how everything had happened. Why he was feeling like a different man?

Coming close to him, Balthazaar looked at his chest which had been stabbed earlier, but all that was there was dried blood and nothing else.

'What divine forces are with this man?' he wondered. In his head just ran one thought - 'How to turn everything back to how it was before?' He didn't care about the repercussions. All that he cared was about his binding promise.

So looking into the eyes of the man who had mocked the legacies with the ling of his sword, he said, "I think you need to read the legacy to understand who you are."

And saying that he pushed a notch on the baton of legacy and words of gold started to appear on its surface which was otherwise looking like a beam of steel.

It said - "In the end, only time shall prevail."

Taking a deep breath Balthazaar went close to the remains of his master and knelt down. Looking at his severed head, he felt defeated, for he had failed to keep the one promise- a promise to save Nubeous still his last breath.

'I will bring you back to life my master. Whatever it takes.' He made a silent promise and took a breath of solemn resolve.

"Hold it and read Morpheous," said Balthazaar and extended his hand towards him which was holding the baton of legacy and with his other hand he gently covered the eyes of his deceased master.

'In the end, only time shall prevail,' mumbled Balthazaar.

Morpheous stretched his right arm to get the baton, but the moment his fingers touched the steel, a surge of energy was transferred from it into his body. He knew that instant that he had been wronged. It was not a baton of legacy, but a trick to turn back time.