Chương 4: A game of Chance

As the rain lashed around, pushing all the creatures of the dark Inside, A group of men were the only thing that was seen across the Horizon. The sound of the hooves, stomping across the ground was almost rhythmic.Ranjit fell into a daze. as they made their way across the terrain, he couldn't help but realise that a storm was heading towards the British ,and they weren't prepared. The plan was perfect. Duleep had the duplicate diamond with him and he was going to make the switch. They were almost there. they made their way through the masquerade of trees and at last they stood in foreign soil." My lord such a chance is almost impossible. We have a chance to attack an entire unit of British Troops" Ranjit didn't answer. The commander knew that it meant he agreed. " Sire I have a plan. Lets first secure the gem and then bring in reinforcements before dawn for the attack. This means that their strategy of reinforcement build up would be lost. No."" Sher go to the barracks and bring me one single musket." As the prince went in search of the barracks, The sandstorm struck. Everyone was in Panic. Ranjit could not handle it. If only he had been.... no. He would not go through this again. He had made a promise and he was going to live to see it fulfilled. Sher walked out in a hurry with the musket. " Which one is the barrack ?" Asked the king. The third one from your right. Ranjit could barely see. His eyes burned overtime he opened them. He tried hard to not buckle down and crawl but he was forced to when the storm intensified. He looked around like a child searching for his mother. He had to take the shot and he didn't know where the target was. He tried to think, visualise where the target could be. The storm had gone berserk ! no one was to be spared. Ranjit bounced back as he took a shot. He had hit his target. He waited for a second, Then two then three. He hoped that it had hit the kegs with gun powder. There was no way he could go get another gun. And then, it was too bright to see. Ranjit fell back to shield himself from the flying debris. He saw glory sights of crippled men running around and a few cries for help. He saw that he had won the battle and it was now time for the war. They went inside the forest in search of Dalhousie as they're spy had informed them. The party opted to stay together rather than risk being found.After all, A lot of those men at the base smoked cigars and were addicted to liquor. It was only a matter of time that one such cigar should find its way into the barracks.Shame that the indifference of one had wiped an entire unit. They went into the forest on their bellies, barely able to move an inch forward. They trudged on for what seemed like days, only to realise that they had moved no further than a hundred feet. As they went forward, they had their first sign of hope; two humanoid figures. An unspoken unanimous agreement was made that one of the two people was Dalhousie.They Fought their way into the sandstorm with a sense of renewed vigour. As soon as they reached Dalhousie , Duleep reached out to grab Dalhousie's uniform. The struggle was real. He had used up nearly all his strength but Dalhousie wouldn't budge. It was almost as if he had weighed twice as much. Ranjit by himself was barely able to march forward. He somehow managed to inch closer to Duleep His torso seemed to be on fire. He couldn't hold on. He felt like he was dying, he held on to Duleep's hands. He saw something fall. He wasn't sure what it was. He didn't know whether he could trust his instincts anymore. Duleep scrambled around searching for the duplicate diamond. But after much -after thought, decided to focus more on Dalhousie. He pulled hard, he seemed to move much more easily now, he looked back to see his father and brothers pulling along with him. He allowed a smile and continued tugging. Yes it was much clearer now. It was Dalhousie, as he was dragged closer Dalhousie let out a punch that startled everyone. He moved with lightning speed struggling to save the boy and himself. He made one risky move and decided to stand up and run while carrying the boy. Ranjit Singh launched himself at Dalhousie. The men fell to the earth. Along with them fell three diamonds. The fight that ensued was hard by anyone's standards. Dalhousie kicked and shoved and struggled to move from the old man's grip as Ranjit Singh was determined to maintain his grip. Dalhousie elbowed the Sarkar as he fell to the ground with a thud. The King knew that he was not going to win the fight . He had to act quickly. The storm was at its Prime. He summoned all his strength at once and shoved the trader away. He looked at all four of the diamonds. He picked it all up and as he made his way out, a kick to his back made him lose three of the diamonds. He decided to trust God and retreat with the diamond in hand. Dalhousie moved with full swing, he didn't seem normal. He had a murderous rage glinting in his eyes as he stepped forth. With the blessings of God, he should have picked up the right diamond.