The muffled cries of a baby filled the air as the wizard threw the bundle in his arms into the heated couldrum.
Libertha fell on her knees as she stood meters away from it, regretting the minutes she had wasted pleading with the King to let him go, regretting the seconds she had spent analysing the cause and reasons behind his actions.
She screamed as she fell on her knees before the fire setup, crying out for her son to come back to life even though she knew that it was an impossible request.
A tear dropped from Libertha's eyes as she knelt in silence when the realization struck her.
Some of the people coughed incessantly as the pungent smell of sulphur filled the air.
Libertha was still dazzled to scream or make a noise. It wasn't her son that smelled that way, but she was just realizing that he had been thrown into an acidic and heated couldrum.
She screamed and her voice carried bolts of thunder that struck the land they stood on, causing a huge hole to emanate from the surface due to her screams.
How could she have believed her father would listen to her pleas? Why hadn't she used this last ounce of strength she had now to break the chains on her and rush to save her son?
Regret almost kicked in as she knelt kilometers away from the couldrum watching as the contents began to drop from its sides.
Who was she to question? Her father the King who and always been scared of her stealing his throne and kingdom from him?
Her mother who never for once acknowledged her like a fruit of her womb?
Or was it Joxxx the poor and old man that had done his best to raise her like he had been commanded to?
Regardless of how much thought she gave to it,it didn't seem as if there was any one for her to blame for her predicament, the ostracization she had lived with all her life and right down to this moment.
"Wipe out the entire people!" a thought whispered to her.
If after everything she has done for them and how despite all the sacrifices she offered,they still ganged up against her and beared to treat her this way, then there was no need for her to care for them anymore.
She could as well destroy them all since they were no more under her wings. If she were to now,she would still be able to kill thousands of them without meeting any difficulty.
What loyalty did she owe now?
What loyalty did she owe them?
But on a second thought,she recalled all the years she had fought for and defended all these people against the demons that always attacked them.
Would she destroy them all now because of a misunderstanding a power seeking king caused?
A softer memory surfaced. The children who brought her water after battles. The old women who prayed for her safety. The young soldiers who looked at her like a hero.
Was it truly all of them?
Or had they all been blinded by her father's quest for power, knowing fully well that the people being against her as well would break her more than her losses.
From where she knelt, Libertha rose with her unsteady legs. Her limbs ached as she made the walk but she didn't even bother about the pains she felt. Her heart felt as though it had been scooped out and left to burn inside that cauldron alongside her son.
But still, she moved.
She dragged herself forward, inch by inch and through the sandy ground, and the weight of her grief. Her hands met the blackened edges of the setup as it was blistering from the heat but she gripped the cauldron and shoved it with all the strength she had left. Not bothered about it's hotness and it not even seemingly looking as if it affected her.
There was a gasp from the people as they saw this but no one dated to talk. They all stood in stunned silence while staring at her.
Fear was hidden in their eyes. The parted earth that they had beheld had caused more of them to be cooed by fear. Each desperately praying that she did not act or seek vengeance on them. Because as it seemed, her powers were still working and the Wizard's concoction hadn't done nothing to quench them like had been said.
The cauldron toppled.
Hissing acid spilled to the ground and steam rose in choking clouds. And there among the charred and smoking remnants lay nothing whole. Only bones and Fragments. A tiny hand that was already melting into the dirt.
They had not just killed her child. They had boiled him in a highly acidic content to make sure that no part of him was left. To make sure that his entire body melted.
All she could do was stare. Her soul cracked wide open. How could she not have seen this beforehand? How could she not have done nothing to protect her son. How could she have been such a worthless mother? How could she have left him alone in the room where he got kidnapped from.
She wanted to scream again. She wanted the skies to bleed thunder and the earth to split in her rage. She wanted to make the people realize what they had done. She wanted to punish them for their actions. For betraying her.
She turned slowly like a storm about to break towards the crowd from the floor she has knelt on, beside the hand of her son she has watched melt away in her presence.
Her eyes were bloodshot and she was turning to search for someone and anyone to blame first for what had happened. To make answer for this horror.
But before her head could complete its turn towards where the people were, a sword burst through her chest.
The sound was wet and final.
Her breath caught.
Silently and slowly, she looked down to see the tip of the blade soaked in her blood. It was her sword. The sword with which she has fought of demons for the people for years.
Behind her someone whispered, "Long live the King."
And the crowd continued to echo the words.
"Long live the King! Long live the King"
They chanted it so loudly as if they were performing a ritual and the wizard kept on urging them to increase the tone of their voices.
"The King just killed the kingdom's formidable enemy! Long live he!!" He bellowed at the top of his lungs and the people continued chanting.
Libertha completed her turn finally but her eyes caught the King's who stood behind her,still holding the head of the sword he had driven through her heart from her back.
Why? She desperately wanted to ask but no words could escape her lips. Only blood that she had coughed up.
"I won Libertha. No one will be able to take my kingdom. No one will be able to rebel against my rule from now on"
" "You have to be prepared to face the monster you have created...…" libertha held herself and was able to say, and her voice barely above a whisper but she knew the King could hear her through the way he had shuddered when she spoke.
He chuckled.
"Don't you understand that you have already lost this fight Libertha? I won. It's finally over" he muttered as a response back to her. His voice equally low to prevent others from hearing what he had to say.
Libertha coughed up blood again but continued to speak, vehement on making him hear all that she had to say.
"From this moment that it is born till when you would face it again, the hatred it has is nothing you have ever seen" she completed.
But was this how it was going to end? She thought not. Reaching her hand towards the insides of her clothes slowly, she met an empty case.
"Looking for this?" The King asked while waving a little glass dagger before and then immediately driving it into her right shoulder, the exact spot that the wizard had made the whole he corrupted her powers from.
Libertha let out a chilling hollow scream as the pains seared through her body.
This was the final blow she always gave demons. They were allergic to glass touching their body. How could the King have known? How could the King have used that?
"I told you Libertha, this rebellion is over"