A LIFELESS WORLD
…1 hour later…
The cart was arriving at its destination. The quarry of Thebes was one of the busiest places at that time, since the king did not cease his whims. When he wants a statue built or a temple, no one could argue with the king. In conclusion, it was a place where you had work, for sure.
Hades could see how Eri had just finished breakfast, as he had not had time to play with his noisy brother. "So a quarry…", the lord of the dead said to himself. He couldn't believe that a child of the son of Zeus would end up working in a quarry.
Now that he looked closer, anyone in the wagon opened their mouths; in fact, they were all crestfallen. Eri hid her face under her hood and could not see her empty look. On the other hand, he could see how she kept moving her fingers in circular movements over and over again. She was nervous. Why?
"Whoever you are, I know you are following me." Eri suddenly blurted out.
Hades turned pale. He had felt it all this time and had not said anything. "What a strange girl," he thought.
"You'd better go home. You won't see anything new here, only people with spikes and digging dirt as if there were no tomorrow."
In response to that comment, she turned her face toward where she thought his companion was. What Hades saw was loneliness in those eyes. Now those eyes were looking at him with so much sadness, and to think that just a few hours ago they seemed very lively.
"I know you're there because of the smell of sulfur, if I'm not mistaken."
"So that was it, smart girl and so sharp," in the twisted mind of the lord of the dead, who was beginning to finish off the remaining pieces of his plan, "this girl will be of great help to me," he thought.
Eri sighed. Her companion, whatever it was, was also mute; she knew there was something next to her. She noticed it. She noticed warmth and the smell, but the most noticeable thing was that she was being watched.
"Last stop! Thebes quarry! Don't forget your personal belongings and leave the cart one by one," said the driver, Acrisius.
Eri got up from her seat, as did Hades, as he had to move out of the way so that the girl would not stumble on her way out.
Once down the cart, she walked along with the people arriving at the quarry gate, towards some huge wooden doors. They were closed, but as soon as an alarm sounded, they opened wide, revealing a place full of hooded men in black.
Everyone was silent. Hades remained standing next to Eri. She was nervous, and he did not understand why, nor did he understand why he had the irremediable need to hold her hand, to which he attributed it to "the stupid nervousness that was spreading all over the place".
At the top of the atrium, there was a very short and chubby man. From his tunic, he took out a roll of parchment, opened it, and began to read:
"Good morning, dear employees! The king lets you know that he is satisfied with the work on the new sculpture that can be seen in front of the palace. However, he believes that we need to lighten up on the work and be more productive. Finally, today we will start tearing down the west wall to build a new one in the northeast. The lucky ones for the demolition are workers numbered from 30 to 50. The others will start with the construction, understood?"
"Yes, sir!" they all shouted at the same time.
"All right, so let's get to work, you know. Grab a pick and shovel." With those instructions, the small man came down from the atrium and stood next to the men in black.
Hades couldn't believe it. What was that all about? Was that how mortals always worked? Without realizing it, he stood right behind Eri. They had all made a perfect single row, and one by one they were passing in front of the chubby man.
"Let's see, 80, 37, 65, 21, 74…" The short man was checking the list, and the workers were showing a number written on their forearms. "Did they have them tattooed? How barbaric," thought Hades.
It was Eri's turn, and he was curious about her number:
"Congratulations, 38. You're up for demolition." Eri simply nodded while the little man stared at her ass. Hades had to restrain himself from burning him, but again, he had to repeat to himself that this was not his problem.
He followed the girl to a pile of picks and shovels. There, she picked them up and went to grab some ropes. They all went about their business; they looked like empty bodies that moved without will.
"Good morning, 38," said a dark-haired and tanned boy.
"Good morning, 32," Eri answered without a hint of emotion in her words. She was only responding out of politeness.
"Ready to knock down walls with a pickaxe?" The tone between them began to change, but they were whispering, as if they were not allowed to be on a friendly basis.
"I was born ready. Do not doubt it," Eri said. This time, the girl answered with a sly smile.
The two headed towards the western sector, where more hooded men armed with whips were waiting for them. They already knew what to avoid if they did not do what they were not supposed to do.
Everyone in the quarry began to work, but not before singing a song:
Let's work!
It's time to rock and roll!
Let's pick and dig,
No time to stop.
No time to rest.
One, two, pick!
One, two, shovel!
One, two, pick!
One, two, shovel!
What's the difference?
We don't care!
Welcome to the quarry!
No matter if you are a man, a woman, or a child,
Work never hurts!
For money
We come to work.
For our sake
We work our asses off.
Let's pick and dig,
No time to stop.
No time to rest.
To survive in this quarry
Obey the rules.
If you don't, you will die, for sure…
The hours went by, and the pace slowed down. At this rate, they had managed to bring down most of the thickest rocks.
Hades observed that most of the crew were no more than twenty; all of them were very young, even some younger than Erianthe. He was really getting bored to death, as he had sent Pain and Panic to inspect the quarry and get information about it.
One of the younger workers had fallen to the ground, exhausted. Immediately, a hooded man approached and began to punish him harshly.
"Get up, you sack of bones! The wall won't fall down by itself." The poor kid was screaming in pain. Eri helped him up, but when he went against the rules, he got a whip all over his leg.
"AAAAA!" screamed Eri in pain, who started to bleed from his thigh.
"Keep working, you scum!" Hades was about to explode with rage, but at that moment, part of the wall collapsed, revealing a huge cave.
Everyone looked on in astonishment because, according to the maps, there shouldn't be a cave there…, but what they weren't prepared for was the monster that emerged from it.
"A manticore! Run!" Shouted a man.
And chaos broke out in the Theban quarry.
Here we go! Another translated chapter.
I'm sorry to not post any chapters last week, but I couldn't find enough time to translate, just for writing. So, this week, I've decided to translate.
I hope you liked it. I've made a few changes to adapt the original to English. But the story is the same; don't worry.
This is my first time writing a song in English. Don't be harsh, hahaha. When I wrote the original song in Spanish, I was inspired by the song Frozen Heart from Frozen.
Feel free to write any reviews and let me know what do you think about the story.
Thank you for your support!
