The Patriots

CHAPTER 15 (COMBAT)

The martial arts training grounds were set. The kids were arranged in a straight line waiting for their trainer. To their surprise, Del walked in with Peter.

"We're going to be your trainers for martial arts," Del announced. "You have to do your best because I'm not going to go easy on you," he warned. Being the general of the Colombian army, one would assume Del would be a man in his fifties, with a pot belly, and just giving orders in his oversized uniform.

But Del was in his mid thirties, he had average weight, he was well built, handsome and hardworking. That was why he was made a general-- hardwork, he never took no for an answer. And martial arts was his favourite training.

Cold shivers run down their spines when they saw the evil smirk on Del's face. They knew Del, but he had never trained them before and they didn't know how he trained either. But they were certain they would break down if they didn't give it their all.

"Martial arts contains every fighting skill. You need a balance between your mind and body to master the art. I'm going to teach you the basics for today, and we'll continue with all the other skills."

"Yes sir!" they all responded.

As promised, Del was hard on the kids. Some got broken bones, cuts and bruises, but the kids were strong. They never gave up. They even mastered the art faster than Del thought. He was surprised, but impressed too.

Some weeks later, they were now going to combat each other to complete their martial arts training. The combat would take two training days. The best fighter amongst the boys was Kelvin. And amongst the girls, it was Vera.

The combat was supposed to be girls against girls and boys against boys, but because the boys were more than the girls, some girls fought with the boys.

That day--the first day of the final combat training, almost half of the kids fought. It was a wonderful sight to behold when one kid fought his or her opponent. They all had balance and determination. Del was proud of them, but watching this fight, he couldn't hold his smile back.

"They're doing better than I thought. They're even better than I was when I started military training," Del whispered to Anna who had also come to watch the combat.

"All thanks to you. Us. They're great. I guess there's nothing for us to worry about after all. They're going to win flawlessly." Anna smiled.

It was Cecilia's turn. And the opponent she got was Kelvin.

"Shit!" Kelvin hissed.

Cecilia did not show any emotion but within her, all she felt was anger towards Kelvin. She finally got the chance to pour all her anger out towards him. Yes, she knew she did wrong and she tried everything possible to make it right. But he didn't allow it. She felt stupid and now she was going to let it all out.

Just like how all the combat started, they both stared into each other's eyes, thinking and feeling different emotions altogether. They got the signal from Del, and started the fight.

It was fast and loaded. Even the other kids could feel the heat and anger with which they fought. It was as if all their unspoken anger was put into the fight. None of them showed signs of tiredness or fear. It was just anger and fight. But anger broke the balance between their mind and body.

The difference between Kelvin and Cecilia was that, Cecilia was angry at Kelvin for ignoring her all this while when she was ready to apologise for what she did. She was angry at herself and she wanted to be free, but Kelvin did not give her that freedom. She hated him now. But Kelvin was not angry at her after some time, he just didn't want to be close to Cecilia, she was too bright. He was scared she would be like everyone else and he didn't want to get hurt or hurt her either.