Heart Of War

Chapter 1

Abhit
My name means fearless. But at this moment, I feared for my country and my people.

I'm from Chennad. My people are at war with the neighbouring country of Toushad. It's not exactly war. War is when two sides fight. We didn't even get a chance to defend ourselves. We had been trading goods for years. So it was common for both the countries to set up trading centres in each other's countries. While we just wanted to trade goods and better the conditions of both the countries, Toushad had other plans.

Their government took time to infiltrate our country. They took notes of our resources, strength, area and people before they started to attack us. They assassinated our president after he refused to cooperate with their plans. Our president had always believed in maintaining peace. So we had never had proper military training. When they began to take over each city and village, we weren't able to defend ourselves. We managed to put up small fights and protests. But it wasn't enough to keep them out. We were no match for their military training.

Now, roughly about 4 years after they had started to show their true colours, the whole North Eastern side of Chennad was under their control. They were claiming each territory, slowly but steadily. Their trading centres had turned into places for their ammunition and military personnel. This left all the cities compromised since there had been a trading centre in every major city.

So with most cities and the North Eastern side under their control, they were now in pursuit to take control of the remaining places, which majorly consisted of villages.

I'm from one such village. Nankulam to be exact. Our village was one of the very few places that still hadn't been raided by them. As a citizen, my duty was to fight. The boys in our village began training at the age of 15. Before that they took part in making freedom posters and helping around the village.

The girls learnt about different medicinal plants and herbs and how to treat sick and wounded people. We were all getting ready for when the fight came to us. A few of the people had also left our village in order to help other places. Few came back safely while some never returned.

I wanted to help rather than stay in the village and train. So I volunteered to be in a group that was leaving tomorrow. We were planning on taking weapons from the enemy's armoury that was located in the outskirts of a city about 97 miles from our village. We wanted to replicate their weapons before they came to us and be prepared.

I don't fear for my life. If something happened to me, I just wanted my family to keep fighting. I spent my morning with them, promising them that I'll return home soon.

Maragatham is another matter entirely. She is my cousin, my friend, my support system and my love. She has been and is my solace in this war ridden land. She has been supporting me and has encouraged me to fight back.

I sat looking at the river. We used to play by the river everyday while we were younger. But our happiness had been cut short due to the chaos.

"You are in deep thought. Should I come after sometime?"
Her voice made me smile and I turned around to look at her. She sat beside me in the riverbed and looked at me with a smile. Her smile turned into a frown when she saw the cut near my forehead.
"Did you apply anything for the wound?"
"It's 4 days old. It wouldn't be of much use if I applied anything now."
She shook her head in disappointment.
"I've told you to take care of yourself first. How can you fight if you are weak?"
I gave her a smile.
"I don't know what I would do without you Mara."
She gave a smile and shrugged. We stayed quiet for a few minutes.

"So are you ready to leave tomorrow?"
"Yes. We are ready."
"When will you come back?"
"I'm not sure. It would take about 2 days to go there. If we are successful, we need to lay low for a bit before coming back. So maybe a week."
"Be safe."
"I will."

I didn't know if I'll come out of this alive. But I wanted to be strong for her if this was the last time we met. As we sat looking at the sunset, I turned around to look at her. Her braided hair, her long dress and her glass bangles. Her dress was worn out. Food and clothing have been scarce ever since all this started.

But we always made the most of it. We tried to ration everything and save as much as possible. Her face had hardened. Her smile wasn't like how it used to be. This war had robbed us of our childhood. Being 18 years old brings you to the verge of adulthood. But our situation had forced us into adulthood.

We heard the village bell ring. It was the signal for everyone to return home. And for me, it was the signal that I have to meet with the others. We were planning on staying together tonight and leaving before sunrise tomorrow.

We heard a sound behind us. I turned around quickly to defend myself when my best friend Ewan came into view.
"Are you ready Abhit? We need to go now."
He gave an apologetic smile towards Maragatham.
"Take care of each other. Be careful."
"We will Maragatham", Ewan replied even before I had the chance.

As we stood on the river bank, Maragatham held my hand for one last time.
"Be careful, will you?"
"Yes Mara. I will. Now go home. Be safe."
"You be safe. Bring them down. Be careful and come back victorious."
I nodded my head unable to reply. She took one last look at me and went down the path to her house.

I tried to memorize everything about her as she walked away from me.
"You didn't tell her, did you?", Ewan asked.
I shook my head in response.

I didn't tell her that we had a different plan than what we had told the villagers. We weren't going to just bring back samples of their weapons. We were going to fight the people in the base and destroy it. We were going to fight till death. We were going to take the fight to them.