WHITE AND BLACK. # BOOK.1 - THE SWORD OF SILVER

REGRET

Aarav woke up . He felt he had a very bad dream , he had gone berserk and killed 5 men .
"What a nightmare..." He said. He looked around, he was sleeping in a make shift camp in a sleeping bag. His body was aching and head was pounding .
He pulled the tent zipper down and headed out . They had stopped at the edge of a lake , which was in the waste land .
He saw that the clanmates were all sitting in the bright sunlight . He was still feeling awkward to face them , especially Reva after the commotion of her anger yesterday . But why couldn't he remember anything after that ?

"Hey guys...."He said raising his hand for a hi-fi ."Why are you looking at me that way?"

"You're alright?"Pranay asked ,"Even after what happened yesterday?"

"What are you people talking?"Aarav asked them.

"Aarav...you really don't remember ? You... killed 5 men..." Megha said.

It wasn't a dream? , Aarav thought . The sudden realization made his legs tremble , he couldn't be a murderer , could he? He fell on his knees , the rocks pierced his legs , but it felt like a tickle compared to the pain he had in his heart due to the guilt .
"I..killed them...? " He asked particularly to no one ."I'm a murderer...i..killed them..."

The guilt made his body shiver , tears rolled down his eyes .
"They were doing their job...And i...killed them...." He yelled and started hitting his fists at the ground .

Somebody came and stopped him , and hugged him , it was Reva . She placed a hand on the back of his head while he rested on her shoulder.
"Calm down...you'll hurt yourself..."She said , while he cried like a baby.

"They were father and husband and son to someone , they had families...but i..killed them...I'm a monster..."

"No you're not..."she said .

"Yes i am..."

"Aarav , calm down..."Pranay said kneeling beside him .

"How can i?...I'm a murderer ...a monster..." Aarav cried.

He couldn't take the guilt , he pushed them away , and pulled out his bracelet , before he could bring it near his neck , a firm hand held his wrist . It was Mayank.
"Get a hang of yourself ..."He said . With his other hand , Aarav tried pushing Mayank away , but another hand held him . It was Pranay.

"Leave me , i don't have the right to kill anyone ....I HAVE TO ATONE..."

SLAP!

"HOLD YOUR WITS!" Reva said slapping him ,"DON'T BE STUPID..."

SLAP!

"THINK ABOUT US , THINK ABOUT YOUR MOTHER..."

SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!

Yes , Mother , she's the only person for whom i have to sink the guilt ..., Aarav thought . He seemed to calm down , he again dropped to his knees and his sword fell beside him. He put his face in his hands , and wept for long . None of his friends disturbed him , they felt that this was something that he has to do by himself. Finally , he got a hang of himself , and had some travel food pills .

After that did they finally resumed their mission again .

"Are you...alright?" Reva asked him while they were headed towards the Phoenix kingdom .

"Yeah , i feel somewhat better . Sorry for being a pain..."Aarav said.

"Its alright...I should be apologizing too...for not understanding..."She said ."I shouldn't have acted childish because you left us..."