The World We Do Not Know - 192 Novoice

“They said we were hiding 5 soldiers in our village. And they claimed we were lying after they destroyed our whole village” The official of Caracus villager said.

Gus and the soldiers were dumbstruck.

“The official came to warn us about some uninvited guests into our island, who carried weapons of destruction that can wipe our whole village in a single blow and so they came to ask for our help in fighting these foes,” Mars said.

The whole room was filled with silence. Everyone in the room other than the Caracus villagers and Mars were confused with endless thoughts and doubts running in their heads continuously.

“We conveyed our chief’s message. We completed our mission and will be going back to our village now. Those who have attacked us are going to show up in 5 days and asked us to surrender the 5 soldiers we were hiding. Since we are not hiding anyone, our village is going to fight them to death. We will be waiting for your answer.” The Caracas village official left after saying those words.

A war in 5 days, one needs to prepare a number of things to go into a war. Mindoro is a village that has only produced doctors and farmers, not a warrior. Things really got out of hand.

*”They are the soldiers from Agartha, our enemy nation, but how? How can they find us so fast? Our ship sank into whirlpool. There is no way they could anticipate what has happened and come here in search of us. And these are the mythical islands no human has ever seen before”*  Ares wondered to himself and suddenly something struck him.

*”Islands that no human has ever discovered, yet we have an expedition unit back in the mainland, which searches for islands and studies about them in our government. The unit only consists of Nobles and people that sit in higher positions. But how? Are they keeping islands a secret from the rest of the nation? But in reality, they have come across many? And they even have technology which can locate the islands and create an easy path into it? Have we been deceived all this time?”* Ares felt betrayed and lost. If the government really have the technology and methods to locate and enter islands concealed by harsh nature, he wouldn’t have lost his ship and his soldiers. This made Ares so angry as he kept thinking about the soldiers who lost their lives to this ridiculousness.

Agartha is one of the two continents and an enemy nation of Ares’s. They are the enemies that hunted Ares and his ship and somehow they learnt that a small squad of 5 soldiers survived the attacks, came into this island to take refuge. They chased after Ares persistently to put an end to Ares and his friends.

While Mars, the head of the village and Gus were in deep thoughts- “Chief, first of all, I really thank you and your village for helping us so much while we were wounded and in need of nursing. Even now while we were walking in the streets, your people still show us so much support and the amount of love shown by you guys is immense. Honestly, we of the military people don’t deserve the love we have been receiving. We work for people and expect nothing in return. When the people are in danger we lay our lives on the line.”

“Please leave it to just us 5 soldiers. We will go on behalf of your village and we swear on our lives that we will not let a single person come for your throats.” Ares spoke like a leader, with words full of pride and honesty. For Ares, this is his oath and repayment to the villagers for helping him and his soldiers when they needed it. When Ares said he swore to do something, he always succeeded in finishing those things. He sets his own goals and would never fail in achieving them.

“Hmmm, brave young soldier, please follow me,” Mars said thoughtfully.

Mars took the soldiers out to the streets for a walk. When they reached the stage which is used in the village to announce important matters or to pass on a message to all the villagers, Mars rang a huge bell, that was on the side of stage, three times. This was to address the whole villagers to gather for important hearing events. Slowly one by one, the whole village gathered in the place. Mars and Gus stood with the five soldiers at the centre of the stage.

Mars took a deep breath.

“As you people have all noticed, we have been visited by the people of Caracas. I appreciate that none of you made a huge ruckus of it and left it alone, for me to deal with.” Mars started by thanking the people, which helped the people to clear the doubts from their heads. The villagers nodded their head happily in approval and they started paying one attention to the chief speaking, as they recognized how loyal he is to them.

“Caracus was attacked by some military from outside. Their whole village was destroyed and many lives were lost. The reason they got attacked that attackers thought the people of Caracus were hiding a group of 5 soldiers in their village.”

“These five youngsters on the stage ( Mars is referring to Ares and his four soldiers), are for some reason being targeted. It is evident that after the attackers are done with Caracus they will come after us too. The attackers don’t have any means to negotiate at all, they only want to destroy and take what they came searching for. ”

“5 days from now they will come back to Caracus, Caracus are fighting for their lives. In fact, taking our place. We are the ones who need to help and support and aid the people who come to us, Is it not what we were taught all these years?!” The chief asked in a loud voice.

“Yes… ”

“These five are our responsibility.”

” So what if they destroy us?we will rebuild the village over and over again!”

“We are not new to wars, are we, chief?!”

People from the crowd vigorously respond one after the another.

The soldiers were speechless. They did not know how to respond to this massive positivity and support. In the mainland, soldiers are nothing but tools that need to keep the country safe. They were nothing but guards, that guarded the gates of Nobles at nights like dogs. That was how Ares and the others were treated, until they came here.

This village really moved the hearts of every soldier standing on the stage. A tear dropped from Yang’s left eye and he didn’t let anyone watch his soft side.Tisha who has been watching Yang from the start from the crowd took a notice of his soft side, and was surprised to see that Yang wasn’t what he seemed to be at all, from the outside.

Mars turned to face the soldiers.

“We people are also training with arms from some years since our village always get plundered with raids. So please soldiers, help us fight for our homes.” Mars asked the help of Ares and others, in a very polite and humble voice.

“Of course chief!!!! it would really be a great honour fight alongside your people” Ares said while tears rolled down his face. How can he turn him down when these people love and respect soldiers so much. They are even willing to fight for them. For them, who are merely lowlife soldiers in their own country.

“We either kill the enemy or die by their hands! Get ready for the war!it’s time to kill or to be killed!”. Mars shouted and let the villagers hear his war cries.

Everyone left and started preparing for the battle. Ares and the rest followed to discuss the strategies.

“There are four units in our village.”

“First – The guards, they will guard our rear and stands in front lines with spears and their bodies as armours.”

“Second – The archers, they can hold a particular position and can also snipe far away from people.”

“Third – The medics, they are well versed in medicine and can save and help the inured people on war ground itself. They are also familiar with weapons to support the troops and.”

“Lastly the “Supporters”, they will be the ones conveying messages and reports from front lines to mid-range fighters, from them to the archers and from archers to base camps. They’ll also risk their lives to discover any hidden enemy units or traps. In short, they are our communicators and messengers.”

“Let us all find a way to do the impossible” Mars explained his village power to Ares and the soldiers carefully.

“I’m going in too.”

“I will hold the weapon and nurse the injured ones.” Gus who was standing beside the soldiers all this while, said with a pretty confident tone.

“Gus, all of us in the village are as passionate and dedicated as you to fight the enemies and protect our homes, but each person has a specific role to play. You need to guard the village, while the most elite adult guards are out.” Mars said to Gus.

“Chief, I can fight. I have been training with a sword for 3 years, all for this moment. Please let me join our village in the war. I want to fight for my friends, I want to find my goal, my purpose. Most of all, I want to discover myself, please. I beg you” Gus earnestly asked Mars, telling him about how he wants to change his self and help the villagers.

“Gus, I understand your admiration but….”  Mars tried to make Gus understand the situation.

“Chief, leave Gus to me. I assure you he will listen to you in this matter. Gus comes with me for a walk” Ares cut in shortly and assured Mars that he will be the one to convince Gus in this matter.

“I guess I can leave it to you guys,” Mars said as a token of trust for Ares.

Mars thought Ares can change Gus’s mind, since they were almost the same age as each other. He left with peace in his mind.

“Alex, I want you to bring Masamune along with the white and red stones, to the hill behind Gus’s house. Rest of you, go do the preparations and get enhancements from Alex. Prepare to go all out.” Ares ordered the soldiers with a commanding tone. Everyone left to collect their suits and gear from Gus house.

*”Huh? Masamune? Who is that? There’s is no one in the village with that name”* Gus thinks while he and Ares head towards the hill behind Gus’s house and into the woods.

*”Hmmm, Gus definitely has his body in good shape that is required for a swordsman, “* Ares thought to himself while evaluating the well-grown and ripped muscles of Gus.

“Gus, grab two waster swords or logs that you practice your swordsmanship with, we might have a need for them after reaching the hill”. Ares told Gus.

A waster sword, usually called ‘waster’,  is a practice weapon. A sword made of wood or plastic and in Gus’s case, he uses a wooden one he got from the guards and trains with them using the waster.

After Ares and Gus reached the peak of the hill with grass and open area, which seems to be a perfect place to test each other’s abilities.

Ares stood 7 feet away from Gus.

“Now, come at me with all of your strength and try to hit me with your sword,” Ares told Gus without a hint of playfulness, as he dropped his clutches and takes off his arm sling.

“What? But Ares you didn’t take your sword yet, here let me give you” Gus has both the wasters on his belt around his hips and as he was about to take and give one of it to Ares, Ares stop him.

“I don’t need a stick, you can keep both. You can attack me with both wasters if you are willing to, I don’t mind.” Ares said while he gave a faint arrogant smile from the corners of his mouth.

“What? No, that is unfair, you need to have a sword with you too. Only then it will be equally fair.” Gus righteously said.

“You are not fit to stand on the battlefield.”

Ares said out loud and clear to Gus, with a mocking tone. This suddenly hit Gus like a lightning bolt out of nowhere.

Gus stands still. He doesn’t know what to reply to what Ares just told him.

*”Did I say something wrong? Did I do something wrong? Why did Ares just say that?”* Gus got lost in thought with all the questions he seemed to be having, as he was hurt by what Ares said.

“Whether you have a sword or not, whether you have a gun or not, these things don’t matter to your enemy who stands before you in the battlefield. A single moment of hesitation will get you killed, and hence you are not fit to stand in the battlefield. If I tell you to strike, you need to strike” Ares said in a cold voice.

“Again! come at me with all your strength!.”

As Gus heard the words coming out of Are’s mouth, he now understood why Ares was being harsh to him. He composed himself back together and took his sword out, held it with both hands, raised his arms up above his head, intending to slash Ares. He rushed forward with great speed.

“What happened?….. I thought I told you that you need to hit me didn’t I?” Ares whispered in the ears of Gus.

Gus was confused. Ares who was before disappeared and reappeared beside him standing closely while Ares’s left arm was on Gus’s neck, gripped tightly.

Ares was inside Gus’s defence. Gus’s arms were still raised in the air, holding the stick but he couldn’t swing it. The index finger of Ares’s right hand was on Gus’s ribs from the left side. If it had been a sword rather than a finger, the sword would have pierced Gus’s heart through his ribs.

Gus couldn’t utter a single word out of his mouth. He had never experienced anything like this. The battle was over before it even began.