The morning sun spilled over the fields.
The gentle hum of wind filled the air.
Aarav stood ankle-deep in the water, his rolled-up green dhoti soaked, his old white shirt covered in mud.
He felt the mud between his toes. His hands moved rhythmically, guiding young shoots into the soft earth, one after another.
'Where am I?' He asked himself. 'What is this place?'
"Anna! look!" a little girl's voice rang out from the edge of the field. She held up a frog cupped in her tiny hands, grinning from ear to ear.
'Who is she?'
The frog wriggled free from her grasp, seeing that Aarav shouted. "Revika! watch out!"
The frog splashed back into the muddy water, and she burst out laughing.
Aarav seeing laughter also laughed, he came near her, helped her standup and wiped the mud from her face with us dhoti.
'Wait, I am not moving my body! I van move by my will! What's going on?!' He panicked.
She took a bit of water with her small hands and splashed it over his face.
"You little demon!" The Aarav said
'Wait, I did not say that!'
He took a hand full of water and said "Here take this!" And splashed a at her face in playful revenge, and she squealed, jumping away, pretending to be angry though her laughter gave her away.
Her braids swung wildly as she ran, and Aarav just shook his head with a smile, watching her dance along the narrow paths between the fields.
'What is going on? Is this a memory' He came to an conclusion. 'Is this my past before I was frozen in ice?'
A distant cowbell chimed as the herd moved near the stream. Aarav paused for a moment, closing his eyes to feel the wind brush against his face cool, alive, carrying the scent of home.
Revika returned with a bundle of wildflowers, placing them in his hair with all the seriousness of a priest performing a ritual.
"There," she said proudly, "now you're the king of the fields!"
Aarav laughed, tilting his head just enough for the flowers to stay in place. "Then you're my little princess." he said and took out something from his dhoti pockets.
The thread is dark, not pure black, a kind of dark brown. Multiple thin strands are twisted together, uneven in places, showing it was made by hand.
At the center rests a small silver crescent, no bigger than a fingernail. It isn't shiny-polished, softly reflective. The edges are smooth and rounded.
'This... this looks like the pendent I am wearing!'
"What is it Anna?" The little girl asked.
Aarav slowly tied it on the girl's neck.
The knots are visible, three of them, tight and layered. They are not symmetrical, but they are strong. Each knot looks deliberate, pulled tight with intent, as if once tied, it was never meant to come undone. it looks a little oversized, protective rather than ornamental.
"It is the for my little sister's birthday." Aarav said calmly.
"Hurray!" The girl shouted out of excitement.
'Is this child, my sister?!'
At that moment the golden light of the fields began to flicker once, twice like a flame struggling against the wind. Aarav blinked, confused.
Revika's laughter echoed in his ears, but it began to distort, stretching thin and hollow. The sky darkened unnaturally, the warmth draining from the air.
Then the sound came a thunderous crack. The field split apart beneath his feet. The scent of wet soil turned sharp and bitter, thick with smoke and burning metal.
When Aarav looked up, the blue sky was gone. In its place burned a blood-red horizon, and the air shook with the deep roar of fire.
He stumbled forward, barefoot, into a nightmare. The rice fields were gone, replaced by a wasteland of ash and broken ground.
Around him, cries of battle and clashing metal tore through the air. Bullets hissed past. The wind carried the choking smell of gunpowder, burnt flesh, and fear.
Aarav's heart pounded. He turned in every direction, his voice raw and cracking
"Revika! Revika, where are you?!" He shouted out of desperation.
He ran, stumbling over bodies and broken tools, through clouds of dust and smoke. The world burned in every direction.
'What is going on how did it suddenly become so dangerous? What happened in a blink of an eye?!'
While running a building collapsed on him.
The smell of blood and gunpowder lingered in the air, the sounds of explosions, gun shots and screaming of people could be heard.
His body felt weak, unable to move, it was hard for him to breathe, like something was on his chest preventing his lungs from expanding and taking in air.
He felt something heavy crushing his body, his whole body was in pain, his left leg was more in pain, maybe he had broken his bone.
He freed his hands from the rubble, pushed aside the heavy tuff from him. They Were Some straws bound together like a sheet and hardened mud.
It looked like a house had collapsed on him but luckily he had survived with just his left leg's bone broken and scratches all over his body. He stood up in front of him…
Chaos consumed the area, the sky red like blood, fire burning down houses, people running, people in armor chased them. Their armor was shining white like the moon, they were holding small cannons. Some shot slowly while others could shoot a barrage at a blink of an eye.
The boy staggered forward, barefoot, wearing simple farmer's clothes, mud and ash sticking to his skin.
'What is going on?..'
'Are the Heavens not happy with us?..'
'What are the weapons the attackers are holding? It does not look like any weapons I know'
'Divine Weapon of the gods?..'
He dragged his injured leg to get out of this place.
He moved within difficulty looking for something.
Then something caught his eye. It was a small corner of cloth, yellow, sticking out from the rubble. Blood was flowing from the gaps between the rubble.
He hesitated for a second then knelt.
He pushed aside the broken wood and scattered stones. Underneath it lay Revika, her small body was crushed under the debris. Blood seeped from between the stones. But she was still alive.
Her hand trembled upward, reaching for him. Her lips moved, forming words
"An.. na... it.. it hurts" her voice came out low and broken.
Then he saw it.
He froze not believing it.
'Why?! Why does this child had to suffer this cruel fate?!' Aarav felt sad for her.
The sound around him fell away, no screams, no fire, no wind. Just the hollow silence of disbelief.
Slowly, he knelt and pushed aside the debris with trembling hands.
Beneath it lay Revika's body, pale, her small hand reaching toward the open sky.
Her eyes once full of light were closed, as if asleep.
Aarav's breath caught. The world blurred as his vision filled with tears he couldn't even feel. His hand shook as he brushed the dust from her face.
"No… Revika, wake up," he whispered. "Please… you have to wake up."
But she didn't move. The sky above cracked again, a fiery red flash slicing through the smoke. Ash fell like snow. Aarav screamed a sound of pure grief, swallowed by the chaos around him.
And just as he reached out to hold the pendent he had given her.
As he grabbed the pendent the ground beneath him shattered, light bursting from the cracks, pulling him downward.
At the last moment he heard a bell, not the kind use in temples it sounded more like the kind used to tie around cows.
He gasped and jolted awake.
'A dream?'