Limitless

Chapter 5(I)

A few days later, Aaron was deployed on a mission that tested everything he had learned. Far from home, in a foreign land, he confronted not only his enemies but his own fears.

He confronted his fears in a well woven shell tainted by threat and unveiling horror revealed in the raw.

Sunny clouds with an atmosphere thick with gun powder, burnt flesh and rotten corpses. Something meant just for the movies, yet now his reality.

The atmosphere was dressed up to the nines. In loud screams and lethal pain. Can't cry, can't laugh– just hollow survival.

Lives at stake under the vibrant gun powder scents. Toes intertwined amidst life and death. Some deaths prevented by emergency units.

But amidst the fear, Aaron found strength within him that he never knew about. He regularly repeated to himself "this was made for me", a glimpse of advice snatched from Moma. A slight touch which took him a long way through his difficulties.

He had Emma on a loop in his mind, a sequence granting him more of a determination to keep on fighting for his life.

He had a notebook clutched to his breath where he found the need to write each and every thought he had to share with Emma and had that book very dear to him.

A tip he got from therapy consultations he took once in a while to overcome the anxiety washing over him back at the boot camp.

He shared his ache with a supposed presence– Emma's, through his notebook. An undefiable string keeping him warm through the harsh cold. In addition to a calm mind stitched through regular forest trips, back at the military training ground.

And so could stay away from coping rituals such as drug abuse practiced by some of the recruits.

On the war ground, Aaron was observed by his team mates as someone with a deep sense of loyalty and courage that ran through him like a steady pulse.

He wasn't the type to charge headfirst into battle; he was the type to keep his head down, support his comrades and do his duty from the shadows.

When the war came, Aaron was drafted along with some of his colleagues which he had as friends.

Aaron wasn't quite sure about the promise he gave Emma– His mind caving in on the doubts he often faced. Coupled to his vacant stare as his mind processed. But he was sure that would serve great to carry him through whatever difficulty.

After all, he wasn't a soldier in the traditional sense. He wasn't the one that gave orders or led the charge. He was just a humble, unassuming man sent to follow.

Yet, on the front lines, something began to change in him.The chaos, the violence, it all shattered his hesitations.

In the thick of the battle, Aaron found a surprising kind of bravery. He became the quiet leader who held the line when everyone else faltered, guiding his comrades to safety during ambushes, dragging the injured to shelter and performing unimaginable feats of survival.

But no one noticed at first, the grizzled commanders had their eyes on the loud, bold warriors. It wasn't until one fateful day that everything turned.

The enemy launched an attack on their position, and the soldiers were outnumbered and overwhelming. Guard down on a specific hallway, team soldiers down, last breath released.

As the fight grew more desperate, Aaron was given a simple task— Hold the rear to ensure the rest of the unit could retreat safely.

But on that very day, something tragic occured. On the war field, he suffered an injury on a vital point that would prove fatal.

He laid down whilst feeling severe pain. While struggling with the pain he closed his eyes and frowned his face continuously due to the ache.

His mind stinked in utmost pain. His mind bubbled in remembrance of the promise made to Emma, dear moments he'd have known, now fleeting like some useless memory. A void with a taste of unseeded joy banging against his chest.

Was it going to be over just so soon ? He couldn't help but feel like he fell off a peak. Why, why, why? He thought.

His eyes bulging out of his face, with screaming pain carved in his eyes. He watched his life pass over him. The heat of the moment having him drenched up in sweat.

While Aaron was losing consciousness, his eyes waving farewell, he saw blurry– The image of a luminous woman whose hand touched the wound of the young knight and the wound illuminated whilst closing up.

His mind on the edge of unconscious, numb at the quivering reality crafted in plain sight.

Five, four, three, two, one

Blindfold ripped off! Aaron woke up a few hours later in the middle of the forest. All weary and shocked, looking around him, trying to understand what had just occurred.

The light flooding his veins, cold earth pressed against his cheeks. He saw not bloodied sand but green plants gasping out fresh and bold breaths.

He moved his combat uniform, eyes lurking, in search of a blister. Still, no wound could be found.

For as far as he could remember, he was all alone in front of the enemy soldier.

Whilst trying to recall his latest memories, a memory picked out of the blue– he recalled the last person he saw–The luminous woman figure.

A proper link could be made as from now on– between the place he found himself, the forest and the feminine face he previously set his eyes on.

He stood in the same forest to express his gratitude in his mesmerized state.

He couldn't miss having one more prayer to nature as he was used to doing with his grandma, Moma. Something he felt from his bones, she came from the green lands.

While moving back to the military base, eyes frozen in the void, slow paced walk, heaviness glued to his breath, glassy eyed with a bead of tears grazing his eyelids. In awe of his critical experience