The Battle of Abingora

Coming of Atticus

In the days when the spinning wheel hummed the streets,and the beautiful looking women dressed in their fine silk and thread dresses headed towards the church for their sunday mass, a young boy , with eyes that gleamed with joy, and wore a dress that was not torn but the colour of which has faded over time, played the shepherd's dogs. He managed to bring some biscuits for the dogs and feed them everyday.

In the early years of this century, such a young boy named Atticus Hughes, lived with his mother in a cottage that stood among the nutty hedgerows near the village of Yursha, not far from the hills that guarded the village. Atticus had this fascination for waking up early in the morning before the sunrise. He would go to the valley and lie down to watch how the golden rays from the sun gave a bright colour to the clouds, the meadows , the hills and the valleys. He would watch how the sun after rising filled the sky with shades of orange and pink. He loved to be a part of the journey of the sun in the sky. Rest of the day he would just roam around in the valley chasing butterflies and counting ants.

Like most of the other boys of the village, Atticus too was sturdy, round faced with pink cheeks, had dark eyes and golden brown hair trimmed roughly.

He would work at the local woodworkers during the day and returned to the cottage at night with his daily earnings.

Today he returned early as he wasn't feeling well. Earlier this afternoon when he was at the shop an old man came in asking for some food. He gave away his share of the food. While the old man was leaving, he turned back towards Atticus and said,

"One day you'll wake up to be the greatest king of all time. People will bow in front of you with gratitude. The destiny of two great kingdoms lie on your shoulder and you'll be the one to put them out of their misery." he smiled and left.

Atticus did not pay much heed to what the old man said and got back with his work. After sometimes he wasn't feeling well so he completed his work quickly and headed towards home.

On returning home he narrated the incident of the afternoon to his mother.

"We never know what destiny has in store for us. So do not worry. Just know that we do not meet people by accident. There is always a reason. A lesson or a blessing. So take life as it comes." said his mother as he retired for the night.

Late in the night he woke up with a sudden jerk, with his heartbeat galloping like that of horses, and all covered in cold sweat, the looked around the room to check where he was and realised it was his cottage. He sat down trying to recall the nightmare he had.

A beautiful city with houses made of sandstone. The alleys and the markets were so different from that of Yursha.In the centre there was the castle. It is large and constructed of white brick. It has several tall towers and complex architecture. He saw knights roaming on the streets. He tried to recall the faces he saw in his dreams of that of a man and a lady but was unable to do so. The dream ended after he saw the same old man from the afternoon saying the same things over and over again.

He tried sleeping but couldn't sleep for the rest of the night.

At dawn he went up to the valley for his usual alone time. But today the golden glow of the sun couldn't appeal to him much. The dream which he saw continued to occupy his mind.

Then in the morning he went to the shop. The day felt gloomy. He returned home at night, had his usual dinner of vegetable stew and bread and went to bed.

Again today he woke up suddenly with a jerk in the middle of the night panting heavily and cold sweat dripping from his forehead. He tried to recall the dream-- it was the same as yesterday mostly. But today he saw a young man with whom he was roaming around. And he seemed quite friendly. He also saw a young lady gracious as well as beautiful. Like yesterday even today he saw the old man saying the same words at the end of the dream. He tried sleeping, tossed side to side but could not sleep.

Same happened for the third night, but that day he saw a completely different dream. He saw men blubbering and choking as the battle ground became slippery with blood. Molten-red blood splashed open from the gaping wounds. The blizzards of missiles were shrilling through the sky. Some of the men were sobbing and shivering with fear. He turned his head around and there were dead bodies everywhere. Among them he noticed the body of the same young man from the dream of the previous night. The man had a sword piercing his body from one side to the other. The wind blew fiercely. Suddenly he saw the old man standing beside the body of the young man. He smiled at Atticus and said

" The future lies in your hand. You are destined to be the shadow of the great king Patrick Carlisle. You are destined to stop the hostilities and dangers coming toward Methilore and Abingora. Travel to Methilore tomorrow. A great kingdom awaits you."

In the morning he decided to talk about his dreams to his mother. After listening to him, his mother said, " You must go, if you are destined to be the part of the kingdom you must go. I know a friend who is the royal physician at the court of Methilore. I'll write a letter to show it to him. And don't worry about me, I will be fine."

In the afternoon Atticus started his journey towards Methilore.

With a heavy heart he bid farewell to the hills, the valleys, the small cottage where he lived, the butterflies that he chased and the shepherd's dogs. And started a journey towards a new life.