At Dawn They Wake
By,
Siddharth. G. Dawara.
	
	Everyday, people wake up and they live their lives. Everyday, people wake up in the morning and they go to work, they take care of their children and they live. Everyday people like you and me wake up to sunlight and live, ignorant, that their lives, every second of their precious existence is being fought for, and being fought against. Some one once said ignorance is bliss...
	The sun is at the focus of all the elliptical orbits of all the planets, each planet has its own gravitational force. When the sun reaches the exact center of the earth's orbit, there is day on one side of the equator and night on the other. The sunlight that reaches the poles of the Earth bends because light has particulate as well as wave form by nature, that’s why for a precious few minutes you can see light before the sun even is visible. They call it twilight. 
	But it's what you don't see that troubles me. If you watch close enough, you'll see them. They are visible only for that 2 to 3 minute twilight period, when that weird light touches you, not your eyes, you. When that orange, blended with faint yellow glow touches you inside, you can see them. Look skywards, beyond the clouds and then you will see the truth. Behind the blue wall of the world, if you concentrate hard enough, they come to life. 
	Two entities, locked in eternal battle. One stands for all that is good and green, the other for hatred, vengeance and sheer greed for power. They stand frozen, locked in arms. 
	One wielding a bardiche, the weapon of power. The other a staff, the symbol of nobility. 
	The one with the staff is robed in white flowing clothes, with a sash. He looks old, older than time, older than space. He looks more weathered every time I see him. His staff glows with the radiance of all that is god like.  
	The other is grand. He's taller, more livelier and by the looks of it more stronger than the other. He has jet black hair and he has this vibe to him, like he's got more to him than you can see. His bardiche gleams in the darkness of which he is born.
	The white one I've named  Odin and the black, Gabriel.  
	I have felt them fight but once.
	
	The wind swished through Odin's beard, the time had come. The alignment of the planet's had begun again. 
	At this time, Gabriel knew that Odin would be at his weakest. His kind of higher mortal always went into hiding at this time. Yet this one, he still chose to fight. 
The old fool. 
Now would be the time to amass his powers, to call upon the darkness he had concealed within all this time. Gabriel couldn't afford to lose to Odin this time. He knew how valuable this opportunity was, it would be too great a loss. No, he would fight Odin to the end now, this time it was all or nothing. 
	Odin braced himself, he knew well and good what was coming, he couldn't give up now. To die now, would mean nothing, it would crush everything. He pulled his staff to its entire length, he held it obliquely in the defense stance he had so long employed it had become a reflex now. God alone knew what kind of resilience it would take for him to stand up to Gabriel, but this was the time to stand up and smack his demons and make them pay. They were the men for the hour.
	The sunlight reached out from its burning dwelling bending towards the Earth. When it hit me, they sprung to life.
	Gabriel launched himself, bardiche swinging precisely. Just before they collided Odin could see a split second reflection in the slanting blade of the bardiche. The reflection was a dark, clouded image. They were his own eyes. Was all this really in vain?
	Gabriel hit him head on, with all the strength and depth his darkness could muster. Odin took the might gracefully, he didn't budge one inch, his staff pushing the under blade of Gabriel's bludgeon upward, almost uprooting the weapon from his hand. Odin was using Gabriel's own might against him. But now with his goal so close Gabriel had more than mere might to offer. 
	They struggled against each other, weapons locked. Suddenly, with an arrogant grunt, Gabriel pushed the blade downward with complete dominance. Odin bent back awkwardly, his face giving away the fear that hid in his heart. 
	Gabriel had learnt new tricks, someone was helping him here. Some force was adding to the ones Gabriel already possessed. It was a war, come to the third act, the final act. 
	Gabriel pulled his bardiche backward the blade cleanly missing Odin. He could have killed him there and then if he wanted to. He drew the bardiche back twirling it in the air with no effort. His lips were neatly drawn back in a grin. 
	Odin got up slowly, he should have realised it earlier, Gabriel was too close to his goal to simply gracefully lose now. When it had come to do or die Gabriel chosen to do. 
	But the problem was, had all this dawned on him too late? 
	Gabriel pulled the bardiche backward again, cutting a neat arc with its curved blade, he was preparing for the final blow. He could feel an ocean of strength forming in him now. It filled in him, it grew on him, infested his mind. Yet he welcomed it. He unlocked the dams and let it all flow out. He burst out yelling madly. He swung like a lunatic, no technique, no planned offence. Raw hatred reflected in his attack. The blade of the bardiche ran straight into Odin's staff. 
	The staff broke in half splitting with a deafening CRACK. Odin fell under the might of Gabriel's blow. The blade sliced through Odin's skin supinely, Gabriel had cut him below the throat missing the jugular by mere centimeters.
	Gabriel ran through Odin so hard, even after Odin had fallen he was still propelled with fury. He stopped some dinstance later face down, a frown on his face,
	The ocean had engulfed all in Gabriel's mind except one tiny white speck. One tiny little speck broke out in an ocean of black, there was but only one glimmer of hope left. Gabriel felt that white speck, he reached out with his mind's hand and strangled it, but the speck refused to die, it stayed there as if it weren’t his own to kill.  
	"Still hoping, old man", Gabriel said blending his sentences with laughter. He hadn't even turned around when he began to twirl the bardiche again with both hands. 
"Give up old man, ITS OVER", he yelled angrily. But when he turned around he saw something his mind didn't believe. 
	Instead of Odin on the ground, there was Odin cut open, blood flowing, smiling. 
	He was standing there taller, whiter than before. He wasn't Odin the higher mortal, he was Odin the beautiful angel. He was not standing, no, it was an illusion he was floating. His eyes gleamed with flashes of lightning, between being struck down and falling to the ground, no doubt Odin had changed. 
	"You don't even know what hope is" Odin replied. "There are 8 million mortals on Earth..." 
	"They are all MINE" Gabriel screamed back, now bent over, mustering more strength to attack again. 
	"My dear boy, you don't seem to realise, I'm not just a guardian, I hold their power as well as mine...", Odin tried. 
	"Stop your blabbering old man, your end is at hand", Gabriel interrupted.
	With a furious yell he ran towards Odin. 
	"So you really don't know what I'm talking about...", Odin said sadly seconds before impact, seconds before Gabriel would learn what the truth meant.  
	He brought the blade down straight on Odin's heart. But it was not to be. The old man was now drawing on a reservoir of power that was far greater than any higher mortal that ever existed. That power was greater whatever higher evil was toying with Gabriel's mind. There was no war here, the verdict had already been declared when that one shimmer of light had broken out in the sea of Gabriel's hatred. 
	A second before Gabriel's blade was to touch Odin's heart, Odin decided Gabriel's fate. 
	Gabriel had chosen not to heed his warning. Odin had no choice left.
	Gabriel stood there, face contorted grunting. He exerted every ounce of strength his darkness could provide. He pushed forward, draining every reserve he had. But to no avail, Odin didn't even flinch. 
	Gabriel's grip went slack. His weapon fell to his side, as did his will to win anything at this point. He levitated upward, his face painted with a look of sheer surprise. He could comprehend none of this, even though it lay happening right before his eyes. 
	The explanation to all this stood in front of him, eyes closed. Odin wanted no part of this, but it was the path Gabriel had chosen. 
	The white started spreading, taking over Gabriel's mind like a fungus on a dead fat man. Odin had started it. It would be enough to end this madness, to end this evil.
	Gabriel fell to his knees bent over clutching his head, trying valiantly to rip out the alien feelings in his head, trying to exile the good that was taking birth in his brain. Blood trickling out his ears, Gabriel tried to scream but couldn't. It was a pathetic sight, but Odin couldn't let him live now. 
	Whatever faceless evil had spawned that darkness within Gabriel shouldn't be allowed to strike again. It was vulnerable in Gabriel's head, it could be killed with him. It had to be denied the opportunity to find another vessel and it had to happen now. He laid his palm flat out on Gabriel's forehead. 	
	"Ignorance... first mistake ... last mistake... no more mistakes." he said slowly. Then he lashed out inside Gabriel's head. 
	Inside Gabriel's head, there was no ocean anymore, not even a puddle. Just bright, white ...  Between coughing out pints of blood, Gabriel found it in him to look up, his eyes met Odin's, Gabriel still wouldn't realise.

Odin uttered a silent prayer for Gabriel's soul to go in peace. 

"Hey I don't feel so good.
Something's not right.
Something's coming over me.
What the fuck is this?" 

Dave Mustaine, Good Mourning/Black Friday.

Word Count: 1779 
Name: Siddharth. Gopaldas. Dawara.
Postal Address: 1160-61/7 Gharpure Colony, Flat No. 3, Kundan Park, Shivajinagar, 
Pune-411005
Email Address: siddharthdawara@gmail.com
Phone Number: (+91)9822777067