Day brought a snow capped valley and silent sobs. 

No home even when home meant walls of cloth.

No courage even when it meant mere breathing.

No life even when life meant surviving. 

Harshad walked to a numb Aashi as she stared the dead fire. Though it was dead but it still breathed smoke. 

"Here," Harshad offered her a cup of hot water and tears slipped from her eyes. She didn't see his way. He huffed in disappointment and then sat next to her. He looked around to find lifeless faces who were pained to an extent that he choked. He had never thought he could see things getting worst. 

"There's nothing you could do," Harshad tried to console her while she looked away. Her body trembled with gush of emotions and Harshad held her hand tight. 

"I could have saved her," She murmured. 

"We could have saved her and a lot more," Harshad agreed as he looked at mourning families. People had lost beloved ones in fire last night. 

"If only we could see it coming," He added and she sobbed still looking away. 

"Where is he?" Aashi asked after a long silence. 

"With that moron," Harshad answered gritting his teeth. 

Aashi closed her eyes and put her head on Harshad's shoulder. She was tired. 

"He didn't even let anyone dress his wound," Harshad informed her while she kept mum. 

"I tried but he has gone crazy," Harshad added in defeated voice. 

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Aabid bhai walked from one grieved family to another to arrange the funerals. He was the only one who could gather courage to stand up after that mayhem. 

Chief had collapsed last night when he saw death dancing in front of his eyes taking away his clan. Nobody knew what made that strong man that weak that he wasn't even responding to treatment. 

Harshit was silently sitting in faraway corner looking more than defeated. Aabid was unable to understand what had made those strong men so vulnerable. They had seen blood before. They had survived the worst. Then what was eating them? Aabid frowned further arranging the last rites of deceased ones. 

Amid aching silence, there was one constant which echoed the valley and that was screams of man who was left behind. As that man screamed again in pain, Aabid looked towards burnt trailers. Behind them was a man who had no rein over his rage and a man who deserved the pain he was in. Manik was constantly beating the soldier who was left behind.

Last night when they had heard the gunshot, they knew fire wasn't a play of nature but of that barbaric army. They didn't know who had taken the bullet. That shot had lost in screams which were trying to escape the fire. Finding a way out was nothing less than escaping the hell. 

Aabid Bhai looked at a wailing mother who had lost his 17 years old son. That boy and his friends had jumped into fire to find a way out of fire well. Aabid's eyes went moist and this was the first time anything could move his heart to such extent. That boy died creating a way out for his mother and many others. His friends were no less when it came to shushing down the giant fire. They had put their majestic youth on stake to save lives and they succeeded. 479 out of 506 were alive and those who died would never die in their hearts. 

"Tell him to take a break," Lady sitting beside Aabid brought him out of his thoughts. 

"You know he won't," Aabid answered plainly. 

"She won't come back by constantly beating that monster," Lady said bitterly. 

"Let him vent out," Aabid said diving in his thoughts back. 

Yes, that gunshot they heard! It was about Manik and that left behind soldier. 

That bullet had touched Manik's flesh and they all found out when he dragged that tall man to the camp. Manik's arm was bleeding profusely but that wasn't the reason he looked ached. Nandini was taken. 

Aabid sighed deep remembering Manik's face when he walked back to camp early in morning. He didn't spare a glance at mayhem, he didn't look at anybody; he just dragged that soldier behind burnt trailers and was continuously beating him till this moment. Neither cries of mothers moved him nor silence of men. Aabid believed how Manik had numbed himself. 

Aabid had gone to see him but Manik didn't reply a single thing. His eyes didn't show any sign of affinity seeing any of them. Harshad had tried to stop him seeing his bleeding arm but poor chap got punched by Manik in return. Aabid could see he hadn't hit Harshad because Harshad had any fault but he hit Harshad because he could not make a difference. All he could see was that man sitting there half dead refusing to tell where did his mates take Nandini. 

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"Talk to him," Harshad said to a lost Aashi who had finally eaten something. It was evening and Manik had still not come back. Screams of that captive soldier did stop for few minutes but again his painful yelps filled the valley. Manik had no rein over his fury. 

"I have no courage to face him," Aashi confessed. 

"He would either kill that soldier or himself if we don't stop him," Harshad stated in serious tone. 

"This isn't the time to drown in guilt," Harshad said getting up. He seemed frustrated as he walked towards the trailers. Aashi saw him going to Manik. Getting up, she followed Harshad to finally see her brother. 

As she got closer, screams of that soldier could be heard better. Her heart ached listening the pain in his voice. But she knew he deserved every bit of it. She could hear Manik yelling at him and she choked. It was hours since she had heard him. As she looked up, she saw Harshad standing at a distance looking at something. Aashi gulped hard and reached that spot only to halt behind Harshad. 

View was enough to make anyone nauseated. She covered her mouth with palm from stopping herself from screaming. A man lied there on ground covered in blood and vomit. Manik grabbed him from ground rashly and asked, "Tell me where they have taken her?" 

That man cried in pain as Manik hit him one more time. 

"Manik," Aashi couldn't help calling as she walked past Harshad to stop Manik. 

Manik looked back with stoned eyes. His eyes flickered a bit as he saw terrified face of Aashi. 

Grabbing his hand, Aashi dragged him a little far. Her hiccups didn't stop as she tried to control her anxiety. His every muscle under her grip was stiffed. He was cold as he had thrown his coat somewhere aside. His arm was a pool of blood as she could see an open wound. She bit her lips trying to contain her emotions.  

"Stop it. You cannot keep beating that man. He would die," She said in one breath without meeting Manik's enraged eyes. 

"You haven't come out once. You didn't even let anyone dress your wound. You are not listening," She blabbered further crying. 

"This is not the way she would come back," She completed saying only to get not a single word from him. She looked up to meet his ached eyes which were finally showing some other emotion than anger. 

"I am sorry," She said and hugged him as tight as she could, "I know there is nothing which can make it alright. I know It's me who has lost her. I know you are in pain. Please don't do this to yourself."  

Letting out her loudest cries, she kept emptying her heart while Manik didn't stop her. 

Minutes passed and Aashi finally looked up at him with lesser guilt. He was looking towards nowhere. 

"Please let doctor dress your wound," She pleaded while his breathing went rugged. Aashi could feel how there was a storm inside him. He was trying hard to contain it. 

"For Nandini," Aashi murmured and he finally looked at her. 

"Please," She pleaded and Manik closed his eyes. 

"I would take care of him," Harshad assured Manik while walking towards soldier. 

"No," Manik yelled making Harshad halt in his place. 

"Nobody touches him," He warned raising his finger. 

"Except me," He added while Harshad pursed his lips in annoyance. His patience was giving up. 

"Let's treat him a bit," Aabid bhai said entering the shed. 

"He shouldn't die," He added to ensure a infuriated Manik. Manik didn't object and walked away. Aashi followed him urgently. 

"Arrogant jerk," Harshad commented finally letting out his annoyance. Aabid laughed a bit at little test Harshad had to go through. 

"Let's clean this bastard," Harshad said hinting Aabid. 

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As doctor washed Manik's wound, he didn't hiss for a second. His eyes stared the burnt tents while doctor did the stitches. 

"You never listen," Doctor complained looking at the ill-treated wound. 

"It isn't safe to leave such wounds open for that long. I don't even have enough medicines," He frowned looking at his small medical kit. 

"Everything got burnt last night," He added lowly and Manik got up. Doctor awaited some sharp revert but nothing came. He saw Manik battling with something in his mind. 

"Please stitch that...man too," Manik murmured plainly.

"I cannot let him die," He added before walking away. 

Aashi and doctor looked at each other nervously. Closing his kit, Doctor walked towards burnt trailers to treat the enemy. 

As Manik walked between people towards no aim, he saw how cold was killing each one of them. They were shivering with their eyes having no hope left. It was like they were waiting for something. They waited for death. They didn't have food, they didn't have enough cloths, they didn't have transport. They all were stuck in a valley covered in snow with nothing which could keep them alive. His heart didn't pang seeing them like that. He could not feel a thing. All he could feel was an urge to kill that man once he let out all he knew.  

He turned around to go back to that soldier to continue what he had left incomplete. But before he could proceed, Aashi blocked his way. 

"Not until you eat something," She said sternly. 

"I am not hungry," He answered lowly. 

This was the first time he had spoken to her after they had lost Nandini. Aashi could feel tears making a way back but she gulped them. 

"For her," Aashi said hinting toward captive. 

"You need to stay alive for her," Aashi tried to speak the language he understands. 

Manik kept quiet and Aashi took the chance. She dragged him towards little kitchen and asked the lady to give him some food. 

That lady smiled gently to Manik and he looked away. He didn't want to let anything distract him. 

As Manik took one morsel, Nandini's crying face came in front of his eyes. She was calling his name. He put the plate beside and covered his face in palms. His breaths lumped as he tried hard not to feel the pain. He knew he couldn't bear it. He had barred himself from feeling. His windpipe thickened as he tried his best to contain his emotions. He coughed as he failed miserably. Gush of ache hit him and he winced in pain. It was too much to take thinking about she was not there with him. Each breath he took seemed like punishment as he accepted how she was gone and he couldn't do anything. His pores were on fire as he tried to battle the reality. 

"Come back, please," He murmured trying not to lose it. 

"Please" He added feebly. 

He held his hair tight in fist before he tried to scream as loud as he could. It didn't matter who heard him. People sitting around gaped the ached man. None of them had judging eyes. They knew what pain he was in. 

"Come back, Nandini," He murmured letting out a faint sob. Not in his entire life, he had felt this vulnerable. It was aching beyond his ability to take. 

Aashi knelt in front of him trying to find a way to console her brother. She had never seen him that helpless. He never showed. He never let anyone see. He never complained. She never had thought she could see him worst than he already was. But there he was sitting lost. He had lost his only purpose to live.  Cupping his face, she tried to find right words. 

"I failed her," He said defeated. 

Aashi shook her head denying his accusations. 

"I could have chased her till I find her," He said regretting. His voice was dripping in failure. Aashi waited him to say further but he didn't speak. 

"But that bastard," He said getting up infuriated.  

Walking fro and back, he tried to contain his rage. His eyes were red and face was ached. 

"He will die," He declared and walked toward where he had kept him captive. 

Aashi just saw him disappearing in grey of evening. She realized there was no way to console him. 

_______________________

Aabid bhai got up from rock seeing Manik storming in. Manik extracted that wounded man from snow only to throw him back brutally. 

"Open your mouth, you rascal," He yelled. 

That man cried in pain but Manik could not hear his pleads. He could only hear Nandini's calls which she kept making till that trailer disappeared in dark. 

"Where is she?" Manik asked staring into his drowsy eyes. There was dark of fear in those eyes but Manik could only see the dark in which Nandini had disappeared. 

"Believe me, I would not let you close those eyes," Manik warned throwing cold water on his face. 

"I don't know. Please leave me," That soldier pleaded crying. 

Manik paced fro and back to deal with his hard to contain rage. 

"You will die," Manik said grabbing him from collar. 

"You will die a death nobody can ever imagine. It's because of you that I couldn't save her. It's because of you, I couldn't follow them. Now you will pay the price it," He warned pouring in all his agony. 

"Trust me, I am going to make it worst than worst," Manik promised swearing on his heart which knew nothing but pain at that moment. 

_________________________

Harshad sat beside his unconscious father in tent as doctor exited. He gaped him in pain as doctor's another effort went futile to make him respond to medicine. Not in his entire life he has seen his father this helpless. He was still in disbelief that his father had suffered a breakdown because of one army attack. All he remembered, his father had led wars. It was him who had nurtured this camp and today he was lying there unresponsive. 

Harshad came back in moment when he heard quarreling voices outside. He rushed out to see what was the matter. 

He saw some men fighting over food and he ran to stop them. 

"Have you people lost it?" Harshad asked parting them. 

"Says who," Frustrated man taunted Harshad while Harshad frowned not getting the tone. 

"This is because of your father that we are stuck here to die," He said bitterly. Harshad's hands automatically reached that man's collar to shut him up. 

"How dare you? He is your chief," Harshad asked angrily. 

"Chief?" Man asked dripping in sarcasm. 

"You mean the man who brought those savage men along?" He asked venomously. 

"What the hell are you talking about?" Harshad asked gritting his teeth. 

"Ask your brother," Man chuckled sadly on his face before getting out of his grip. Men went back at battling out for food. 

Harshad sighed deep to tame his anger. He couldn't be raising his hand on his people. He looked around only to find no one enraged about the insult that man had thrown on their chief's way. Moreover they all looked unsure. Half of them stared him bitterly while rest of them looked perplexed. 

"Ask Harshit where is half of his unit. If you see keenly, you would find our people missing. Your father had brought those brutal man along. I was there traveling with them," Another man from crowd cleared calmly. 

Harshad looked around trying to separate his people from Rajbir's. His head spun thinking about what that man had said. He couldn't even remember faces. Out of sudden, nothing made sense.  He turned around to find his brother who hadn't talked to anyone since that attack.

_________________________

Aabid and Manik arranged a bed of woods while hostage kept pleading to spare him. 

"I swear I don't know where they have taken her," He pleaded seeing Manik keenly preparing his death bed. 

"It's a shame that you would die for the ones who didn't even bother leaving you behind," Aabid instigated the captive while Manik went a deaf ear to all the scheming around. 

"I don't know where she is," That man again cried and Manik pursed his lips in anger. 

Striding towards the captive, he untangled him from rope and that man looked horrified than ever. 

"No, I don't want to die," He begged quivering. Manik dragged him brutally towards wooden bed. 

"I beg you," He squealed holding Manik's feet. Manik moved his feet with difficulty as that man held onto to everything he could get his hands on. 

"Forgive me, Please," He begged further, "I don't want to die."

"It's your favorite trick, the fire," Aabid said bitterly as that man tried to hold Aabid's feet to resist Manik's pull. 

"You would love it," He added spitefully. 

Manik threw that pleading man on wooden pile and tied him as tight as he could. 

"Let me go," That man begged crying. 

"She was asking the same thing," Manik retorted while taking the matchbox from Aabid. 

"Pleaseeeee," He pleaded.

"She would have said same word countless times," Manik yelled. 

"I don't want to die," That man screamed yelping. 

Manik lit the matchstick and that man turned blue in fear. 

"YOU WILL DIE," Manik declared the decree. 

"WHITE CASTLE," That man blurted out horrified. 

Manik gasped listening the name. Relief spread over his burning heart. 

"White castle of new city," That man divulged more details and Manik played with fire in his hand with his thumb. 

"In the south," That man specified. His face was pale as he gaped the matchstick in Manik's hand. 

"You know what," Manik said in calm yet deep tone. 

"That castle will come down," He declared determined. 

"So would you," Manik bade that man one last time and walked away to never come back. 

That man coughed in relief. He had to celebrate the few more breaths he had got. He was too relieved to realize nobody was coming back to free him up. 

"He could be lying," Aabid put his doubts. 

"Not completely," Manik assured. 

He knew then where he had to go. 

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Unedited*