Ruby crawled through the stalagmites on bleeding knees, her peach lehenga torn and smeared with ash. "Forgive me, Mahadaayan," she whimpered, pressing her forehead to Mohana's gnarled feet. "Bishwa and the Reevavanshi girl interfered-"
"USELESS!" Mohana's shriek sent bats exploding from the cavern ceiling. Her clawed hand yanked Ruby up by the hair. "Tonight is Amavasya-darker than blood moon, rarer than eclipse!" She flung Ruby against the ritual pool. "I should drown you in this cursed water!"
The pool's surface rippled, reflecting not Ruby's face, but a swirling night sky devoid of moon.
Mohana slumped onto her obsidian throne. "Now I must summon one long dead..." Her skeletal fingers trembled as she drew a rotting scroll from her robes. "Dola...my twin...your *first* mother."
Ruby's bloodied lips parted. "D-Dukaayan Dola?" The name conjured childhood nightmares-two heads whispering contradictory curses, four arms wielding twin daggers.
Mohana's incantation began, the cave trembling as she sliced her palm over the pool. "Her resurrection will halve my power..." Black smoke coiled from the water. "But only she can now get me my sons."
The pool's reflection split-one side showing Sahir and Teju's entwined hands, the other Mihir's laughter as Maira shoved him.
Mohana's eyes glowed. "Let my sister remind those meddling humans what true darkness looks like."
Bandhap Cave - Ritual Begins**
Mohana slashed her palm over the black pool, blood sizzling as the water transformed into bubbling lava. Her chant echoed off the cavern walls:
*"Uth ja, Dola...*
*Rise from death's shadow..."*
The lava thickened as a skeletal hand breached the surface. Mohana's knees buckled, her hair bleaching white strand by strand with each word of power.
Ruby watched in terror as:
- Four clawed hands gripped the pool's edges
- Twin heads emerged-one decayed, one freshly fleshed
- The cave walls cracked with Dola's first scream
**Sharma Residence - Ominous Signs**
Kailashi dropped her teacup when the raindrops hit the veranda-*red* as fresh blood. The banyan tree's leaves withered instantly.
"Mohana's work," she muttered. No memories surfaced, only certainty. Snatching her cane, she limped toward the door. The landline rang with static, but she ignored it.
The Kashyap mansion would need warning. *Now.*
Kashyap Mansion -
The red rain streaked the windows like bloody tears as the family clustered together. Moti Baa's knuckles whitened on her cane. "This is no ordinary storm," she murmured. "The gods weep tonight."
A thunderous knock shook the front door. Sapna hurried to open it, revealing a drenched Kailashi, her usually pristine white sari splattered with crimson droplets.
"Nani!" Maira rushed forward, but Kailashi's grave expression froze her mid-step.
"Listen carefully," Kailashi's voice cut through the murmurs. "Tonight, death walks this land."
The grandfather clock's pendulum stuttered to a halt as Sapna grasped the doorframe. "M-Mataji, what do you mean-"
"Dukaayan Dola." The name sucked the warmth from the room. "Mohana's twin rises tonight."
Uma's teacup shattered on the marble. "T-Twin?!"
Teju's star-mark flared beneath her sleeve as she stepped forward. "Who is she, Nani?"
Kailashi's cane struck the floor, the sound like a judge's gavel. "A witch with two heads, four arms, and a vengeance that's festered for decades." Her gaze swept over the pale faces. "She comes for sahir and mihir."
Outside, the red rain began etching runes into the mansion's walls.
Sapna's knees gave way, her hands clawing at her chest as if she could physically tear out her dread. **"She'll take them...like she took their childhood..."**
Teju caught her first, steadying her with both hands. Her star-mark pulsed where it pressed against Sapna's wrist-not with magic, but with silent conviction. **"No one will touch Sahir and mihir."The words were quiet, ironclad. **"We won't allow it."
Maira braced Sapna's other side, her usual sharpness replaced by grim focus. "We know what's coming. And we're ready."No boasts, no jokes-just the truth.
Sahir knelt before his trembling mother, gently folding her hands between his. "Maa, look at me." His thumbs smoothed over her diamond bangles, stilling their nervous clatter. "No one's taking anyone. Breathe."
Moti Baa's cane tapped an uneven rhythm. "Easy words, beta. But that witch-"
"Will burn before she touches this family," Mihir finished, leaning against the doorway. His usual smirk was absent, replaced by something darker.
Kailashi's gaze drifted to the blood-streaked windows. "We can only pray the Protector awakens in time."
Mihir stiffened. "What Protector?"
The old woman's eyes flicked to Teju-just for a heartbeat-before she murmured, "Bishwa."
A sudden silence fell. Teju's star-mark pulsed beneath her sleeve as if answering its name.
Kailashi's cane tapped the bloodstained marble. "Bishwa isn't just a protector-she's *the* Balance-Keeper born to withstand dark forces like Dola."
Akhil leaned forward. "Then let's-"
"We don't find Bishwa." Kailashi's gaze drifted to the storm outside. "She awakens when destiny demands it."
Mihir's brow furrowed. "*She*?"
Flashback - 22 Years Earlier
Rain lashed the isolated hut where Vedika, 29, writhed in labor. Kailashi caught the newborn just as the baby's star-mark flared-a celestial light so bright it pierced the roof, arranging the storm clouds into a perfect crescent-and-stars formation. The sudden silence was deafening.
*"This child is Bishwa," Kailashi declared, wrapping the glowing palm in sacred thread. "The world's shield against the coming darkness."*
Present Day
Teju's hand flew to her own hidden mark, her pulse erratic. *Why does this feel like...?*
Flashback - One Week Later
Vedika kissed her sleeping daughter's forehead, tears mixing with river water as she placed the basket in the current. "Live," she whispered before turning to face the approaching daayans-her husband Dev's body already cold at the hut's entrance.
**Present**
Sapna gasped. "Vedika was my childhood friend! She...she saved Sahir and Mihir when Mohana first tried to sacrifice them at three years old." Her voice broke. "That's how they became daavanshes."
Moti Baa's grip tightened on her cane. "And now her daughter may be the only one who can undo it."
Teju's vision blurred. The star-mark burned beneath her sleeve as disjointed memories surfaced-a woman's lullaby, the smell of river moss, hands she couldn't remember but *knew*.
Uma wrung her hands. **"What if Bishwa never comes? We need another plan-"**
Mihir cracked his knuckles, his daavansh eyes flickering crimson. "There's always a way to kill a witch."
Kailashi's cane struck the floor. "One weapon can end Dola."The blood rain outside pulsed in rhythm with her words. "Rishdhanush."
Maira stiffened. "The celestial bow?"Her voice was barely audible. "But it was destroyed centuries ago-"**
"No,"Kailashi interrupted. "Hidden. Waiting."Her gaze slid to Teju's glowing sleeve. "For the right hands."