Maira dragged herself forward, blood streaking her temple. *"Mihir, please-"*
His clawed hand rose toward the ceiling. The **crystal chandelier trembled**, then wrenched free with a screech of metal.
*"NO!"* Maira squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for impact-
**Wet warmth splashed across her face.**
Her eyes flew open.
Mihir crouched over her, **his back impaled by shards of glass and twisted metal**. Blood dripped from his wounds onto her cheeks, mixing with her tears.
*"R-run..."* he gritted out, his **red eyes flickering brown**.
*"Never."* Maira grabbed his face, her thumbs brushing the fading black veins. As their skin touched, the **darkness receded like a tide**.
The chandelier shifted with a sickening crunch. Mihir groaned.
*"Pull it out,"* he gasped.
Trembling, Maira gripped the largest spike. *"I'm sorry-"*
**A yank. A scream.**
But when she reached for him again, his hands-**human once more**-caught hers.
Mihir's breath came in ragged gasps as he stared at Maira's wounds-**the blood matted in her hair, the gashes on her arms-all his doing.** His fingers hovered over them, trembling.
*"Look what I... I'm a monster."* His voice shattered like the glass still embedded in his back.
Maira caught his hand, pressing his palm to her cheek. *"Monsters don't shield people from chandeliers."* A tear cut through the blood on her face. *"Monsters don't *apologize*."*
His shoulders crumpled. Their foreheads touched, blood and tears mingling on the floor between them.
*"I hurt you."* A confession whispered into the space between their lips.
*"And then you bled for me."* Maira squeezed his hand tighter. *"That's all that matters now."*
Mihir's voice cracked like dry earth. *"Don't you hate me?"*
Maira framed his face with bloody hands. *"I hate that you think I could."*
Something in him broke then. He pulled her into his arms with a sob that shook his wounded body, burying his face in her neck. *"Never leave me,"* he whispered, the words raw and unbidden.
Maira held him tighter, her answer a breath against his skin:
*"Forget this life. I won't leave you for the next seven."*
Wolf clan
The Bhediya Vriksh shuddered as **dozens of golden Ras Jeevan fruits pulsed to life**, their luminous skins splitting to release honey-sweet mist. The clan erupted in cheers - until the elder's guttural growl cut through the celebration.
*"A Daavansh and human filth!"*
Sahir and Teju found themselves **encircled by bared fangs and moonlit claws**. The elder's nose wrinkled as he sniffed the air. *"You reek of demon blood."*
Teju's borrowed wolf pelt slipped as she stood straight. *"We're not here to fight."*
A warrior woman shoved forward, her silver-scarred face twisting. *"Then why slither into our sacred night?"*
**Silence.** Even the tree's rustling stilled.
Sahir met the elder's gaze without flinching. *"We need one Ras Jeevan."*
The clan's collective inhale was sharper than any blade.
*"HERESY!"* The elder's howl sent wolves to their knees. *"The Moon God's gift is NOT for outsiders!"*
Sahir raised his hands, palms open. *"Listen-we need the Ras Jeevan for my brother. He's been consumed by darkness. We mean no disrespect to your traditions."*
Teju stepped forward, her voice steady but urgent. *"Please-we only ask for one fruit. We don't want trouble."*
The clan remained unmoved. The elder's milky-white eyes narrowed, his muzzle wrinkling in a snarl. Around them, warriors crouched low, claws unsheathed, their growls vibrating through the night air.
A young wolf-man with silver-streaked fur spat at the ground near Sahir's feet. *"Your brother's curse is not our burden."*
The elder raised a gnarled hand, and the circle tightened. *"The Jeevan Ras is sacred. It is not for outsiders-especially not the blood of Demons
The elder's snarl cut through the night. *"Kill them!"*
Wolf-warriors lunged-fangs bared, claws glinting. Sahir's irises **flashed silver-blue**, his daavansh power surging-
***"ENOUGH!"***
Teju's voice **quaked the earth**. The very air trembled as a **celestial star blazed to life behind her**, its light washing the clearing in unearthly gold. The charging wolves **skidded to a halt**, their snarls dying in their throats.
One by one, the clan **dropped to their knees**, foreheads pressed to the dirt. The elder's milky eyes widened in horror. *"B-Bishwa..."*
Sahir stared at Teju-not at her glowing mark, but at the **wolf clan's bowed heads**. *"They're not... afraid. They're *reverent*."*
Teju's fingers curled into fists, the star's glow pulsing with her heartbeat. *"Why would werewolves worship a Bishwa?"*
The elder lifted his face, tears cutting through his scars. *"Because the First Bishwa... was our Protector ."*
Teju's star-light flickered as if startled by the elder's words. *"Your protector ... what?"*
Sahir's daavansh glow snuffed out entirely. His medical mind scrambled for logic-**werewolf mythology clashing with Bishwa legend**-but found none.
The elder remained prostrate, his voice trembling. *"The First Bishwa walked these jungles millennia ago. She who tamed the First werewolf's fury with her touch."* His claw traced a symbol in the dirt-**a star inside a crescent**. *"Our holy texts say her return would herald the end of endless night."*
Teju's hands shook. *"I'm not-"*
*"You bear her mark."* The elder pointed to her glowing palm, then to the tree. *"And so does Ras Jeevan."*
The golden fruits pulsed in unison-**each one cradling a tiny star at its core**.
Sahir's breath caught. *"This changes everything."*
The wolf warriors who'd held a claw to Teju's throat staggered back. *"Forgive me, Holy Daughter-I did not know!"* their voice cracked like dry bark. *"We would never have raised fangs against a Bishwa!"*
The elder's ears flattened. With a groan, he **prostrated himself fully**. *"bishwa."* He tested the name like a sacred verse. *"The protector. Our texts foretold your return... yet we greeted you with claws."* His throat worked. *"The shame will haunt us for generations."*
Teju's star-mark flickered as she knelt, forcing the elder to meet her eyes. *"You acted to protect what's sacred. There's no shame in that."* She glanced at Sahir, then at the pulsing Ras Jeevan fruits. *"But my husband spoke truth-we need one. Not for greed, not for power. To save a life."*
A young wolf-man-the same who'd spat at Sahir's feet-crawled forward. *"I am Vrishti, son of the pack's alpha."* He bared his neck in submission. *"Let me retrieve the fruit myself. To atone for my disrespect."*
The elder nodded. As Vrishti leapt into the Bhediya Vriksh's branches, the clan began a low, mournful howl-**a song of apology older than the stars themselves**.
Vrishti landed silently, offering the Ras Jeevan with both hands. The fruit glowed, its star-core flaring as Teju touched it.