The Kashyap mansion was eerily silent, save for the ragged sound of Mihir's breathing. He lay motionless on the bed, his skin pallid, the veins beneath tinged with an ominous black. The family stood around him, their faces drawn with grief-all except Maira, whose tear-streaked cheeks belied the steel in her voice.
Sapna clutched Mihir's limp hand, her shoulders shaking. **"Kailashi Aunty ,"** she whispered, desperation fraying her words, **"there must be *something* else. Another remedy, another ritual-*anything*."**
Kailashi's face was grim. **"I've already used the Jeevan Ras. If that couldn't purge the darkness..."** She trailed off, the unspoken truth hanging heavy in the air.
Maira wiped her tears with the back of her hand, her jaw setting. **"There *is* one way."**
Every head turned toward her.
Teju frowned. **"What way?"**
Sahir's eyes narrowed. **"Maira-"**
**"Daavansh's death,"** Maira said, her voice unwavering.
A stunned silence followed.
Sapna gasped. Kailashi's lips pressed into a thin line. Even Teju stiffened, her star-mark flickering in response to the tension.
**"You can't be serious,"** Sahir said, his voice low. **"Killing the Daavansh would mean-"**
**"I know what it means,"** Maira interrupted, her gaze never leaving Mihir's face. **"But if only one of them can live... then I choose *him*."**
The weight of her words settled over the room. There was no hesitation in her voice, no doubt. Only resolve.
And the terrible understanding that to save Mihir, they would have to destroy a part of him forever.
Maira's grip tightened around the edge of Mihir's bed, her voice cutting through the heavy silence. **"Besides, it's a *good* thing if the Daavansh dies. He's the darkness eating Mihir alive."**
Sahir crossed his arms, his brow furrowed. **"And how do you plan to kill something that's literally made of shadows?"**
**"With *this*,"** Maira said, striding to the carved chest at the foot of the bed. She threw it open, revealing the gleaming **Rishdhanush**-the celestial bow that had once slain the Dukaayan Dola. She lifted it, the weapon humming faintly in her grasp. **"If this could pierce Dola's heart, it can destroy the Daavansh."**
Teju stepped forward, her star-mark flaring in determination. **"I'm coming with you."**
Sahir opened his mouth to insist on joining, but Maira shook her head. **"No, *brother-inlaw*. You need to stay."** Her gaze flicked to Mihir's unconscious form. **"The moment we leave, Daavansh and Mohana *will* try to kill Mihir faster. He needs you here."**
A beat of hesitation-then Sahir nodded grimly. **"You're right. Go. I'll guard him with my life."**
Akhil, who had been silent until now, rubbed his temples. **"But, *betis*, where will you even *find* the Daavansh?"**
Kailashi's voice was ice. **"He'll seek the **Daayan Vriksh**. The moment Mihir dies, Mohana's freedom is next-and that cursed tree is the key."**
Maira slung the Rishdhanush over her shoulder, her eyes burning with resolve. **"Then we hunt him there."** She turned to Teju. **"Ready?"**
Teju cracked her knuckles, her star-mark blazing brighter. **"Let's go kill a shadow."**
At bandhap dark cave
The cavern trembled as Mohana raised her skeletal hands over the blood pool, her matted braids lashing like serpents in the sudden, scorching wind. The thick, clotted blood within the pool **boiled**, then ignited-transforming into a churning basin of liquid fire that cast hellish shadows across the cave walls.
Ruby staggered back from the heat, her eyes wide. **"Mahadaayan!"** she shouted over the roar of flames. **"How will you kill Mihir now that the Daavansh has left for the Darkest Forest?"**
Mohana's smirk was a grotesque twist of lips, her teeth gleaming like charred bone in the firelight. **"Oh, my dear, foolish Ruby,"** she crooned. **"Did you truly think I'd rely on *one* weapon?"**
She thrust her hands into the inferno, her voice rising to a shriek that shook the very foundations of the cave:
**"I SUMMON *HER*-THE ONE WHO BURNS HOTTER THAN THE SUN!"**
Ruby's breath hitched. **"Who-?"**
The flames **exploded** upward, twisting into the shape of a towering feminine figure with embers for eyes and molten skin. The air itself screamed as she stepped free of the fire, her very presence making the stone beneath their feet glow red-hot.
Mohana smirks, her voice dripping with deadly malice:
**"Behold...** ***Agni Daayan.***"**
---
Next scene:
The air grew thick with the scent of damp earth and something far older-something *predatory*-as Maira and Teju stood before the yawning entrance of the Darkest Forest. A massive, moss-covered stone blocked their path, its surface unnaturally smooth, as if worn down by centuries of something coiled tightly around it.
Maira crouched, her fingers brushing the stone's surface. A faint, rhythmic pulse vibrated beneath her touch. **"This isn't a rock,"** she muttered. **"It's a snake's egg."**
Teju's star-mark flickered in alarm. **"A *what*-?"**
Before she could finish, the ground beneath them trembled. A low, guttural hiss echoed from the cave behind the egg-a sound that wasn't just *heard* but *felt*, rattling their bones.
Maira's blood turned to ice. **"And *that*,"** she whispered, **"is the mother."**
They exchanged a glance. No words were needed.
**Option 1:** Force their way past the egg and risk waking the serpent.
**Option 2:** Find another path-*fast*.
Teju grabbed Maira's arm, yanking her back just as the egg *twitched*. A hairline crack split its surface.
Somewhere in the depths of the cave, something *stirred*.
Next scene:
The Daayan Vriksh loomed before the Daavansh, its gnarled branches twisting like skeletal fingers against the blood-red moon. The air here was thick with the scent of rotting blossoms and iron-the unmistakable perfume of ancient, cursed magic.
The Daavansh bowed low, his shadowy form flickering in reverence. **"At last,"** he murmured, his voice a harmony of Mihir's cadence and something far more sinister. **"The tree that feeds on the damned."**
He reached out, his clawed fingers hovering just above the bark. The moment before contact, the Vriksh *shuddered*, its roots writhing beneath the soil as if starved for his touch.
A whisper slithered through the leaves-a voice not his own, not Mohana's, but something *older*:
***"Blood for the roots... death for the fruit..."***
The Daavansh's smirk widened. **"Oh, don't worry,"** he assured the darkness. **"Mihir's end is coming."** His crimson eyes gleamed as he straightened, drinking in the tree's malevolent aura. **"And when it does... this world will drown in what grows from his corpse."**