Kamini's eyes flared with rage as she lifted her palm, a surge of dark energy blasting into Gauri's chest. The force hurled her across the floor, and she crashed hard against the marble.
"Gauri!" Charvi screamed, rushing forward, while the family cried out in unison.
Gauri coughed, pain tearing through her ribs, but still she rose, trembling yet unyielding. Kamini's laughter rang sharp as steel.
"Foolish boy," she snapped at Vihaan. "You chose weakness over greatness, family over immortality. If you will not come willingly, I will drag you into the underworld myself!"
With a sweep of her cloak, shadows coiled around Vihaan's legs, trying to bind him.
But before they could drag him down, Gauri staggered forward, planting herself firmly in Kamini's path. Her eyes glowed not with power, but with faith.
"You will not take him," Gauri said, her voice steady despite her wounds.
Kamini tilted her head, mockery dripping from every word. "And how, child, will you stop me? Do you think your fragile body can resist me?"
"Not me," Gauri replied, her chin lifting. "But my devotion… my faith… and my God will stop you."
The hall fell into a hush.
Kamini smirked, her voice slithering like a serpent's hiss. "Just because you managed to light the sacred flame once in my presence, don't think you can repeat the feat. I made sure every lamp, every diya in this house, is destroyed."
Gauri's lips curved into a fearless smile. "You look powerful, Kamini… yet your brain is smaller than the flame you fear."
The Kotharis exchanged astonished looks—Sarda's stern face softened, and even Veena's eyes shimmered with pride.
"What nonsense is this?" Kamini snapped, her voice faltering.
"Destroy a hundred flames if you wish," Gauri said, her voice like thunder laced with devotion, "but it won't stop me. For the flame I call upon… burns in my soul."
She turned to Charvi. "Charvi!"
Charvi's eyes widened, but in an instant she understood. She rushed to the temple, her trembling hands finding a matchbox tucked beneath the fallen idols. Running back, she took her place beside Gauri, her heart pounding.
Together they stood, side by side—two women defying a queen of darkness.
Gauri raised her hand halfway to the sky, palm open, daring Kamini to watch. Charvi struck the match. The tiny spark kissed Gauri's hand—
—and a brilliant flame blossomed, hovering above her palm like a living diya.
The family gasped. Sharda clasped her hands in awe, while Veena stepped forward, her tears spilling freely. "Devi Ma is with her…" she whispered.
Kamini's eyes widened, her body staggering back as if the light itself burned her. "Impossible!" she spat, shielding her face.
Gauri's voice rang clear, unshaken, as she began reciting the goddess mantra. The flame in her palm grew brighter, golden rays spilling across the darkened hall, cutting through Kamini's shadows.
"O Mother of Light, destroyer of darkness,
O Eternal Flame, protect your child.
With every spark, your power awakens,
With every breath, your name resounds.
No serpent, no shadow, no witch shall prevail,
For your fire burns eternal — in me, through me, as me!"
The serpent queen hissed, retreating step by step as the mantra echoed like temple bells through the house.
Kamini snarls as the golden light surges from Gauri's hand, its heat licking at her serpent skin. The fire crackles louder with every verse of the mantra, and the witch queen flinches, her braid hissing like an angry cobra.
She takes a step back, then another, her eyes blazing but her movements betraying unease. "Enough!" she spits, shielding herself from the holy flame. "I am leaving… for the time being. But do not mistake this for your victory, girl."
Her voice twists low and venomous, echoing through the hall. "I will return to claim what is mine—my son, my Sarvansh. And when I do, neither your Goddess, nor your faith, nor even you will be able to stop me."
Gauri, though trembling from exhaustion, lifts her chin high. The flame still dances defiantly in her palm as her eyes lock with Kamini's. "Then I will eagerly await your return, Kamini. Because when you come back, I promise to give you such a welcome, my so-called mother-in-law, that you will never step foot here again."
The Kotharis gasp at Gauri's fearless declaration. Kamini shrieks, her laughter echoing like cracking thunder before her body dissolves into a storm of black smoke. The shadows whip violently, then vanish—leaving the mansion bathed once more in silence and the soft glow of Gauri's flame.
As the last of the smoke fades, Vihaan's body wavers. His crimson serpent eyes flicker back to human, his powers collapsing. "Gauri…" he whispers faintly before his knees buckle. He crumples to the ground unconscious, blood still staining his clothes.
"Vihaan!" the family shouts together, rushing forward. Gauri drops the flame and runs to him, falling to her knees, cradling his head in her lap as tears spill down her cheeks.
"Don't you dare leave me now," she whispers, her voice breaking, even as the others surround them in panic and fear.