Chapter 7 The Rage Within
The sun had fully risen now Its harsh light fell upon the practice grounds of Prakashgadh but the warmth felt absent Nirag stood alone in the center of the ground with his sword Sheetaakshi drawn His breaths were uneven His knuckles were white from gripping the hilt
He swung the sword at a training dummy The blade cut clean through the straw and wood He did not stop He struck again And again And again Until the dummy was nothing but splinters scattered across the dirt
Still he did not stop He moved to the next dummy
From the corridor above Anvay watched His arms were crossed and his brow was furrowed He had seen Nirag train hundreds of times This was different There was no discipline in those strikes No control Only raw unchecked fury
Anvay descended the steps and walked onto the grounds Nirag did not notice him He was too lost in the destruction of the third dummy
Nirag Anvay called out
Nirag did not respond He raised his sword to strike again Anvay moved quickly and grabbed his wrist from behind The strike halted mid air
Nirag turned sharply For a fleeting moment Anvay saw something in his eyes It was not the red of Agni fire or the blue of Neer water It was a flicker of black Pure void Then it vanished as quickly as it had appeared
Let go Anvay Nirag voice was cold and flat
No Anvay held firm Not until you tell me what is happening to you This is not training You are trying to destroy something
Nirag yanked his hand free The force of it made Anvay stumble back a step Nirag turned his back to him and faced the splintered remains of the dummy
I am fine He said His voice carried no emotion
You are not fine Anvay stepped closer again I saw your eyes Nirag Just now There was something there Something dark
Nirag shoulders tensed For a long moment he said nothing The only sound was the distant clanging of the blacksmith hammer and the chirping of birds in the garden
I had another dream Nirag finally said His voice was so low that Anvay had to strain to hear it
What dream Anvay asked gently
Nirag turned around His face was pale despite the sun beating down on it I was standing right here On this ground But the sky was black And everyone was gone You Pitashree Tauji All of you Gone And I was laughing Anvay I was standing in the middle of all the bodies and I was laughing
Anvay felt a chill run down his spine He had seen many horrors in the war against Andhak Void But hearing Nirag describe his own dream with such hollow detachment was a different kind of terror
Nirag Anvay stepped forward and placed both hands on Nirag shoulders It was just a dream Do you hear me Just a dream
Was it Nirag looked into Anvay eyes Then why did it feel so real Why did I wake up feeling like I had already done it Like some part of me wanted to do it
Anvay had no answer He just pulled Nirag into a firm embrace Nirag stood stiff for a moment and then slowly his arms came up and he held onto Anvay as if he was drowning
I am scared Anvay Nirag whispered against his shoulder I am so scared
Anvay held him tighter We will figure this out Together You are not alone Nirag You will never be alone
They stood like that for a long time Two friends holding onto each other in the middle of a destroyed training ground while an unseen shadow loomed over them both
From the highest balcony of the palace Agni watched the two figures below His expression was unreadable Neer stood beside him and his blue eyes were fixed on Nirag
He is breaking Agni Neer said quietly Whatever Andhak Void left inside him is eating him alive
Agni did not respond immediately He just kept watching Then he turned and walked back inside the palace Neer watched him go and then looked back down at the training ground Nirag and Anvay had separated now and Nirag was picking up the broken pieces of the dummy
Neer closed his eyes A single tear escaped and traced a path down his cheek
How much more my son He whispered to the wind How much more must you suffer
The wind did not answer It only carried the scent of jasmine from the garden below Sweet and gentle A cruel contrast to the storm brewing within the walls of Prakashgadh
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