The settlement sprawled like a living tangle of humanity, a cramped rural settlement in the space of early 1900s India where personal space was a forgotten dream.Home to the lowest castes—laborers bent under the weight of plows and poverty, their lives etched in the calluses of endless toil. The village claimed a vast swath of sun-baked earth, fields of millet and mustard stretching to the hazy horizon, but it never felt wide enough. Bodies pressed close: vendors hawking wilted greens and clay pots, children darting like sparrows and the air thick with the clamor of haggling voices and the distant wail of a conch shell.
The sisters—Lisa and Aurora—followed diligently behind Amir, with Nalia bringing up the rear, her nine azure tails tucked invisibly against her back to evade the villagers' wary stares. Amir moved with the ease of old muscle memory, weaving through the throng, sidestepping a cluster of barefooted kids chasing a stray hen and ducking under a low-hanging strung with faded saris. Lisa groaned, her sandal squelching into a fresh pat of cow dung—warm and slick, the putrid tang of ammonia hitting her like a slap. The street reeked of it all.
With a subtle flick of Aurora's finger, a soft green glow shimmered briefly at Lisa's feet. The mess vanished, the stench dissolving into nothingness so clean it bordered on eerie. Lisa and Nalia paused, sniffing the air tentatively—once, twice—like hounds testing a false trail. "Was that your unique skill?" Lisa asked, eyes wide with a mix of awe and relief.
Nalia nodded, leaning in with a sly grin. "Seems like it. Handy one."
Aurora just shrugged, flexing her fingers as if surprised by her own handiwork. "I... have no idea. It just happened."
"Girls, speed up!" Amir called from ahead, his voice cutting through the din like a plow through soil. They quickened their pace, skirts brushing against calloused legs and the occasional sacred thread dangling from a passerby's arm.
"Why don't we just... fly?" Lisa panted, wiping sweat from her brow with the edge of her cloth..
"Or hover straight to wherever we're going," Nalia added, her fan half-raised as if ready to summon a breeze.
Aurora shook her head firmly, her steps measured on the uneven path of packed earth and scattered pebbles. "We don't know what gods or spirits watch over this place. Flashing our magic could light up like a signal fire—drawing eyes we don't want."
"What power could rival the chief warrior of the Creator *and* the Mother of Demons?" Lisa shot back, half-joking, though her voice carried the weight of their mismatched crew.
Nalia scoffed, a low, knowing sound that echoed off walls. "Plenty of gods here could swat us down with a thought. The world's wider than you think—full of supernatural beings who'd see us as trespassers in their dust."
Aurora nodded in quiet agreement, her gaze sweeping the crowd: women in faded saris balancing water pots on their heads, men in rough dhotis hauling carts of jute. The air hummed with life, but beneath it lurked an undercurrent of the unseen—offerings of marigolds wilting at roadside shrines, the faint chant of a distant mantra carried on the wind.
Then came the ding of a bell—clear and resonant, slicing through the market's murmur like a call to prayer. They all turned, even Amir pausing on his tracks, drawn toward the sound. There, emerging from a narrow alley, was a procession: four men in simple kurtas and turbans hoisting a large idol on bamboo poles, each gripping a corner with reverent grips. The statue gleamed cobalt blue under the sun, its youthful face serene as a child's—round-cheeked and wide-eyed—adorned with three white horizontal lines across the forehead and a bold red dot at the center. Multiple arms fanned out in graceful mudras, clutching a flute and a garland of lotuses, the whole figure covered in saffron cloth that fluttered like a banner.
"Krishna," Amir murmured, his voice barely above the crowd's hum, a flicker of something old and bittersweet crossing his face.
Lisa winced sharply, a sudden sting lancing through her skull—like a needle threading fire behind her eyes. She dropped to a crouch, hands clamping her head, breath hitching. "What's happening?" she muttered through gritted teeth, the world tilting in a haze of blue pain.
Aurora knelt beside her in an instant, a gentle hand on her back. One soft pat, and the glow returned—green and soothing, seeping through Lisa's skin like cool rain on parched earth. The agony ebbed, vanishing as quickly as it struck, leaving only a faint echo.
"What was that about?" Aurora asked, helping her sister to her feet, concern etching lines around her eyes.
Lisa straightened, rubbing her temples, still dazed. "I... don't know." She glanced at Nalia, hoping for the fox demon's ancient insight, but even she looked baffled, her narrow eyes narrowed in rare uncertainty.
They pressed on, falling back into Amir's pace as he strode through the winding lanes, the procession's bell fading into the general din of bleating goats and vendors' cries. What felt like an eternity later—legs aching from dodging ruts and puddles—they halted before a modest thatched-roof hut at the village's edge. The walls were sun-bleached clay, patched with dried cow dung and straw, a single neem tree leaning over it like a weary sentinel.
Amir's face darkened, jaw set like stone as he raised a fist to the weathered wooden door. Knocking here meant facing the man who'd bartered him away to slavers for a handful of rupees—traded one son for debts and dowries, among brothers who'd watched in silence. But the universe offered no mercy; he needed answers. Why him? Why the hatred that singled him out like a curse?
He rapped once—firm, echoing slightly off the mud walls. Silence. Twice—harder, knuckles whitening. Still nothing. With a frustrated shove, the door creaked open on rusty hinges, releasing a slow, creeping *screech* that set their teeth on edge. And with it came the smell: thick, cloying, a wave of rot that hit like a fist—flesh gone sour, air gone stagnant, the unmistakable reek of decay long settled.
"Death!" Nalia gasped, her hand flying to her mouth, tails flickering briefly into view before vanishing again.