✨ Pratap Singh Mansion ✨
Dev rose from the rubble with a snarl, his fist smashing the ground with a thunderous impact. The shockwave rattled the floor, dust and debris rising into the tense air.
In an instant, a ring of fire erupted around Kiara, encircling her like molten walls, glowing and pulsating with lethal heat.
Kiara leapt back instinctively, eyes narrowing, her chest rising and falling as she measured the fiery trap.
Dev's voice cut through the roar of flames, taunting, sharp as steel:
"If you don't give up, Kiara… you will burn in my fire."
Yuvaan stepped forward, anger and desperation etched on his face, but a column of blazing fire shot up between him and Kiara, forcing him to halt. His hand twitched toward hers.
Kiara's gaze flicked around—the circle of fire was closing in slowly, menacingly. Her breath caught.
Softly, almost a whisper, her lips moved in prayer:
"Om Namah Shivaya…"
Her words carried a weight beyond the ordinary, resonating through her core, into the very air around her.
With determination, she stomped her foot against the marble floor. Light erupted from her, a brilliant surge of energy that rippled outward in a shockwave.
The fire hissed. It sputtered. The molten walls cracked and crumbled…
then extinguished entirely, leaving nothing but scorched stone.
Dev froze, eyes wide, flames around him flickering in disbelief.
He had underestimated her.
Kiara's chest heaved. Sweat glimmered on her forehead. Her eyes burned with unyielding resolve.
Dev's jaw tightened. The game had shifted—and he knew it.
Dev hovered in the air, flames licking around him like living serpents. His eyes, glowing red, narrowed in disbelief.
"How… how is it possible?" he hissed, voice seething with both fury and astonishment. "You put out my fire!"
Kiara stood firm, eyes calm yet blazing with divine intensity. A small, triumphant smile curved her lips.
"You are Agnishwa," she said softly, letting the words hang in the charged air. "You control fire… but I am Jishwa. I control all five elements."
Her hands rose slowly, gracefully, weaving through the air. A faint hum filled the hall as invisible threads of power began to converge.
Water swirled around her like a shimmering cloak, ice forming and melting in a seamless dance.
Earth trembled beneath her feet, rocks lifting gently as if in awe of her will.
Air twisted around her, currents spiraling in intricate patterns.
Fire flickered at her fingertips, dancing but obedient.
And space… the very essence of existence seemed to bend toward her, pulling energy from the unseen corners of the universe.
Dev unleashed his inferno in a furious barrage, fireballs hurtling toward her with deadly precision. But Kiara's combined elements met them head-on—water hissed against fire, earth absorbed and redirected the energy, air twisted the flames, and a subtle bend of space slowed the assault.
The collision erupted in a radiant explosion of blinding light. The floor quaked. Chandeliers trembled. The hypnotized family stared, frozen, unable to comprehend the surge of pure divine force.
And then, with a fluid motion, Kiara drove the combined force forward, her eyes locked on Dev.
He tried to counter, but the overwhelming might of five converging elements crashed into him. Flames were torn apart, heat distorted, and the force slammed into him like a tidal wave of divine judgment.
Dev hit the floor on his knees, coughing, chest heaving. His fire sputtered weakly around him, no longer a weapon but a dying ember.
Kiara hovered for a moment, still, the energy of the five elements swirling gently around her. Her gaze softened, but the intensity in her eyes made it clear: she was far from finished.
Dev's face twisted with fury.
He flung his hand out to the side—fingers splayed, eyes blazing—and the air snapped with a violent pull of energy.
A red-gold vortex spiraled outward from his palm, reaching hungrily toward the cage.
In an instant, the family under his hypnosis gasped—their bodies jerking as thin streams of shimmering life-force began lifting out of them.
Their breath faltered.
Their knees buckled.
Varun and Dilruba sprang into motion, and Yuvaan raced with them. Together they tore open the cage, catching Bhoomi and Chandrika as they collapsed, barely conscious.
Vinod and Vikram slumped to their knees, their chests rising in shallow, weakening breaths.
Kiara's heart lurched.
She screamed—
"Dev, STOP! Stop it now or I swear I will kill you!"
Dev turned his head slowly, a cruel smile curving his lips.
"You can't kill me, Kiara. Not without sacrificing everything you are."
He lifted his palm higher, ripping more life-energy from the family—Bhoomi's body went limp, Vikram's head fell back.
Dev smirked.
"For a divine being to kill another divine being," he said softly, "she must give up her own divinity.
Your powers… your birthright… your existence as Jishwa."
His voice darkened.
"So choose.
Marry me—
or watch your family die one by one."
Kiara froze.
Her eyes swept across the hall.
The hypnotized family—now rapidly weakening.
Varun desperately trying to steady Riddhi.
Dilruba holding Susheela's trembling hand.
And Yuvaan—who looked up at Kiara with both fear and absolute faith.
Their eyes locked.
In that single, quiet second, a thousand memories passed between them—
their wedding,
their fights,
their love,
their promises.
Kiara inhaled, steady and sure.
"My powers," she whispered, "mean nothing compared to them."
She lifted her chin, eyes fierce with divine resolve.
"If sacrificing everything is the only way to kill you and save the people I love…
then I don't mind in the slightest."
Slowly—deliberately—Kiara reached behind her shoulder.
Her fingers pressed against her glowing trident-shaped birthmark.
A brilliant, blinding light flared.
The Jishwa Trident manifested in her hand—pure white energy, vibrating like the heartbeat of the cosmos itself.
The entire mansion trembled under the force of it.
Kiara's body glowed brighter… brighter…
as every drop of her divine power poured into the weapon.
Dev's eyes widened.
"No—Kiara, don't you—"
Kiara's voice thundered through the hall.
"HAR HAR MAHADEV!"
She hurled the trident with all her strength—
all her faith—
all her love.
The divine weapon tore through the ring of fire, cutting through Dev's flames like they were made of paper.
It struck him directly in the chest.
Dev screamed—not in pain, but in disbelief—
as his divine fire extinguished, his body flickering like dying embers.
"You… sacrificed… everything…"
he gasped.
And then—
He faded.
Burned out.
Gone.
The vortex shattered.
The stolen life-force rushed back into the family in a burst of light.
Bhoomi gasped awake.
Vikram clutched his chest, breathing deeply.
Ruchi and Riddhi blinked, confused—but free from hypnosis at last.
Kiara swayed.
Her trident dissolved into sparks.
Her glowing birthmark dimmed…
dimmed…
…and vanished.
Her knees buckled—
—but Yuvaan caught her instantly, pulling her into his arms as she collapsed.
"Kiara," he whispered, voice breaking, "Kiara, stay with me…"
Her head rested against his chest, eyes fluttering closed.
The hall fell silent.
Kiara—
Jishwa—
Gods-Gift—
had given up everything.
For them.
For him.
For love.
---
To be continued…