Between Love and Darkness
The first rays of morning fell on the ancient stones of Tapobhumi, but today they did not have their golden gleam. A dull, cold sheen lay upon them, like frost on old gold. The air held a strange stiffness, as if time itself was holding its breath, waiting for something terrible.
Agni stood outside his hut. His golden robes looked lifeless today, as if his fire had shrunk inward. The past month had carved new lines on his face lines born not from lack of sleep, but from the constant gnawing pain that ate at him with every breath. Since Neer left, his nights had become a procession of restless shadows. Every moment, that incomplete breath, that emptiness, which without Neer's laughter was just an echo.
Agni closed his eyes. Once again, the image surfaced Neer's smiling face, wrapped in blue robes, saying, "Agni, our love is our greatest fortress." The coolness of his voice was still fresh in Agni's memories, like a pleasant chill. But now? A month had passed. Every night, Agni looked at his own hands the hands that held Neer's hand, that tangled in his hair and felt a tremor in them. Where was Neer? Was he safe? Or... or was the price of the path he had taken his very soul?
Agni gripped his sword, 'Agnishikha', tightly. The hilt was warm, a steady, reliable heat, a reflection of his own existence. But today, even that warmth held an emptiness.
Then, a subtle vibration in the air.
It was not a physical tremor, but a jolt to the soul. A sweet, yet strange fragrance spread through the air the scent of the blue lotus, the one Neer always loved, the fragrance that clung to his robes. But today, that scent held a bitterness, like a flower beginning to rot.
Agni's eyes flew open.
And he saw.
A vision, clear and terrible. A dark cave, its walls carved with ancient symbols. And in its center, Neer sat. Before him lay a damru black stone, with the serene face of a deity on one side, and the distorted roar of a demon on the other. A black, dense energy was seeping from the damru, wavering through the air and going straight to Neer's heart, where it was absorbed. Each time the energy entered him, Neer's body jerked, his eyelids fluttered, and a wave of terrible pain crossed his face, which he tried desperately to suppress.
"Neer!" Agni's scream caught in his throat.
The vision shattered.
Agni gasped. His heart was pounding wildly, like a trapped bird fluttering in a cage. "What... what was that? A vision? Or... or the truth?"
He ran without wasting a moment. The ground beneath his feet felt like burning coals. He threw open the door to Guru Vishrayan's hut.
The Guru sat in meditation. His white matted hair and beard looked especially ancient and heavy today, as if they bore the burden of time itself. His eyes were closed, but a deep line of anguish was etched on his face.
"Gurudev!" Agni's voice was ragged. He fell to his knees and touched the Guru's feet. "I saw... I saw Neer! In a cave... with a damru... and a black energy coming from it... it's consuming him!"
The Guru slowly opened his eyes. His gaze, always sharp and far-seeing like a serpent's, pierced Agni differently today—with a compassionate, sorrowful sharpness. "Agni, my son," his voice was like stones grinding. "This... was Neer's choice. That damru... is the 'Shadow-Damru'. An ancient instrument that can bind the consciousness of the dark shadow. Neer played it... so the darkness would enter him instead. To save you. To save your son."
"But the price?" Agni's voice trembled. "What is the price, Gurudev?"
"The price..." The Guru took a deep, pained breath. "The price is that the shadow is not changing him from the outside. It is from within... slowly eating his memories, his love, his 'self'. Like a poison, spreading through every vein. He is still Neer... but with every moment, he becomes less Neer and more... 'it'."
Agni's head spun. He placed his hands on the floor. "No... that cannot be. I... I will find him. I will pull him out of there. He is mine, Gurudev! Our bond... it is not so fragile that a darkness can break it!"
The Guru shook his head slowly, his eyes holding the helplessness of a seer. "Go, Agni. But remember... love is the most powerful light, but it can also make one the most deeply blind. You will see only what you wish to see."
Agni bowed once more and left the hut. His mind was like a boiling ocean waves of love, depths of fear, and flames of anger all churning together.
He reached the boundary of Tapobhumi, where the green meadow turned into dense forest. He stopped here. That scent in the air again... the blue lotus. But now it seemed sharper, like something rotting.
And then, from the darkness of the forest, a figure emerged.
A blue shadow. Light, soft steps. The same gracefully flowing robes.
Agni's heart gave a powerful thud, then almost stopped. "Neer?"
The figure came closer. And yes, it was him. Neer. His blue robes were the same— light, the colour of the sky. His eyes held the same blue, bright and clear. And on his face was that same smiling expression the smile that always brought one to Agni's face too.
"Agni," Neer said, his voice sweet and calm, exactly as before. "I have returned. Forgive me... for being away so long. But I promised, didn't I, that I would always return to you."
Agni's feet moved on their own. He ran. And as he reached Neer, he pulled him into his arms, so tightly it felt their bones would crack. Neer's body was warm that same cool warmth of the water element, which balanced Agni's flame, which kept him from burning.
"Neer... you..." Agni's throat choked. The words came out broken. "I... I was afraid of losing you. Every night... every breath, I took your name."
Neer stroked Agni's back. His touch was the same gentle, comforting. "I know, my Agni. I know. But see, everything will be alright. I have... found a way. The dark shadow... it is within me now. I have bound it. But don't be afraid. I am the same. Your Neer. Always. Forever."
Agni pulled back a little to look into Neer's eyes. That blue... that peace... that love. Everything was the same. But what was that? For a moment for a thousandth of a second Agni felt something shift behind Neer's eyes. A black spark, which immediately drowned in his blue.
Perhaps a trick of the light. Perhaps his own anxiety.
---
In the Tapobhumi field, Nirgh stood alone. The pain of farewell was still fresh, an open wound that screamed at the mere touch of air. Anvay's last gesture that raised hand, that smile floated before his eyes. Akshansh's laughter, Vedika's concern, all seemed like blurry dreams.
His eyes—one red, Agni's gift; one blue, Neer's legacy—were both moist today. "Father..." he whispered, his voice lost in the wind. "Where have you gone? And Uncle... that fear in his eyes... what is it about?"
He picked up his sword, Sheetapsi. The sword's weight felt especially heavy today. He tried to strike, but his hand trembled. The sword traced an uncertain arc in the air.
Then, a vibration in the air. It was not a sound, but a pulsation, as if a gigantic heart was beating somewhere far away.
Nirgh lifted his head.
And he heard a voice. Father's voice. But this voice was not the same. It was suppressed, choked, broken, as if coming from deep within a cave.
"Nirgh... run... go..."
The voice was cut off, as if someone had grabbed it by the throat and strangled it.
Nirgh's blood ran cold. "Father?"
And then, voices from afar reached his ears. Agni's voice. And... Father's? But this voice was different—clear, cheerful, normal.
Nirgh began to run. Crossing the field, he ran towards where the voices were coming from. And then he saw.
At the boundary, at the edge of the forest, two figures stood. Uncle Agni. And... Father Neer. In blue robes, with a smiling face, hugging Uncle Agni.
Nirgh's eyes widened. All the darkness within him, all the loneliness, vanished in an instant. "Father!"
Neer turned to look. His smile widened, his eyes lit up. "My son... you have come." He spread his arms.
Nirgh ran and disappeared into those arms. Father hugged him. And Nirgh felt that same warmth that same cool, pleasant warmth of the water element, which always calmed him, which controlled the fire within him.
"You... where were you?" Nirgh's voice was on the verge of crying. "I... I thought you had..."
"Be calm, my prince," Neer said, stroking his hair. His voice held the same old love, the same affection. "Don't be afraid. Everything will be alright. I am right here. With you and Uncle. Without you both... where would I go?"
But Nirgh felt a strange sensation. When Father hugged him, there was a coldness in his arms. Not a surface coldness, but a deep, inner chill, like the walls of a cave. And for a moment, he felt as if a black mist rose from behind Father's back, which immediately dissolved into the air.
Nirgh shook himself. Tried to push that thought away from his mind. It's an illusion. It's fatigue. Father has returned. That is all that matters.
Agni watched with a smile, but his smile was strained. "See, Nirgh, your Father has returned. Now the three of us are together again. But... the farewells? Anvay and the others?"
Nirgh nodded, still nestled in Father's warmth. "Yes, Uncle. Everyone has left. But... Anvay said. He promised he would return. Until Father returns... he will return."
In his mind, Anvay's face flashed that calm, trustworthy smile. The hand that would hold his hand, reminding him he was not alone. But now? Was he not alone now? Father had returned. Yet... a strange emptiness remained.
Neer placed a hand on Nirgh's shoulder. His touch was light, but it held a new kind of firmness. "You are not alone, son. We are here, aren't we? Your Uncle and I. Come, let's go inside now. I am... I am feeling a little tired. This journey... was a bit long."
Neer's smile was still on his face, but Agni's sharp eyes caught it a subtle wrinkle that ran from the corner of Neer's eye to his temple. Not fatigue... tension.
The three returned to the hut. Neer sat on the cot and took Agni's hand. His fingers interlaced with Agni's, an old, habitual action.
"Agni," Neer said, a new depth in his voice. "You know... I did all this for you. Only for you. The dark shadow is now imprisoned within me. I am its chain. And I... I will control it. Our love... it is far stronger than it." He kissed the back of Agni's hand—that same old, intimate gesture that had always been a secret language between them.
Agni's eyes grew moist. He took Neer's hand in both of his. "Neer, you... you look exactly as before. Your eyes... your voice... everything is the same. But I am afraid. If that darkness... if it is hollowing you out from within?"
Neer gave a gentle, firm laugh. "Hollowing me? Look..." He raised one hand, palm upward.
And a blue, glowing wave of water spread through the room. It was pure, transparent, like the water of a mountain lake. The wave filled the room, spreading a calm, cool aura. Nirgh watched in amazement—this was Father's power, exactly the same.
But as the wave reached Agni, something happened at its edges. The edges of the blue light began to turn black, like paper beginning to burn. Black, smoke-like strands began to emerge from the wave's edges, waving in the air towards Agni. And then, a crack appeared in the entire wave, a black crack, from which a cold, dead air burst forth.
The wave shattered. The blue light in the room went out, replaced by a momentary, heavy silence.
Neer's face hardened for a moment. A sharp, cruel glint flashed in his eyes, vanishing instantly. Then he smiled again, but this smile seemed a little forced. "See? Nothing. Just an... instability. After a long journey, the balance of power is disturbed. I am the same, Agni. Your Neer."
Nirgh watched all this silently. A strange coldness had spread within him, different from his own water element. It was fear. "Father..." his voice trembled. "You... you are really alright, right? That black thing..."
Neer immediately pulled Nirgh towards him, hugging him again. This time, his arms were so tight that Nirgh had trouble breathing. "Yes, son. I am perfectly fine. Don't you worry. Now everything will be alright. Now go to sleep. From tomorrow... from tomorrow we will start practicing again. Like the old days."
---
The night had deepened. Only a single lamp burned in the hut, its flame strangely still, as if the air too had fallen asleep holding its breath.
Agni lay beside Neer. Neer was asleep peaceful, wrapped in blue robes, a slight smile on his face. Agni kept watching him. His eyes read every curve, every line of his face, lost in the memories attached to it.
But sleep would not come. Gurudev's words echoed in his ears. 'Love can make one the most deeply blind.'
He gently took Neer's hand. This hand was warm, but beneath its skin... was there a subtle vibration? A pulsation that did not seem human, but of something else.
"Neer..." Agni whispered. "You have returned. But this peace... this silence... how fragile is it? How false?"
Then, Neer's breathing changed.
The deep, regular breaths suddenly became fast and ragged, as if he was running in a dream. Sweat beads appeared on his forehead, but this sweat was cold, clammy.
Agni sat up with a start. "Neer?"
Neer's eyes fluttered open.
And Agni saw.
Neer's eyes were still blue. But within those blue eyes, behind the pupils, something was moving. A black expansion, expanding and contracting, as if an invisible eyelid was blinking.
"Agni..." it was Neer's voice, but this voice sounded dual. One layer was the same gentle tone. And the other layer... a raspy, heavy whisper, like the sound of grinding stones. "Agni... run... go..."
"Neer! Fight it!" Agni grabbed his shoulders.
"It... it is getting out of control..." Neer's lips trembled. He raised his hand to grasp Agni's arm. But the moment his hand touched Agni's skin, something changed.
Black, smoke-like strands began to emerge from Neer's fingers. These strands did not float in the air, but began to burrow directly into Agni's skin, like living worms. And wherever the strands touched, the skin grew numb, spreading a poisonous cold.
"Agni... run!" Neer screamed, and this time his voice was entirely that raspy tone. His face held an expression of pain, but his eyes now held a black glint, a glint of wicked pleasure.
Neer's hand went to Agni's neck. It was Neer's hand—the same hand that caressed Agni's face, that combed his hair. But now this hand was like a predator's claw, black strands emerging from its fingers and burrowing into Agni's neck.
"Or else... I will kill you!" Neer/It shrieked.
Agni grabbed Neer's wrists. His eyes held tears, but also a determination. "No, Neer! You will not! You are not that! Fight! We will fight together!"
Outside the hut, screams suddenly began to echo through Tapobhumi. The screams of other disciples. The night's silence was filled with dark magic. Black smoke pillars rose from the ground, swirling in the air to form strange shapes. The dark shadow was awakening and this time, it was awakening through Neer.
And far away, in those depths of the underworld where light never reaches, a laugh echoed. A deep, infinite laugh that shook the stones. The laugh of the Dark One.
He had found his servant. And now, the real chapter of the game was about to begin.
In the hut, Agni and Neer's eyes were locked on each other one pair holding love and hope, the other holding the pain of darkness and self-division. And between them, that web of black strands was spreading, binding not only bodies, but souls.
This battle between love and darkness had only just begun.