Chapter 10: A Breath of Relief
And The Beginning of a New Journey
Kiyan slowly opened his eyes. The black fog in his pupils had disappeared; now there was only his own, slightly hazy but pure golden glow. His gaze first fell on Aarav's face, who was sitting beside him. "Aarav…" Kiyan's voice trembled, overflowing with emotion.
Aarav saw it tears began to flow from Kiyan's eyes, silently, of relief and regret. Kiyan sat up and said to Aarav, "Aarav… you finally saved me. Forgive me… I attacked you."
Aarav smiled, a light, tired smile that reflected all the pain and struggle. "No, Kiyan. It wasn't you who attacked me. That was Virbhadra, inside you. Don't blame yourself."
Kiyan smiled, wiping his tears. "You weren't hurt, were you?"
Aarav looked deep into Kiyan's eyes, feeling his concern. "No, I'm fine. Are you okay?"
"Yes," Kiyan nodded.
For a few moments, they looked silently into each other's eyes a silent conversation that contained fear, relief, trust, and a deep bond.
Just then, a knock came at the door. Aarav and Kiyan looked. Karishma stood there, a mixture of concern and curiosity on her face. She entered.
"Kiyan… are you okay?" Karishma asked, genuine concern in her voice.
"Yes," Kiyan nodded again.
Karishma turned to Aarav and asked, "Aarav, are you okay too?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Karishma, are you okay?"
Karishma lightly touched her head, where a slight bruise had formed. "Yes, I'm fine. Just a little bump on the head."
Kiyan looked at Karishma. "Don't worry, Karishma. Your injury will heal very soon on its own." His voice carried the confidence of his inherited power.
Karishma smiled. Just then, Nayan and Arushi also entered Aarav's room.
Karishma asked, "But Aarav, how did you know that a piece of the Tamomayi's (dark practitioner) soul was in Kiyan's necklace?"
Aarav smiled, with a knowing expression. "It was simple. When I read in the book that a part of the soul can be in an object, it also said that the soul keeps that part in front of its own eyes. Kiyan didn't have that locket around his neck before. But when Kiyan meaning Virbhadra's soul came to our house, there was a locket around his neck that I had seen carved on the cave wall. That's when I understood that Virbhadra's soul was in that locket. That's why I pretended to be weak in front of him, and knelt down to get close to him, so that I could snatch the locket from his neck without raising suspicion, and also destroy that part of his soul. But… unfortunately, I couldn't."
Nayan placed a hand on Aarav's shoulder. "It's okay, Aarav. Together, we saved Kiyan."
Aarav nodded. "Yes, we saved Kiyan. But Virbhadra is not one to sit quietly. That's why we need to be careful."
Aarav extended his hand and closed his eyes. Then he opened his eyes and looked at his palm. Silver energy emerged from his eyes and fell on his palm, swirling, condensing. From that energy, five small lockets formed silver, faintly glowing, with subtle carvings of the Aadisrashta Chakra (divine discus of the creator) .
Aarav offered the lockets to everyone. Each person took one locket. Aarav closed his eyes again, and when he opened them, they had returned to normal.
Kiyan was happy to see this. "You finally learned to control your Devanshik (divinely blessed one) powers."
Aarav nodded. "Wear these lockets around your necks. They contain a tiny fraction of my Devanshik power, which will protect you all from Virbhadra's powers. And he won't be able to enter anyone's body."
Everyone wore their amulets. Aarav looked around. "Didi, Papa is not visible."
Arushi said, "Papa has gone to Mumbai, to our uncle's house. I sent him there so he could forget all these incidents and spend some good time."
Aarav looked at Arushi and said, "You did the right thing, Didi, sending Papa to uncle's house. Keep this locket for him; when he returns, please make him wear it."
Arushi took the locket and left. Karishma and Nayan sat beside Aarav and Kiyan.
Nayan asked, "What will we do now, Aarav? Virbhadra will definitely return. Granted, he fears your powers, but… he can go to any extent to get Kiyan's body."
Aarav thought for a while. "Yes, you're right. But there must be some way to defeat Virbhadra."
Kiyan said to Aarav, "There is one way. We have to go to where it all began."
Aarav said, surprised, "Kalprant (ancient city of supernatural origins)?"
"Yes," Kiyan nodded.
Nayan and Karishma looked at each other. "Kalprant?"
Aarav said, "Yes, Kalprant. We will go to Kalprant. And learn the whole truth about Virbhadra. How he became a Tamomayi , how he got these powers… and how he can be defeated."
Karishma said, "But Aarav, how will we know where Kalprant was? It existed who knows when."
Kiyan looked at Karishma and said, "Don't you worry about that. I know where Kalprant used to be."
Aarav, Nayan, and Karishma looked at Kiyan. Kiyan said, "Now no one can stop Virbhadra's end."
Everyone said together, "We are together."
Kiyan got up from the bed and went to stand by the window. He looked at the dark sky outside. "Mother… why did you do this? How nice it would have been if you were with us." Then he turned to Aarav and said, "We will go to Kalprant, and try to learn about that Tamomayi from the people there. Mother once told me, when I asked her why we live in this forest, why we don't have a home, she said that we came from Kalprant. Kalprant is far to the north, where there is an old ruin that used to be a palace. Raja (King) Manikya lived there, in that kingdom. That's where we come from."
Aarav said, "But where to the north will we find Kalprant?"
On the other side, Virbhadra had entered a man's body the same drunk man who had picked up the amulet. He started walking toward his cave. After some time, reaching the cave, he picked up the Chhayagrasini's (witch-like entity) small, burnt braid. Looking at it in his palm, he said, "You were very useful to me; today again I need you, Chhayagrasini ."
And he left the cave, disappearing somewhere in the forest in a new, weak, but available body, carrying an old, determined soul. The war was not over. Just the battlefield had changed. Now it was a journey toward Kalprant into the lanes of the past, to fight a present enemy.
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