Parashu was silent, breathing heavily as the dust of battle swirled around him. Kamravinash had shattered Yakshini's hold, and the battlefield had turned into a nightmare of memories and heartbreak. He looked at Veerath with tired eyes.
"Will he come?" Parashu asked. "Will he come to save us from that monster?"
Veerath didn't answer immediately. He looked out toward the distant mountains, where the wind howled like a warning.
"After all," he said finally, "he's a warrior first."
Parashu frowned. "The day you almost killed both of us... it was Master Vishma who stopped you. And you still say we have hope? You couldn't even defeat the Kara General. How could anyone stand against Kamravinash? Even Jamadigini?"
Veerath turned to him, a strange calm in his eyes.
"That's where you're wrong," he said quietly. "I was only able to capture him because he let me."
Parashu blinked, stunned. Veerath continued.
"That night—when I came for you—you were unconscious. Jamadigini stopped me. He said, 'Stop. I'm the one who killed your father. Parashu didn't do anything. Let him go.'"
Veerath's voice trembled, but not with weakness.
"I never truly wanted to kill you, Parashu. If I had... you wouldn't be standing here. I waited because I wanted to kill your son in front of you one day. I wanted you to feel the same pain I carried."
His hands curled into fists as the memory flooded back.
"I attacked Jamadigini. And that's when Master Vishma appeared. He looked at me, not with fear, not with anger—but with understanding. And he said:
'Revenge does not heal, Veerath. It devours. The fire you carry will not purify you—it will burn everything human within you. You think killing Parashu will bring peace to your heart?'"
Veerath paused, and his voice lowered to a whisper.
"'No,' Master Vishma said. 'It will turn you into the very monster you want to destroy. And the world—this world—has never made room for monsters.'"
Parashu lowered his gaze. The silence between them was heavy, filled with broken pasts and unspoken forgiveness.
Veerath looked up, his voice colder now. "I got my revenge. I destroyed Jamadigini's reputation. The villagers think he's a criminal now. They call him a traitor. The legend of the One Man Army is dead."
Parashu clenched his jaw. "And if he returns? What then? What will he tell them? That he ran away? That he let them suffer for years in silence?"
Just then, a deep voice came from behind them.
"What if he returns with the strength to end this war?"
Master Vishma stepped forward from the shadows, his robes fluttering with the wind. A faint smile touched his lips.
"You think you know Jamadigini, Veerath. But you only saw what he allowed you to see. Those years you think you held him captive? He could have vanished any time. He stayed because he chose to."
Parashu turned slowly, heart pounding. "Then he... he's alive?"
Vishma nodded. "And he's coming. Because sometimes... legends don't die. They just wait for the right moment to rise again."
Far away, at the edge of the horizon, the wind shifted. Something ancient stirred. The fire was returning.
The One Man Army had never truly fallen.
He had only been waiting.