The glass slipped from Gauri's hand and shattered on the floor.
"Why did Vihaan leave so suddenly?" she whispered, her voice trembling slightly. The room felt colder than before.
Her eyes caught a strange movement — a ripple in the air — and she froze.
A black fog hovered near the window, twisting like smoke alive.
Before she could react, the fog rushed at her with lightning speed, swirling around her face and sinking into her eyes. Gauri gasped, clutching her head, and collapsed to the floor.
The world went dark.
When she opened her eyes again, she was no longer in her room.
She stood in a vast, shadowed wasteland, the sky veiled in red mist. The ground pulsed as though alive. From the distance, a demon-shaped shadow rose, its form bleeding black smoke, its laughter echoing like a thousand whispers.
The demon raised its hand, sending waves of black fog toward her. Gauri stumbled back, feeling the pull of darkness creeping closer — not realizing that if it reached her, her soul would be bound to Sarvansh's command forever.
But then—
A sudden light ignited within her chest, glowing brighter and brighter until a fierce roar of water and wind filled the air.
From her back burst two radiant, blue phoenix wings, made of shimmering water and divine energy. The fog struck them and evaporated with a hiss.
The wings opened, revealing Gauri transformed — her eyes glowing with divine fury, a Trident of light forming in her hands.
With a fierce cry that shook the heavens, she declared,
"Jai Devi Maa!"
She hurled the Trident through the air. It struck the shadow square in its chest, erupting into a storm of water and fire. The demon shrieked and disintegrated into ash.
Gauri's vision blurred, the darkness around her collapsing like shattered glass—
—and she jolted awake in her room, drenched in sweat, clutching her chest.
"Vihaan…" she whispered. "Why do I feel… something dangerous is about to happen?"
Outside, a faint echo of Sarvansh's laughter carried on the wind.
Meanwhile, in Pratham Vansh…
The night had fallen heavy and dark.
A violent storm tore through the skies, lightning flashing crimson instead of white, thunder echoing like the roar of some ancient beast. The sacred lamps in the temple flickered wildly, their flames bending toward the east as though bowing to an unseen force.
The women of Pratham Vansh gathered before Pratham Vanshi, their faces pale with fear.
One of them whispered, "Maa… such a storm has never occurred before. Why is this happening?"
Pratham Vanshi's eyes glowed faintly with divine awareness. She stepped out into the rain, lifting her gaze to the turbulent heavens. Her voice trembled as she said,
"This… isn't possible."
The others exchanged anxious glances. "What isn't possible, Maa? Is Kamini returning?"
Pratham Vanshi slowly shook her head.
"No. Kamini was destroyed by Jalpanchi's divine fire. This storm… belongs to someone else. Someone far older. Far more powerful."
Lightning cracked across the sky, illuminating her worried face.
"She is rising again," Pratham Vanshi whispered. "A witch whose power even Kamini would have bowed before. She comes to avenge Kamini's death… and to destroy the Kotharis."
The women gasped in terror, murmuring prayers to the goddess.
Without wasting a moment, Pratham Vanshi went to her sacred desk, dipped a quill in glowing ink, and began to write a magical letter — the words blazing with blue fire.
When she finished, she whispered an ancient incantation. The letter folded itself into a glowing bird and vanished into the night, flying toward the Kothari mansion.
But far away, beneath the roaring skies, in a desolate graveyard, the ground began to stir.
The old soil cracked open.
Fingers — pale and blackened — clawed their way out of the earth.
Then another hand. And another.
Lightning flashed again, and a shadowy figure began to rise from the grave, her long hair drenched in blood-soaked rain, her laughter echoing through the night —
low, haunting, and inhuman.
The long-dead witch had returned.