The cut on my ribs, tended to with a surprising gentleness by Neer, was a dull, throbbing reminder of the illusion's bite. But it was the other wound—the one inflicted on my soul by the sight of his face twisted in hatred—that ran deeper. We descended from the peak in a silence more companionable than before, yet fraught with a new, unspoken understanding. We had seen the worst of what we could be to each other, and survived.
The descent led us into the heart of the Vindhya forest, a place where the sun struggled to pierce the thick, ancient canopy. The air was cold and still, laden with the scent of decay and something else… something old and sorrowful. It was a silence that felt like a held breath.
Neer's newfound focus held. His eyes constantly scanned the shadows, his body coiled and ready. "Be careful, Agni," he murmured, his voice low. "This place… it feels wrong."
I merely nodded, my own senses screaming the same warning. My wrist, the mark of my clan, began to throb with a low, persistent ache. We had not gone far when a piercing animal scream tore through the unnatural quiet, though no creature was in sight. Then came the footsteps—heavy, earth-shaking thuds that vibrated through the soles of our feet.
It emerged from the gloom between the gnarled trees. A towering Brahmarakshas, nine feet tall, its skin like dark, gnarled wood. Horns like twisted spears jutted from its head, and its eyes burned with the embers of a fallen divinity. The sacred thread across its chest was a grotesque mockery of its former piety.
Neer's breath hitched. "What… what kind of demon is this, Agni! How do we fight it? It could end us with a single blow!"
"We have no other path, Neer. We must face it," I replied, my tone grim. "Let us try to evade its sight."
"Alright, but I'll go first. You're injured; stay behind me," he insisted, stepping in front of me.
The gesture, so instinctually protective, sent a fresh wave of guilt crashing through me. I gave a terse nod.
We moved like wraiths, our training taking over. We slipped through the trees, managing to cross a good portion of the forest unseen. But the scent of blood from my wound betrayed us. The demon's head snapped in our direction, its nostrils flaring. With a guttural roar that shook the leaves from the trees, it gave chase.
We ran, but the Brahmarakshas was preternaturally swift. It caught Neer, its massive claws closing around his torso, lifting him towards its gaping, fetid maw.
A terror far greater than any I had felt for myself seized me.
"Neer!"
I didn't think. I summoned my fire, a searing blast that scorched the demon's arm. It roared in pain and dropped Neer, but the fire seemed to have no lasting effect, merely angering it further.
"Neer! Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?" I called out, a rare edge of panic in my voice.
He gasped, catching his breath. "I... I'm fine. Thank you, Agni... for saving me."
Suddenly, the strain and my injury overwhelmed me. I stumbled and fell to one knee, the world swimming before my eyes.
"Get up, Agni! You're getting weaker... come on, let's run! Hold my hand!" Neer urged, pulling me up.
We tried to flee again, but the enraged demon was upon us. This time, Neer met its charge, his sword a blur of blue steel as he swung with all his might, severing one of its monstrous claws.
"You go, Agni! I'll hold it off!" he yelled, planting himself between the demon and me.
"No, Neer! I can't leave you alone!" I protested, my voice strained.
"You're wounded; you can't fight it!"
Before we could argue further, the severed hand writhed on the ground and flew back, reattaching itself to the demon's arm with a sickening squelch. It backhanded Neer, sending him flying into a tree with a sickening crack. As I moved to defend him, the demon struck a brutal blow to my chest, and the world exploded into darkness.
I came to moments later, my head ringing. The first thing I saw was the Brahmarakshas advancing on Neer's still form.
A sound tore from my throat, a raw, broken thing.
But it was Neer who answered.
A surge of power, raw and untamed, erupted from him. His body lifted into the air, encased in a brilliant, azure aura. His blue eyes glowed with an unearthly light. A shield of shimmering water formed around my fallen form, and as its cool droplets fell on my face, my wounds knit together, the pain vanishing as if it had never been.
He was magnificent. And he was terrifying.
"No! Demon... fight me! Don't you dare touch Agni!" he roared, his voice layered with an echo of power that was not his own.
His sword had transformed into a blade of pure, sharp water. He became a whirlwind of destruction, moving with impossible speed, cutting the Brahmarakshas into a thousand pieces that fell to the forest floor like grisly rain.
He rushed to my side, his aura fading, his face pale. "Agni, you're okay, right?"
I stared at him, stunned. "Yes... and I don't know how, but all my wounds are healed... as if they were never there."
A faint, exhausted smile touched his lips. "Perhaps it was the effect of that water-shield…"
Suddenly, I pulled him down. "What happened?" he asked, alarmed.
My eyes were wide with horror. "Look there!"
The pieces of the demon were writhing, pulling themselves back together. Re-formed and more enraged than ever, it attacked. We fought, cutting it down again and again, but each time it regenerated. I tried to burn it, but the flames were absorbed harmlessly into its body.
Then, the Brahmarakshas began to chant, its voice a low, hypnotic rumble. Neer's eyes glazed over. He turned, his movements jerky, and raised his sword against me.
"Neer! Stop!" I pleaded, defending myself without striking back. But under the demon's thrall, he was relentless, and his blade finally found its mark, slicing my arm.
The sight of my blood broke the demon's concentration. Horror dawned on Neer's face as he was freed from the spell.
"Forgive me, Agni... I injured you..." he cried, rushing to my side.
But the demon was not finished. It seized me, intent on devouring me. With a final burst of strength, I cut its grip and broke free, collapsing to the ground.
Neer hugged me tightly, sobbing. "Gurudev, what kind of test is this? How do I save Agni? What hell have you sent us to..."
In a final act of protection, I used the last of my strength to push him aside and stand in front of him—just as the demon's sword plunged into my stomach.
A searing, white-hot agony consumed me.
"AGNIIIIIIIIIIIII!!"
Neer's scream was the last thing I heard as the world went black.
---
: The chapter ends with Agni seemingly mortally wounded, sacrificing himself for Neer, and Neer's scream of utter despair echoing through the forest, leaving his fate and the outcome of the battle completely uncertain.