The flood roared louder… crashing against the hut as if trying to rip it open.
Yuvaan—drenched, trembling, desperate—kept slamming his body against the invisible barrier.
"Kiara!" he screamed, voice tearing. "Kiara, please… please wake up…!"
The forcefield crackled each time he hit it. His arms ached, his skin burned, but he did not stop.
Inside, the water had reached Kiara's chest.
Her baby's faint cries were drowned by the rising storm.
Yuvaan closed his eyes, whispered one last time:
"Mahadev… please… let me reach them…"
Then he charged with every ounce of strength left in him.
The shield shattered with a blinding flash.
Mohana stumbled back, her eyes widening.
"What—?! How did you—"
But Yuvaan didn't hear her.
He was already inside.
---
Inside the Hut
He splashed through the freezing water, heart pounding, breath shaking.
"Kiara!"
She lay limp, half submerged, her hair floating in the water like a dark halo.
The baby was no longer in her arms.
Panic stabbed him.
"No… no, no…"
He cupped her face with trembling hands and quickly splashed water across her cheeks.
"Kia… Kiara… look at me. Please, look at me—wake up!"
Her fingers twitched.
A weak breath escaped her throat.
Then her eyelids fluttered open.
She blinked.
Slowly… painfully.
Her unfocused eyes moved… then locked onto him.
"Yu… Yuvaan…?" she whispered, as if afraid he was a dream.
Relief crashed through him so powerfully he almost sank to his knees.
"Yes… yes, it's me," he whispered, voice breaking. "I'm here. I'm right here."
She reached up with shaking fingers and touched his face, confirming he was real.
Then she collapsed into him, sobbing softly against his shoulder.
He wrapped both arms around her, holding her as if he could fuse her back into life.
"I was so scared…" she cried.
"I know… I know…" he breathed into her hair.
They stayed like that—for a moment that felt like a lifetime—two broken souls clinging to each other in a drowning hut.
But Kiara suddenly stiffened.
"My baby…" she whispered.
Yuvaan froze.
"My baby… Yuvaan, where's my baby?"
Her eyes darted around the room, wild, terrified.
"Where—where is he?! He was right here! I was holding him—Yuvaan, where is my baby?!"
Yuvaan's heart dropped into a void.
They scanned the hut—nothing.
No cry.
No movement.
Just the sound of rushing water.
Then their eyes caught it—
The entire back wall of the hut…
…was gone.
Broken.
Smashed outward.
Kiara's breath hitched.
"The flood…" she whispered, voice hollow.
"Yuvaan… the flood must have… taken him…"
Her words crumbled into sobs.
"No—no, we will find him," Yuvaan said quickly, holding her face firmly. "Look at me, Kiara. We will find our baby. I swear on my life."
Still shaking, Kiara nodded and clung to him.
He helped her out of the hut, supporting her weakened body as they stepped into the open, storm-soaked forest.
The floodwater had carved a clear path—leading straight toward the far end of the island.
Toward a cliff…
And beyond it…
The endless, roaring sea.
Kiara held her stomach, trembling violently.
"No… no… not the sea… Yuvaan, please… my baby… he's so tiny… he can't… he can't survive out there…"
Yuvaan stared at the raging ocean ahead, his throat tight, his chest collapsing.
He whispered—barely a sound:
"Mahadev… please protect our child…"
And the two of them—soaking, terrified, exhausted beyond words—began running toward the water's edge…
…hoping for a miracle.
---
Episode — The Serpent of Eternity Rises
The sea wasn't just loud that evening—it roared with a hunger that felt alive.
Waves smashed against the black rocks.
Wind tore through the trees as though trying to rip the island apart.
And somewhere between those two forces… a newborn life struggled to stay afloat.
Kiara stumbled forward on the wet sand, her feet sinking, her breath shivering out of her chest.
Yuvaan kept a hand around her waist, as if afraid the wind would tear her away too.
But when Kiara's eyes caught a flash of white cloth in the distance—
Her entire body locked.
She didn't speak at first.
She didn't breathe.
Then a sound slipped out of her… a sound that wasn't a word, but heartbreak breaking open.
"Yu…vaan…"
Yuvaan followed her trembling gaze.
There—
floating helplessly on the raging water—
was their child.
A tiny bundle.
Tossed.
Spun.
Dragged closer and closer to the cliff where the ocean dropped into a colossal waterfall.
The world fell out from under Kiara's knees.
She collapsed forward, sand clinging to her palms as she choked,
"No… my baby… no, no… please…"
Yuvaan caught her shoulders, but even he was shaking.
His heartbeat was a trapped thing, slamming against his ribs.
The baby was seconds away from being swallowed by the vortex below.
Kiara clutched Yuvaan's shirt so tightly that her nails dug into his skin.
"Do something… please, Yuvaan… he's so small… he won't survive—please… Mahadev… Krishna… someone… save my child…"
Her body rocked with sobs that didn't sound human.
They sounded like a mother's soul tearing apart.
Yuvaan lowered himself with her onto the wet sand.
Their shoulders shook, their tears mixing with sea spray.
And slowly—almost instinctively—their hands folded together.
They bowed their heads.
Not out of ritual.
Out of desperation.
Out of love.
Out of the deepest fear a parent could ever feel.
Kiara's voice, trembling yet resolute, broke through the thunder:
"Hari… Narayan… Krishna… humari raksha karo… please protect our child…"
Then she began reciting—
not with perfection, but with trembling devotion that made every syllable feel alive.
॥ Shri Krishna Chalisa — English Transliteration ॥
Kiara's voice cracked as she spoke:
Jai Jai Shri Krishna Kanhaiya, bhakt janon ke man haraiya,
Jyotirmay roop dharyo Prabhu, Kansa daitya vinaash karaiya.
Her breaths were uneven—
but she kept going.
Radha sang Prem tumhara, satya paavan nitt nitt pyara,
Makhan-chor, makhan rachaiya, gopi gopiyon ke man haraiya.
Yuvaan's voice joined hers, low and thick with tears:
Kaaliya-naag danshan haara, Gokul paalak Braj adhipaara,
Deenan ki tum aas lagaiya, bhakt charan-raj keet bachaiya.
Kiara lifted her face, tears running freely, watching her baby drift closer to the fall:
Krishna Kanhaiya dhenu charaiya, roop anoop man mohit karaiya,
Sudarshan chakradhari Prabhu traata, chahudish vyaapya vishva rachayta.