---
The groups stood watching the dark—thick smoke rising in the distance.
There was silence for a while before Anvit spoke, breaking the silence, his voice trembling, "What was that?"
Nobody answered—they just watched as if they couldn't hear anything.
"We should go and check what happened," Akshil said as he gathered some courage.
"Are you an idiot? You want us to go there?" Tahira shouted at Akshil, not from anger but from fear and worry.
"Akshil is right, someone might be in need of help," Mayukh said, putting his hand on Akshil's shoulder.
"I am not going," Pranidhi muttered as she moved a few steps back.
"I will go with you," Aryan said, looking at Mayukh. His fingers trembled, but he still spoke in a confident tone.
"Are you three serious? Do you even understand what the situation is?" Gaurav said, worry reflecting on his face.
"Yes, I have decided," Mayukh replied, looking straight into Gaurav's eyes.
"Fine," Gaurav sighed, "but let's do a thing."
"What?" Akshil asked.
"Let's divide into two groups. One group goes to check what happened, and the second stays behind here," Gaurav said.
"Sounds good enough," Mayukh agreed.
"Then after reaching there, Group A calls Group B to notify them. If Group B doesn't get any call in 20 minutes, it means there is some problem, and they will come help Group A," Gaurav continued.
"It's a good plan," Aryan said as he patted Gaurav's back.
"So, who wants to be in Group A?" Akshil asked as he raised his hand.
Only Aryan and Mayukh raised their hands beside him. For a moment, nobody else raised their hand or said anything.
Then Nex raised his hand—still sitting on the bench. "I will go with you all." His hand trembled a bit, but he controlled it.
Following him, Janvi and Ridhima raised their hands too.
"Then it's decide—" Akshil began before Mayukh cut him off.
"You are not coming," Mayukh said, looking straight at Nex.
"Why?" Nex asked calmly.
"You are still tired from teleporting everyone, and you might not be of any help in this condition. You should stay here till you recover," Mayukh said, his voice sounding a bit harsh.
"Fine," Nex said as he relaxed on the bench and stretched his legs.
"Okay then, now it's decided—Mayukh, Akshil, Janvi, Ridhima, and me. The five of us will go. And if you all don't receive any call from us in 20 minutes, you can come," Aryan said, breaking the tension.
"Janvi, Ridhima… do you both really want to go?" Pranidhi questioned, her voice trembling with worry.
"Yeah, they might need my barriers," Janvi replied, trying to calm her.
"I wanna test my power," Ridhima said, a bit excited.
"You really are different," Tahira breathed out as she patted Ridhima's back.
Anvit picked Zero from the ground, who had been trembling since he heard the sound, and said, "Call us after reaching there."
Group A departed as the others stood there watching their backs.
Anvit then went to the bench and sat near Nex.
"What do you think we should do?" Anvit asked Nex while running his hand through Zero's soft fur.
"Wait," Nex said without any expression.
"Angry at Mayukh?" Anvit teased.
Nex thought while patting Zero, I should be with them… but I would be useless right now.
"Nah, just worried," Nex said as he took Zero in his hands. "They would be fine, right?"
---
Group A slowly walked toward the highway. Aryan was in front and Mayukh at the end.
"Why don't you run there?" Akshil asked Aryan, trying to distract himself from useless thoughts.
"We should be together," Aryan replied, keeping his eyes in front as if scanning the area.
The road was new, as if built a week or two ago. On both sides, a few trees stood. It was more like a path connecting the temple to the highway.
After reaching the highway, they started walking left—from where the smoke had risen.
Near the highway, there weren't many buildings—a few hotels and two unfinished constructions. The unfinished buildings cast faint shadows on the road.
On the way, Mayukh kept gazing around cautiously. He stared at the unfinished buildings and thought,
What is this feeling… like someone is watching us? Am I being too sensitive or is there—
"Mayukh—Mayukh—MAYUKH!" Janvi screamed.
"What?" Mayukh said, startled.
"Aryan's been calling you for a minute! Where are you lost?" Janvi said, a bit frustrated.
"Sorry, I was thinking something," Mayukh apologized.
"We are gonna reach soon. Can you summon some of your weapons?" Aryan requested.
"Okay," Mayukh replied, summoning two flaming daggers revolving around him.
They continued. Soon they could see the area, and the sight startled them, but they kept moving closer.
Janvi gasped as she saw the scene.
An army vehicle lay shattered on the road, its remaining parts burning with thick smoke rising—some areas still on fire. There was no sign of any soldier, as if they had turned to ashes.
"Was it an explosion?" Akshil mumbled, looking at the burning vehicle.
"Aghh… L… look…" Janvi stammered as she pointed at a burned, black foot near the vehicle.
"Wh… what happened here…" Ridhima questioned, her legs trembling.
In all this chaos, Mayukh felt something. He closed his eyes and said, "Wait… do you hear it?"
"What?" Aryan panicked a bit.
"Faint breathing… maybe behind the vehicle," Mayukh replied.
Everyone was shocked but didn't argue.
"Let's check," Akshil said calmly.
They walked behind the vehicle.
A single soldier lay there—burned in places, missing a hand, his face half melted, his uniform nearly destroyed.
Aryan rushed to him and checked his breathing.
"He's alive," Aryan said.
"R… R…" the soldier muttered, but his voice was drowned by the burning sounds.
"What?" Aryan asked, bringing his ear close.
A few meters away, Mayukh clutched his chest as a strange sensation traveled from his heart to his head. His breathing grew heavy.
His daggers turned to ashes and disappeared.
Nobody noticed him.
The soldier whispered,
"R… run…"
and then stopped breathing.
"What… hey, you can't leave us—wake up… hey…" Aryan shook him desperately, but the man's hands grew cold.
"Is… is he dead…" Akshil asked, his voice trembling.
"What do we do now…" Ridhima mumbled, looking away from the disturbing sight.
"I… I will call the others… they might worry," Janvi said hesitantly as she stepped back and took out her phone.
She walked a little away, nearly tripped over a pebble, and hit a broken part of the vehicle.
The others stayed focused on the dead soldier.
Mayukh lowered his hand from his chest.
His pupils shrank.
Five flaming swords appeared, revolving around him rapidly—yet he stood motionless.
Aryan stared at the dead soldier.
Would it have been different if we came early… could we have saved at least him?
A little away, Jasmine called Pranidhi.
"Hello… umm… I think it's safe here," Janvi said, turning back. "The explosion was maybe from an army vehicle."
"Then it's safe for us to come?" Pranidhi asked.
"Ye—"
The phone fell from Janvi's hands as she screamed.
"Aryan, MOVE!"
Aryan turned—
A flaming sword flew toward him at high speed, slicing through the air with a sharp whoosh.
A blue barrier appeared just in time, taking the hit.
Crack-k!
The barrier shattered, but it gave Aryan enough time to dodge slightly.
The sword missed Aryan by mere inches before plunging into the dead soldier's body and flinging it a few meters away.
Ridhima rushed to Aryan.
Janvi's eyes shifted to where the sword came from.
"MAYUKH—what are you doing?!" Akshil yelled.
Mayukh didn't respond. The swords spun faster, his face emotionless, his eyes empty.
Ridhima's fingers crackled with lightning—her instincts screaming danger. A sudden charge ran up her spine, making her hair stand on end.
"Not gonna reply?" Akshil said, clenching his fists and reinforcing his body. His muscles tightened, and a thin layer of invisible force shimmered around him.
---
Meanwhile, the call had cut suddenly, sparking panic.
"Something is wrong… why did she cut the call like that?" Pranidhi said, panicking.
"We should go. Something has happened," Gaurav said.
Nex and Anvit both stood up.
"I am going first, come fast," Nex said, handing Zero to Ankit.
"Okay," Gaurav replied.
They watched as Nex vanished—this time with a faint zoom.
"I knew something was wrong," Tarima said sharply.
"Please be safe… till we arrive…" Anvit thought as he held Zero tightly.
---
To be continued…