Chapter 10 Silver Flame
Inside the hut the world was a cocoon of fading embers and deep dreamless sleep. Aarav was submerged in it the horrors of the previous night locked away. Then a sound tore through the veil not an animal's cry but a human scream. Raw agonized and utterly familiar.
Kiyan.
Aarav jolted upright. The warmth on his shoulders registered first Kiyan's coat draped over him like a shield. He threw it off the chill of dawn biting instantly. The scream came again shorter more desperate.
He scrambled out the coat clutched in one hand.
The scene outside stole the breath from his lungs.
Kiyan was on his knees in the clearing ensnared. The net was not rope or metal but a weave of shimmering pearlescent threads studded with small bone white flowers (Safed Ketaki a sacred white flower) that seemed to drink the morning light. Every twitch every struggle from Kiyan made the filaments glow with a vicious sizzling energy. It coiled around him searing. His back was arched in silent torment teeth gritted veins standing out on his neck. A low continuous moan escaped him.
And before him stood a man in a stark white lab coat his face obscured by a smooth featureless mask. He was not just watching. He was admiring his work head tilted. A soft clinical chuckle escaped him.
Aarav's feet moved before his mind could catch up. He skidded to a halt between the white coated man and his captive.
Who are you Aarav's voice was a blade sharp and trembling. What are you doing to him.
The man in white turned his head slowly the mask giving nothing away. Aarav. You do not know what this is.
The sound of his own name spoken so coolly in this nightmare froze Aarav's blood. How do you know my name.
I know everything. About you. About it. A gloved hand gestured dismissively at Kiyan. But you know nothing. Aarav this Chhayodhbhav (a nightborn entity who drains age) is a
I do not know Aarav shouted the fury breaking through the shock. I do not know who he is and I do not care. Whatever you are let him go or I will
Or you will what. The man's chuckle was a dry rustle. Kill me.
Aarav lunged not at the man but toward the net his hands reaching for the glowing threads. A white clad arm shot out moving with unnatural speed. It caught Aarav's wrist twisted and flung him aside like a ragdoll. He hit the ground the air bursting from his lungs.
A gasp sharp and pained came from the net. Kiyan writhed his golden eyes wide with a terror Aarav had never seen found his. A silent plea.
What do you want Aarav coughed pushing himself up. Why him.
He is my specimen the man stated his voice devoid of all emotion. You are irrelevant. You may leave. I have no quarrel with you. But release him He is the prize.
Specimen Prize Aarav spat the words. He is not an animal. Look at him. You are torturing him. Let him go please. His voice cracked hands coming together in a desperate involuntary plea.
The man considered him for a moment then reached into his coat. He withdrew a long syringe filled with a viscous silver liquid. Very well. If you will not leave then stay. And observe.
He took a step toward Kiyan. Aarav moved. Not with skill but with pure blind rage. He grabbed the man's arm biting clawing putting all his weight into a savage twist. The syringe flew from the gloved hand arcing through the air to shatter against a tree root.
Cold fury radiated from the masked figure. He backhanded Aarav. The impact was solid final. Aarav crumpled.
The sound of tires on gravel. Another identical black SUV slid to a stop. More figures emerged ghosts in white coats and blank masks. The first man let out a sound of genuine amusement. Ah. The retrieval team. Good. Secure the obstruction. He is proving to be a persistent thorn. A waste of reagents
Rough hands seized Aarav hauling him up. He kicked thrashed. Stop. What are you doing. What has he ever done to you.
One of the new figures slapped him hard. His head snapped to the side.
From the net a choked sound. Kiyan's struggle reached a fever pitch. His eyes were locked on Aarav. Not with fear now but with a devastation so profound it was worse. A single tear luminous and heavy welled in the corner of his golden eye. It traced a path through the dust on his cheek hung for a moment at his jawline and fell.
It struck the earth.
For a heartbeat nothing.
Then the world inhaled.
A wind rose from the very spot the tear had fallen a whisper that became a sigh then a gale swirling dead leaves and dirt into a frantic dance. The air pressure dropped. Aarav cried out Kiyan.
A searing heat erupted at Aarav's wrist. The ancient etched lines of the Aadisrashta Chakra (the divine discus of the creator) on his skin ignited not with fire but with a cold white light. It raced up his arm a lightning bolt under his skin branching across his chest down his spine. His vision whited out. His eyes slammed shut.
When they opened they were not his own.
They were silver. Not grey not pale. Silver. Liquid mercury shot through with crackling filaments of pure energy. A cold focused inferno blazed behind them.
He saw the white clad men holding him not as humans but as outlines of heat and intention. A slight twitch of his shoulder a thought made manifest and the hands gripping him were torn away. The men were flung backwards colliding with each other in a tangle of limbs and startled shouts.
The lead man stumbled back. What
The others recovered charging. Aarav or the thing wearing his shape merely lifted a palm. The air thickened became a wall. The men hit it and stopped dead pinned in place feet dangling inches off the ground. A clench of his fist and they were hurled aside like discarded toys.
The lead man scrambled pulling a second syringe. He sprinted for the net. Aarav's silver gaze tracked him. A flick of the wrist. An invisible force lifted the man off his feet suspended him for a terrifying moment and then hurled him bodily into the trunk of an ancient Akshay Vriksh (immortal banyan tree). The impact was a sickening crunch of wood and lab coat.
The remaining figures did not wait. They fled stumbling into their vehicle. The engine roared to life.
Aarav turned his attention to the net. He raised both hands. The shimmering flower studded threads trembled then as if unseen scissors snipped them the entire construct unraveled. It lifted into the air a glowing malignant cloud and was flung deep into the forest's heart.
The silver light in Aarav's eyes flickered. A wave of immense soul deep exhaustion hit him. The world tilted the fierce energy receding as fast as it had come leaving a vast hollow coldness. His knees buckled.
He never hit the ground.
A blur of motion Kiyan free moving faster than sight. He caught Aarav an inch from the earth cradling him against his chest. Aarav was a dead weight unconscious his skin pale and damp.
Kiyan looked down at the face in his arms. With a tenderness that contradicted the fury of moments before he brushed the dirt from Aarav's cheek with his thumb. Then he ran.
Not a human run. This was the wind given form. The forest became a streak of green the city a smear of grey noise. He moved through the world unseen a phantom carrying its most precious secret until he stood before Aarav's hostel door. It was locked. A glance a subtle pressure of will and the bolt slid open.
He laid Aarav on the narrow bed arranging his limbs with care. He sat on the floor beside him back against the bedframe eyes never leaving Aarav's still face.
Morning light faded to afternoon gold then to evening purple then to the deep blue of night. Aarav did not stir. His breathing was shallow but steady.
Kiyan did not move. He did not sleep. As midnight deepened he shifted. Gently he lifted Aarav's limp hand from the blanket and enveloped it in both of his own. He bowed his head resting his forehead against their joined hands and kept his vigil. The only sound was their shared breath and the frantic silent beat of a heart that was not his own willing it to grow stronger.
When the first dirty hint of dawn painted the window a change. A faint twitch in the fingers he held. A flutter of eyelids.
Aarav's eyes opened slow and heavy. They were his again brown confused searching the dim room. They found Kiyan watching him from the floor face etched with a worry so deep it looked like pain.
Aarav's breath hitched. Understanding memory relief they crashed over him in a single wave. He pushed himself up weak and before thought or doubt could intervene he reached out. His arms wrapped around Kiyan pulling him close a shuddering desperate embrace in the quiet dawn.
Kiyan stiffened for a fraction of a second then his own arms came up cautiously at first then holding on just as tight. They stayed like that two shattered pieces holding each other together as the sun finally broke the horizon indifferent to the wars fought in shadows and the miracles born from a single fallen tear.
© 2026 Aaryaveda. All rights reserved.
Do not copy or repost without permission