Rudra's eyes fluttered open slowly. As the lingering shadows of his terrifying nightmare finally faded, he was greeted by the sight of a plain, calm white ceiling. A sharp, pungent scent of medicinal herbs and salves [Smell] floated through the air, slowly soothing the tense nerves in his brain. The inside of his mouth was completely parched, and a strange, bitter, medicinal tang [Taste] coated his tongue.
He turned his heavy, aching neck to the right.
There, sitting on a wooden chair beside his bed, was Maya. Her face looked pale and utterly exhausted, but the moment she saw Rudra regaining consciousness, a bright spark of relief lit up her eyes.
Rudra's dry, cracked lips parted. His voice felt caught in his throat. "Are... are Dev and Pawan... okay?"
A gentle, comforting smile graced Maya's face. She spoke in a soft voice, "Yes, Rudra... they are both perfectly fine. Guru ji saved them."
Hearing this, Rudra let out a deep, profound breath of relief. His body, which had been locked in rigid tension, finally went slack against the soft mattress of the bed [Touch]. But this relief was short-lived.
Just then... Rudra's gaze fell upon Maya's left hand.
Her left hand was resting in her lap. It was wrapped in thick bandages, but even through the gaps in the white cloth, the charred, blackened, and raw red skin was clearly visible. [Sight] The flesh was so severely blistered and scorched it looked as though someone had plunged her hand into boiling lava.
The moment Rudra saw this, his eyes widened in absolute horror. His heartbeat abruptly stopped.
"Maya..." Rudra's voice trembled uncontrollably, "Your hand... it's burned so badly!"
Panic flashed across Maya's face. She abruptly tried to hide her left hand behind her back, avoiding his gaze as she stammered, "Oh... it's nothing. This is... it just got burned by the Prana-Jivi's attack."
But Rudra was no fool. He gripped the white bedsheets with his hands, clenching them so tightly [Touch] that his knuckles turned entirely white.
"Stop lying to me, Maya!" Rudra's voice cracked with deep agony and sheer desperation. "If this were a wound from some ordinary Prana-Jivi, you would have healed it with your 'Healing Power' a long time ago! Your healing magic only fails against one thing..."
Tears welled up and spilled from Rudra's eyes. "...My 'Jwala Prana' (Flame Prana). Did I... did I lose control of my Jwala Prana again? Is all this my fault?"
Maya fell completely silent. Her silence pierced Rudra's heart worse than any dagger could.
A terrifying storm of guilt and self-hatred erupted inside Rudra. He broke down, sobbing uncontrollably. His hot tears rained down onto the white bedsheets.
"Please forgive me, Maya..." Rudra sobbed, his voice breaking. "I couldn't keep my promise. I... I never learned how to control my powers! Maybe I wasn't born into this world to save people... maybe I was born to take the lives of my own people!"
Rudra's grief was bordering on sheer madness. "I don't even have the right to live! I should have died on the exact same day I was born... the day I turned my own parents into ashes with my uncontrollable 'Jwala Prana'! I am a curse... Maybe I still have time. If I take my own life right now, I can save all of you from this curse!"
SLAAAAAP!!! [Sound]
A sharp, deafening sound shattered the heavy, sorrowful silence of the room.
Without a second thought, Maya had raised her right hand and delivered a fiercely powerful slap right across Rudra's cheek!
The echo of the slap bounced off the walls of the room. Rudra's face was thrown to the side. A sharp, stinging numbness and a burning sensation [Touch] instantly flared across his cheek. He froze, completely stunned into silence.
Tears were now streaming down Maya's face as well. She was trembling with anger, love, and raw emotion.
"Stop it, Rudra! Stop treating yourself like a criminal!" Maya's voice carried an agonizing desperation that cut straight to Rudra's soul. "You did not take your parents' lives! They happily sacrificed their own lives just to save yours! Have you forgotten their sacrifice?!"
Maya aggressively wiped her tears away and shoved her brutally burned left hand right in front of Rudra's face.
"And look closely at this wound!" Maya screamed through her tears. "Yes, it was burned by your Jwala Prana! But if your flames hadn't erupted from inside you today... if this wound wasn't on my hand right now... then not a single one of us would be alive today! We all would have been slaughtered in that cave! Your Prana is lethal, Rudra... but today, we are still breathing entirely because of that very same 'curse'!"
Rudra was left utterly speechless. Maya's words poured into his ears like molten gold, melting away the freezing despair in his heart.
Just then, an incredibly calm, heavy voice echoed from the doorway of the room. "Yes... Maya is absolutely right, Rudra. It is not right to blame yourself for everything."
Rudra and Maya looked toward the door. [Sight] Standing there were Guru Kailash and, right beside him, Acharya (Rudra's adoptive father). Suddenly, a profoundly calming fragrance of sandalwood and holy ash [Smell] drifted into the room, emanating from the robes of Acharya and Guru Kailash.
Rudra bowed his head in deep shame and sorrow. "Maybe... I don't know what I'm supposed to say... Acharya ji, Guru ji... will I ever truly be able to control these terrifying flames?"
Acharya slowly walked over to Rudra's bedside. He placed his warm, protective hand gently on top of Rudra's head. [Touch] A tender, fatherly smile graced Acharya's face. "You already know the answer to that, my child."
Acharya's voice carried the deep weight of old memories. "Remember those days... a little boy whose Prana was so wild and searingly hot that he couldn't even wear ordinary clothes, because they would instantly burst into flames. A child who spent his entire childhood locked deep underground, in the dark cellars, just so the world above could be safe from his fire... Now, look at yourself today."
Pride shone brightly in Acharya's eyes. "Today, that very same boy is sitting right here among us. He is wearing clothes like a normal student, he is playing with his friends, fighting alongside them. Rudra... the amount of control you have already achieved is far beyond what anyone could have ever imagined. Do you truly still believe that you won't be able to master it completely? All of us, and these friends of yours... we have absolute faith in you."
A hot tear rolled down Rudra's cheek and dripped off his chin. [Taste] But this time, it wasn't a tear of sorrow; it was a tear of hope and profound relief. The crushing boulder of guilt that had been weighing down on his heart seemed to suddenly melt away.
He took a long, deep breath and said with a faint smile, "Thank you so much... for giving me this courage once again."
Just then, the heavy clanking of iron armor and boots echoed from the corridor outside. Clank... Clank... [Sound] A soldier stopped at the doorway.
Bowing his head respectfully, he announced, "Acharya ji... it is time for the 'Announcement' at the grand assembly. Everyone is waiting for you."
Acharya nodded with a serious expression. "I am coming."
Acharya and Guru Kailash turned to leave the room.
But right at that moment, the horrifying images of his nightmare—the scene where Acharya was brutally murdered—flashed like lightning through Rudra's mind. A sudden, sickening wave of panic washed over him.
"Wait!" Rudra called out abruptly.
Acharya had already stepped out through the doorway, but Guru Kailash halted in his tracks and looked back over his shoulder.
Rudra tightly clenched his trembling hands together, and in a deep, serious voice, he said, "Guru ji... I need to talk to you about something. About... about this dream I just had..."