The wind turned heavy the moment dawn broke.
Golden clouds formed above the shattered peaks of Bhayashraya—not with warmth, but with celestial pressure. Even the ash dared not rise. It lay still.
Astha stood at the edge of the cliff, Viraagnaya floating beside him, silent and unreadable. His eyes were red—not from exhaustion, but from memory.
Behind him, Vaidehi rested in fevered sleep, her body wrapped in flame-touched cloth. The Watcher's mark still pulsed faintly across her skin.
Luv stood nearby, arms folded, thunderlight glowing faintly around his gauntlets.
"They're coming," he said.
"I know," Astha replied.
"And they're not here to punish us. They're here to negotiate."
---
There was no lightning. No divine chorus.
Just a radiant drop of pressure as five beings descended—neither fully divine nor fully formed. These were the heaven-scorned envoys—gods who had been warned not to interfere with the Shatter God's rise but disobeyed for fear of Astha's potential.
Agniraaj, the flame king with a crown of smoldering iron.
Vaamanthi, goddess of scales and memory.
Yakshaadh, the one-armed arbiter.
Indra-Kala, a shard of Indra given voice and flesh.
And Sharvaka, the divine executioner, veiled and silent.
They floated in a circle around Astha and Luv.
Their presence bent reality. But Astha didn't flinch.
"Make it quick."
---
Vaamanthi, dressed in prayer-beads and veil, stepped forward.
"You have crossed boundaries. Claimed forbidden blades.
Struck emissaries.
Severed divine ties."
"I've done worse," Astha replied coldly. "I just haven't written the names yet."
She held out a black scroll, stitched with golden mantra.
"The pantheon offers you a Pact. A seat in the coming war. Authority over a domain—one of your choosing."
Luv frowned.
"Why would they offer that? After everything?"
Agniraaj's flames pulsed.
"Because the Shatter God fears you. And what he fears… we must control."
"This isn't a reward," Astha growled.
"It's a leash."
---
He walked into the circle.
The gods tensed.
But Astha didn't draw his blade. He didn't summon his weapon.
He simply stood before them.
And spoke:
"I reject your offer. I do not want dominion. I do not want seat or favor or banner."
"I want justice."
He turned toward Sharvaka, the divine executioner—cloaked in silence, unreadable.
"And I'll tear down heaven to get it."
---
Sharvaka, for the first time, lifted his veil—just enough for Astha to glimpse his face.
No mouth. No eyes. Just a single brand burned into the space where his face should have been:
"Truth is mercy."
Astha locked eyes—if one could call them that.
"We will meet again," Sharvaka whispered—not in voice, but in flame.
"On the edge of the dying void."
Then the gods were gone—burned into golden strands of light, scattered across the wind like they had never come.
---
Aftermath – Vaidehi's Time Grows Short
Later, Luv stood beside the fire, silent.
Astha sheathed Viraagnaya back into the air, letting it vanish like mist.
Vaidehi opened her eyes briefly.
"You refused them."
"I don't want their seat," Astha said.
"I want their fall."
"Then make my death mean something," she whispered.
Astha didn't speak.
But Smritidhaara flared along his arm—binding a new oath.