**Setting: King Pratap's kingdom**
King Pratap sought Guru Vishrayan's help for a curse aging his people prematurely. Agni and
Neer were sent to investigate. In the kingdom, they encountered Nakul, a young man aged
unnaturally, who spoke of a woman's enchanting voice luring him into a trap.
In the forest, they met an old woman who revealed a dayan (witch) was stealing people's youth.
Agni devised a plan for Neer to lure the witch while he followed. The witch enchanted Neer, but
Agni confronted her. After a fierce battle, Neer cut her braid, weakening her, and Agni burned
her with his fire element. The witch, now freed, shared her tragic past of betrayal and abuse that
led her to dark magic. She thanked them for her liberation before vanishing.
The dayan's body dissolved into a soft light, a final peace settling on her features. Agni and Neer watched her fade, the adrenaline of their battle cooling into sober reflection.
Neer said quietly, "She wasn't a monster... just a wounded soul twisted by her pain."
Agni looked at him, his eyes not with judgment, but with a grim thoughtfulness. "Yes... but can pain turn anyone into a monster?" His gaze inadvertently drifted to Neer, "And is destruction... the only path to liberation?"
The question hung in the air between them, planting a seed of dread. Was their own clashing destiny born from a similar pain? And would it, too, end only in ruin?