The tears on Shaurya's face were still wet when Tejas' servant found them in the garden. The transition from vulnerable grief to military precision was jarring. One moment, Shaurya had been on his knees, his soul raw and exposed; the next, he was being ushered into Tejas' war chamber, where maps of the mortal realm glowed on crystalline tables and the air smelled of ozone and strategy.
Tejas stood with his back to them, his broad shoulders tense as he studied a holographic projection of Earth. A specific location was pulsing with a malevolent crimson light.
"Report," Tejas commanded, his voice all business, though his eyes, when he turned, still held the ghost of their shared emotion.
The messenger bowed deeply. "Senapati, our scouts have confirmed. A rogue Asur, identifying himself as Vritrasur, has manifested near the mortal settlement of Haridwar. He is the last known descendant of the great Vritra. His rage is... singular. He is not just attacking humans. He is targeting their places of spiritual purity, poisoning the very sanctity of the land."
Shaurya's head snapped up. The name 'Vritra' echoed in the chamber, a relic of a war from another age.
"Why has the Council not dispatched a regular unit?" Shaurya asked, his voice rough from his silent weeping.
"Because he is not there by chance," Tejas interjected, turning fully to face his brother. His gaze was piercing. "He is there for you, Shaurya."
The silence in the room became absolute.
"He has been whispering in the cosmic winds," Tejas continued, his voice low and dangerous. "He knows of your... attachment. He knows the fallen one has been reborn somewhere on that planet. His goal is not just to terrorize mortals. It is to draw you out. To lure you to Earth and destroy you before you can find what you seek. He wants to finish what his ancestor started."
A cold fury, the first emotion other than grief to truly touch Shaurya in centuries, ignited within him. This was not just a threat to the mortal realm; it was a threat to the single, fragile hope that had just been born in his heart.
"I will go," Shaurya stated, his voice leaving no room for argument. "I will eliminate him."
"No." Tejas' refusal was swift and sharp, like the crack of a whip. "You are emotionally compromised. Your judgment is clouded by five millennia of grief. Sending you now would be a tactical disaster. It is exactly what he wants."
"Tactical disaster?" Shaurya's calm facade finally fractured. He took a step forward, his eyes blazing. "For five thousand years, I have followed every tactic, every order! I have been the perfect soldier, the perfect prisoner! My judgment has never been clearer. This is not a mission for a soldier, Bhayya. This is a mission for me."
"The answer is no, Shaurya." Tejas crossed his arms, his expression immovable. "I will not send my brother to walk into a trap laid by a vengeful demon, all for a ghost from your past."
"It is not a ghost!" Shaurya's voice rose, echoing in the vast chamber. "It is Advik! And he is alive! You told me this yourself mere moments ago! Would you have me stand here, polishing my sword while this...this vermin threatens the one chance I have to set things right? Would you have me be the reason he is lost to me again, forever?"
The raw pain in Shaurya's voice made the messenger flinch and look away. Tejas' stern expression wavered, just for a second. He saw not a legendary warrior before him, but his younger brother, breaking apart after eons of holding himself together.
The silence stretched, thick and heavy. Tejas uncrossed his arms and walked to the edge of the hologram, staring at the pulsing red dot.
"Your powers will be diminished on Earth," he said, his back still to Shaurya. "You will have to cloak your divine aura. You will be... vulnerable."
Shaurya said nothing, waiting.
"You have seven days," Tejas finally said, turning around. His eyes were hard, but in their depths was a flicker of reluctant understanding. "Seven days from the moment you cross the celestial boundary. Your official mission is to locate and neutralize the entity known as Vritrasur. You will report your progress to me every 24 hours through the Akashic channel. If you fail to make contact, or if the seventh day dawns and you have not returned, I will come for you myself. And I will drag you back, mission accomplished or not. Is that understood?"
It was a leash, a short one, but it was a leash he was being handed. It was permission.
"Understood," Shaurya nodded, his heart hammering against his ribs.
"Then go," Tejas said, his voice softening almost imperceptibly. "But remember, little brother, you are not just going for him. You are going as a Senapati of Swarg. Do not forget your duty in the pursuit of your heart."
As Shaurya turned to leave, Tejas added, his voice barely a whisper, "And Shaurya... Jagke." (Be careful.)
Shaurya didn't look back. He marched out of the war chamber, his steps purposeful for the first time in five thousand years. He didn't go to his quarters to pack; there was nothing he needed except the two items that had never left his person: the star-metal bracelet on his wrist and the pressed lotus flower hidden close to his heart.
He went straight to the "Gatishil Pranalika" - the Celestial Transit Point. It was a secluded, ring-shaped platform at the very edge of Swarg, where the golden light of the heavens bled into the swirling blues and whites of the mortal sphere below. The air thrummed with immense, controlled power.
The Deva in charge of the portal, an ancient being named Sthanu, looked up as Shaurya approached. "Your passage has been pre-authorized, Maha-Yoddha. The coordinates are set for the outskirts of the mortal settlement Haridwar. Your divine signature will be cloaked upon entry."
Shaurya merely nodded, stepping onto the center of the platform. The energy crackled around him, making the hairs on his arm stand up. He closed his eyes, not in prayer, but in focus.
Advik, he thought, the name a talisman, a promise, a prayer. I am coming. This time, I will not let go.
He took one last look at the glittering spires of his home, a gilded cage that had held him for too long. Then, he gave Sthanu a sharp nod.
"Activate."
The world dissolved into a vortex of light and sound. It was not the desperate, uncontrolled fall of his memory, but a controlled, violent descent. Pressure built around him, and he felt the distinct sensation of his divine power compressing, shrinking, being wrapped in a cocoon of mortal-compatible energy. It was like having his wings brutally folded away.
The journey was swift. The blinding light of Swarg faded, replaced by the stark, bright blue of the Earth's sky. The scent of ozone and lotus pollen was replaced by the dense, complex aroma of soil, water, vegetation, and... smoke.
He landed with a soft thud on the damp grass of a riverbank, his knees bending to absorb the impact. The air felt thick, heavy in his lungs. The sounds were immediate and assaulting—the chirping of birds, the rustle of leaves, the distant hum of human activity, the gentle rush of the Ganges flowing nearby.
He had done it. He was on Earth.
He looked down at his hands, still glowing with a faint, fading celestial light. He clenched them into fists, feeling the unfamiliar limitation, the vulnerability. A grim smile touched his lips.
He was diminished. He was vulnerable. He was being hunted.
But he was free. And he was closer to Advik than he had been in five millennia.
His official mission was to find and kill an Asur. But his heart's mission, the one that truly mattered, had just begun.
---
Chapter End :
He was finally on Earth—closer than ever to his lost love. But as Shaurya stood on the riverbank, feeling the weight of his diminished powers, he knew the hunt was already on. Only this time, he wasn't just the hunter. He was also the prey.