The forest trembled, as if the answer lived in its roots. Yet the questions wrapped around her like a spell, holding back the truth she was not meant to hear.
~~~~~
"Don't worry. I'm not here to attack you." Gyanwati steps inside, her voice steady, her eyes scanning the room.
"Let's talk. Only us," she says to Ayani's father.
"Sure," he replies, his tone firm.
They sit in the living room.
"It's just the same… like it was before," Gyanwati murmurs, her gaze drifting over the familiar corners.
He only hums. "Tell me. What do you want to talk about?"
"Let's be practical." Her voice sharpens. "You know how this ends for you and your family if you don't willingly surrender your powers. Just surrender them, and you can live the rest of your life like a human."
He smirks, the shadow of defiance in his eyes. "You know I won't surrender them. Our powers aren't just part of us — they are us. You, of all people, understand this. You know why we exist… what we live on. You were one of us once."
She swallows hard. "Don't make me drag you to the very end of Pataallok. I don't want this for you. Please… surrender."
"If you don't want to do it, then don't," he says calmly.
Her breath catches, and then she throws the word like a stone into still water — "Madhav. Don't be stubborn. Think of your daughter… your wife."
"I am thinking of them," Madhav, Ayani's father replies, his voice deepening. "I can't take their life force away. Our powers are our life force."
"You can still live without your powers."
"Yes… like a butterfly without flowers. A leaf without stem." He speaks.
"Okay then be ready to fight," she says, rising to leave.
"I'm not the stubborn one—you are. Let go of the grudge." Madhav says, standing up.
She turns with a faint smile. "Then let us both be stubborn… and see who loses."
At the door, she meets Ayani. Gyanwati taps her shoulder. "Make your father understand how grave this is, before it's too late." And she's gone.
.
2025
Ahmaya knows now — it was all true. Not a dream. The Aokmas are real. Powers are real. Kitbok… was real.
And that forest… Ayani's forest… it must still be here. In Mawphlang.
She runs from her house, breath clouding in the crisp air, feet pounding the path. The trees close in around her until she finds a forest. Is it the one? She isn't sure.
"Ayani! Ayani!" she calls, but the silence answers back.
I don't even know if she is still alive… she thinks. But who guards this forest now?
"Spirit Aokma, guardian of this forest — I summon you. I am also an Aokma. Show yourself!" Her voice echoes.
Nothing.
She sighs, places her palm against a tree, tilts her head down. "Where is your guardian?"
The branch above her shivers.
She frowns, confused "Where is the guardian?" She asks again.
The branch shivers again — and then, as if stirred by an unseen signal, every tree around her begins to sway. Their branches whip in perfect unison. The wind rises, curling and rushing through the leaves like a living breath. Stones tremble under her feet.
"Oh my god…" she whispers, stumbling back. The air feels charged, humming, almost alive.
Her leg catches on a root. She falls, breath ragged, eyes wide at the sight — the entire forest moving as one, a great living organism exhaling its power.
A hand grabs her from behind. She turns.
Her grandmother stands there, face pale against the shifting green.
"Ahmaya, stand up," she orders, voice low and urgent.
Before Ahmaya can protest, her grandmother pulls her up in one swift motion, fingers gripping hers with a strength that feels almost desperate. The forest still sways behind them, but her grandmother doesn't look back.
"Grandma, what are you doing here?" Ahmaya demands, but there's no answer.
"How did you know I was here?" she tries again. Still silence.
They break from the trees and step onto the road, walking back toward home. Ahmaya stumbles after her, half dragged, half running, heart still pounding to the forest's strange rhythm.
Frustrated, Ahmaya wrenches her hand free. "Grandma!"
Her grandmother stops, turns, and exhales a long, weary sigh. She cups Ahmaya's face in both hands.
"Listen carefully. Whatever you just saw… whatever you dreamt while unconscious… it's all an illusion. Nothing is real. Forget it— for your own sake."