The battlefield still smoldered. Smoke curled from splintered trunks, and the broken body of the Ent Queen lay in ruin, sap pooling across the stone like rivers of molten amber. The night had grown eerily silent, as if the forest itself held its breath.
Amid the ruin, Ansh stood motionless. His sword dripped with dark light, and his chest rose and fell in sharp, ragged bursts. The black haze still writhed around him, restless, dangerous, refusing to fade. His young face, once boyish and clumsy, was twisted in fury so deep it looked nothing like the Ansh they knew.
Ashwini and Vijay exchanged terrified glances. The Queen was dead, but Ansh… Ansh was not calming down. If anything, his aura pulsed stronger, angrier, as though he wanted more to destroy.
Ansh's gaze snapped toward the fallen forest beyond the wall, where the remnants of lesser ents retreated into the dark. A flicker of rage passed through his eyes. His small hands clenched around the sword hilt, and with a sudden burst of speed he began to run—charging straight after the fleeing monsters.
"No!" Ashwini gasped, sprinting forward.
Before he could leave the ruined square, thick walls of stones rose from the ground, roots lashing upward to seize his arms and legs. The vines strained, holding him tight, while the earthen wall blocked his path.
Ansh jerked against them violently, his eyes blazing. "Move," he growled, voice heavy with the weight of that unnatural darkness.
Ashwini and Vijay stood before him, their hands raised, channeling all the power they had left into restraining him. Both trembled—not just from exhaustion, but from fear.
They weren't afraid of the ents anymore.
They were afraid of losing Ansh.
For a breath, the roots held. Then Ansh tilted his head back, eyes narrowing at the sky. The black haze around him flared like a storm breaking loose. With a soundless crack, the earthen wall dissolved into dust, and the roots clutching his arms withered, turning to black ash that drifted away on the wind.
Vijay staggered back. Ashwini gasped, but Ansh was already sprinting forward again, sword dragging streaks of shadow across the stone.
"No—please!" Ashwini cried.
She didn't think. She just ran. Faster than she had ever moved, faster than her body wanted her to go. And before Ansh could vanish into the dark again, she flung herself into him and wrapped her arms around his small, shaking frame.
Her head pressed against his shoulder. She held him tight—tighter than she had ever held anything in her life.
"Ansh… stop." Her voice trembled, but her arms did not let go. "Please… don't go. Don't leave us. Don't leave me."
For a moment, Ansh struggled. His body twisted violently, and his hands twitched as though they could break her hold with a flick of power. But he didn't. Somewhere inside, even in his storm, a small part of him still feared hurting her.
His sword clattered from his grasp. His fists pressed against her back, not pushing, not striking—just trembling.
"Let me go," he whispered in that deep, demonic tone. "They hurt him… they hurt us… I'll make them pay—"
"No," Ashwini said firmly, patting his head like she had so many times before, only now her own hands shook. "No more fighting, Ansh. You've done enough. Please… just come back."
The black haze rippled around them. Ansh's body stiffened, his breath coming out in uneven, ragged gasps. And then—like a dam breaking—his face crumpled.
His knees buckled, and tears poured down his cheeks. He clung to her now, burying his head in her shoulder, sobbing like the little boy he truly was.
"I couldn't save him," he choked out. "I… I tried, but he—Raushan—he…"
Ashwini's own eyes blurred with tears. "It's not your fault," she whispered, stroking his hair. "It's not your fault."
Vijay, who had been standing frozen, slowly lowered his hands. His shoulders sagged with relief, though his eyes glistened. He was seeing not the monster that Ansh had almost become, but his friend—small, broken, human again.
The black haze faded, curling away like smoke until nothing remained but a trembling boy in Ashwini's arms.
At last, Ansh's sobs slowed. His body went limp. Exhaustion claimed him, and he fainted, collapsing against her.
When he woke, he felt warmth. Something small and heavy pressed against his chest.
Ansh blinked blearily, rubbing his eyes. The world was soft morning light. And then he realized—Raushan was there.
The boy's tiny hands pushed at Ansh's shirt, his round face scrunched in effort. "Wake up!" Raushan squeaked. "Come play! You're too slow!"
Ansh froze. His heart stopped. He reached out, trembling, touching the boy's cheek. Warm. Alive. Smiling.
"R… Raushan?" he whispered.
The boy giggled, nodding. "Of course it's me, silly! Come on!"
Ansh sat up quickly, so quickly that Daav, perched nearby, startled and squawked. His eyes darted around—the battlefield, the broken wall, Ashwini and Vijay sleeping not far away.
But Raushan was real. Breathing. Laughing.
Ansh let out a breath that broke halfway between a laugh and a sob. He pulled the boy into a tight hug. "You're okay… You're really okay."
Raushan wriggled, annoyed. "I'm fine! Now stop squeezing or I can't run!"
Daav hopped onto Ansh's head, chirping indignantly as though agreeing with the child.
Minutes later, the square echoed with laughter.
Ansh and Raushan sprinted side by side across the open space, Daav swooping low to nip playfully at their hair. Ansh leapt over a broken branch with exaggerated effort, flailing his arms as if he were about to fall. Raushan laughed so hard he tumbled into the grass, rolling until Ansh caught him and spun him upright again.
"See? Told you I'm faster!" Raushan declared proudly.
"Faster? Hah! I was just pretending," Ansh argued, sticking out his tongue. "If I tried for real, you wouldn't even see me move."
Raushan puffed his cheeks in mock anger, then burst into another fit of laughter.
Ashwini and Vijay returned from fetching water to find the two boys and Daav running in circles, shrieking and laughing like nothing had ever happened.
For a long moment, Ashwini just stood there, watching. The tears from the night before still clung to her lashes, but she smiled. Vijay folded his arms, shaking his head, but even his lips softened into a rare grin.
The nightmare of blood and fire still lingered in memory, heavy in the air. But now, under the pale morning sky, laughter returned.
And for that one fragile moment, they were only children again.