Bluemoon Kingdom — Neelgarh
"Saanu…"
Reyansh pushed the door open softly.
The room was dim, the curtains barely letting light in. Saanvi lay on the bed, one hand resting over her swollen belly, the other gripping the sheets as if afraid they might slip away. Her lips moved without sound.
"You were calling me?" Reyansh asked gently, forcing a smile as he sat beside her.
"Saanu."
She turned toward him slowly.
Her eyes were wide.
Afraid.
"I'm fine," she said—but her lips trembled as the lie left her mouth.
Reyansh took her hand.
Cold.
Too cold.
"You're worried about the child," he said quietly. "I know."
He squeezed her fingers.
"Everything will be fine. Nothing bad will happen. I'm here."
His voice was steady.
His heart was not.
Because even as he spoke, fear gnawed at him—quiet, shameful fear. A fear he refused to let touch his face. A fear he buried deep, where promises lived.
Saanvi nodded, but her gaze drifted past him.
Back into the past.
—
The forest.
The familiar path.
The weight of branches in her arms.
Then—
Something that should not have been there.
A lake.
Still.
Silent.
Watching.
She had walked that road every day.
Yet she had never seen it before.
Confusion wrapped around her like mist, thick and clinging.
Was it always here?
How did I never notice it?
Thirst won.
She knelt.
Drank.
The water rippled.
Fish surfaced—slowly.
Lifeless eyes staring upward.
One by one, they floated.
Dead.
Her scream was cut short as the lake split open.
A woman rose.
Not human.
Skin stretched unnaturally pale. Eyes burned with ancient rage. Water slid from her body as if alive, crawling back into the lake that birthed her.
"You killed my children," the creature hissed.
Saanvi couldn't move.
"So, I curse you," it continued, its voice echoing through the trees.
"Any child you give birth to—"
A pause.
"…will be born dead."
The forest fell silent.
Saanvi gasped, snapping back into the present.
Her body shook violently.
Reyansh pulled her into his arms, holding her tight—too tight.
As if letting go would allow the past to drag her back again.
"It's going to be fine," Reyansh whispered into her hair.
"I won't let anything happen."
Saanvi clutched his shirt, tears soaking through the fabric.
Because this wasn't the first time, she had been afraid.
Because once before—
long before this night—
She had already held a child
that never cried.
And the curse…
Had already kept its promise.
Rowan sat alone in his room, eyes closed, focusing inward.
Power stirred beneath his skin—newly awakened, unstable. He tried to steady it, to bring it under control before his training truly began.
Then—
A scream.
"Ahh…!"
It came from Reyansh's room.
Rowan's eyes snapped open.
He ran.
Bursting through the door, he found his mother writhing in pain.
"Dad—what's happening to Mom?" Rowan shouted.
Reyansh looked at him, panic barely held in check.
"Rowan," he said urgently, "I think the baby is coming."
He grabbed his coat.
"Run. Bring the midwife. Now."
Scene Shift
Evergrove kingdom's Gate
A man stepped forward toward Shaan.
Black hair.
Brown eyes.
An umbrella held loosely in his hand.
Everything about him felt… wrong.
As if he didn't belong to this world at all.
"Shaan, sir," the man said sharply.
Shaan turned, startled.
"Devlal?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"
Devlal's jaw tightened.
"What do you think?" he snapped. "Are you blind? Deaf?"
Shaan stiffened.
"You see it. You hear it. And yet you're doing nothing."
"I'm not joining your side for this," Devlal continued, his voice rising. "You know that."
Shaan raised a hand, trying to calm him.
"Devlal… I know how you feel," he said quietly.
"And trust me, I don't agree with this either."
He exhaled.
"But this is an order—from the Lord of Kings."
Devlal laughed bitterly.
"What order?" he shouted.
"To slaughter thousands because a poem says so?"
Shaan waited.
When Devlal finally fell silent, Shaan spoke again—his voice low.
"You're not from our world," he said.
"So you don't understand what the Eight Great Poems are."
Devlal froze.
"Whatever they say," Shaan continued,
"comes true."
Silence stretched between them.
"In all the colour clans," Shaan went on, "only two carry mixed blood—human and monster."
He looked toward the horizon.
"The Red Eye Clan evolved long ago. And now…"
"It stands among the strongest."
Devlal said nothing.
"The Agni Chakra appears only when mana reaches an extreme threshold," Shaan continued.
"In the history of the living world, it has appeared only three times."
He raised three fingers.
"The first—during the Last Divine War. Level Three."
"The second—when the First King of Red broke the Mana Lock. Level One."
Shaan's voice hardened.
"And each time it appeared—
the world changed."
"That moment changed our fate," Shaan said quietly.
"We stood against monsters."
He lowered his hand.
"But this time—when it appears for the third time—"
"The Eight Great Poems mirror the Last Divine War."
A pause.
"We are not standing on riches now," Shaan continued.
"We are standing on extinction."
Devlal stared at him.
"So, you're saying," he whispered,
"that kingdoms would rather wipe out entire clans—
because they fear people turning into monsters…
and monsters taking advantage of it?"
Shaan didn't answer.
Because the silence was answer enough.
Devlal turned his head.
Toward Bhairava.
"That man," he said.
Fire burned in his eyes.
"Everything he told you," Devlal said coldly,
"was bullshit."
Then—
A fire roar tore through the sky.
The Agni Chakra flared—vast, burning, ancient.
Devlal staggered back.
"I can't bear to watch this," he muttered.
Shaan's voice came out hoarse.
"It's only beginning," he said.
"They're not just threatened by the sky."
He looked upward.
"With mana this dense… monsters will be drawn here."
"Like iron to a magnet."
On the Other Side
The Gray family travelled in their carriage.
They had already covered a long distance.
Now, their hometown lay only minutes away.
Kaal had already finished telling his parents about the mysterious cave.
Neel turned toward him, his voice low.
"Do you mean…?"
His thoughts drifted back—to the frantic search for Kaal, to the moment he had seen it.
That place.
"That cave," Neel murmured.
"Yes, Father," Kaal nodded. "I met a girl. Her name was Ira. She told me about it."
He hesitated.
"She… doesn't belong to our land."
Lava turned to him, curious despite herself.
"What does she look like, Kaal?"
He frowned.
"I don't know. I can't remember clearly. Her hair was black, I think…"
"I'm sorry."
Lava exhaled slowly.
"So we run into the cave," she said, "and then go somewhere else?"
"No, Mom," Kaal said firmly.
"Not just run. We run toward the end of the cave."
Neel's grip tightened on the reins.
"If we don't teleport," Lava whispered, "we'll hit the wall. It's dangerous."
"We don't have another choice," Neel said.
Then—
The horse stopped.
Suddenly.
Too suddenly.
Neel frowned.
Lava and Kaal leaned forward.
Then they saw it.
A monster stood ahead—
chewing on a man.
Blood dripped from its fingers.
Its body was massive, scarred red and yellow.
Its eyes—one black, one red—lifted slowly.
The man in its hand… stopped moving.
With a single motion, the monster crushed him.
Dead.
Neel's breath caught.
Even experienced warriors wouldn't survive this.
The Gray family froze.
Hope died.
The monster turned its head.
And saw them.
For the monster, there was only one thought.
Food.
Their minds screamed—one word, over and over.
Run.
Run.
As fast as you can.
Just—
Run.
To be continued…