**Monday Night**
The city hadn't quieted yet. Even after all that Parth had seen in the news, even after Aarav's vision of the white horse and the dark rider, there was still some part of him that wanted to believe it was all distant. All disconnected.
The classes passed in a haze. Neel barely spoke. Aarav cracked jokes to keep things normal. But the weight of that horse—of that vision—never really left.
By nightfall, Parth had returned to his room and tried to study. Even tried to nap. But something in the air was restless.
And then, it happened.
---
It was just past three in the morning.
Parth was asleep, uneasily. His dreams twisted with distant drums and white hooves. But what tore through that veil was not divine—it was mortal. A scream. Piercing. Female. So close it rattled his bones.
He sat up instantly.
Another scream followed, fainter.
His heart thundered. The air around him felt charged, like a coming storm.
His body moved before thought could form. He grabbed his phone—dead. The screen blinked white noise before shutting off.
The corridor outside was darker than usual. Emergency lights weren't working. Somewhere far away, a security guard's radio crackled, then died.
The static was back.
But this time, it wasn't just in his blood.
---
At the Courtyard
He followed the echo of the scream. It led him to the back of the hostel, near the old storeroom where laundry carts rusted and stray cats prowled.
He didn't expect to see blood.
A girl—nursing batch, probably—lay curled on the ground, clawing at the air, her breath ragged.
But she wasn't alone.
Above her loomed something wrong. Towering. Covered in smoke, horns protruding from a misshapen skull, arms thick and clawed. A danava. A creature out of forgotten yugas. Its form was crude, elemental—earth, ash, and rage. Not some humanoid shadow, but a true beast of Adharmic origin.
Parth's breath caught.
Danavas weren't supposed to exist in Kaliyug.
He remembered what Arjun had done in exile—during the years of vanvas. How he'd destroyed the remnants of the danava tribes that preyed on the forests. He'd been the last warrior to strike them down.
Parth didn't have a bow now. No divine weapon. No Gandiva.
Still—his body moved.
"HEY!" he yelled.
The creature turned.
And vanished into the shadow.
The girl's body slumped.
Parth rushed to her side.
No wounds. No signs of struggle. But she wasn't breathing.
---
It was the third time.
No explanation. No proof. Just the silence of death and the hum of unseen energy.
He was no longer just a student caught in mysteries.
He was a witness.
Again.
---
Parth ran into Aarav's room next door, breathless.
"Aarav! Wake up!"
Aarav groaned, tossing a pillow over his head. "What, bro? Another ghost in your blood pressure?"
Parth didn't smile. "A girl just died. I saw it."
Aarav blinked, rubbed his face. "You serious?"
"She was attacked. By something. Not human."
"Danava?" Aarav said it like a joke.
Parth's face gave away too much.
"Oh come on," Aarav muttered. "You're tired. You've been seeing all this weird stuff—dreams, static, ghosts, now danavas? This isn't a myth class, dude."
"Come with me."
Parth didn't wait. He dragged him.
---
They reached the place near the storeroom.
It was empty.
No body. No blood. No sign of any struggle.
Just the cold wind rustling through dry leaves.
Parth froze. "She was here. I swear, Aarav—"
Aarav looked around. "Nothing's here, man."
"I'm not—"
But Aarav suddenly swayed.
Parth reached out. "You okay?"
Aarav's eyes glazed.
And he whispered, voice low, deep, like something ancient had borrowed his throat:
> "Andhakāra punar āgacchati… yuddham anivāryam."
*(The darkness returns… the war is inevitable.)*
Parth stared.
Aarav blinked, confused. "What?"
"You just—never mind."
Something had cracked open tonight.
And he wasn't the only one remembering anymore.
---
Meanwhile,
From the rooftop, the crow was watching again.
Its feathers shimmered with unnatural light.
It cawed once. A signal.
Far to the east, beneath layers of silt and broken temples, something shifted.
A hunger. A name. A forgotten oath.
The wheel had turned.
And it was not done turning.
---