The elevator descended in tense silence.
Its metallic hum seemed unnaturally loud in the stillness.
Floor 10… 9… 8…
Each glowing number above the door felt like a countdown.
Aarya stood at the front, his fists clenched at his sides.
The Shadow Mark on his shoulder pulsed beneath his shirt, a slow, burning reminder that Mahakaal had already touched his soul.
Beside him, Arya Malhotra stood rigid, arms folded, jaw tight.
In the mirrored steel wall of the elevator, he could see the sharp worry in her eyes, though she tried to hide it.
Behind them, Karan Veer Rathore flipped through the old leather journal.
His expression had darkened ever since Aarya mentioned the Dragon Mind Realm.
The elevator doors slid open.
Chaos.
The ICU corridor looked like a war zone.
Nurses rushed in panic.
Security guards shouted into walkie-talkies.
A crash echoed from somewhere down the hall.
And on the polished white floor—
blood.
Fresh.
Dark red.
A trail of it ran from the ICU room into the corridor.
Arya's face went pale.
"Rudra."
She ran.
Aarya followed instantly.
The ICU room door hung open.
One guard lay unconscious beside it, blood running down the side of his head.
Another had been thrown against the opposite wall.
His pulse still beat, but barely.
Inside—
The room was a wreck.
A medicine trolley had been overturned.
Glass littered the floor.
The heart monitor screamed in long, uneven bursts.
But the bed—
The bed was empty.
Rudra was gone.
Arya stopped dead.
For the first time since meeting her, her mask cracked.
Her voice came out as a whisper.
"No…"
Aarya's eyes scanned the room.
The IV line had been ripped out.
Blood droplets marked the floor.
But there were no signs of a struggle from Rudra's side.
Which meant—
"He was taken."
Karan stepped in behind them.
His face hardened.
"Or lured."
Aarya crouched beside the blood trail.
Two different blood patterns.
One from the IV.
The other—
a heavier drag mark.
A body being pulled.
His expression turned cold.
The Naga Order.
Then he saw it.
Drawn on the white hospital wall in blood.
A serpent curled around a crescent moon.
The same symbol as the Shadow Mark.
Arya stared.
"That symbol…"
Karan's silver eyes narrowed.
"It means invitation."
Aarya slowly stood.
"Invitation?"
Karan nodded grimly.
"A challenge from Mahakaal."
Before anyone could say more—
A nurse staggered into the doorway.
Her uniform was stained red.
She clutched the wall for support.
"Doctor…"
Aarya moved to her immediately.
He steadied her before she collapsed.
"What happened?"
Her breathing was shallow.
Her eyes wide with terror.
"There was… a man in black…"
The room went silent.
Aarya's voice sharpened.
"Describe him."
The nurse swallowed hard.
"Long coat… gloves…"
Her voice trembled.
"And… red eyes."
Arya's fingers curled into fists.
Mahakaal.
The nurse's hand suddenly gripped Aarya's wrist.
Her eyes widened as if replaying the moment.
"He said…"
Her voice dropped into a whisper.
'Bring the Dragon Heir to Kurukshetra before moonrise.'
Her body went limp.
She fainted.
Silence.
Only the beeping of the empty monitor remained.
Karan's jaw tightened.
"He wants to draw you out."
Aarya's expression turned colder.
"Then he already has."
Arya stepped in front of him.
"No."
Her voice was sharp.
"That's exactly what he wants."
Aarya met her gaze.
"And Rudra is your brother."
The words hit harder than he intended.
Her eyes softened for the briefest moment.
Then she looked away.
Karan stepped closer.
"We need to prepare."
Aarya turned toward the blood-stained wall.
"No."
His voice came low.
Controlled.
"We hunt."
The lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then darkness swallowed the ICU.
Emergency red lights flooded the corridor.
Aarya's instincts screamed.
"Move!"
Too late.
The ceiling vent exploded.
Three masked figures dropped into the room.
Black tactical armour.
Curved poisoned blades.
Silver serpent insignias.
Naga assassins.
The first lunged straight for Arya.
Aarya moved instantly.
He stepped between them.
Caught the blade with his gloved hand.
The Shadow Mark flared.
Pain.
Then power.
Dark violet flames erupted around his fist.
The assassin froze.
Aarya's eyes turned cold.
"Wrong target."
He drove his palm into the attacker's chest.
BOOM.
The shadow-fire blast hurled the assassin through the ICU glass wall.
Shards rained across the corridor.
The second attacker came from behind.
Karan intercepted him.
Knife flashed.
Steel met steel.
The third charged toward the unconscious nurse.
Arya's pistol cracked through the room.
The assassin staggered.
Aarya moved in.
A spinning elbow.
A knee to the ribs.
Then another violet burst.
The attacker slammed into the medicine cabinet.
Silence.
Only heavy breathing remained.
Arya stared at him.
Her voice lowered.
"You're changing."
Aarya looked at his own hands.
The flames lingered longer now.
More stable.
More natural.
Before he could answer—
A slow clap echoed from the corridor.
Everyone turned.
At the far end stood a tall figure in a long black coat.
Face hidden beneath shadow.
Only crimson eyes visible.
Mahakaal.
He smiled.
Cruel.
Ancient.
"Beautiful."
His voice flowed through the corridor like poison.
"The heir awakens faster than expected."
Aarya stepped forward.
"Where is Rudra?"
Mahakaal tilted his head.
"Safe."
His smile widened.
"For now."
Aarya's fists tightened.
Mahakaal's crimson eyes drifted toward Arya.
Then back to him.
"Come alone to Kurukshetra."
His voice deepened.
"Or the next blood you see will be his."
The lights flickered again.
The shadows around him twisted.
Then he vanished into black smoke.
Gone.
Only his voice remained.
"Moonrise."
Silence settled over the ICU.
Aarya's jaw clenched.
Kurukshetra.
The battlefield from his dreams.
The place where destiny once ended.
And where it would now begin again.