From the leader of the demons, Vinash Mandal, and Devdansh, and the seven swords.
After knowing this, many questions were swirling in Ansh's mind.
Just then, Ansh heard something in his ears, in a very soft whisper:
"Finish.... them.... off"
Hearing these words, Ansh was startled.
Ansh understood that he now had some power, but fighting, wielding weapons, and killing someone were all new to Ansh, and finishing someone off was impossible.
The same Ansh who had never killed a mosquito was supposed to finish off a demon. Ansh was resisting this voice within himself when suddenly the demon got up again, gathered all its strength, lifted its trident-hammer, and began to make a dangerous strike.
Ansh, resisting the voice coming from his mind, froze in his spot again when he saw this, because he didn't have enough time to avoid the attack in time.
But then again, once more, the locket shone, and the Anil Kiran dagger held in Ansh's hands spun so fast in a pattern on its own that Ansh himself couldn't understand what had happened.
In the next moment, when Ansh looked, the demon's body was still standing in the attacking position, but its head was lying a little distance below its body.
Seeing this sight, Ansh's eyes were dazzled, and his mind was filled with fear.
"I... I didn't... I can't do this."
Ansh was stunned by the sight before his eyes.
Blood was flowing from the demon's neck, and Anil Kiran was also stained with blood.
Ansh was filled with regret, drowning himself in self-blame.
Even though it was a demon and was trying to kill Ansh, Ansh still didn't want to kill it.
Ansh had been a gentle and emotional boy since childhood. He took everything emotionally, and sometimes he would even cry over small things. That's why he was in such shock after killing the demon.
After regretting for a long time, Ansh came to his senses a little.
"I should find a way out of here now," Ansh said to himself in his mind.
After the fight, Ansh's body was tired, his breaths were heavy. The "Anil Kiran" dagger was no longer in his hand—it had merged back inside the locket.
Just as Ansh thought to himself about how to put this sword back, a circular structure appeared from his locket. It was rotating in the air, inscribed with ancient script and dragon symbols. The structure slowly opened and the dagger merged into it, then the shape merged back into the locket.
Ansh was amazed—this was no ordinary locket, it was an ancient storage system, active only for the chosen one.
Slowly he began to leave the dungeon and finally reached near the city. But then, due to fatigue and continuous energy depletion, darkness started to cloud his eyes. He caught a last glimpse of his city... and then he fainted.
"Ansh! Oh God, he's found!"
A voice echoed.
It was the voice of Usha Maa—the elderly woman who ran the orphanage where Ansh lived. She was always worried about Ansh, and since he had gone missing, she had been searching for him outside the city.
When some children saw Ansh unconscious near the forest and informed Usha Maa, she reached there without delay and brought him back to the orphanage.
Now Ansh was on his bed. Sunlight was peeping through the window, and Usha Maa, sitting beside him, was placing a cold compress on his forehead.
Ansh's eyes slowly opened.
"Are you alright, son?"
Tears were in Usha Maa's eyes.
"Where had you gone? I was so worried..."
Ansh couldn't say anything, just kept looking at her quietly. An ocean of emotions was welling up in his eyes. For the first time, someone had shown such fear and concern for him.
He touched his neck—the locket was still there. And inside it, "Anil Kiran" was safe.
Ansh lay there for a while, looking at the ceiling. Usha Maa had now left the room, perhaps to prepare food for the other children. But Ansh's world was no longer the same.
The thoughts rising within him, the questions, and that demonic power that had completely changed the direction of his life.
"What was all that?" Ansh murmured. "Kiara... she betrayed me... and she... she was a serpent?"
Those scenes kept replaying before his eyes—Kiara's serpentine body, the hissing snakes in her hair, and that poisonous laugh.
Now everything was clear—Kiara was no ordinary girl, she was a member of Vinash Mandal.
Vinash Mandal... the same secret demonic organization that was searching for the seven swords of Devdansh. And now their target had perhaps become him—Ansh, and the dragon locket he possessed.
Ansh got up and went to the window and looked towards the city—everything seemed normal. Children were playing, people were busy with their work. But he knew, this peace was a deception.
Then... he felt a slight warmth in his chest. The locket began to glow faintly. His eyes closed, and a resounding voice came into his mind—
"Be careful, Ansh. Vinash Mandal is searching for you."
Ansh was startled. This was the same voice he had heard in the dungeon. The one that had said—"Call him, his name is Anil Kiran," and "Finish..... them... off."
"You can talk," Ansh said with surprise.
"No, I can put my thoughts or words into your mind," the locket spoke into Ansh's mind, answering his question.
"Only you can hear me."
"But why me?"
"Because you have been chosen."
"I, but for what, and why me?"
As soon as Ansh asked this question, no signal or answer came from the locket. Ansh repeatedly held the locket and asked, but the locket had fallen silent. It made no sound.
Ansh now began to understand—this locket was not just a storehouse for swords. It was a guide, a protector, and perhaps... a living consciousness.
Ansh was still sitting by the window, looking outside, when he saw some people coming towards the orphanage.
They all looked no less than goons or thugs.
Then Ansh saw that Usha Maa came out of the orphanage and talked to those people who looked like goons and thugs, but Ansh was so far away that he couldn't hear anything.
So he decided to go closer and listen.
....?
Writer - 🕉️