Seeing him standing so close terrified me. His very presence was overwhelming — a mix of power and menace that made the air around me heavy. My steps trembled as I tried to retreat, but before he could react, I turned and ran — ran at the speed of thunder, desperate to escape his shadow.
Through the fading forest, barefoot, I sprinted over the cursed soil that had swallowed countless lives — both living and dead. The earth beneath me seemed to whisper the cries of the lost. I had no idea where I was heading; I didn’t know where the path ended, nor where the forest thinned. All I wished was to vanish — to fade from his sight, to erase my existence from that haunted place, even if just for a moment.
The trees blurred past me like ghosts in mourning, their twisted branches clawing at my skin as if trying to pull me back. My heart pounded louder than the storm that roared inside me. My breath hitched, shallow and sharp. The world around me blurred — the soil, the trees, even time itself — until only fear remained, raw and real.
And in that fleeting madness, one thought struck me harder than fear itself — I missed my home. The warmth, the scent, the peace — I longed for it as if it were the only truth left in this nightmare.
But the path felt endless — stretching on and on like a nightmare that refused to fade. The more I tried to escape the forest, the deeper it seemed to pull me in, as if the trees themselves were alive, whispering, “You cannot leave.”
With every step, my fear grew heavier, wrapping around my chest like chains. I would have given anything — anything — not to be caught by that man again. The very thought of his presence behind me made my blood run cold.
The forest was alive with horror. I could hear distant screams — raw, ghostly, and blood-curdling — echoing through the darkness. Some sounded near, others too far to be real, but each one sliced through the silence like a blade. The air stank of decay, of forgotten souls trapped beneath the soil. Every rustle, every whisper, felt like death breathing down my neck.
Still, I ran — because stopping meant surrender. And surrender meant the end.
And then — everything changed.
I couldn’t remember what happened first, nor could I see anything at all. A blinding light swallowed my vision, fierce and merciless. My eyes slammed shut as searing heat wrapped around me. My skin burned — it felt as though invisible claws were tearing through my flesh, ripping me apart from within.
The darkness vanished. The endless forest — gone, erased, as if it had never existed. The soil beneath me, once damp and soaked with blood, turned solid and cold like stone. The air felt heavier, ancient, charged with something I couldn’t name.
I tried to lift my head, but the pain struck again — sharp, unrelenting. My knees buckled beneath me. It felt like dying, yet death refused to take me. My powers… they were fading, numbed to silence.
“What is this?” I gasped. “What in the hell’s name is happening?”
No — I couldn’t give up. Not like this. I knew it — this was his doing. That monster’s trap. A cage forged of illusion and power.
But I won’t be caged. Not by him. Not by anyone.
I would burn the universe itself before I let another hand reach for me.
I never learned to give up. I was taught to stand tall — to be strong, no matter the storm, no matter the pain. In every battle, in every wound, I’ve only ever had one weapon — myself.
No one will come to save me. No guardian, no destiny, no divine hand. It’s just me — alone, standing against the entire universe.
I have to survive. For myself. For that one promise I made.
I can’t die… not yet.
It felt… opposite. My soul screamed to survive, but my body wanted to die. Every breath came out ragged, shallow — as if the air itself had turned against me. I tried to crawl away from the scorching heat that surrounded me, but my limbs refused to obey. My strength was slipping, dissolving into nothing.
My powers — once a blazing force — now felt hollow, drained, as if someone had stolen the very essence of who I was. The world tilted, blurred. My vision danced between light and shadow.
I tried to hold on, to fight the pull of oblivion, but the weight was too much. My body collapsed. My mind went silent. And then — nothing.
The next time I opened my eyes, I was surrounded by darkness once again. But this darkness was different — quieter, almost breathing. For a moment, I just lay still, unsure if I was alive or trapped in another illusion. Then I felt it — my power. It was back, humming faintly beneath my skin like a heartbeat.
I looked down at myself. Not a single wound. Not even a scar. My body was whole, untouched — as if the pain, the fire, the forest… had all been nothing but a dream.
“What the hell is this place?” I whispered. “What’s happening to me?”
I pushed myself to my feet, my legs trembling as I tried to take in my surroundings. The air felt dense, unreal — like standing inside a dream that didn’t want to end. I looked up… and froze.
My breath caught in my throat. My eyes widened. Above me, high in the sky hung a massive, glowing sphere — white and pure, radiating a soft, endless light. It was surrounded by countless tiny flickers, stars scattered like diamonds across a sea of black. It reminded me of a picture I’d once seen as a child — a memory so faint, yet it suddenly felt alive before me.
I couldn’t look away. My heart slowed. The scene was otherworldly, yet breathtakingly beautiful. I had never seen anything like it — not in dreams, not in reality.
“I wish I could take this home…”
The words slipped from my lips in a soft whisper, carried away into the stillness of that strange, celestial night.
“Haa, tumhara hi hai… le jao." (Yes, It's your only... Take it.)
The voice came from behind me.
My spine turned to ice. Every muscle in my body froze. A chill crawled down my neck as my blood ran cold. I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was — that voice alone was enough to awaken every ounce of fear I’d buried moments ago.
What now? What was this nightmare turning into?
Slow, deliberate footsteps echoed in the silence. He stepped forward — calm, unhurried — until he stood a few paces in front of me. His eyes met mine. Those same eyes — dark, piercing, inhuman — the eyes of the monster.
For a heartbeat, I couldn’t move. Terror clawed at my throat. But accepting fear… was the last thing I would ever do in this universe.
I straightened my back, forcing air into my lungs. My fists clenched tight. I met his gaze head-on, fire replacing the tremor in my veins. If he dared to come closer — I would show him who I truly was, and what I was capable of.
He wasn’t holding his sword this time. No weapon, no armor — just him, his cold, unreadable face, and that silent, unbearable tension that hung between us.
One of us would break it. And it wouldn’t be me.
The silence stretched between us, thick and suffocating. I could hear my own heartbeat pounding in my ears — steady, defiant. His gaze didn’t waver; it was sharp, like a blade tracing the edge of my soul.
He took a slow step closer. The ground beneath him didn’t make a sound — as if the universe itself bowed to his presence. “You ran,” he said. “But you didn’t escape. You can’t escape.”
“You think you can fight me?” His tone was neither mocking nor curious — it was terrifyingly sincere.
“I don’t think,” I said, my voice low, steady, and burning. “I know.”
Light shimmered faintly around my fists — my power returning, alive again, pulsing with anger and fear twisted together. The air between us began to ripple, energy crackling like a storm about to break.
He smiled — “Then show me.”
The ground trembled. The stars above flickered. And just like that — the silence shattered.
The air split open with a deafening crack. Light burst from my fists, flooding the darkness in gold and crimson. The ground beneath us fractured, glowing veins of energy spreading like wildfire.
He moved first — faster than sight, his figure blurring into streaks of shadow. I barely had time to react before a wave of force slammed toward me, throwing dust and shards of stone into the air. I crossed my arms, bracing for impact, my power flaring to shield me. The blast struck, and the world lit up — thunder, light, chaos.
When the dust settled, he was already behind me.
Too close.
I spun, striking out with a burst of energy that tore through the space between us. He dodged effortlessly, the faintest grin playing on his lips. “You’re strong,” he said, voice echoing in the air, “but still not enough.”
Anger surged through me. “You’ll regret saying that.”
He countered my attacks with ease, his movements almost graceful, like he was dancing through destruction. But I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop.
“Why are you doing this?” I shouted through the roar of energy.
I thrust my hand forward — a wave of pure energy rippled outward, twisting the ground and sky. The stars above seemed to tremble as power collided with power. Sparks of light and shadow spiraled between us, painting the darkness in streaks of fire.
He paused — just for a heartbeat.
Before I could respond, he raised his hand. The world stilled. Time itself seemed to bend. A cold light gathered in his palm, and my instincts screamed danger.
I clenched my teeth, summoning everything I had left.
I whispered, “I won’t lose.”
And then — both of us moved.
Light and darkness collided. The world erupted.
Before I could unleash my final strike, something surged out of the darkness — fast, silent, and merciless.
It wrapped around me in an instant. My body jerked backward as something thick and cold coiled around my arms, my waist, my throat. The air was crushed from my lungs. I struggled, but the more I fought, the tighter it pulled.
I looked down — a black, glistening rope. No, not rope… something alive. Its surface rippled like liquid shadow, cold as death itself.
“The Black Hunter!” I gasped, realization striking me like lightning. My voice cracked with fury. “You can’t do this to me! Who are you?!”
He stood there — calm, unreadable, watching as I writhed against the binding. The faint glow from above glinted against his face, his expression unreadable, almost… pitying.
“Where did you get that?” I shouted, straining against the grip. “That black sword… and now this—this hunter! How do you have them?!”
He didn’t answer. He threw his questions at me like knives — sharp, precise, and meant to cut. Each one lodged in me, fueling a rage so hot I wanted to rip him apart with my bare hands.
“Who are you? What is your true name?” His first question landed like a verdict.
I didn’t bother answering. Names meant nothing. Not here. Not now. Moreover he is a stranger and I could risk revealing my identity to him.
“How did you come here? How do you know this place?” His second question followed, patient and cold.
The same questions churned inside me. How had I come here? What was this place? I searched my mind and found only fragments — flashes of light, a burning forest, then the white sphere. I didn’t have answers for him, and I certainly didn’t trust that he deserved them.
“How do you know of the Black World and the Black Weapons?” His third question was softer, but it carried weight — as if naming the truth might summon something worse.
I met his gaze and spoke slowly, every word a blade. “Whoever knows of the Black World — and the weapons that dwell in it — is why the world trembles at their names.”
My voice didn’t waver. The truth tasted bitter but familiar: the weapons didn’t just belong to a place — they made it feared.
He stared at me then, as if trying to read the map of my soul. I felt it — that probing cold — and had to look away. This monster wasn’t merely powerful. He was dangerous in ways that reached beyond blood and bone.
“Leave me,” I snarled, forcing myself to sound strong. The hunter tightened its hold around my neck. Cold shadow pressed into my skin. Air left my lungs in a thin, urgent hiss.
Whom was I kidding? The truth cut through my bravado. These Black Weapons answered only to their lord. They were the universe’s deadliest oath — loyal only to one master, and merciless to the rest.
But one question refused to die in my mind: how did he get them? Not one… but two. Two black instruments of ruin in the hands of a single man. That fact alone rewrote everything I thought I knew.
Few moments later, he finally let go of the hunter's grip. I breathed the air in, trying catch my life.
These weapons, they are the one who decide their masters. And they only choose the strongest in the whole universe. He wishpered slow, soft while fidgeting the hunter in his plan.
And you think you're strong? I mocked him.
His demeanor changed. Suddenly his jaw clenched, fingers rolled in fist and rage once again consumed him.
I for sure touched his last nerve. And I'm proud for that. He deserve it. Merciless monster.
He looked dangerous, ready to swallow me alive. And when I thought he would grip me, left me uttered suprised. He pulled out third black weapon, The bow and array, I froze, this was just too much to beleive at once. "Three Black Weapon?"
He just made a boundary around me with the arrays and I knew I could not break it. Crossing it means straight to death, which I don't want.
I knew he could read the shock and surprise on my face — the questions I had, the ones he knew but refused to answer. I was helpless under his stare.
So I chose to answer him first.
“Shivali,” I said. “My name. I’m a queen.”
He said nothing. He only watched, waiting for the next piece of truth.
“I came because someone called me,” I continued. “I’m new here. I don’t know much.”
“And I already answered your third question.” My voice was steady, even as my pulse raced. I looked at him without flinching. I wasn’t afraid. Why should I be?
“Remove your weapons.” I said it low — more a demand than a plea.
He didn’t. He turned his back and walked away, as if my words were nothing more than a breeze. I couldn’t even shout after him. Rage coiled inside me — hot, sharp, and electric.
I sank to the ground, frustration and humiliation heavy as stone. No one had ever dared defy my command. And yet here he stood — that monster, arrogant and unmannered — doing exactly that.
Something in me snapped between indignation and curiosity. How could he hold such disrespect and such power at once?
I looked up again. The sky — that breathtaking sight I had seen moments ago — was fading. The glowing sphere, the countless flickering lights… all of it slowly dissolving into darkness.
If that monster was gone, how could his illusion still linger? The thought chilled me. Then I felt it — the shift, the change — the darkness peeling away, replaced by a blinding white light that pierced through everything.
“Ahhh—what’s happening again?” I cried out, shielding my eyes. The light grew stronger, burning through my skin, tearing through me like invisible claws. “Hey, you monster! If you’re behind this, stop it right now! This isn’t a joke!”
My voice vanished into the brilliance. My power drained away, leaving me hollow and weak. The world spun — light and shadow flickering, collapsing, breaking apart. My body gave in. I remembered nothing after that.
---
When I opened my eyes again, darkness greeted me. The same place. The same sky. The same white sphere surrounded by its flickering stars. My body was whole — no burns, no wounds, no pain. My power hummed beneath my skin again, steady but unsettling.
It was strange. Terrifyingly strange.
I stood and looked around. No sign of him. The black ropes were gone, the suffocating barrier vanished. I took a cautious step forward and called out into the emptiness.
No response. Silence.
Finally, he’s gone, I thought. But the relief didn’t last. I needed to get home — to find the forest again. That was the only way out.
I began to run — over jagged stones, through endless ridges, searching in every direction. The landscape was nothing but a wasteland of rock and silence. No trees. No path. No end. The more I searched, the more my heart pounded with anxiety.
Exhausted, I looked up at the sky again. The same sphere. The same flickers. The same creeping darkness. And then — that unbearable heat again, crawling beneath my skin.
“No… not again.” I turned and ran, desperate for shelter, for a shadow that light couldn’t reach. The ground trembled under my feet as I fled, the white radiance chasing me like death itself.
Then I saw it — a vast cave in the distance, its mouth yawning open like a promise of safety. I ran harder, every breath tearing through my chest.
And I made it.
The moment I crossed into the cave’s shadow, the light stopped. I collapsed to my knees, gasping. “Safe,” I whispered. “Finally safe…”
But the relief froze in my throat.
There — deep inside the cave — he sat. Waiting. Watching.
The monster.
I held my breath, forcing myself to stay calm. Slowly, I sat down, keeping my distance, eyes locked on his. His gaze never shifted — cold, knowing, endless.
And in that silent darkness, it felt like the cave itself was listening.
He stood up and began walking toward me. Instinctively, I rose to my feet too — I didn’t even know why. His steps were slow, deliberate, echoing softly through the cave. When he stopped just inches away, he leaned down, so close that his breath mingled with mine.
And suddenly… everything went still.
I couldn’t tell what I was feeling anymore.
Fear?
Shock?
Anger?
Was there anything left to feel?
A rush of warmth coursed through me, raising goosebumps across my skin. My legs trembled as I stumbled a step back. Then, just as abruptly, he straightened — calm, collected — as if nothing had happened. I exhaled, my chest easing for the first time in what felt like forever.
But the relief lasted less than a heartbeat.
In one swift motion, he reached forward and pulled me by the waist — close, far too close — until my upper body pressed against his. My mind went blank. My breath caught.
What just happened?
Was this real?
Was it supposed to happen?
I stared up at him, shocked beyond words, but his expression remained unreadable — cold, almost indifferent. I couldn’t comprehend him. Was he a monster, or something far worse?
I shut my eyes and turned my face away, done with this madness.
But he wasn’t done.
With deliberate boldness, he lifted my chin with his other hand, forcing me to meet his gaze. His touch burned — not with pain, but with something hauntingly strange.
“Shivraj,” he said. “My name.”
He paused, eyes unwavering.
“I’m a king. And this place… is called Earth. I’m not a monster. I’m a human. And humans live on Earth.”
My heart pounded in disbelief.
He leaned closer, his voice a whisper that felt heavier than the cave walls around us. “And right now,” he said, “you’re in my arms.”
I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t think. The words dissolved before they even reached my lips.
Then, with that same unnerving calm, he added, “And I already answered your third question.”
My eyes widened. He remembered my words. He was mocking me.
And then — just like that — he released me. My feet met the ground again. I gasped, steadying myself, feeling the sudden emptiness where his grip had been.
He turned and walked toward the mouth of the cave. Before stepping into the light, he called out, “Go back to your home. It’s over now.”
His voice echoed — firm, final.
And then he was gone.
I ran after him, but as I reached the entrance, the light outside flared — blinding, searing — far brighter than before. I shielded my eyes, but it was no use. I couldn’t cross it.
He was gone. So I waited — in that endless dark — for him to return.
Write a comment ...