Kalinaya: Blood of the Forgotten Gods

Location: Prayer Corner, Ashtashram Shelter

Date: October 9, 2029

Time: 4:44 AM

It started with a scream.

Not a loud one.

Just a sharp cry from the east wall.

One of the guards had vanished.

No blood.

No noise.

Just… gone.

Yash arrived first.

Ankita followed with two others.

The sky was fogged with ash.

But there was movement in it.

A ripple.

A shape that didn't belong.

A wrongness that watched.

"Inside. Now," Yash ordered.

But before they could retreat—

They heard it.

Breathing.

Not human.

Not animal.

A sound like wind passing through broken ribs.

And then it stepped out of the fog.

It had no eyes.

No ears.

Only a mouth that didn't close.

Wide.

Black.

Endless.

Bullets didn't stop it.

Ashfire slowed it — but only for seconds.

It moved like it was searching.

Not hunting to kill.

Searching for something lost.

Then it turned.

Walked toward the sleeping room.

Where Khushi was.

Mira tried to stop it — her electric traps sparked uselessly.

Ankita drew a blade.

Yash stood still — waiting for the divine signal.

But nothing came.

No form awakened.

No mark burned.

He couldn't fight this thing.

It was beyond violence.

And then…

Khushi stepped out of the room.

Her doll in one hand.

A glass bead in the other.

She didn't run.

She didn't scream.

She knelt.

And whispered—

"Please go away.

We're tired.

I'll share my food if you go."

The creature froze.

Its mouth stopped twitching.

Its head tilted — almost like it heard something only it could hear.

And then…

…it turned away.

Walked back into the fog.

Vanished.

No one understood it.

Mira stared like she'd seen a code break itself.

Ankita dropped to one knee.

Yash… didn't speak.

He just walked to Khushi.

Knelt beside her.

"What did you say?"

She shrugged.

"Just… a prayer, I think."

That night, Mira found something strange.

The old statue near the back room — a forgotten, broken piece of a goddess — was glowing.

Softly. Faintly.

And the glass bead Khushi held?

It wasn't glass anymore.

It had turned to ash crystal.

Somewhere deep in the fracture of worlds…

A forgotten goddess opened one eye.