“Excellent,” she replied, showering him with more warmth that made him want to cry with joy. “Make us proud.”

Faizan could see her moving further away, until he realised it was him who was being pulled back. No doubt back to Earth.

“Wait!” he shouted. The movement didn’t slow down. “I never got your name.”

“It is best I do not tell you my name. My name cannot be uttered or understood by mortals. And it is far too long for you to be able to retain. Good luck, Vessel.”

And just like that the movement escalated until he was covering light years of distances in seconds. The movement got faster and faster until all he saw was white, which was quickly replaced by the vivid colours of the cave chamber as he returned to his body.

He gasped for air.

His sudden return to his body had knocked the wind out of him and he sat up gasping for breath. He could still feel the soft caress on his body as he sat up and turned to see Laila’s bloody hand. She was smiling at him and he realised that the blood on her hand was from the large golden bowl he had seen in front of the statue. She was dipping her hand into the bowl and rubbing the metallic-smelling blood onto his naked body. He realised he was lying in front of it as all the witches in the cave chanted a spell in front of him.

“Don’t worry, Faizan,” she said, putting a reassuring hand on his naked shoulder.

“What’s going on?” he asked, conscious of all the witches staring at him. He could still feel the goddess’s dark energy flowing through him.

“We are equipping you as the goddess wished. So that you can finish the horror outside once and for all.”

“How so?”

“You’ll see, Faizan.”

He realised that she was the first witch to call him Faizan and not Vessel. It felt strangely reassuring. He felt less like a tool that they were using and more humane. He smiled at her.

“The spell is complete,” she informed him. She gestured for him to stand up and he did so in front of the whole crowd of witches. He did not feel any shame being naked in front of him. Why should he if this was the will of the goddess?

“You won’t have to stay naked for long,” said Laila. Could she look into his mind as well? “But do not wear any clothes until you have finished things. They will end up getting torn.”

Faizan had no idea what that meant but he nodded. “What now?”

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“We will make preparations to migrate. You go first so you can clear a path for us.”

Faizan felt he was invincible with the energy that flowed through him and so he nodded. He looked down at his sweaty, naked body and how the blood had been painted all over his body in spots. He wondered what they meant.

“It will be done,” he answered.

Laila nodded and the witches moved aside as he made his way towards the entrance. He searched for Hina among the crowd and spotted Inaya in the crowd. He could not bear to look at her until he saw that she was not avoiding his gaze. Instead, she smiled as if assuring him that everything that had happened was not his fault. He hoped the goddess was providing her with her energy too so that she could feel just as safe as he did.

Eventually he spotted Hina towards his right, sitting next to Aleena. There was guilt etched on his ex-girlfriend’s face who tried to give him a reassuring smile. Faizan tried to speak to her through his thoughts but remembered the goddess had severed the connection. He wondered if this would be the last time he would see her.

He knew the answer.

He would.

He was invincible.

He walked through the corridors that led to the entrance until he was approaching the seemingly dead end of a rocky wall. He wondered if he had to chant any spell for it to open but to his relief, it vanished just as he walked up to it. He was expecting to see empty fields and darkness.

Instead he saw fire and an army.

The villagemen were gathered in droves all around the cave entrance, holding fire torches and weapons in their hands. They were covered in various forms of makeshift armour made from whatever they could get their hands on; metal pots, metal sheets and even wood. It seemed all the men in the village had gathered in front of the cave to fight him. He could hear the maulvi speaking from the masjid speaker rallying them with religious incantations that he spoke with such force that it made his voice crack. The masjid minaar was deep into the clouds, looking like a giant porcupine spike.

The goddess’s vision had almost begun.

“We have found the witches’ cave. It is time to end them, my brothers! It is time to end this eid with a great victory for our religion. Are you ready to take your place in heaven?”

They all shouted yes with him and began chanting furiously. Faizan was unfazed by everything that was happening. The goddess’s power inside him was numbing any form of fear and anxiety inside him. He stood with his arms to the side, unmoving.

“I am being informed the whores have sent their slave, the boy from the city. They have misled him and seduced him with their magic no doubt. Do not become one of him! Pray so that you may not be misguided by the devil. God has a special place for the city boy. Kill him so that his soul goes to your Lord!”

The army of villagemen charged at him and Faizan readied himself for their onslaught. He was caught off guard when he heard a frenzied scream from behind him from above. He looked around just in time to find a figure jump down onto him and throw him to the ground. Faizan stayed perfectly still as the figure began slamming down a large blade into him that bounced off the invincible skin on his chest. He didn't even raise his hands up to protect himself as Khalid shouted obscenities at him and continued to bring the blade down with force.

One of his eyes was completely gone and covered in a crude looking cloth that had become bloodied, no doubt from the quill rain that he had caused.

“You fucking heretic!” he shouted, spittle falling out his mouth. “You joined the witches? You fucking asshole! You’re covered in our brothers’ blood for their spells? Just you wait until I fuck that whore of a girlfriend you blindly followed here. How dare you!”

Faizan quietly got up to his feet and Khalid slid off his naked body. He tried to hold him down but he was nowhere near strong enough. Neither were the villagemen who had reached him now and were wildly swinging at him while holding onto him. Their weapons didn’t do anything.

Khalid got up on his feet shakily and screamed at them to stop attacking him. “He’s mine! It is my right to end him.”

Khalid looked up at Faizan while some of the villagemen held onto him. He made no attempt to fight them as the villagemen’s general, and his ex friend put the blade on the edge of his neck.

“Your soul is going to burn in hell, you heretic. You son of a whore. Just you wait.”

For the first time, Faizan spoke up. “I look forward to meeting him. Why don’t I make sure you meet him too?”

“What?”

Faizan reached into the energy inside him.

His body began to tremble as he felt the transformation take place. Khalid and the villagemen froze as they watched Faizan’s shaking body, horrified as they watched it grow and hunch over. His skin was turning jet black and tough, while his front teeth began to enlarge and sharpen, like a butcher’s knife. They began to walk back slowly until Faizan stopped trembling and looked up with his dark, beady eyes that sent dread through their bodies.

He smiled.

And let all the energy out.