"Never thought things would turn out like this." I stumbled across the pine forest, clutching my ribs and hoping that my lungs won't fail me. They've been burning for quite a while.

Have I been too arrogant?

I cursed myself for not training my body physically... All I've been doing is sitting around kneading Kundalini into the weapons that have usually taken out humanoid opponents I've faced till now. Quite easily.

The ancient trees behind me, as if awoken by a primordial God, pulled out their roots and crawled like crabs down the mountain slope, slowly encircling me.

Their pine cones shot out like high-speed grenades, colliding against my barrier and bouncing away into the dark, leaving irreparable craters behind.

The Spawn of Kalpa, a massive amalgamation of vine-like plants, kept following me casually, as if I was already in its grasp.

I willed another one of my fogs near the Spawn to bloom, destroying the pine trees, the soil, and the unearthly monster to bits with massive fifteen-meter earth spikes that looked like a sea urchin. The blasted-away bits and pieces of plants crawled back like leeches, aggregating together but slowing down long enough to give me time to increase the distance between us.

"They must be quite far away by now." I huffed, catching my breath. My nostrils had gone numb by now. The cold air was not helping me gather oxygen in my lungs without burning my trachea.

Why do I keep endangering myself like this? I don't owe them anything! Who knew after my sudden attack, the Spawn would come solely after me forgetting that the others also existed? Who knew it would still be alive after taking four times the damage the Final Makara Boss took during my first dungeon crawl?

The dark forest was suffocating. As if the world had constricted to only a few meters in diameter around me. Tripping and stumbling while fleeing and dodging the sudden trees in my path had left my legs sore and my body screaming in pain. My thighs were refusing to move anymore. The Armor I was wearing had reduced the damage from some of the collisions but it had been weighing me down, wearing away my stamina.

How long have I been running? How many blooming fogs do I have left? What about my potions?

I gulped down the contents of two medium-grade ones to recover my fatigue and shallow wounds.

Somewhere to my left, I could hear the roaring of a mountain river. Which one is it, that goes through these parts of the Himalayas? Kalpa should integrate a Satya Loka GPS system in KalpaYaal— a lot of things can be made easier with that. Should I use the good old method of jumping into a river and letting it take me away from my pursuer as shown in most movies?

But... The Spawn might return to its previous targets, rendering everything I did useless. I need a plan. A good one with very few holes. And I need the help of Vivikta.

My earth-based energy is weak to plants. I've seen roots of a tree easily sending buildings to a state of disrepair given enough time. Fire and Air. These two will also be crucial. Pratyusha has fire energy since she had used a yellow Kundalini. Vivikta must have all her chakras unlocked being a Rishika, but given her physical constitution, she might be using her energy for body enhancement instead.

So many variables...

"Young Manava..." I suddenly heard a rustling voice from the direction of the Spawn. A bunch of leaves seemed to rustle every time it talked as if it was vibrating them to generate proper sound waves imitating a vocal cord.

"And you can also talk." I sighed, frustrated that this being also turned out to be sentient, "Shani will now be condemning me to an eternal life of Dosha.". I muttered to myself.

"I can feel remnants of Mother's consciousness from you." The leaves rustled again, "Do you happen to be from one of the Seven Families?"

I kept backstepping towards the ravine through which the river down below flowed, trying to get out of this situation using 'other' methods, suggested by almost everyone who came across me. Congrats, all your wishes came true. I'm now in a position where I've got no choice other than to look for it since this enemy seems invulnerable to all my sneak attacks.

Lots of questions appeared in my mind regarding the Seven Families, but I was unable to ask them.

"She asked me to get rid of you." I said instead. "And as you can see, I don't want to."

"Liar!!" The leaves hissed, "Mother would never do that."

I was thinking of going in a direction where I acted as a benevolent guy and pretended to spare it despite Kalpa's wishes. Guess that won't work now with its head up in the clouds.

"In fact, you're right. Kalpa used me as a medium to send you a message. Sorry for trying to deceive you. I needed to know your current relationship with her, from your perspective."

"Mother hasn't been talking with me for a while. How come she's communicating with a Being like you?" The Spawn now seemed offended. It was acting like an immature child, throwing accusations everywhere.

"Your Mother uses whatever she has. Doesn't it make sense that she's using me for trivial things like these? She's angry since you failed to carry out her mission." I still tried, remembering how Kalpa had called it a failed experiment. "What were you tasked with?"

"Give me five minutes." Came Vivikta's message. "These plant-like clones born from the monster seem to have copied some of our abilities and physical features. How did something like this appear in Satya?"

I kept the message window in my periphery, making sure to coordinate with Vivikta. They seem to have come across some trouble... Clones? A ray of hope lit in the back of my brain, as soon as I remembered the mangled remains of my fellow Rakshaks. Maybe things were not as hopeless as I'd thought.

"Fights." The Spawn spoke in response to my questions regarding the mission Kalpa had entrusted it with, "Manavas... Lots of them. Devatas. And an Asura. Needed to retrieve a female of your species. One of the Seven Families."

The information struck me like lightning. I knew enough to deduce who it was.

"What happened to her?" I asked, trying not to sound too curious.

"Taken away by the Asura... Now I will demand answers, Manava."

I took some time to digest the data. Taken away by the Asura? What the? The ones who attacked us during the Utsaav were using Asuran arts, right? Are they collecting prospective Rakshaks and training them to fight for the Asuras?

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Makes sense. You've been cooperative because you also need something in return right?" I asked, surprised that this being wasn't the savage I'd thought it to be. Wait, weren't we the ones who attacked first?

I felt ashamed but tried not to show it on my face.

"Don't attack it. Give me some time." I messaged Vivikta just in case.

"Tell me about Mother's message." The Spawn came near me, trembling expectantly. The corpse-like smell wafting from its pus almost made me gag.

"She asked you to stay hidden and not come across Manavas for now." I answered imagining a hypothetical situation where Kalpa had also asked the same thing of others as she had done to me. This way, I can stay safe and also, not carry out Kalpa's bidding. "The Manavas you fought with, are out on a hunt for you."

"Let them come." The leaves rustled wildly, "Even the Devatas could only injure me. It will take a lot more to take me down for good. But, how long do I need to stay concealed?"

"Until another messenger like me comes around later, when Kalpa sees fit." I answered, feeling good that the conversation was going in a direction I preferred. "Until then, try not to upset the balance of these forests too much."

The forest became quiet for a few seconds and the trees that had encircled me bore open new holes into the ground and settled their roots in slowly. Within an hour, the landscape of the forest had changed drastically.

What the hell is Kalpa trying to create if this was just a mere failure?

If it's a failure... Why is it required to be disposed of? Why was it even fighting with Devatas? Did Kalpa fall out with the Gods?

With three hundred thirty million Devatas residing in Swarga, anything can be possible.

"Kalpa is forcing me to cut that thing down..." Came Vivikta's message.

"What?" I panicked, and sent another message in a hurry, "I somehow managed to calm it down. Don't stimulate it again! It is a lot stronger than us."

"I'll lose my vessels otherwise." She sent.

I grabbed a handful of my hair in frustration.

"Did anyone else get the same threat?" I sent in the group again.

"No." A unanimous response arrived except Vivikta's.

Kalpa can surely see all this.

Despite having the edge of the ravine dozens of meters away from me, the situation made me feel as if my heels were already dangling beyond it. I slowly made my way, away from the ravine, to give my mind some kind of an external psychological support.

"What's wrong, young Manava?" The Spawn spoke coldly through the leaves of the forest, "Since you brought news from Mother, I'm willing to forgive your past transgressions and let you go this time. But the ones eavesdropping on us right now... They have nothing to offer."

Transform!

My mental command morphed a nearby Kundalini fog into a rectangular barrier, triggering it simultaneously with the Spawn's vine attack, and they clashed against each other.

"They are with me!" I shouted, hoping to keep his attention on me. "Let us go. Please."

"I can clearly feel her murderous intentions. Do you not want me to retaliate when faced with an enemy?" The rustling got crazier. The mass of vines kept crawling towards my right, from where Vivikta and others were listening in to our conversation.

"We are not enemies. Someone wishes us to. We are slaves to that Being. Like you are... To your mother." Vivikta stepped forward, signaling others to take the chance and retreat.

"Mother wishes us to fight?" An excited shiver traveled across all the individual vines, originating from the middle of its body.

"Yes, she does. She threatened to take away my powers if I don't put you down." Vivikta's actions had a clear ending. Losing one of her lives.

She's trading that for the safety of all her students.

'Why are you doing this, Kalpa!' I tried to forge a connection with her only to receive silence from her end.

"How many lives do you have left?" I messaged Vivikta personally.

She turned towards me with a bitter smile.

I knew at once what it meant.

"Just enough..." She answered through her message. "See you at Somnath. Help Pratyusha and the others to complete their Pilgrimage and reach the city safely."

Liar.

The Spawn and Vivikta inched closer to each other, releasing their suffocating bloodlust.

I stared at the expressions my makeshift teammates were making and lamented over the fact that I was totally useless in this scenario. As always...

It should be better to just give up and run away. But why do I feel like I'll regret it if I did that? Why did it feel like if I left Vivikta here, I won't be seeing her again? I've known her face-to-face for two weeks at most. Four weeks since we were introduced to each other. She's always been supportive, patient, understanding, and really trustworthy.

I clutched my arm, and tried to push Kundalini into the mark that had been gifted to me by the Nagas. I prayed for a miracle. Any intervention, that will allow me to save her.

No response.

I dived deep into my mind but returned midway through. I promised myself I won't be taking her help going forward.

What do I have left?

A staff that can shoot a water cannon, but dependent on the energy reserves I have. About two dozen blooming arrows heads... That does absolutely no damage to the Being. Maybe, we can deal damage indirectly, without hitting the body itself.

The fight between the Spawn and Vivikta started with a bang. Her Warhammer started smashing the Spawn's vines, flattening them down against the ground. Her movements reminded me of a nimble cat, sliding under or jumping over the stems and branches that were moving around like snakes and slashing at her like whips.

The speed at which they were operating was close to leaving after images. Wherever she stepped suddenly got crushed into a crater, her every position being tracked and attacked by the fleshy vines forced her to keep moving. The trees she used as a foothold got blasted to smithereens, sending splinters in our direction which left cracks on my shield before bouncing away like seemingly harmless twigs.

"Let's go. We are only hindering her movements by staying here." Pratyusha beckoned us further from the battlefield.

"Dhruva." She came over and touched my shoulder, "This is beyond us. You know that. Let's leave this to her."

She never came to talk directly with me before. Did my little performance of running away to save my own hide appear as an act of self-sacrifice to her?

"You also know what entails your decision. Vivikta will become a Forgotten if we leave her here to die..." I said, stopping only to see Vivikta getting swatted away like a fly to the edge of the ravine. She rolled and stopped just a few meters short of tumbling down to her death.

Hearing me deny her claims, Pratyusha went deep into thought.

Go.

Meanwhile, I released three healing patches of fog kept for emergencies. They floated over and started pumping healing Kundalini into her body recovering her rattled innards and outer wounds.

"You guys are making me shy." Vivikta smiled a bit, "Let me have my moment."

"Not so soon." Pratyusha shouted instead, surprising all of us.

She looked over at us and asked for a silent agreement. "You guys have learned a bit of geometry, right?"

Vivikta, after getting healed while dodging both the acid and physical whip attacks of the Spawn, summoned fire to cover her whole body and weapon.

What ensued next was a massive flurry of plants, fire, and metal. Charred pieces of the Spawn got torn away from the resulting impacts of Vivikta's weapon, sending them crashing in different directions.

Vivikta's shouts sent adrenaline through my body. Even though her bloody face and crumbling body were continuously being healed by my three fogs which were almost emptied out within the span of a few minutes, she persisted, parrying the vines and burning away many in the process. She used the whole of her long-handled Warhammer to carry out the feats.

Every time her weapon made contact with the Spawn, it left the leaves rustling madly, as if they all were in excruciating pain. The yellowish fire originating from her weapon spilled over to the surroundings, catching onto the grass and the trees nearby, starting a forest fire. A green shade also appeared over her hair and aura, causing the wind around us to blow wildly. It carried the burning cinders into the deeper sections of the forest, while Vivikta kept cornering her enemy away from us and right into it.

"Whoever wishes to not participate can retreat. Don't blame me if something goes wrong." Pratyusha warned the others and then glanced at me, "Dhruva, you'll be crucial to this plan. I hope you understood it. Remember, along the hypotenuse. The edge of the ravine is a right angle."

"Buy me a few minutes. Or make sure Vivikta can grant me that." I said while bringing out the blooming arrowheads from my dimensional box. "Time to recall the earthworm friends of old."

I saw most of my teammates retreat. Makes sense, what can they do without Blessings or enough Kundalini?

Aditi, Vaibhav, and Jevin stayed.

They examined me kneading Kundalini with an amused expression on their faces.

"Someone won't forgive me if you happen to lose a life while being protected by me." Aditi said without showing much of an expression on her face.

"She also asked me for the same." I chuckled for a brief second.

"I still need to launch the arrow you gave me a while ago." Vaibhav smiled.

"Warhammers and Maces are quite similar. Witnessing her movements will surely allow me to advance further." Jevin also had an excuse ready.

"Let's just hope Vivikta can hold on for a few more minutes." I mumbled, moving my fingers as if my life depended on it.