Something Different
King Devansh sat on the throne, his gaze sweeping across the gathered assembly.
Along with the heads of the thirteen noble families, Ashura and his five squad leaders stood in attendance, flanked by Sabo, Dr. Chaithra, and Elder Jeron. Today, however, there was an additional presence—the Warden of the Amirthyas, Perumal Thirumurthy. Queen Rekha Augustine sat beside Devansh on his right, regal and composed, while Prince Adhrivan occupied the seat to his left.
Devansh leaned forward slightly.
“Alright,” he said, his voice steady. “We have gathered to clear the confusion regarding what happened yesterday. Mr. Perumal—tell me. What are the discussions among the Amirthyas?”
He turned his attention to the Warden.
Perumal bowed once before responding. “Many of them approached me separately, my lord. All of them heard the humming sound. At first, they were shocked, but as the sound continued, they described a sense of peace—until it ended after a minute. Personally, I experienced the same.”
Devansh nodded.
He then looked toward the heads of the Pranvar families. One by one, they gave similar accounts of the experience—careful, however, not to mention that they had heard no voice during that minute. Devansh noticed the omission. He knew the truth, for he had experienced the same silence himself.
After listening intently, Devansh finally turned to Chaithra.
“I know you may not be certain yet,” he said, “but have you made any observations, Dr. Chaithra?”
Chaithra adjusted her glasses, her fingers trembling slightly. “S–sorry, Lord Devansh. Nothing conclusive so far. However, I spoke with a prominent astronomer from the United States. She confirmed that no devices recorded the sound. And it wasn’t limited to humans—animals, birds, even insects reacted to it. I will need further study to understand the phenomenon.”
Devansh nodded once more.
“For now,” he addressed the room, “we will treat this as a natural occurrence—one that may not repeat. Once we have more information, I will speak on it again.”
Then his gaze shifted back to Perumal.
“Mr. Perumal,” Devansh said warmly, “may I request that you excuse us? We have some internal matters to discuss.”
“Of course, our beloved King,” Perumal replied. Then he hesitated. “But I have one more update to share. May I speak before I leave?”
Devansh pressed his foot harder against the floor, releasing a flicker of frustration—but his smile remained unchanged.
“Go ahead.”
“The Amirthyas are concerned about the robberies,” Perumal said respectfully. “I have informed you of this on numerous occasions. You have been kind enough to reimburse them for their losses. But may I ask—can we find a permanent solution? Perhaps by catching the thief?”
“I will think about it and get back to you,” Devansh replied calmly.
Perumal bowed once more and exited the courtroom.
Devansh turned back to the remaining attendees.
“If anyone is wondering,” he said, “this changes nothing about our plans.”
His eyes settled on Chaithra. “Dr. Chaithra—set this matter aside for now. You may study it after we leave this island. Until then, focus all your energy on completing the tasks I assigned you.”
Chaithra paused, then nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Devansh looked around the room one final time.
“We will reconsider this phenomenon if it happens again—which I doubt,” he said. After a brief pause, he added, “If there is nothing further to discuss, this meeting is adjourned.”
He rose from his throne
“Everybody heard it, Yodhika—except us. Maybe it was the trees,” Rudhra said, deflecting her trident with an upward swing of his sword, the blade rising from the ground in a sharp arc.
“Yeah, maybe,” she replied. “But there’s one other thing.”
She released a massive wave of energy from her core toward Rudhra and sprinted sideways to her right.
“Yeah? What is it?” Rudhra asked, running in the opposite direction.
He was a fraction too slow.
The blast clipped him before he could fully escape its impact zone, hurling him into the air. His body spun violently before crashing onto the ground.
“I stopped hearing the voices,” Yodhika said, halting her movement and lunging toward him.
“Th… that’s wonderful news,” Rudhra said with a grin, rubbing his head as he pushed himself up. The floor beneath him bore the marks of the impact. “Are you going to tell your family?”
“I thought about it,” she said, circling him at high speed. “Then I realized I’d have to explain how it stopped. That would only make things worse—for both of us.”
She launched multiple energy waves in rapid succession.
Rudhra sprang to his feet, zigzagging through the air to avoid them, then charged toward her.
Suddenly, Yodhika slipped and fell forward.
Rudhra didn’t hesitate.
He darted out of her peripheral range and closed in from behind. Yodhika sensed him instantly—but she didn’t turn. Instead, she fired a powerful energy wave backward.
Too late.
Her left hand was seized. A blade hovered inches from her neck.
“Yield,” Rudhra said calmly from her left.
She clicked her trident, retracting it into a rod.
Rudhra loosened his grip.
In the same breath, Yodhika tossed the rod into her other hand and clicked it again.
The trident extended instantly—piercing straight through Rudhra’s head.
She retracted it as his body collapsed to the ground.
Moments later, his body reformed—faster than before.
“That’s not fair,” Rudhra sulked as consciousness returned. “I caught you.”
“Did I yield?” she asked.
Rudhra looked down.
“No.”
“Never let your guard down until the opponent is completely defeated,” Yodhika said.
“Okay,” Rudhra replied, committing the lesson to memory.
She tilted her head. “So—what about that thief you mentioned? Did you make contact?”
“Not yet. I will today. Right after this.” He paused. “Do you still have that Tamaskara knife and those bullets you showed me?”
“No. I stole them, remember? I had to return everything to the exact spot the same day. Why?”
“They can be convinced more easily if we show them,” Rudhra said.
“Is your wound healed?” Yodhika asked.
“Which one?”
“The one I gave you in the forest. With the knife.”
“No. It’s still there.”
“Show them that,” she said. “Tell them it was made by a weapon forged by us—and that we have a lot more.”
Rudhra thought for a moment.
“Okay. I’ll try.”
Without warning, Yodhika grabbed him and threw him into a yellow car. She jumped in after him.
“Don’t you usually hit me with an energy wave?” Rudhra asked, rubbing his head.
“I…” she said, forcing a smile, “just didn’t want to hurt you for that.”
She didn’t waste another second.
She climbed onto him and kissed him.
They melted into the kiss, bodies pressed close, breath mingling. When they finally pulled away, both of them were breathing hard.
“This feels even better after last night, huh?” Rudhra said between breaths.
“Yeah,” Yodhika replied, panting softly. “Much better.”
She slid off him and opened the door.
“Meet me tomorrow. Talk to them today. I still don’t trust them—but if you do, then it’s okay.”
She paused, leaned in, and kissed his cheek.
“Bye for now.”
She stepped out of the car and walked away.
Something is different about my body, she thought.
(To be continued)
Karun G Nath 
Leave a comment