"Oh Great Lord Suryat! It's the Blackbloods!" Thalava exclaimed, her voice trembling. I'd never seen her like this before-afraid. But in an instant, she gathered herself, eyes locking onto mine.

"Mily, take your animal form and leave the wild, NOW."

"No, Mom. I didn't return just to abandon you to them," I said, my voice firm despite the fear twisting in my gut.

"SSSSSSSSS!" The sound slithered through the air as a forked tongue, snake-like, emerged from beneath Drako's hood where his face should have been. It stretched nearly 20 centimeters, grotesque and menacing.

"You think we'd spare her if she turns into a kitty?", Drako laughed.

Drako's laughter was a dark symphony inside my head, reverberating in a twisted echo. "Why didn't anyone tell me Dhadhoodis are imbeciles?"

THUMP! A vine shot out like a spear from my mother's palm, piercing Drako's chest with brutal precision. He froze, lifeless, his body slumping over the vine. Smoke poured from the wound.

Our eyes met, and Mom gave me a slight nod. It was over.

Or so we thought.

Drako's body jerked, and that familiar twisted voice crawled through the air once more.

"HA HA HA. You really thought that would kill me?" His laughter was cruel, mocking. "Never kill your prey in one go, Dhahoodi leader. A true hunter lets the victim die a thousand deaths from fear before they ever take their last breath. THIS. IS. HOW. YOU. KILL."

Each word was punctuated by fireballs hurled toward us. We barely dodged in time. His power was fierce-he wielded AGNI, the element of fire. I had always believed elemental magic belonged to the Nagas alone. How wrong I was.

I stared in disbelief-the vine still protruded from his chest, smoking. With a single pull, he ripped it out and ignited it, twisting it into a blazing rope of fire. He swung it toward us, and we ducked and rolled with barely a second to spare. Flames licked at my skin, blisters forming, my hair singed by the heat. The house around us was nothing more than ash in seconds. Now, we stood exposed, vulnerable, in a forest clearing.

"Mily, you need to go now! You've drained your Manorupa curing Altras. You're no match for them like this." Thalava said while facing the fireballs.

"No, Mom! How could I leave you to face them alone? I'll take my cat form and-" I barely dodged another fireball.

"Mily, listen to her," Drako sneered. "Hide behind your precious kitty form if you must. Your mommy's PRITHVI is useless here. You better save her mommy!" Drako made a mocking gesture of craddling an invisible baby to provoke us.

Thalava's eyes hardened into slits, and her voice was ice. "I despise trespassers, but more than that, I despise those who mock PRITHVI-the essence of the earth itself."

As she spoke, her green amulet began to glow, casting an ethereal light around us. The air shimmered, and the ground beneath our feet seemed to hum with energy. "THE FORM OF PLUNTIS!" she roared

She raised her hands, her green amulet glowing, casting an ethereal light around us, shifting like the aurora borealis. Leaves sprouted from her body in spirals, enveloping her until she was covered head to toe in thick, green foliage. Her eyes blazed teal-green-an embodiment of PLUNTIS, the spirit of the forest.

In short she looked like a humanoid tree, towering, terrifying.

The Blackbloods faltered, visibly shaken. Even Drako lost his shadowy sneer.

Before he or his comrades could react, Thalava's arms shot forward. Vines erupted from the earth, thick and thorny, wrapping around the Black Bloods like serpents. They tightened around their throats, lifted them into the air. They struggled, feet kicking helplessly and gasping ,hands bound by the unrelenting vines.

Drako's shadowy form thrashed wildly. He tried to burn the vines with fire, but the flames fizzled. The female Black Blood beside him conjured icy needles(evidently her power was Apas or water), attempting to sever the vines, but they only regrew, stronger and faster.

My mother's voice boomed through the chaos, "You dare underestimate PRITHVI? You dare challenge the Dhahoodis?"

The Blackbloods writhed, their struggles futile as the vines squeezed tighter, draining their life force with every pulse.

Wow, Mom was more powerful than all the Blackbloods put together. One day, I want to be just as powerful as her-strong enough to rise and rise high.

Today, I may be helpless, but one day, I'll protect this whole village.

With another swift motion, she summoned a long vine, wrapping it around all the Blackbloods, tying them together into a tangled bundle. With a sudden thud, she slammed them onto the ground. Spires of mud shot up around them, forming a prison of earth.

"I'm glad you didn't kill them, even though they're bad people, Mom."

"Kill them? Of course I will-just not yet. First, I'll extract all the information we need about their people."

"What?! Mom, we don't have to kill them! Isn't there another way? They serve Mother Nature too, in their own way, they just have weird principles."

Thalava's eyes shifted away, her voice distant. "Whatever... it doesn't matter," she muttered.

Before I could respond, Altras came running into the clearing, breathless. "Is everyone alright?" he asked, scanning the charred remains of the house and the bound Blackbloods.

"Yes," we both answered in unison.

Thalava's expression hardened again as she turned to him. "What do we do about Mily's punishment? The prophecy said she would be the one to kill you. I can't keep her here in the forest any longer. Prophecies always fulfill themselves, and I won't risk the forest or you, Altras. Is there any other way out of this?"

Altras gave a crooked smile. "Oh, come on, Thalava. What a bad day for you, both as a mother and as the leader of the Dhahoodis."

He stepped forward, wrapping her in a seemingly comforting hug. "But I never expected you to stop the Blackbloods... how inconvenient."

"What do you mean?" Thalava's voice was tense, sensing something wrong.

Before she could pull away, I saw it-my amulet turning red. My heart dropped. The realisation hit me hard.

But before I could react, SHHHK! Altras had made an icicle sword with his water power and drived it on my mothers back. I couldn't believe my eyes.

"NOOOOOO!" I screamed out loud, my voice echoing through the forest as I watched my mother's body go limp in Altras' arms. He pulled back, and she collapsed to the ground, blood soaking into the soil as the first drops of rain began to fall-Pluntis' tears. The earth groaned beneath us, the whispers of the trees filled with sorrow.

I rushed forward, dropping to my knees beside her. "Altras, what is this? W-Why are you doing this?!" The reality of all this still not sinking in.

Mom writhed in agony, her blood mixing with the rainwater as it streamed into the earth. Her eyes, usually so full of strength, now looked at me with a sorrow I couldn't bear. Around us, the plants shuddered, the life force of Pluntis screaming silently in protest.

"What happened to you, Altras?!" I cried, shaking as the storm gathered above us, the sky growing darker.

Altras turned to me, his face twisted in something I couldn't recognize anymore. His voice was cold, devoid of the warmth I once knew. "I am not your 'good old Naga,' Mily."

In one swift motion, he swiped his hand across his body. His once white robes turned pitch black, his silvery hair transforming into an inky darkness. A gold bangle, etched like a rose with serpents entwined in its stem, glistened on his wrist.

"You... you're a Blackblood?" I gasped, the truth hitting me hard. And as if in sync with the realization, a bolt of lightning struck the earth nearby, the rumble shaking the ground beneath us.

"RUN, MILY! GET OUT OF THE FOREST!" My mother's voice was hoarse, barely a whisper over the roar of the storm. "He revealed himself to you, hoping you wouldn't live to tell the truth. He's planning to kill you too. RUN!"

Altras sneered, stepping closer. "You're wrong, Thalava." He bent down to meet her eye level, his voice dripping with malice. "Did you forget the Manorupa curse? Seashells will suffer the same curse now, since he is merged. He will only remember up until the merging ceremony. Your precious daughter won't even remember you are her mom"

I stared at him, my heart breaking. This was Altras-the one who had been our protector, our friend. But no more. He was someone else now. Something else.

Everything must've been his plan .. He somehow tampered with the whispering tree to make that prophecy. Got himself stabbed to breech the security and let the blackbloods in. Led the other dhadhoodis in search of me. No wonder he stood there watching when the black bloods were breaking in. Everything was his goddamn plan. May be made Iniya confess too. He was the only person who could we valued more than each other.

Thunder roared above us as I knelt beside my mother, cradling her head, my tears mixing with the rain. The earth beneath me quaked, but my world was already shattered.

Altras watched, indifferent. "Run if you want, Mily. But you'll never escape your fate."

Suddenly, with a final surge of strength, Mom struggled to sit upright. Her body trembled as she summoned a vine that shot toward me, wrapping around me tightly.

"Don't use magic, Mom! It will drain the last of your life!" My desperate words fell on deaf ears. I was yanked into the air with violent force, the wild and The Wisteria Isle blurring below me as I was hurled far away through air, the veins clasping me like handcuffs.

But then, in mid-flight, the vine suddenly withered. My heart stopped. It only meant one thing-the wielder was gone. She was gone.Tears were ripped from my eyes, floating mid-air like droplets in zero gravity as the wind howled around me. The air was so thin, it felt like it was tearing through my lungs. I tumbled helplessly, crashing down with a thud that knocked the breath from my chest.

"Ow!" I heard Seasells scream inside me, his voice echoing in my mind before I could even find my own. He had been silently observing all this-everything. And now, he had to endure the physical and emotional agony with me, trapped inside this cursed body.

What cruel fate had I given him.

I thought of the Dhahoodis-our people-unaware of the chaos that had unfolded. What would happen to them now? Would they face the same destruction?

The world around me grew distant. My vision blurred, and I could feel my consciousness slipping away. The weight of it all-the loss, the pain, the betrayal-was suffocating. My eyelids grew heavy, pulling me into darkness. My head must be badly injured from the fall.

No.

I fought to keep my eyes open, but they were shutting on their own, dragging me into oblivion. I couldn't let myself forget this night. I couldn't let myself fall into the dark.

I must not forget this night...

I struggled to hold on.

I must not...

And then, everything faded.

A/n: Really hope u guys are enjoying this story. So glad to have you here. I am so so very sorry for not posting last Sunday. I was a bit busy. I really hope this doesn't repeat ever.

And there are some people I would like to really really thank here.

First of all ArchyALumina92 thank you so very much you have been the biggest support and encouragement to me with every chapter. Guys please check her book grand library, it is a gripping fantasy with lots of twists.

Then Prabaharan_without you neither this book nor this chapter would be 😂😂 I really hope that he would soon publish his book glasshouse

Lanadelreygirlie imma stan of this girl ever since I read her username lol. Also her unrequited beginings is such a relatable take that brought me back memories from school.

Manisha_Venkat thank you so so very much for a really unexpectedly nice review of my book and for all your kind words. It was a really big surprise for me. OMG no words.

inkwelldreamer123 just like the username he/ she really inks dreams well in her dreamtopia thanks for being a constant support.

ShigureShinyGaze king/queen of descriptions . Dukes reluctant bride is amazing and makes me look up to u.

Last but not the least thank you Miss8Fifteen thanks for being a wonderful wonderful partner #cc lol. Beyond cosmos. I have no idea where it is going can't guess anything  anywhere. I am lucky to have found you .

And ofc it would be a crime if I don't thank everyone of you who has read , voted and commented in this book. You all have helped me give words to my dream. Thank you so much. I am so sorry if anyone feels left out plz let me know so I could mention. I am so forgetful you know .