"Constellia Formation!" Pruthvi, Leena and I shouted.

The Gates shimmered brighter than the afternoon's sunlight. We jumped one after the other, each carrying the dazed expression. There was no time to talk, no time to deliberate. The very strong attacking side was here, in bulk at that. Seeking help from our extensions was the only good sense we had in common.

The black smoke generated thrice the amount and with full force. Our Constellia emerged, must have known the urgency that they landed in their fighting stances.

"Makara," Pruthvi yelled hurriedly pulling up the sleeves of his jacket, "Go! Smash! Don't think, just punch."

The humanoid goat ran amok towards the Cowboy's bar being exploited by intruders. The explosion has already reached another level, remains of the petite bar scattered on the ground, ribbons of orange flame lashing the blackness into space. Makara dashed hurriedly, stomping over the rubble and towards the battalion. He punched and kicked the few who were after the appalled women. Pruthvi, from the other side, escorted the scared people out of his Constellia's way.

The shrill neighs of terror added the noisy tension in the air. The Sharad's knights, a force of heavy cavalry, spilled themselves throughout the area. Boom! Boom! They fired, holding the muskets and old pistols, targeting every intruder. The victims bounced off the ground, just not necessarily dying.

"Master!" Kumbh shouted lifting his pot up, "I am ready."

"Swish it," Leena commanded, tying her veil behind her back. Kumbh turned his pot upside down. A pool of water escaped from it when Leena shouted, "Tidal wave Formation!"

The pool turned into a massive flood. It was thick and dangerous, with the strength to devour the blaze within a gulp. A tidal wave leaped up creating a gushing sound. It whirled and tossed in the direction Leena wanted it to. She seemed to have chosen her department and that was to douse the flames that ruined the bar.

I stepped up over a stack of rocks and kneeled down, concentrating hard on my stone, my palms balled tightly into fists. Singh emerged next to me. He growled, so ready to attack, waiting only for my say. His paws tapped soundlessly on the dusty land and then sparks emerged at the side of this limbs. His mane gently flew with the chilly wind. The winter was so beginning to take over Paramarashtra.

The beasts, wrapped in black stained cloth, were running, jumping, crawling, smelling for the blood they hadn't found in the past thirty years. At the same time, snorting heavily like a gang of wounded buffalo.

"Singh," I said, my eyes burning as I watched this turmoil occurred right after Doctor's cremation. "I need your assistance."

"Ask away kid!" He replied, sounding proud and obedient.

"Do you understand the situation?"

"Totally. Met these leeches before."

"Do you know what to do?"

"Save the humans, no matter what."

"Do you trust me?"

"Don't make me hit you."

"Perfect. Take the north, I'll take the south."

Singh trotted ahead of me, and we stood facing away from each other. Fire emerging out from my palms and his paws in unison. With attuned minds and mustered wits, we joined the forces fighting against the new onslaught of the vicious attackers. Balls of fire flooded out, hitting the beasts, on their heads, chests, and legs. They fell one after the other, like the pins when hit by a bowling ball. Their screeches a piece of music to my ears. Their cries, a satisfaction. A desperate need to snoop inside the house built underneath the bar raged in my mind. I wanted to make sure If Dhanunjay had been absolute with the news he had brought earlier.

"What Samagraha. There's no Samagraha," he had said, "I enquired. The Samagraha who was supposed to live with them has gone traveling with Doctor and never returned."

In the mass tempest of hysteria, the appearance of the flamed lion elicited more fear among the people. They were dashing hither and thither, oblivious to their current situation. They bumped into one another, confused. Makara, racing amongst them like a flash, lifted dozens of people in a single attempt to drop them far away from the bar and the Uilani hill, almost near to their village where Clan of Vaquiro resided.

Our fire attacks were meant to separate the beast aka leeches aka intruders from the clan of Vaquiro to make Pruthvi and Leena's job easy. They succeeded to escort most people out of the bar. Although there was one problem- the beasts kept coming back in the search for the women's blood. Even after getting knocked by our fireballs and hail of bullets raining down by the knight's muskets, they just never stopped. Seemed like they were creating a shield that easily deflected our attacks.

"Damn it!" I yelled and spun around to ask Singh. "Are they fireproof?"

"Mysterious beasts. Always have been," Singh replied, his skin glowing surrounded by the flames.

We tried again, blasting them away from the poor clan that was part of the Rawat Dynasty. The Dynasty that I belonged to. The feeling of my people...I instantly shook my head, disallowing any thought that constricted me to one Dynasty rather than being the Samagraha of the entire nation.

"This is pointless," I said, dismayed, noticing the number of the beast hardly reducing. "Singh, tell me. What wrong are we doing?"

"Nothing, kid. But their resilience has always been difficult to deal with. They just keep coming back. It was possible only to Doctor to stop them, after many many years of us fighting against them."

I shook my head. "I have to get to the bottom of this. But I want you to take charge first."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Do as you must," I said, fixing on the instant thought, that I knew was going to be opposed by many, but could give answers to numerous questions. "Burn them. Slay them. Whatever, I don't care. But just capture one of them. Alive."

"Alright!" He drawled. "Just be sure to pay me back later."

"Fine. Now go!"

Singh stormed away causing thundering vibration through the surface. I watched him attacking for a few moments. Fiery flames engulfed his body and he chased the beasts down as they scattered trying to get away from him. He let out a great roar, making the whole expanse underneath the Uilani Hill shake with terror.

Hearing Singh's roar, I ran towards the bar drowning in the flood that Leena had created. A few minutes passed by, kicking the pile of debris and rummaging through the mud. I haven't been to this place in the past several months, seemed like I'd forgotten where the iron grate was. Dhanunjay had confirmed it already. All I wanted was to check before my friends and I agree with it.

Rocks suddenly crumbled down upon me. I gasped, covering my head and face and took a step aside. It seemed as though the one thing I wanted to do was impossible, being in the middle of the ruckus. Vexed, I slipped towards the other end of the bar. The smell suddenly changed. I grimaced and look about me. A big cloud of smoke was escaping through the gaps of the blackened wall. Frowning and going with my guts, I kicked the wall. There was a wooden and crooked door. Seemed like this was an alternative entrance I had no idea about. I dashed inside all through the natural fire. My exposed skin scorched and began to give peeling sensation. The natural fire, and its oppressive heat, how can I forget that it burned me more than it did to a normal person.

I passed through the tunnel, bearing all the heat and burns on my neck and face, but at last, I managed to enter the house.

"Celina!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, squinting my eyes, breathing heavily. A drop of sweat dripped down my brow.

The walls were charred, ruins have turned into ashes. There were ember flickering here and there, the black smoke hung in the air.

"Celina!" I shouted again, trying to trot further inside, "Are you here?"

My voice, though trembling, came out with an unpleasantly strange tone that reverberated from wall to wall. I swallowed heavily, worried about the safety of my friend. Although, Celina didn't need my help. But I was desperate to see her once-alive and well.

It was a small house, built barely for two people to live a comfortable life. It didn't take a long time to check around. I rubbed my nape, with a frisson of fear creeping up on me.

The attempt was a dismal failure. She wasn't here. Celina Hanslay, who was supposed to live safeguarding the clan, her clan, had left them alone and gone on a trip with Doctor. Trip to where? Uttarameer?

At the moment, I could scarcely breathe. My lungs felt tighter and slightly hard to gather enough air. I bent a little, holding my knees and fired my arms up. Even though there was enough warmth around, I needed to do this. I took this chance to turn up to someone I needed, to muster strength and solace.

Nazira Khan had always been in my mind, staring at me with those glittering eyes as if to pry on my every move. I had seen the physical her an hour ago at the funeral. But currently, I found myself getting lost, like I had the very first time, by the mesmerizing beauty she carried with grace.

A sudden blast threw me off guard. I gasped, jerked aside and landed on my knees. A bit of a struggle to stand back on my feet and then I headed straight towards the door wanting to get back to my friends.

This quick shift in the air, now getting in contact with the bleak weather slightly assailed me. I flamed up my hands once again, the warmth of own fire was mild and favorable. I checked on Pruthvi. He was busily helping an aged bleeding man with leg stuck in the pile. There were a couple of beasts getting nearer to him. At once, I threw balls of fire at them. That made them instantly slip and roll backward.

Leena was busy separating the Clan of Almourah from the Vaquiro, hurling streaks of water being continually cascaded out of Kumbh's pot. A snorting sound grabbed my attention. A couple of gray-skinned beasts raced from either side of Leena. She wasn't seeing them approach. My heart dropped.

"Fire...!"

I shouted, but even before I could utter the full command, the explosive fire raced out of my palms. They jumped back. Getting nearer, I created a shield around her. She smiled and nodded at me before getting back to instruct Kumbh.

I watched the beast curiously and thoroughly for the very first time. The existence of the clan that I never had been aware of until Nazira had given an adequate amount of information regarding them. Large, ugly and frightening she had said, the only clan of Paramarashtra bearing two hearts, their leader being a thousand-year-old, also bearing the two hearts.

My eyes stuck on one of the beasts that lay hunched on his knees behind the woody debris. His dull gray skin shone beneath the sickly greasy cloth covering his skeletal womanly shaped body. Him? Her? Never had I ever been so confused before. The way this one particular one looked, it was difficult to understand the gender it belonged. Despite the body that looked feminine, his face was rough, rugged and disordered. The matted hair was shoulder length covering the sides of its face- cheeks awkwardly chubby, chin covered with an unkempt beard, nose long and pointy, eyes round and small with no whites as if two black buttons were sewn to the facial muscles. A horrendously androgynous appearance...

"Sweet busy mother of..." I whispered and faltered.

Its eyes met mine as I stepped forward stupefied by its looks. It sneered pushing its hair back in a girly manner. His long, thick and forked tongue rolled out of his mouth through his flat yellow teeth, dribbling the reddish-brown saliva. You don't say, I thought. But it was indeed the blood of some innocent woman.

The Clan of Vaquiro was, for the moment, Pruthvi, Leena and the three Constellia's responsibility, whereas I concentrated on the one beast that had locked its eyes with me. All I needed was to capture one of them and this was it.

He joined his hands together and created a nasty clicking sound, dribbling more blood out of his mouth that churned my gut. Something triggered within my veins, like a current racing through the wires. That was the blood of some woman this beast had taken the pleasure of. And that woman reminded me of my grandmother.

Gritting my teeth, I jerked, taking a long step towards him. The beast turned back and began running away from me. I gave in to the immediate plans to chase it down, keeping my mind off the firing sounds made by muskets and Singh's roar. The beast wasn't as fast enough, as I was faster. I picked up the speed, lifted my hand up and held the beast by its hair covering its neck. I felt losing my control, no matter how much I tried. I squeezed its neck and smashed it's head down to the ground.

Explosive fire spurted out of my palms.

"Mistake!" Nazira snapped in my mind, her voice assertive.

The beast didn't explode as I wanted it to. One of the deadliest attacks of mine didn't work. Nazira's voice startled me. I released my hand and took a step back. The beast's body was on fire, creating a sizzling sound like a heated stove sprinkled with water. From the distant, I heard Leena commanding her stone and a streak of water flowed down by my feet.

"Leena!" Pruthvi screamed, running down from a huge pile of debris. "Stop! You shouldn't!"

Nervously, I turned around at Pruthvi's terrified scream. I took a quick couple of steps aside, careful not to tread between my feet, but then slightly tumbled. The scene was quite unbelievable. Water was still pouring out of Kumbh's pot. The rest of beasts paced down towards the pool of water and then...they melted. Plock! My mouth fell open, watching them jump into the water, melting and disappearing one after the other, creating a rhythmic popping sounds, like blasting of large water bubbles.

The Clan of Almourah had taken advantage of the water to escape, and that reminded me of someone who had used the same trick to escape.

"What the hell!" Leena shouted, flabbergasted. "Kumbh retreat!

There was another clicking sound and I looked back at the one I'd made an attempt to kill earlier. My mouth dropped watching him totally unscathed. There wasn't even a single burnt mark on its skin. My fire, that had the power to kill Shaytan Rup, proved ineffective on this beast. A sinister smile spread across its face when a thin current of water diverted its path from the water pool and flowed down by the beast's sides. It took a step aside and...plock! He melted like a candle wax within a split of a second.

With its departure the whole area came to a standstill.

"What did just happen?!" Pruthvi cried, breaking the silence as he and Leena came rushing towards me.

"I..I am sorry," said Leena, frantically and pulling her veil as a shawl to cover herself up, "I didn't know."

"It's not your fault," I said, creating a spiral of fire around the three of us. "They...they just melted. Both of you saw it too, right? Just like Shashi can. Similar magic?"

"Could be," Leena said, taking the warmth of my fire, "They are all freaks in a need of a check-up from their neck up."

"What were you doing?" Pruthvi asked, staring incredulously at me.

"What do you mean?"

"Hayden, whatever your intention was, to me it looked like you were trying to barbecue that beast."

"I was trying to make it weak so that..."

"But your fire didn't work at all," he said, running his hand through his hair, "I clearly remember what Zarina told me. There are only three people who cannot die a natural death. One is Shaytan Rup, the other is Shashi and the third one...well, the third one is..."

"Almourah," I said, through my gritted teeth, "the leader of this nasty clan."

"My point is that it doesn't look like it's just three!" he said, "Population of these beasts must be bazillion. God knows how many are residing in Uttarameer."

I sighed, unable to keep up with my mind racing with confusion. "Didn't Doctor find a way to trap them in their province? How the heck it isn't working anymore?"

"I don't want to believe it has anything to do with his death."

He might have brought the point out of whim, but it somehow seemed to have a connection. Clan of Almourah has returned, spreading terror throughout the country, right after Doctor had been cremated, and they couldn't even wait until his ashes to cool down. My insides prickled with an overwhelming thought. We were only made aware of this attack since we were living in Dakshinpur. What if they had already taken over the other parts of the country, creating the same problem everywhere else with no Samagraha?

"Celina!" Leena said who was almost close to tears. "Where is she? I was hoping to see her."

"She is not here." I replied in a low voice, "I checked. Dhanunjay was right."

Leena let out an impatient gasp. "What now?"

There was a loud grow and that seemed likely to have given us the answer to her question. We looked at each other before running towards the sound. Turning to the other side of the damaged locality, we found Singh having his forelimbs placed firmly over the chest of the beast. The one and the only beast that couldn't escape Singh's grip. Terrific!

"Forgot about me?" he asked, as the beast shivered and tapped it's limbs to get away from the real king of the beasts.

"Sorry," I whispered, walking closer, my insides rejuvenating with hope for further developments to come. "You've done your part well. Thanks. I'll take it from here."

-x-