Why me:-
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Darkness surrounded him from every direction.
Not the darkness of night.
Not the darkness of the forest.
This felt deeper. Endless. A silence so complete that even his own breathing sounded distant within it.
Puru slowly opened his eyes.
He stood alone inside a vast dark room where neither walls nor ceiling could be seen. The ground beneath him reflected faint traces of light like still water beneath shadow. Cold air brushed against his skin, carrying with it a strange fragrance of ash, flowers, and rain-soaked earth.
Then—
light appeared.
Soft at first.
A faint golden glow slowly bloomed within the darkness ahead of him, growing brighter until the outline of a woman emerged from within it.
She stood silently before him, draped in a glowing saree that moved as though touched by an unseen wind. Her presence alone seemed enough to push the darkness away around her. Golden ornaments rested along her arms and neck, their shine dim beside the calm radiance flowing from her face.
But it was her eyes that held him still.
Ancient.
Gentle.
And terrifyingly knowing.
She looked directly into Puru's eyes and spoke softly.
"You are tired, son."
Her voice echoed strangely through the darkness, calm enough to quiet even thought itself.
"But still… many lives remain in danger."
Puru stared at her silently for a moment.
Then something inside him finally broke.
The exhaustion, fear, confusion, and pressure he had forced down for days surged upward at once.
"Why?" he burst out suddenly, his voice echoing violently through the room. "Why should I risk my life for people I do not even know? Why should I keep pushing myself until death?" His breathing grew heavier as the words poured out faster. "What is happening to me? Why me?"
The woman did not react with anger.
She only watched him quietly.
Then she spoke.
"Because it is a responsibility I have given you."
The darkness itself seemed to grow still around her voice.
"I do not choose blindly," she continued softly. "I choose only those who walk the right path… and possess the strength to carry my work forward."
Puru's eyes narrowed slightly.
Her gaze remained fixed upon him.
"And beyond that…" she said, "I know your true shade."
Those words struck something deep inside him.
"You must do this," she continued. "It is your dharma as a warrior."
The glow surrounding her flickered gently like temple fire in the wind.
"Accept this responsibility. Walk forward. In time… you will understand everything."
Puru stood frozen.
For the first time since entering this strange darkness, he no longer had words to throw at her. The anger inside him had not disappeared, yet something within her voice made it impossible to reject completely.
Questions still filled his mind endlessly.
What responsibility?
What truth?
What did she know about him?
But above all—
one question remained heavier than the rest.
Who was she?
Puru slowly opened his mouth, finally ready to ask.
But before the words could leave him, the light around her began fading.
The golden glow weakened rapidly as darkness poured back into the room from every direction. Her figure slowly dissolved within the shadows, becoming more distant with every passing second.
Puru's eyes widened.
"Wait!"
He stepped forward quickly.
The darkness swallowed more of her light.
"Who are you?!"
He began running toward her, his footsteps echoing violently through the endless blackness. But no matter how fast he moved, the distance between them only grew larger.
The room became darker.
Colder.
Her presence faded further and further away until only her eyes remained visible for one final moment within the darkness.
Then—
everything disappeared.
Puru jolted awake violently, dragging in a sharp breath as though he had just surfaced from deep water. Sweat covered his skin, his chest rising heavily while the remains of that fading golden light still burned within his mind like something far too real to be called a dream.
Wait outside:-
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Puru jolted awake violently, dragging in a sharp breath as though he had been drowning beneath darkness itself. His body rose halfway before a sudden pain tore through his muscles, forcing him back against the bedding. Sweat covered his skin, and for one terrifying moment, the dream still felt real enough that he expected to see the glowing woman standing somewhere within the shadows of the room.
"Puru!"
A familiar voice broke through the confusion.
Tanuj quickly moved closer and held his shoulders firmly before he could struggle further.
"Calm down," he said hurriedly. "You're safe."
Puru's breathing remained uneven for several seconds. His eyes moved around the dim room slowly, trying to separate dream from reality. The smell of herbal medicine filled the air. A small oil lamp burned near the corner of the room, its weak flame pushing back the darkness just enough for the wooden walls to become visible.
Reality returned slowly.
But the difference between the dream and the waking world struck him harder this time. The woman's voice still echoed faintly inside his mind as though it had not fully left him yet.
Puru shut his eyes briefly and forced himself to steady his breathing.
Then suddenly—
"Raghu?"
The question escaped him immediately.
Tanuj's expression softened slightly.
"His condition was terrible when you brought him," he admitted quietly. "The healer said he had lost too much blood. Sukarna moved him away from the Gurukula for treatment."
For a brief moment, fear returned sharply to Puru's face.
But Tanuj continued quickly.
"Don't worry. His condition is improving now compared to before. The healer said his body has started responding properly."
The tightness inside Puru's chest loosened slightly after hearing those words.
Not fully.
But enough.
Tanuj noticed the change and slowly stood up.
"Sukarna has been waiting to speak with you for a long time," he said. "I'll call him."
Puru gave a small nod.
A few moments later, the door opened again.
Sukarna entered quietly.
The moment his eyes fell upon Puru awake and conscious, a faint relief crossed his face before disappearing beneath his usual composure. Even so, Puru noticed it.
Sukarna walked closer to the bedside before turning slightly toward Tanuj.
"Wait outside."
Tanuj obeyed silently and stepped out, closing the door behind him.
For a few moments, neither of them spoke.
The room remained still except for the soft crackling of the oil lamp.
Then Sukarna finally said,
"You frightened everyone."
His tone was calm, but the weight beneath it remained clear.
Puru lowered his eyes slightly.
Sukarna continued.
"Why did you not inform me before leaving the Gurukula?"
Puru remained silent.
Not because he lacked an answer.
Because he did not know how to explain it properly.
The fear.
The urgency.
The feeling that waiting would only waste time.
Sukarna watched him carefully and immediately understood the hesitation resting behind his silence. He did not press the question further.
Instead, he moved on.
"Who attacked you and Raghu?"
Puru slowly began recounting everything he could remember. The abandoned village. The locked house. Raghu chained inside. The large man with the whip. The fight. The escape through the forest.
He spoke as briefly as possible, but even shortened words carried enough darkness to slowly change the atmosphere inside the room.
Sukarna listened without interrupting once.
When Puru finally finished, Sukarna asked quietly,
"If you see that man again… can you recognize his face?"
Puru answered immediately.
"Yes."
Sukarna fell silent again.
Puru could see it clearly—there were still many questions inside Sukarna's mind. Questions about the abandoned village. About the people behind it. About why Raghu had been taken alive. About whether more dangers still waited beyond the forest.
But Sukarna did not ask them.
Not now.
Puru had already reached his limit.
At last, Sukarna slowly turned, preparing to leave the room.
But before he could reach the door, Puru suddenly spoke again.
"What if they try to kidnap Raghu again from the healer's place?"
The question stopped Sukarna mid-step.
For the first time since entering the room, a faint smile touched his face.
"I thought of that already," he replied calmly. "I sent students there for protection."
Something inside Puru finally eased completely after hearing those words.
For the first time in many days—
his mind felt free from fear, if only for a moment.
A regret in puru's mind:-
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After Sukarna left the room, silence slowly settled once again.
The small flame of the oil lamp flickered weakly near the wall while the smell of medicine continued filling the air. Outside, faint night sounds drifted through the wooden windows of the Gurukula, but inside the room, everything felt strangely distant to Puru.
Now that Raghu was safe…
Now that the fear had finally loosened its grip…
His mind began returning to the things he had pushed away earlier.
The fight.
That man.
The blood.
Puru slowly lowered his eyes toward his own hands resting beside him.
For a moment, all he could see in his mind was the stranger lying on the ground beneath him, screaming in pain while his sword continued falling again and again.
The cuts across the man's body.
The blood spreading into the dirt.
The rage inside himself that had refused to stop.
Puru's breathing slowed heavily.
The man had already collapsed.
His hands were no longer moving.
His toes severed.
His body helpless.
Yet he had continued cutting.
Again.
And again.
Puru shut his eyes tightly.
Were those extra cuts necessary?
The question struck him harder now than it had inside the forest.
At that moment, he had only seen Raghu's fear. Raghu's trembling body. The chains. The whip wounds. The desperation in his voice.
And something inside him had broken completely.
But now—
inside the silence of the room—
another thought slowly crawled into his mind.
What if no one came for that man afterward?
What if he had died there?
Puru's fingers tightened slightly against the bedding.
He had trained with the sword for years to protect people.
Not torture them.
The memory of the stranger screaming beneath him returned again, sharper this time.
Puru turned his face away slowly, as though trying to escape the sight within his own thoughts.
Then suddenly—
the words from the dream echoed faintly once more.
"You must do this… it is your dharma as a warrior."
Puru opened his eyes again.
Save everyone.
Protect people.
Fight the darkness.
The words sounded righteous when spoken by that glowing figure within the dream.
But reality felt different.
Ugly.
Bloody.
Heavy.
To save one life…
how many times would he have to raise his sword against another?
And if he kept walking down this path—
how long before he stopped recognizing the person holding that sword?