Cold wind brushed against Ishaan's face.
He groaned.
His eyes slowly opened.
A pale blue sky stretched above him.
Morning.
For a few seconds, he just lay there, staring blankly… until—
"The aurora…"
Ishaan suddenly sat up.
The hill.
The light.
That beam that fell from the sky.
His heartbeat quickened.
"Wait…!"
He quickly pulled out his phone.
6:02 AM
His eyes widened.
"Six in the morning?!"
He had been here the entire night.
How did this happened
He stood up, brushing dirt off his clothes. His head felt slightly heavy, like something inside him hadn't fully settled yet.
"…Was it just a dream?"
He looked up at the sky.
Clear normal and Empty sky.
No aurora.
No strange light.
Nothing.
But something felt… off.
As he reached his bike, his phone suddenly vibrated.
Kabir calling.
Ishaan answered.
Kabir's loud voice blasted through the speaker:
"Bro, where are you, why didn't you came back home?!"
Ishaan rubbed his forehead.
"Yeah… I was at the hill."
"I know you went to the hill," Kabir replied quickly, "but don't tell me you stayed there the whole night."
Ishaan glanced at the sky.
"…Yeah."
There was a pause.
"Are you serious?" Kabir said. "In that cold?"
Ishaan exhaled.
"I don't know… I think I fell asleep."
From the background, Aisha's voice came:
"Put it on speaker."
Kabir did.
Aisha:
"So? Was it worth it, or did you almost freeze to death for nothing?"
Anaya's softer voice followed:
"Ishaan… how was the Aurora from hill-top?"
Ishaan paused for a moment.
The memory of the light rushing toward him flashed again.
"…Yeah," he said quietly. "It was mesmerising."
Kabir let out a short laugh.
"You're insane. Sleeping on a hill for Aurora night…"
Aisha added:
"Social media's going crazy. Some people are already claiming awakenings."
Kabir scoffed.
"Every Aurora cycle, same rumors."
Anaya said softly:
"…Some of them might be real."
A brief silence followed.
Ishaan tightened his grip on the phone slightly.
"Yeah…"
Kabir spoke again:
"Anyway, get to school fast. If something actually happened, today's gonna be interesting."
"Yeah. I'm coming."
The call ended.
The ride back felt… normal.
Very normal.
People were outside, talking excitedly.
Phones in their hands.
News vans lined the streets.
Everyone was discussing the same thing—
The Great Aurora Event.
By the time Ishaan reached school, the campus was buzzing.
Students gathered in groups, voices overlapping.
"Did you see the sky last night?!"
"My cousin said someone awakened near Delhi!"
"No way, really—"
Ishaan stepped into the classroom.
Kabir waved immediately.
"There you are!"
Aisha leaned back in her chair, arms crossed.
"You look half-dead."
"I am," Ishaan replied.
Anaya smiled gently.
"At least you're okay."
Kabir spun his chair around.
"So? Worth it?"
Ishaan shrugged slightly.
"Yeah."
Aisha narrowed her eyes.
"That's it?"
Kabir laughed.
"Bro risked hypothermia for a 'yeah.'"
The group continued talking, but Ishaan grew quiet.
That moment from last night…
It didn't feel like a dream.
School ended like any other day.
Or at least… it tried to.
Ishaan was riding back home.
Traffic moved as usual.
People walked along the sidewalks.
Shops were open.
Everything looked normal.
Maybe it really was nothing.
Maybe—
BOOM!!
A massive explosion shook the street.
Ishaan slammed the brakes.
"—What the?!"
People screamed.
Across the road—
An office building's upper floor exploded outward.
Glass shattered into the air.
Smoke burst out violently.
Cars screeched to a halt.
Panic spread instantly.
Before anyone could react—
Something moved inside the smoke.
A figure.
Something large.
It leapt.
And crashed onto the street with a thunderous impact.
CRACK!!
The ground beneath it shattered.
For a moment—
Silence.
Then chaos.
People ran in every direction.
Ishaan's heart pounded as he stared at the creature rising from the dust.
Its body was twisted.
Unnatural.
A hole in his chest
Its limbs distorted.
Veins pulsing with dark energy.
Its eyes—
Slowly locked onto the crowd.
Someone screamed behind him:
"It's an Umbra!!"
The creature let out a low, monstrous growl.
And then—
It took a step forward.