“Warning! Warning! The D-class Hellswarm has invaded the boundaries of Western-Khandarath. Everyone, hurry to your nearest bunker. I repeat, the Hellswarm has invaded the boundaries. Leave your homes immediately.”

  A blaring howl erupted through the loudspeakers, signaling the danger that struck out of nowhere. The shrill siren pierced the once-peaceful atmosphere and sent the whole city into an uproar. Immediately, chaos broke out and people started running for their lives.

  Chandrika hurried outside and, to her horror, she saw a large swarm of Asuras with monstrous wings visible against the half-shattered moon in the dark sky, coming from the westward and wreaking havoc. Their ear-piercing roar made her heart drop to her stomach.

  Before she could even respond, one of the Asuras extended his fingers and curled them inward while drawing his palms into a spherical formation. A blazing flame appeared between his cupped palms, which eventually turned into a giant fireball. The Asura swung his deformed arms with great force to thrust the fireball towards the center of the village with great speed.

  The fire flared up immediately, killing dozens of people. Those erratic monsters started bombarding fireballs from the sky while some of them landed on the sandy terrain, tearing up people who came their way. The haunting cacophony echoed across the desert, which jarred Chandrika as her feet moved on their own towards the direction of her son.

  Inside the house, she saw Vikram crouched down on his knees, shaking and freaking out. Her heartbeat increased as she went near the frightened boy and shook his shoulder.

  “Vikram, Vikram, get up fast! We—we need to run!” she screamed with her shaky yet stern voice. But Vikram didn’t respond. Impulsively, she clutched her son’s wrists roughly. The pain brought Vikram back to his senses and he stood up with the help of his mother. But before they could even make it to the other side of the door, a blazing fireball struck the land next to their home.

  ...

  After that fierce impact, everything went silent for a moment. The house had collapsed, its burning debris scattered around the area. The black smoke started to disappear, making the scene clearer. Vikram’s lower half was buried by the wrecked chunk of the roof, and his visible body was covered in bruises and injuries.

  Vikram’s senses were weak at this point; he could only hear a loud, unending buzzing in his ear. His head was dizzy; he could only see blurred images of this ongoing havoc.

  “Ma, save me, Ma...” Vikram screamed with a weak and muffled voice.

  His eyes slowly started to see clearly. He saw Chandrika crawling near him, using her remaining strength. One of her eyes was hanging from its socket; her left leg barely had any remaining flesh. She was harshly gasping for air. Half of her body was burned, but she was still alive.

  “Vikram, don’t worry… I will save you,” she groaned to Vikram with a tired voice.

  She reached Vikram and tried removing the debris from his waist. But the floor beneath them was too hot for her to stay in that place.

  …

  “THUD…THUD…THUD”

  They heard rumbling footsteps reaching towards them. Their faces were filled with pure terror as they tilted their heads toward the sound.

  To their right was an Asura. His wings were folded behind his back, his legs were like a bird’s talons, and pitch-black skin coated his body. His left arm was frail and weak, but his right arm was a giant three-fingered claw with nails like blades. Goat horns sprouted from his head; he had five eyes—three on the left, two on the right—and his mouth was like that of a mantis. His figure was a whopping nine feet tall.

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  That creature was slowly walking towards the mother and son.

  “Vikram, I—I have to… have to fight this monster!” Chandrika said to the frail Vikram.

  After saying that, she tried to stand with the help of the burning debris. She barely managed to stand on one foot.

  The Asura was approaching her, saliva drooling from his mouth. His weaker hand’s fingers were moving while Chandrika took her stance to fight him until her last breath. Both were staring into each other’s eyes.

  At last, the Asura charged at Chandrika, and she too limped at full speed towards him. The Asura then slashed his giant claw, but right at that moment, Chandrika dodged it by bending her back and followed up with a counter-punch to his weak arm.

  The Asura groaned in pain after getting hit on his frail arm. He didn’t take long to follow up with a kick; it also missed her, but the nails of his talons pierced through her chest.

  Chandrika groaned just like the demon. Poor Vikram was watching all of this happen before his eyes, but he didn’t even have the power to scream. His adrenaline couldn’t do a thing. He was angry, but deep down, he was also surprised by his mother’s battling skills; he never thought of her having such abilities.

  That fight, in the end, was unfair. The Asura eventually cloaked his giant claw in flames using his powers, and with one last devastating slash, it all ended. Chandrika’s body was split into nothing more than rags.

  It all happened while Vikram watched like a stone, doing nothing but spectating. He wanted to scream louder than any siren in the world, but his condition held him back. Tears dropped continuously from his eyes; he regretted everything he’d done wrong with his mother and that he couldn’t even say “thank you” in the end. His blood was boiling.

  That hideous creature had nothing to do with those emotions. He proceeded to eat the remains of his mother in front of Vikram. It made Vikram want to scream from the inside. He knew at this point he could do nothing; he knew he couldn’t even stand on his feet; he knew he was doomed.

  The Asura, after engulfing Chandrika, looked at Vikram. But he didn’t see a weakened prey; he saw a hunter staring deep into his soul with golden, glittering eyes. That demon’s face became pale.

  The fire in their once-called home started to flare up more. The flames were becoming hotter and were closing in on the Asura. The monster realized it and quickly got up, cloaking his claw in flames again. But the flames from his claws were pulled toward Vikram instead. Every single flame in their surroundings rushed toward Vikram and began to spiral around him.

  Perplexed, the Asura charged at Vikram at full speed, trying to strike him down.

  But, before he could…

  “It’s too late now,” Vikram muffled in a low, tired, and enraged voice.

  The sky above his head started to alter. Something divine was happening. All the demons in the village stopped for that moment and started gazing at the phenomenon. But that was only the silence before a storm…

  “GO TO HELL!” Vikram screamed with all his power, and a golden, gleaming crack pierced through the sky above him!

  The spiraling fire became a beam of flames shooting upward. That beam illuminated the whole sky, with Vikram’s scream piercing through the winds. Every Asura in the town looked at the beam and the cracks above it.

  After some time, the fierce beaming stopped and the dawn broke instantly. The havoc silenced. Vikram was crying in the ashes as he looked toward his village. The Asuras were gone by then, but everything outside was covered in bloodstains and scattered remains. The scene looked like hell. The golden cracks in the sky had already faded, but not the sorrow in Vikram’s eyes. He was not seeking help; he was seeking revenge.

  Then he heard steps coming near him—not of a demon, but of a human.

  “You’ve done well handling those demons, haven’t you?” said a man who approached him. He wasn’t a native of their village, nor of Vindhara. He had short blonde hair and was wearing sunglasses with a normal tracksuit.

  “Stay away from me!” Vikram said. “I don’t know how to use my powers. They are not in my control. I could do anything right now—it’s dangerous to stay near me!”

  His powers started getting out of control again; flames began leaking from his body as he cried in the ashes.

  “You know, I’ve seen this a thousand times,” the man said with a smile, approaching Vikram even as the powers overflowed. Nothing affected the man.

  At last, he reached Vikram and delivered a chop to a specific point on his neck. Vikram’s head became dizzy and his vision faded.

  Everything went black.

  Vikram smelled the scent of medicine and heard the voices of people talking in a bustling environment. His skin felt a smooth mattress that he had never felt in his entire life.

  His eyes opened. He saw he was on a hospital bed and a nurse was standing right next to him.

  “Where am I?” Vikram asked.

  The nurse answered with a gentle smile, “Be calm, you will get every answer later on. For now, you are in a place made just for ‘Trackers’—or rather, for people just like you.”

  Vikram had a thousand questions in his mind, but he didn’t know if he would truly get the right answers. Was he safe now, or in more danger than before?

  To be continued…