Munnar was a labyrinth of emerald slopes and clinging mist.

  By the time Surya reached the town center, his legs were weary, and his mind was spinning. He stood under a flickering streetlight, rotating Kartha’s hand-drawn map for the tenth time.

  The ink was a chaotic scrawl of jagged lines and blotches. To Surya, it looked as if a spider had dipped its legs in soot and died on the paper.

  "Excuse me," Surya grunted, flagging down a passerby. "Which way to the Section D Headquarters?"

  The man peered at the map, then back at Surya’s broad shoulders, suppressing a smirk. "The map is upside down, lad. And you’re about six kilometers off-course."

  Surya felt a flush of heat crawl up his neck. Had Kartha ever even stepped inside a school? he wondered bitterly. How can a man be a master warrior but have the handwriting of a toddler?

  "It’s dusk," the man warned, looking at the thickening fog. "No jeeps are heading toward the HQ now. You'll have to go by foot, but wait until morning. If you walk tonight, the Yakshas will find you before the gates do. Stay at the inn nearby."

  The local inn was a quiet, shadowed place. The manager, a man who spoke only in gestures and sharp nods, stood behind the counter while a young waiter greeted him.

  Surya:

  Waiter:

  Surya:

  Waiter:

  Surya:

  The waiter’s pen stopped mid-air. He looked up, his expression shifting. "A Vessel?"

  Without another word, the waiter closed the ledger and the entry register, reaching instead for a heavy brass key.

  Surya:

  "No charge," the waiter

  Surya:

  Waiter:

  Surya felt a jolt of recognition. He recollected the name—Kartha had once spoken of Pedro with rare reverence. Pedro was a top-tier Weaponized Norman

  Surya stared at the metal tag in his palm. The number 9 was stamped deep into the brass. He trudged upstairs, found the door slightly ajar, and stepped inside with a weary sigh.

  "It seems they even keep the doors open for Vessels," Surya whispered to the empty room.

  A steaming plate of rice and aromatic curry sat on the table, the scent filling the small space. Food without even ordering, he thought, his stomach roaring. The waiter wasn't kidding about hospitality. He sat down and began to inhale the meal, the warmth of the spices finally chasing away the mountain chill.

  It was only when he reached for a glass of water that he noticed a delicate, floral-patterned bag resting on the second bed.

  Before his mind could connect the dots, the sound of splashing water echoed from the bathroom. The door creaked open, and a girl stepped out. Steam clung to her short, dark hair, and a towel was wrapped tightly around her. Her eyes, bright and piercing, locked onto Surya’s.

  The silence lasted exactly one heartbeat. Then, she lunged.

  She snatched a mop from the corner, swinging it with a ferocity that forced Surya to stumble backward, nearly tripping over his own boots.

  "I’m sorry! Wrong room! Truly!" he stammered, scrambling out into the hallway just as the door slammed shut with a violent thud.

  From behind the wood, her voice barked out, "Two minutes! Wait right there!"

  "Why?" Surya shouted back, his face burning with embarrassment.

  "Just wait!" she snapped.

  Surya’s brain was struggling to catch up. He looked at the door. There, painted in gold on the wood, was the number 9. He looked back at his brass key tag. It was also a 9. A double booking?

  Suddenly, the lock clicked. She emerged, now fully dressed in travel-worn gear and wielding a heavy ceramic bowl like a grenade. Seeing her aggressive stance, Surya turned to bolt, nearly colliding with the waiter who was coming up the stairs with a fresh tray.

  The girl launched the bowl with practiced aim.

  

  The bowl missed Surya by an inch and shattered directly against the waiter’s forehead. The poor man crumpled, the tray clattering to the floor in a symphony of broken glass and spilled tea.

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  "Sir!" Surya gasped, rushing to catch the falling waiter.

  The girl froze, her eyes widening as she looked from the unconscious waiter to the ceramic shards. "Oh... damn it."

  The waiter, dabbing the rising bump on his temple with a damp kerchief, slumped into a hallway chair. He let out a long, pained sigh. "Young man... the key I gave you was for Room 6. You held it upside down."

  He looked at the girl, then back at Surya, shaking his head. "And besides... it is not good for colleagues to fight like this before your first day."

  "Colleagues?" she whispered, her eyes wide with a mix of disbelief and horror. "Us? You mean this... this guy? Ahh, no way!" She looked at Surya as if he were a particularly confusing species of mountain goat.

  Meanwhile, Surya looked down at the metal tag in his palm. Now that he wasn't starving and panicked, the truth was undeniable: the '9' was indeed a '6'. A dull heat climbed into his cheeks, glowing nearly as bright as the molten orange of his elemental flame.

  "I... I have had a very long day with maps," Surya stammered, his voice dropping an octave in embarrassment. "This upside-down issue has been troubling me since morning."

  "I don't care about your maps, you disgusting perv," the girl, Vaishu, snapped, crossing her arms tightly.

  Surya’s embarrassment flashed into indignation. "Perv? Me? I told you, it was an accident!"

  Vaishu narrowed her eyes, assessing his genuine distress. "Alright. Let’s take off 'perv.' But you are still disgusting."

  Surya blinked, his hands balling into fists. "What do you mean, 'disgusting'?"

  "What do you call a guy who eats someone’s meal without their permission?" she retorted, gesturing toward the empty plate inside her room. "That’s what I call disgusting."

  "That was also an accident!" Surya barked back, his thunderous voice echoing in the narrow hallway. "I thought it was a gift! The waiter said they greet Vessels nicely!"

  "A gift? You’re as arrogant as you are clumsy," she spat. Without waiting for a rebuttal, she stepped back, grabbed the handle, and slammed her door so hard the framed photos on the hallway walls rattled.

  Surya stood alone in the corridor for a moment, fuming. He turned on his heel and retreated to Room 6, fumbling with the lock. As he finally stepped into his actual room, he collapsed onto the bed, staring at the ceiling.

  "She talks a lot," he muttered under his breath, the mountain air finally cooling his temper. "I hope she's not in my class."

  Midnight brought a different kind of sound. A strange, haunting wail reached Surya’s sleeping ears, jerking him awake.

  ?"I saw it... it came through the window! It dragged him into the forest!" a woman cried out in the hallway.

  ?Surya bolted from his bed and found the woman collapsed in Room 3, the waiter standing over her with a look of pure dread.

  ?"The Agarbatti," the waiter groaned, pointing to the unlit incense sticks. "We told you to keep them burning. It’s the only thing that masks the scent of humans from the Vamps in these hills."

  ?"I thought it was just decoration," the woman sobbed, clutching a small, empty blanket. "Please... my baby."

  ?Standing by the open window, staring into the black maw of the trees, was a girl who looked like she had stepped out of a legend. She wore a blue churidar with a matching cape, golden cuffs on her wrists, and three horizontal lines of ash—the Tripundra—across her brow. In the center was a closed vertical slit: a third eye.

  ?"Don't worry, Ma'am," the girl said, her voice like cool silk. "I can sense his life-force. He’s alive, but moving deep into the trees."

  ?"It’s a trap, Ms. VergeMongol Forest

  ?"I know," Verge

  ?"I’m coming with you," Surya said, stepping forward.

  ?Subha turned her piercing gaze on him. "Who are you? A Vessel?"

  ?"Yes," Surya replied, pulling his badge from his pocket. "A student of Section D."

  ?Subha nodded slowly after checking the card. "An Elemental Vessel of fire. Good. Fire is good for the dark. Come."

  ?Surya hesitated, looking toward the door where Vaishu was peeking through the crack. "There’s another one," he said, pointing. "She’s a student too. We might need her."

  ?Vaishu froze as Subha turned. "What kind of powers do you have?"

  ?"Teleportation traits," Vaishu whispered shyly. "But... I haven't—"

  ?A piercing, high-pitched scream echoed from the woods. It wasn't human; it was the sound of a child in absolute terror.

  ?"They've started torturing him," Subha said, her face hardening.

  ?"Shall we wait for the seniors?" Vaishu stammered. "I heard about Mr. Moonmask

  ?Subha’s eyes flashed. "Seniors? I am your senior. Who else do you need? Moonmask

  ?Vaishu’s face reddened. "Sorry, senior... I'm coming with you."

  ?"Good. Let's move," Subha commanded.

  ?The three of them—the seasoned warrior, the clumsy giant with fire in his veins, and the reluctant teleporter—vanished into the shadows of the Mongol Forest.

  The waiter of the hotel and the mother of the lost child watched them in hope, their figures fading until only the dark treeline remained.

  The fog in the Mongol Forest was thick enough to swallow sound. Surya, Vaishu, and Subha moved through the dense growth, guided only by the deceptive silver of the moon.

  "Are you using some kind of psychic power to trace the life-force?" Surya asked, his voice low.

  "It is the activation of the Ajna Chakra, the Third Eye," Subha replied. "One of the seven primary energy centers. When unleashed, it provides psychic perception and allows me to see the 'thread' of a soul."

  "Can I learn that?" Surya asked, hopeful.

  "It won't work for you, Surya," Subha explained bluntly. "Because you are an Elemental Vessel. Your kind was born with all seven chakras already unlocked, flooding your system. You cannot simply 'tap' into them one by one like I do. You must first learn to regulate that massive surge of energy by forming layers over your chakras to harness them."

  Surya nodded, though the complexity made his head spin. He turned to the girl beside him, who was clutching her sleeves. "Brave girl, why are you being so quiet?"

  "That's... that's because this is my first official mission," Vaishu admitted, her voice trembling. "I don't know if I'm ready. I'm a bit nervous."

  "This is my first mission, too," Surya said, trying to provide a comfort he didn't quite feel. "Uh... Ms. Verge, how many missions have you been on?"

  "Twenty-one," she replied shortly.

  "Does that count include this mission?" Surya asked.

  "Yes," Subha replied. "And call me Subha. That’s my name."

  Before the conversation could continue, a thick cloud choked out the moon. For a heartbeat, the world went total black. When the light returned, the trees had shifted as if they had grown legs. The Illusion Forest had split them apart.

  "Subha! Ms. Verge!" Surya roared, his voice swallowed instantly by the dense, unnatural fog.

  Beside him, Vaishu stood frozen in shock. Separated and blind, they were no longer the hunters; they were the prey.

  Subha, although she could hear their voices, couldn't reach them. Every time she turned toward their shouts, the sound warped—echoing from the north, then the south, then seemingly from beneath the very ground. She stood still, her Third Eye pulsing with an angry, rhythmic red light.

  "An illusion barrier," she hissed, her hand tightening on the hilt of her blade. "They’ve folded the space."

  Subha stood her ground as the fog curdled into two distinct, predatory shapes. She wasn't just facing the forest anymore; she was facing a coordinated hunt.

  Chataans.

  Thanks for reading!