They say all truths take time… but in the moment her hand met his, beneath a sky too quiet to lie, she knew—he was not a human.
~~~~~
KaanKuwar, lies in the water, still and watchful, as he always does. The river moves around him gently, quietly.
Then something shifts.
Something has entered the village's unseen field: a negative energy, an evil ghost who likes to play with human bodies.
He feels it; it slithers on invisible threads. Rotten. Hungry. Old.
'A negative spirit,' he murmurs, voice low and curling like mist across the waves. 'From the west, no doubt.'
He sighs, unbothered, 'He will create some chaos.'
Far away from the river, in a different town touched by early dusk, Shaamvi answers a call.
A person's voice with fear between each word.
"A woman." — "Possessed."
Shaamvi, listens. Silent. Focused. Then says, softly without hesitation, "I am coming."
The road winds beneath a quiet sky as Shaamvi reaches the edge of the town.
She feels strange, not because of the spirit but because of someone else.
A quiet pulse moves through her chest. Slow. Weighty. Vast.
Not dark, but not gentle either. Someone with high karmic frequencies.
The air is thick, almost sacred.
As if the land has an evident heartbeat.
An unfamiliar energy she has never touched before.
It unsettles her.
She pauses mid-step, thoughts catching like breath. 'Who is watching everyone here?'
A part of her wants to turn her gaze skyward.
Another part wants to leave.
But she keeps walking, even as the question lingers: 'What power sleeps beneath this land?'
In the river's depth, KaanKuwar stirs. Another ripple. But this one hums with powers.
He looks towards the village. Sense a new presence, calm and focused.
'A weird woman?' he murmurs. He listens closer, she moves towards the spirit.
KaanKuwar rises, horns brushing the water's surface. His voice low, curious. 'A Mystic?'.
He watches and then smiles…darkly.
'This….will be interesting.'
By the next dawn, Shaamvi is already in the backyard of the possessed woman's home, prepared for the ritual. She lays out her tools, threads, ash, sacred water and needles etched with prayers.
In front of her, the woman shudders. Eyes hollow. Breath Sharp. The spirit senses danger. It searches for an escape. But there is none.
The spirit is powerful, violent and stubborn but Shaamvi is more powerful because she is true and holy.
People are watching, neighbours lean in, drawn by the strange sight.
She begins the ritual. The God's name 'Hari…..Hari….Hari….' rolls from her lips like fire which is here to burn the evil.
Meanwhile, KaanKuwar, curious once more, takes his human form.
Dressed in simple modern clothes, he walks quietly to the backyard.
Hiding among the people, he begins to watch her.
After a moment he recognises, 'She surely has the God's blessings.'
Because of a celestial demigod's presence, the holy energy in the atmosphere begins to increase and expand.
Not by his will, but simply because he is there.
Under its weight the spirit falters. Pressed in by the overwhelming force of both Shaamvi's sacred powers and a dragon's silent, divine aura, its negative force starts to shrink.
Cornered by their divine powers combined, the spirit trembles, then flees.
In the instant, she leaves the woman's body. Shaamvi lifts her hands, chanting her prayers with unwavering focus, and seals it swiftly into a brass box.
As the box closes, her heart whispers 'this isn't… just my doing.'
Her gaze sweeps over the crowd, scanning every face.
Then—she sees him.
Eyes that burn like twin flames— ancient, watchful.
An aura that doesn't belong to any human being.
There's weight in his posture, a quiet burden, like centuries of karma resting on his shoulders.
Their eyes meet. And in that one glance, something passes between them…recognition…or something like that. A current neither of them speaks but feels.
He turns to leave.
"Wait", she calls out and runs after him.
She steps in front of him, searching his face, breath short.
Without thinking, she reaches out to hold his hands, needing to be sure.
The moment their skin meets, she becomes certain, beyond doubt.
"You are not…..human, are you?"