Chapter 2

In the depths of chaos, there lies a thread of fate – invisible, yet unbreakable. Two souls, bound not by time, but by something far older... something that refuses to die.

-

 Arovan Corp, Mumbai – Top Floor Office

The skyline of Mumbai burned gold beneath the evening sun. Inside the glass fortress of Arovan Corp, the atmosphere was colder. CEO Rudra Vehrin Arovan stood still, staring at the towering city with steel-gray eyes that saw beyond the present.

His scar, now more visible in the side glow of the window, gave his profile a brutal elegance.

Kael entered quietly.

“No word from the Eastern side, boss,” he said. “But someone is stirring in the South. The girl has appeared again.”

Rudra didn’t turn. “Where?”

Kael hesitated. “Dehradun.”

That single word made Rudra grip the edge of his desk.

“How sure are we this time?” he asked.

Kael walked closer, placing a folder before him. Inside it – grainy surveillance images of a girl with long dark hair walking alone at night. A bracelet shone under a streetlight – golden, unmistakable.

Rudra’s voice was low. “That bracelet…”

Kael nodded. “Same as in your dream?”

“Yes,” Rudra whispered, more to himself than to Kael. “She’s real.”

For a long moment, the two men stood in silence, the weight of destiny crashing down like a storm outside.

Dehradun – Raelitha Residence

Ishira lay wide awake on her bed. Her ceiling fan spun slowly, echoing the swirl of thoughts in her head.

Another dream.

Another nightmare.

This time the fire had voices. It wasn’t just burning her skin… it was whispering names. A name she had never spoken but felt deep in her bones:

Rudra.

She got up and opened her window. The mountain breeze was soft tonight. Elara’s voice from the other room brought her back.

“You awake, Ishi?”

“Yeah,” Ishira called back.

Elara entered, holding two cups of hot cocoa. She handed one to Ishira and sat beside her.

“Nightmare again?”

Ishira nodded slowly. “But… it felt like more than a dream this time.”

Elara hesitated. “Did he appear again?”

“Yes. His eyes were different this time. He wasn’t looking at me… he was looking for me.”

Elara shivered. “Do you think this guy is real?”

“I don’t know,” Ishira admitted. “But if he is, I feel like he’s getting closer.”

Underground Bunker – Location Unknown

In a room filled with screens and symbols, a man in a silver-hooded coat moved around silently. This was Zaeron.

He paused as one of the monitors blinked red. A tracking signal had lit up.

A golden bracelet. Energy signature active.

Zaeron smirked. “Well well, Princess… your flames are flickering again.”

He turned to a shadow in the corner. “Wake Aryan. Tell him… it’s time.”

Arovan Corp – Private Quarters

Rudra sat on a couch, the surveillance photo in his hand, a storm in his mind.

Why did this girl appear only in fragments?

Why did he remember her smile before ever seeing her?

And why the fire?

He picked up a faded book from his shelf – a secret relic only few knew existed. A family curse. Bloodlines. Prophecies.

He flipped to a page.

“When the storm rises and the flame awakens, the cursed throne shall tremble again. Only the storm and the flame together may either destroy or save the world that sleeps beneath the veil.”

His jaw clenched.

This girl… Ishira… she wasn’t just a dream.

She was connected to everything.

College Campus – Dehradun

The next day, Ishira walked through campus, trying to feel normal. Students moved around her, chatting, laughing, living life. But her world felt like it was tilting.

Elara caught up. “Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah, just… off,” Ishira said.

A man stood watching them from behind a tree. Calm eyes, dressed in dark neutral tones – Aryan Raelitha.

He watched Ishira walk away.

“She doesn’t remember yet,” he murmured.

Zaeron’s voice buzzed through his earpiece. “She will soon. Keep her close.”

Aryan nodded once and faded into the crowd like a ghost.

Night – Rooftop

Rudra’s helicopter landed on the rooftop of a hidden villa near the Dehradun outskirts. His eyes scanned the quiet town below. Kael waited with a tablet.

“We booked a place near the girl’s college. No direct contact unless necessary?”

“For now,” Rudra said. “But I need to see her. Just once. I’ll know if it’s her.”

“Boss… what if she remembers you too?” Kael asked.

Rudra’s voice was low, raw. “Then the game begins.”

 Dream Realm – Ishira’s Vision

Flames danced all around her. A battlefield of ash. Bodies. Smoke.

In the center stood Rudra – shirtless, blood on his chest, eyes burning with rage. Behind him, a black dragon spread its wings.

Ishira tried to move… but her feet were rooted.

“Why are you always in my dreams?” she cried.

Rudra turned to her slowly. For the first time, he spoke inside the dream.

“Because you called me… Ishi.”

She gasped.

He walked closer. The fire bent away from her, as if protecting her.

“I will find you,” he said. “And this time… I won’t let you burn alone.”

Morning – Ishira’s Apartment

Ishira woke up with a gasp, sweat covering her body.

Outside her window, a black car stood still across the street. Tinted windows.

Inside it… Rudra.

He looked up at the girl behind the curtains.

And for the first time… she looked back.

Their eyes didn’t meet fully.

But their souls recognized something ancient. Something lost.

The dream came again. Ishira woke up gasping, her hands clutching her golden bracelet like a lifeline. The images were more vivid this time — fire raging, shadows swirling, and a voice calling her name through the chaos. That voice. It always left an ache in her chest, like a melody she had forgotten how to sing.

Outside her window, dawn tiptoed into the world, bathing her quiet room in a golden hue. Elara stirred on the opposite bed and murmured something incoherent, still fast asleep.

Ishira sat up, the dream replaying in her mind like a reel stuck in loop. Her heart beat wildly. She had never met the man in her dreams — the one with storm-gray eyes and a scar across his jaw. But every fiber of her being screamed that he was real.

At Arovan Corp, Rudra stood in front of the wide floor-to-ceiling windows, staring down at the city like a silent predator. The night had been sleepless. The dream was different this time — the flames had almost touched him, and the girl’s face had come into focus for a fleeting second.

"Sir," Kael said from behind, breaking his thoughts, "The shipment has arrived."

"Good," Rudra replied, voice calm but laced with menace. "And the man who thought he could cheat me?"

"Taken care of. No trace left."

"As it should be."

Kael hesitated. "You didn’t sleep again, did you?"

Rudra turned to face him. "She was closer this time. The girl. I saw her eyes."

Kael's expression faltered. He had never seen Rudra this… restless. Not even during the bloodiest of their missions.

Back at the university, Ishira tried to focus on her classes, but her mind wandered. Aryan watched her quietly from the last bench. He had seen the signs. The fire in her eyes. The slow awakening.

"It’s starting," he murmured to himself. "The curse… the bloodline… she’s feeling it."

Later that night, Ishira stood by her window again, watching the stars. Somewhere out there, a storm was brewing. And she could feel it in her soul.

The connection had begun.

----

In the underground tunnels beneath the palace ruins, Zaeron lit a candle with a slow smile.

“They’re remembering,” he whispered to the shadows. “The storm king and the fire bearer… How long they’ve slept in borrowed skins.”

From behind the veil of darkness, ancient stone walls trembled as the curse stirred.

---

Meanwhile, Aryan Raelitha stood by a lake, watching ripples distort his reflection. He whispered a chant under his breath, and the water revealed a scene—Rudra atop his tower, Ishira gripping her golden bracelet.

“They are awakening,” Aryan said.

A voice behind him—female, strong—answered, “Will they remember in time?”

Aryan’s face was unreadable. “They must. Or history will burn again.”

---

Back at Arovan Corp, Rudra descended to the lower levels—his private vault. Inside, behind biometric seals, was a sword older than civilization itself.

Inscribed in blood-runes, the weapon pulsed.

He touched its hilt, and pain surged through his arm, visions crashing in—castles burning, a throne of bones, Ishira screaming his name…

“Ishi…” he whispered, the name foreign and familiar.

His past wasn’t buried. It was waiting.

---

That evening, Ishira wandered alone through the old part of town, pulled by a force she couldn’t name. Her steps led her to the ancient Raelitha temple ruins.

There, on a cracked mosaic, she saw her face… not as she was, but as a crowned warrior—armor laced in gold, blood on her blade.

Tears welled in her eyes. “Who am I?”

Behind her, a voice echoed: “You’re who the world forgot… and who the curse remembers.”

Zaeron stood in the doorway, grinning like a cat who knew too many secrets.

“I think it’s time you remembered everything, princess.”

---

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