The armored Mercedes glided through the rain-slicked streets of Mumbai, bulletproof windows reflecting the neon glow of the city like smeared blood. Aryaveer sat in the backseat, fingers steepled, watching the blur of streetlights through tinted glass. 

"Sir,"his driver muttered, adjusting the rearview mirror. "We're being followed."

Aryaveer didn't glance up. "Lose them."

The car accelerated-

Then the world exploded. 

A black SUV rammed them from the side, metal screaming as the Mercedes spun out, tires screeching against wet asphalt. Before Aryaveer could draw his gun, the windows shattered. 

Smoke.

Thick, chemical, burning his lungs. 

A hand clamped over his mouth from behind. 

Darkness. 

---

When Aryaveer came to, he was kneeling on cold concrete, wrists bound behind his back with steel cables. The room was vast, windowless, lit only by flickering torches mounted on stone walls. The air smelled of damp earth and old blood. 

A shadow moved in the corner. 

"You’ve grown, boy."

The voice was like gravel dragged over glass a sound Aryaveer hadn’t heard in twenty years but would recognize in the depths of hell. 

Nirvan Devraj.

The Dark Lord stepped into the light, and Aryaveer’s breath caught. 

Time had not softened him. If anything, it had sharpened him into something more monstrous. His black duster coat brushed the floor, the silver hilt of a curved dagger gleaming at his hip. His face was all hard edges, his beard streaked with iron-gray, but his eyes 

His eyes were the same.

Black as a starless sky. Endless. Hungry. 

Aryaveer swallowed the blood in his mouth and smirked. "You could’ve just called."

Nirvan backhanded him. 

The blow snapped Aryaveer’s head to the side, his vision swimming. He spat out a tooth, laughing. "Still hits like a fucking truck."

Nirvan crouched in front of him, gripping his jaw. "Where is Asmita?"

Aryaveer blinked. "Who?"

"Don’t." Nirvan’s voice dropped to a whisper. "She was last seen in your mansion. Tell me where she is, or I’ll peel the skin from your bones and feed it to you."

Aryaveer studied him—the tremor in his hands, the wildness in his eyes. "She’s dead, Nirvan."

The air turned to ice. 

Nirvan stood slowly. "You’re wrong."

"It’s been twenty years"

"SILENCE!" 

The roar shook the room. Nirvan paced like a caged beast, his coat flaring behind him. 

Twenty years.Twenty years of searching. Of begging shadows for answers. Of waking up screaming her name into the void.

He turned back to Aryaveer, his voice raw. "You think I don’t know what they say? That I’m a ghost chasing another ghost?" His fingers curled into fists.

"But I felt her. Two months ago like a whisper in my blood. She’s alive. And you will tell me where."

Aryaveer exhaled. "Even if she is, why would she be with me?"

Nirvan’s smile was terrifying. "Because, boy, your father was the last man who saw her."

Aryaveer stilled. 

"So." Nirvan drew his dagger, the blade catching the torchlight. "Let’s talk."

“My father is dead there is nothing to talk about” Aryaveer said.

The steel cables around Aryaveer’s wrists groaned then snapped. 

Nirvan barely had time to blink before Aryaveer lunged, the gun pressed flush against his temple. The cold metal kissed his skin, but the Dark Lord didn’t flinch. 

"You always were impatient,"Nirvan murmured. 

Aryaveer’s finger hovered over the trigger. "Where’s your army, Devraj? Or did you come to die alone?"

Nirvan’s lips curled. "I don’t need an army to break you."

His hand shot up, twisting the gun with brutal precision. The weapon clattered to the floor, and then—

Chaos.

The first punch shattered the silence. Aryaveer’s knuckles split Nirvan’s lip, sending blood spattering across the stone floor. Nirvan retaliated with a knee to Aryaveer’s ribs, the crack of bone echoing in the hollow chamber. 

They fought like wild beasts no rules, no mercy. 

Aryaveer ducked under Nirvan’s swing, driving his elbow into the older man’s spine. Nirvan grunted but pivoted, slamming Aryaveer into the wall. Plaster rained down as Aryaveer twisted free, his fist connecting with Nirvan’s jaw. 

"You’re slower,"Aryaveer taunted, wiping blood from his mouth. 

Nirvan spat red. "And you’re still arrogant." 

The fight escalated kicks meant to cripple, strikes aimed to kill. Aryaveer’s vision blurred from a well-placed hit to his temple, but he retaliated with a brutal chokehold, his forearm crushing Nirvan’s windpipe. 

Nirvan’s elbow slammed into Aryaveer’s gut, breaking his grip. They staggered apart, chests heaving, sweat and blood mingling on their skin. 

Then— 

Nirvan smirked. 

"I knew it," he rasped, wiping his mouth. "That ten-year-old boy who killed a man for looking at his sister wrong? I knew he’d grow into a great warrior."His dark eyes gleamed with something almost like pride. "Turns out I was right."

“How did you know that? You had vanished from the underworld” Aryaveer asked.

“I maybe be had vanished but not cut off from the underworld. I have eyes and ears everywhere kid” Nirvan said

Aryaveer stilled, his breath ragged. 

Nirvan straightened, rolling his shoulders. "Now. Let’s talk like men."

The torchlight flickered against the damp stone walls as Aryaveer and Nirvan stood amidst the wreckage of their battle, the air thick with the scent of sweat and iron. 

Nirvan’s chest rose and fell with ragged breaths, his dark eyes locked onto Aryaveer’s. 

Aryaveer wiped blood from his split lip, his voice rough. "Three years after the war after my mother disappeared your wife sent my father a message."

Nirvan went deathly still. 

"Arman delivered it," Aryaveer continued, watching Nirvan’s reaction closely. "Asmita’s loyal dog. He vanished after handing it over, but the letter…" He paused. "It said she knew where Aprajita was."

Nirvan’s fists clenched. "And?" 

"And nothing."Aryaveer’s jaw tightened. "I was sent away for training. When I returned, my father was a ghost. He never spoke of it again."

Silence stretched between them, heavy with unspoken truths. 

Nirvan’s voice was a whisper. "Where is Akansh now?" 

Aryaveer’s gaze darkened. "Dead." 

Nirvan, the dark lord, Nirvan devraj stood frozen as if his world is  in shreds.

she reached out to Akansh not to me.

The thought cut deeper than any blade. Nirvan’s mind raced, memories clawing at the edges of his control. 

The war. The bloodshed. The night he lost everything.

His children, dead in their cribs. 

His wife, gone without a trace.

And now this. 

Asmita had been alive. She had known something. And she had chosen silence.

Nirvan’s breath came faster, his vision tunneling. 

Why?

His head snapped up. 

"Your father lied.” 

Aryaveer’s eyes narrowed. "About what?"

Nirvan stepped closer, his voice a lethal rasp. "About the letter. About Asmita. About everything."

Aryaveer didn’t back down. "You’re chasing shadows, Devraj. It’s been twenty years. Let it go."

Nirvan’s hand shot out, gripping Aryaveer’s throat not to choke, but to emphasize his next words. 

"I will burn this world to the ground before I let her go."

❃.✮:▹　◃:✮.❃

AR Mension - Servents quarters

The door to Heer’s tiny servant quarter room crashed open, the wooden frame splintering under the force of Aryaveer’s weight. 

She spun around, the comb still tangled in her damp hair, her blue eyes widening as he stumbled inside bruised, bleeding, reeking of whiskey and violence. His shirt was torn, his knuckles raw, his breaths ragged and uneven. 

Before she could react, he was on her. 

One hand fisted in her wet hair, the other slamming her back onto the narrow cot. The impact knocked the breath from her lungs, but she didn’t scream. Didn’t fight. 

Aryaveer buried his face in the curve of her neck, his teeth scraping her skin as he growled, "Why did you kill her?" 

His voice was broken, raw a sound Heer had never heard from him before. 

"Why did you take her from me?"

His grip tightened, his body trembling against hers. "I was six when they took her. Six. And when I finally found her" His breath hitched, his lips pressing against her pulse. "She died in my arms before I could even hear her voice."

Heer’s chest ached. A tear slipped free, rolling silently down her temple and into her hair. 

"Aryaveer," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "Get off. You’re hurting me." 

For a heartbeat, he didn’t move. Then, with a ragged exhale, he pushed himself up, his dark eyes glazed with alcohol and pain. 

Heer didn’t wait for an apology. She wouldn’t get one. 

Instead, she reached under the cot and pulled out a small first aid kit. 

Aryaveer sat on the edge of the bed, his head bowed, his breathing still uneven as Heer cleaned his wounds. 

The silence between them was heavy, broken only by the soft rustle of gauze and the occasional hiss of pain from Aryaveer. 

She worked methodically dabbing antiseptic on his split knuckles, wrapping the deeper cuts on his arms, her touch feather-light but firm. 

Aryaveer watched her. 

Really watched her. 

The way her lashes cast shadows on her cheeks. The way her blue eyes electric, endless flickered with something he couldn’t name. The way her lips parted slightly in concentration. 

For the first time, he noticed the faint scar above her brow. The way her fingers trembled just a fraction when she touched his skin. 

He wanted to ask. 

Wanted to know.

But before he could speak 

The door flew open again. 

Arnav stood in the doorway, his expression a mix of fury and disgust as he took in the scene. 

"What the hell is this?" 

Heer flinched, her hand slipping. The bandage unraveled. 

Arnav didn’t give her time to recover. He strode forward, shoving her aside with a rough hand. 

"Get away."

Heer stumbled, her bare foot catching on the uneven floorboards. A sharp pain shot up her ankle, but she bit back a cry, straightening slowly. 

Aryaveer blinked, his drunken haze clearing slightly as he watched her limp away. 

"Heer..." 

Arnav cut him off, hauling him to his feet. "You’re coming with me. Now."

He didn’t look back at her as he dragged Aryaveer out, leaving Heer alone in the wreckage of the moment. 

The bandage lay abandoned on the floor, stained with blood. 

Just like her heart. 

______________

Characters age :-

Heer :- 21 years old

Aryaveer :- 27 years old

Ayansh :- 29 years old

Mahira :- 23 years old