Kartik suddenly jolts up from his bed, still terrified by the ripple of that energy. The fear of how horrifying that force was lingers in his chest. As soon as he sits up, he places his hand on his head, trying to process everything that just happened, his mind still trembling with the memory.
Meanwhile, Ira, who was in the same room with Kartik, walks over to him and notices that he looks a bit distressed and scared. She immediately understands that Kartik must have seen a bad dream. She gently holds his hand and tries to calm him down.
When Kartik realizes that Ira is right beside him, he starts to believe that maybe it was just a terrible nightmare. The moment Ira holds his hand, he begins to relax much faster.
After a short while, once he has calmed down, Ira softly asks him, "How are you feeling now? Do you feel better than before?"
Kartik replies, "Yes, I feel much better now. I think I must have seen a very, very bad dream."
Just as the two of them are talking, the room's door suddenly opens and Lyra walks in with her usual bright and cheerful energy. She's just about to say something when she notices that Ira is sitting close to Kartik, holding his hand.
Seeing this, she pauses and says, "Oops, looks like I'm at the wrong place at the wrong time. Alright then, I'll leave—you two continue your romance," she adds in a playful, teasing tone.
Before either of them can respond, Lyra steps back out through the door and closes it behind her.
As soon as Lyra closes the door, both Kartik and Ira say at the same time, "We weren't talking romantically at all."
Hearing this from outside, Lyra—who was still standing near the door—opens it again with a 😜 expression and says, "I was just joking!"
Lyra then adds, "I actually came to tell you that Grandpa has called you, Ira didi. And he also said that if Kartik is feeling better now, then let him know as well."
Hearing this, Kartik says, "You mean Master Naval?"
Lyra nods, "Yes, he's the one."
Then Kartik asks, "Okay… by the way, how long was I asleep?"
Lyra replies, "You were asleep for about 14 mites."
Kartik says, "Mites? Can you tell me how much that is in hours?"
Lyra shrugs, "Do you people not call them mites? Well… I don't really know how many hours that would be."
"Anyway, I should go now. I still have to tell Rayan and a few other commanders."
Before she leaves, Ira asks, "Why does Grandpa want to call the other commanders too?"
Lyra says, "I don't know, Didi."
As Lyra is about to close the door, she pauses and says,
"By the way, you two can let go of each other's hands now,"
and then finally shuts the door.
Hearing this, Kartik and Ira quickly pull their hands apart, both of them feeling a wave of embarrassment.
After a brief silence, Kartik says, "I think we should go."
Ira nods, "Yes, let's go."
They walk into the hallway quietly, neither of them speaking for a while.
Finally, Kartik says, "Um… Ira, can I ask you something?"
Ira replies softly, "Yes… what is it?"
"It's been quite some time since I arrived here, but I still don't understand why all of you are staying together in this secret bunker… and why everyone seems to be waiting for some kind of storm to end. Even on that Silver's Moon night, it felt like everyone was waiting for something to finally be over… Can you tell me what's going on?"
Hearing this, Ira's expression turns slightly sad.
Kartik immediately says, "Oh no, forget it. I was just asking casually. If you don't want to tell me, it's fine."
Ira shakes her head gently. "It's not that I don't want to tell you. It's just… some things are difficult to explain."
She takes a breath and continues, "About 7–8 years ago, when I was 8, this planet—Astraq—was very peaceful. We had no shortage of anything, no sorrow… everyone lived happily. Children played everywhere. Everything was going perfectly… but I guess fate had other plans.
Then one day, portals began to open. The portal you came through, Kartik—those were portals too."
(Kartik listens very carefully.)
"But there were many portals. And from them, horrifying creatures started coming out. They were extremely terrifying. I was playing in the palace garden when I saw all this happening with my own eyes. They were the same creatures we saw near the jungle. Some portals even opened above our palace. When I felt their energy, I couldn't move.
One of those portals opened right above us, and some creatures started moving toward me. They were about to kill me, but Rayan's father—the Fleet Commander—saved me. At that time, he and around 600 soldiers were standing against nearly 9–10,000 creatures. And that number was only around the palace area. I don't even know how many portals opened across the planet or how many monsters came out.
He ordered one of his soldiers to take me inside the palace. I couldn't understand anything… I was crying, hearing only screams, chaos, and children crying everywhere.
Inside the palace, everyone was preparing for battle. I was taken to my mother. My father—the king—was there too. He said something to my mother, then picked up his sword and left.
And he never returned.
My mother ordered the remaining soldiers to take everyone to the safe bunkers. She took me and Lyra with her. My grandfather was also with us. We were just about to leave when suddenly, a commander from their fleet appeared in front of us…
His energy was extremely terrifying… maybe even more than Rayan's father…"