Thunder tore through the sky, splitting the heavens like a scream.
"Kiara, no!" Vikram's voice roared as she stumbled out of the temple's protection, rain soaking her trembling frame. "Don't fall for his trap!"
Varun shouted too, thrashing against his bindings. "He's lying, Kiara! Don't go near him!"
But Yuvaan's eyes darkened, crimson blazing through the storm. His hand lifted slightly—no words, just pure will—and suddenly Vikram and Varun choked mid-sentence, their throats clamped by invisible force. Their bodies twisted, gasping for air, faces turning pale as Yuvaan's calm voice cut through the chaos.
"Every second you hesitate," he murmured, "they suffocate."
"Stop! Please, stop!" Kiara's voice broke, raw with terror. She fell to her knees, the world spinning, the rain blinding her eyes. Without a thought for her own safety, she ran to him—her heart overriding every warning, every cry behind her.
She grabbed his outstretched hand, tears streaming down her face. "Please… spare them! I'm begging you!"
The moment her hand touched his, the choking stopped. Vikram and Varun fell to their knees, coughing violently, air flooding back into their lungs.
Yuvaan smiled faintly, his eyes glinting with satisfaction. "Good girl," he said softly.
"Yuvaan, don't do this to her!" Vikram gasped, crawling forward, his voice trembling with both fury and despair. "She's my daughter—please—don't destroy her life!"
But Yuvaan didn't even glance at him. He closed his eyes, raising both hands slowly toward the sky. The ground rumbled. The air crackled.
From the earth itself, dark roots erupted, twisting and merging, forming an enormous tree of shadows. Its trunk pulsed like a living heart, veins of black fire running through it—the Kaal Vriksh, the forbidden Tree of Eternity.
Kiara stumbled back, eyes wide, her scream lost to the thunder. "What… what is that?"
Yuvaan stepped closer, his voice a low chant. "The witness of our bond… the root of my power."
He drew a dagger from the air, slicing his palm open. Blood—dark and ancient—dripped down his wrist. With haunting gentleness, he reached forward and traced a line of it through the parting of Kiara's hair.
The moment his blood touched her, the world itself seemed to pause. The wind stopped. The thunder froze mid-roar.
A surge of divine and demonic energy collided in the air, swirling violently—one of light, one of darkness—meeting at the center where they stood.
Vikram and Varun could only watch in horror, powerless to stop what had already been sealed.
Kiara's eyes lifted to Yuvaan's. They stared at each other—two souls bound by destiny and defiance, enemies by blood, lovers by curse.
Above them, the sky screamed with thunder.
Below them, the earth trembled in witness.
A union that should never have occurred had just been forged—
The reincarnation of Warlock King Kaal had just married the Tridev's divine creation,
the Gods' own gift to mankind—
Jishwa, reborn as Kiara.
And with that, the heavens wept.
Yuvaan's eyes softened for a fleeting second as the storm raged behind him. From within his cloak, he pulled out a mangalsutra—its black beads glinting faintly with drops of rain and dark magic.
For a heartbeat, his expression shifted—not the cruel smirk of the warlock, but a man lost in memory.
He could almost hear her voice again—Bhoomi's, his mother's laughter echoing through the courtyard of their mansion.
"I watch too many soap operas, Yuvaan," she had said, teasingly touching his hair.
"If you ever bring me a bahu, promise me you'll tie this around her neck yourself. Your father wore it for me… maybe one day, you'll do the same."
That day, he had only smiled, too young and too arrogant to believe such a moment would ever come. Yet now, here he stood—half man, half curse—his mother's wish twisted by fate itself.
He looked at Kiara, her face pale and frozen in disbelief. She wasn't even resisting—just standing there, drenched and trembling, eyes distant as though the world around her had become unreal.
Her thoughts were a storm of their own.
How did this happen?
How did my peaceful, blissful college life turn into this nightmare?
One moment I was laughing with friends… and now… I'm bound to the very creature who destroyed my family's peace.
Yuvaan's fingers brushed her neck gently—almost reverently—as he clasped the mangalsutra around her throat.
The sacred chain settled against her skin, glowing faintly with an unnatural shimmer. The mingling energies of light and shadow flared once again in the air between them.
"Now it's complete," Yuvaan murmured, voice deep and solemn, almost… reverent.
Kiara didn't respond. She just stood still, her tears mixing with the rain, her heart thundering in her chest.
The symbol of love her mother once told her about—
the symbol of unity her father had always respected—
was now the mark of her bondage to the very man she feared most.
Yuvaan stepped back, watching her closely. His smirk returned, faint but sharp.
"Congratulations, sweetheart," he whispered.
"You're my wife now."
And with that, thunder roared again—louder, darker—
as if even the gods themselves couldn't bear to witness the union fate had forced upon them.