Waves of shadow engulfed the mansion grounds like tsunami.
With Nani on the lakeside behind the mansion, Soham at the front gate, Kaya at the forest entrance, Nakash at the cliff, Saaransh on the terrace and Nitiya herself was in the back garden, they were scattered in a way that completely surrounds the mansion from all directions. Their mission was to stop the Shadow Army from infiltrating the mansion and buy time for Lia to return.
Maintaining a safe distance from the fast approaching shadow army, Nitiya prioritised informing the current situation to Brother Fernandez. Hence, she took her own sweet time to explain in detail what exactly happened and requested them to stay put no matter what as she waited.
It wasn't a long wait though, the moment she finished her conversation with Brother Fernandez, she could vividly feel the triplets close by.
Hiding admist the shadow creatures, three hooded figures advanced towards the mansion ignoring their superior's warning.
The little girl sat under the nearby tree collecting status report.
A few seconds passed by, before she was interrupted by a freezing laugh paired with mocking words.
" Well!! Well!!! Well!!! What do we have here???? A little snack!!! "
Nitiya remained unfettered. She calmly opened her eyes and was greeted by three human-like identical figures now standing before her.
Their pitch black robes were a stark contrast to their pale icy white faces. Sneaking out of their colorless lips were a set of fangs, waiting to bit into her. Their colourless grey eyes illustrated their never ending thirst for blood.
Even with such remarkable similarities, the Viento triplets weren't free from their own set of dissimilarities. As Nitiya closely inspected them, she memorized the foremost common difference amongst the brothers; the colour of their eyebrows. Each brother possessed a pair of colourful eyebrows which was distinctive from the others.
Nitiya's lips curled up to an enchanting smile as she looked them in the eye. Her composed demeanor exuded her divinity and fearlessness.
" Me!! Snack!!! Do I look like one to you, Mr.Dhar?? " Nitiya refuted cheekily throwing a pointed look at the red eyebrowed brother who happened to be the youngest of the brothers.
Her bitting reply and addressing left Dhar literally tongue tied. Not even gods dared to stand up to him like this much less a measly little human.
" How insolent!!! Looks like your elders never taught you to be respectful. Don't worry I'll teach you before you die. " The blue eyebrowed second brother spoke this time.
" No thank you Mr. Dominic. Besides I'm too young to die anyway. "
Nitiya's reply earned her more than just a threatening glare from Dominic.
" Little girl, you seem to be quiet knowledgeable for a human. Tell me, who are you and how do you know so much about us??? " Finally the first brother with black eyebrows asked.
" Well yes, I am knowledgeable but why should I answer anything to you, Mr. Demetrius??? Are you my friend?? And more so when you are attacking my home for no reason. "
Demetrius grew suspicious of the child. He remembered what his last subordinate told him in his death bed hence, he opted for a peaceful resolve.
" Heh!! I'm impressed by your courage and knowledge, therefore I'll give you a chance. Step aside and we will not hurt anyone. We only want something that this mansion holds and will leave once we have it. "
" I know you seek the Eye of Infinity but, let me ask you are you sure that it is still here?? "
Viento triplets : "...."
' The Eye is something not even the gods know about, then how can this little girl know of it!! ' Demetrius thought and tried to sense the essence.
" It's gone!!! The essence is gone!!! " Demetrius yelled in panic.
If they fail to get the eye today, then they were done for.
At his words, the other two also tried to sense the essence. Unfounately, the result was the same.
The essence was nowhere to be found.
" Where is the essence??? Where is the Eye of Infinity??? Answer me!!! "
Demetrius lost his composure as roared at Nitiya for an answer.
" Essence or no essence!! This girl needs to be taught how to respect her superior. " Dominic was furious. His couldn't stomach Nitiya's insolence and was unusually hell bent on settling his score straight.
" Don't get too ahead of yourself, Dominic!!! She's mine. Get your own meal if you want. " Dhar growled.
" What are you two going on about??? We need to find the Eye!! " Demetrius barked.
" Oh please Demetrius!!! If it wasn't for you then we would have been able to acquire the Eye ages ago but no, you had to butt in and show superiority. If not for you then we wouldn't have lost so many of our soldiers and be in this situation in the first place. "
" What nonsense are you spouting Dhar??? "
Demetrius was shell-shocked by Dhar's accusations. It was beyond his scope of understanding why all of a sudden his brothers turned against him for no reason.
" Nonsense!!! You think everyone other than you only spouts nonsense. Fine!! Since you are the only great genius, then be the genius that you are and sort this out yourself. I have no intention of slaughtering myself. " Not only Dhar, even Dominic was furiously accussed Demetrius. Their was an untamed anger blazing in their eyes which Demetrius wasn't familiar with. However, he wasn't in for reasoning either because if he was, he would have immediately understood the meaning behind his subordinate's words.
" Listen Demetrius and listen good!!! Since you took up the charge of finding the Eye, you are more than welcome to do as you please but, I won't tolerate anyone challenging me. That girl is mine!!! And as for you Dhar, you are qualified enough to find another meal for yourself, so I would suggest that you don't unnecessarily mess in my business. If you than don't blame me for the consequences. " Dominic's ultimatum further intensified the tension between three brothers.
Nitiya observed the quarreling show of the triplets with a knowing smile and waited till their argument reached to a certain level before she decided to have some fun.
" Hey!! I hate to interrupt your important discussion but, what that behind you??? " she gestured them to turn over.
Behind the triplets appeared three brass vases floating in mid air and began what Nitiya termed ' Vase Slapping ' . It's exactly as the name suggest, the vases were literally slapping the triplets on their faces left, right and centre. They even managed to break both of Dominic's fangs.
Seeing the antics of the triplets, Nitiya laughed to her heart's content then leaving them to their own devices, she left the spot.
She tried contacting her brother, who was still busy dealing with those giant shadow snakes and Saaransh, who was God knows where??
Nitiya : " Nakash!!! Nakash were are you??? "
Nakash : " Still at the cliff, trying not to be snake food. What about you??? "
Nitiya : " I'm fine. Hang on a second I will get you. "
Nakash : " No need, I've got this. "
Nitiya : " We need to help the others, especially Nani. "
Nakash : " I know, I've got an idea. You go back inside the mansion and to the attic. Get our dinning table with you as well then go and help Brother Saaransh and bring him back to the attic as well. I'll met you guys there. "
Nitiya : " You... "
Nakash : " Trust me!! I know what I am doing. "
Nitiya : " Fine!! Where is he??? "
Nakash : " I don't know, where did you dropped him??? "
Nitiya : " I dropped him on the terrace but, he is nowhere near there. "
Nakash : ". Damn!! He is trapped in the kitchen. "
Nitiya : " Kitchen!!! Like OUR KITCHEN??? "
Nakash : " Yes, he is already inside the mansion. Hurry up, before the kitchen explodes.. "
Nitiya : " Do I have a choice?? Hmph.. "
Nitiya hurried to the mansion and made a beeline for the kitchen.
And there he was!!
Squirming in the corner to free himself from a monster's grasp while enjoying a luxurious company.
A flock of shadow monsters were practically rampaging the kitchen and tampered with anything and everything in sight.
Crashed microwave, messed up pantry, broken refrigerators were some of the least to mention. However, things got pretty dangerous when two of them began to fiddle with the gas stove and cylinders respectively.
Seeing this, Nitiya slapped her forehead and jumped into the dining area and teleported herself to the attic along with the dinning table.
Just the dinning table!!!
CRASH!!!! CRASH!!!! CRASH!!!
Everything on top of the dinning table came down crashing.
The noise of the breaking glasswares attracted the monsters attention giving Nitiya her chance. She quickly returned to the kitchen to turn off the gas, then removed the connecting valve from the cylinder and sealed it.
After that, she grabbed Saaransh by his collar in one hand and the cylinder in other and they were back in the attic.
Although, Nitiya didn't stay there even for a second.
She returned to the kitchen for the third time. After a quick check of the surrounding, she rushed over to the utility area which was situated behind the kitchen were three more fully loaded cylinders were stocked up.
Because their utility area was half open, it served as a prefect ventilation for the kitchen. Therefore, it was enough to leave the door opened to remove the leaked gas from the kitchen. Especially with Kaya around.
Thankfully, while tampering with the gas stove the monster unknowningly turned on the safety knob which resulted in gas leakage and nothing more.
She heaved a sign of relief and began collecting the cylinders and then teleported herself once again. This time instead of the attic, it was the backyard of her school's church where she arrived.