Isra opened her eyes, and electricity fluttered deep within them. Barely visible from the outside, she lifted her left arm and saw strings of faintly glowing runes completely covering it from elbow to neck.
Although they appeared etched into her skin, they caused no pain.
The world felt like a blur around her; not all of her senses were working correctly. She couldn't hear anything and could barely see anything beyond herself; it was as if only part of her had woken up.
A familiar hand touched her cheeks, and she drowsily looked up to see Haniya kneeling in front of her. Isra instantly recognized her sister and tried to speak, but her mouth wouldn't open. She struggled to focus on her sister's face, but it remained a blur.
With great effort, Isra managed to grab Haniya's hand and fainted again.
**********
Isra's head rested on Haniya's lap as she caressed her hair back and forth. It had been hours already since she had woken up, barely to faint back again. The night had come, and everyone had gone to sleep.
Khadija slept nearby on a cozy bed made of fluffy leaves. The leaves were thick and chonky but held no weight at all; they were extra spongy and retained warmth, perfect mattresses of nature.
Haniya felt deeply worried about Isra. Gimpi had left them a big bowl of honey soup that was still untouched. She was leaned against Zar-e-Zameen, who slept peacefully, uncaring of the world around her.
At around 2 a.m., Isra coughed loudly and shook, waking Haniya up from her already disturbed sleep.
Isra grabbed her hand and weakly sat up, trying to look around; she stopped when she saw her sister.
Isra looked different; her silky white hair cascaded down in a mesmerizing flow. They were so exquisitely smooth that they seemed to defy gravity, and the texture was so seamless that it made her hair feel like undulating waves of white fog that subtly glowed.
On every slight tilt of her head, the hair gracefully moved, adding an otherworldly allure to her presence.
"Hanu aapi, where am I?" She said weakly.
"At the grove," Haniya had tears in her eyes. She pulled Isra close in an embrace.
"Hanu aapi, how are you here then?"
"Queen Golden sent me here," Haniya said as tears flowed down her cheeks and onto Isra's hair.
"I'm sorry, Isra; I wasn't there," she sobbed.
"It's okay, Hanu aapi; I missed you," Isra said.
"I missed you too."
Khadija woke up and sat beside them. Haniya looked at her and opened her arm; she joined the hug as well.
*********
Isra, Haniya, and Khadija sat around a beautiful pink campfire sharing stories of the things that had happened.
"So Isra told me to bring Zar-e-Zameen under the tree, and I don't know how, Hanu aapi, but I always end up doing the worst part of the plan somehow," Khadija was enthusiastically sharing the adventures with a big silly smile on her face.
Haniya laughed back.
"You've both been like this since the day you were born. I remember when Isra was a toddler, Abbu had recently brought a beautiful goldfish. One day, when Yasmeen Aunty first brought you to our home, Miraaj and I were only 6 years old; well, Miraaj was seven, and I was six. Isra and you were put side by side on the sofa, both extremely chubby, elephant-eating toddlers. Our attention was constantly on you. The goldfish was in a small bowl placed on the side table, and Isra had been eyeing it for some time.
You were busy eating your hand. I swear we looked away for a second, and Isra had somehow convinced you to grab the fish and bring it to her. She was about to put it in her mouth when we spotted you both. Luckily, the goldfish was saved. So it's been like this since literally day one."
Isra and Khadija laughed openly.
"Hanu aapi, remember when Isra stole the backlight from our school bus and sold it to Saira?" Khadija had tears in her eyes already from laughing.
"Oh that, how can I forget. So apparently you guys made the light into a small lamp and sold it for 500 rs to Saira. You know, her mother was really angry at Ammi for that," Haniya said.
"Hanu aapi, thank you for coming," Isra said, pink flames making her look ethereal.
Suddenly, the flames dimmed then extinguished. In the next moment, Zar-e-Zameen was standing besides the girls. Looking at a pile of darkness some yards away.
Khadija screamed in pain and her entire left arm turned black, A menacing looking snake slithered under skin, making her veins darker wherever it went.
Isra scurried back; her eyes could clearly see through. The said pile of darkness had a familiar shape to it, a slender cat-like figure drenched in malicious darkness. Amawas laid, on the verge of dying, barely breathing.
"Aatish, please," Amawas was speaking softly, her eyes closed, her breathing extra slow.
"My sister, please, Aatish where are you," she kept repeating.
Soon a fireball landed between the opening, near Amawas.
"Aapi, I'm here," Aatish said as she lifted her head and placed it between her hands.
She then closed her eyes as her flames turned lime green; streaks of it then traveled to Amawas's body, closing the countless wounds. Revitalizing her.
#212 had arrived at the scene already changed into his bird of prey form but had stopped when he saw that Zar-e-Zameen wasn't doing anything either.
Aatish's fire was celestial; it wasn't warm at all. Instead, the lime green flames felt refreshing to gaze upon.
After some intense minutes of no one moving even a muscle, Amawas sat up.