"You're not who you think you are."
Tara froze in her tracks, her hand still gripping the cold steel of the elevator's railing. The words echoed through her mind, distant yet impossibly close. The voice, low and unnervingly familiar, seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. Her pulse quickened as her eyes darted around the dimly lit hallway. There was no one there.
But the feeling of being watched, of being hunted, grew stronger with every passing second.
Her breath hitched, and a strange sensation washed over her, as though her very bones were vibrating with some ancient energy she couldn't comprehend. She wanted to dismiss it as a figment of her imagination, but deep inside, she knew better. It was real. The voice. The threat.
Her dog, Kaelash, who had been pacing beside her, stopped suddenly. His ears perked up, and his body went rigid. Tara felt his gaze shift toward her. "Tara..." The words were faint but clear in her mind. "Something's coming."
A chill ran down her spine, and her instinct screamed at her to run. But she couldn't. Not now. Not after everything she'd already seen. She wasn't just Tara Vedant, the average 26-year-old working a mundane job anymore. No, she was someone else. Someone… important. Someone who had been awakened.
Tara's eyes darted around, her hand instinctively reaching for her phone. Her fingers brushed across the screen, unlocking it. There, amidst the jumble of text messages and social media notifications, was an encrypted message—one she'd received earlier that day. She had ignored it at first, thinking it was some sort of mistake. But now, as the adrenaline surged within her, she could no longer ignore the urgency behind the message.
"Meet me at the old temple. It's time."
The words seemed to burn into her mind, urging her forward. The temple. The one hidden deep in the heart of the city, forgotten by most, its existence reduced to whispers among the few who still believed in the old gods. Her heart pounded in her chest as a realization hit her: this was no coincidence. This was destiny.
"Kaelash," she whispered, her voice trembling. The dog, who had transformed from an ordinary street mutt into something far more… divine, turned to face her. His golden eyes gleamed in the dim light. He knew. He had always known. "Lead me."
Without a word, Kaelash padded forward, his movements graceful and purposeful, as if the ground itself were beneath his command. Tara followed, her mind swirling with a mixture of fear, uncertainty, and an undeniable pull toward whatever lay ahead.
The streets outside the building were eerily quiet, the usual buzz of city life subdued beneath a heavy blanket of tension. As they neared the outskirts of the city, the familiar skyline slowly gave way to a quieter, older part of town. The buildings here were dilapidated, their crumbling facades coated in layers of grime and neglect. The air smelled of history—distant, forgotten.
Kaelash led her down narrow alleyways, his pace steady and unhurried, until they reached the temple. It was an ancient structure, hidden behind overgrown vines and crumbling stone walls, its entrance barely visible to the untrained eye. Tara stared at it, her heart racing. The temple felt alive, as if it had been waiting for her.
"This is it," she muttered under her breath.
Kaelash stopped just before the entrance, his gaze fixed on the darkened archway. Tara hesitated, her hand instinctively going to the pendant around her neck, a gift from her late mother. It had always been a source of comfort for her, but tonight it felt… heavier. More significant.
A sound interrupted her thoughts—a low, ominous laugh.
Tara spun around, her eyes narrowing as a figure emerged from the shadows.
He was tall, with sharp features and dark eyes that seemed to pierce through her very soul. His long black hair fell in loose waves around his shoulders, and his skin was pale, almost ghostly. His gaze, however, was the most unsettling part. It was as if he already knew everything about her, everything she'd ever been, and everything she was destined to become.
"You've come," he said, his voice a melodic blend of cruelty and something else—something personal. "Tara Vedant, or should I say… Kali reborn?"
Tara's stomach twisted as his words struck her like a blow. Kali. The name rang in her ears, familiar, ancient. It was a name she had heard in passing, always in connection with power, destruction, and the divine. But she had never truly understood its significance—until now.
The figure stepped closer, his presence suffocating. Tara instinctively took a step back, but her feet felt rooted to the ground. She couldn't move. She couldn't escape.
"Who are you?" she demanded, her voice trembling despite her best efforts to sound confident.
The man smiled, but there was no warmth in it. Only malice.
"I am Anveshak," he said, his eyes gleaming with something dark and dangerous. "And I have waited a long time for this moment."
Tara felt a surge of something deep within her—a power, ancient and untamed, waking from its slumber. It coursed through her veins like fire, burning away the fear, the doubt, the confusion. She wasn't just Tara anymore. She was something far more powerful. And she was about to show Anveshak just how dangerous that could be.
Her fists clenched, and the ground beneath her feet seemed to tremble with the force of her awakening.
"Run," Kaelash whispered, his voice sharp and urgent. "You must survive this."
Tara's gaze flickered to her loyal companion, his form shimmering in the moonlight. The fight was coming, and she had no choice but to face it.
She wasn't just a girl anymore. She was Kali.
And she would destroy anything that stood in her way.