**Kashi, India – Moments Later**
The Silent Council agents stood motionless, their mirrored glasses reflecting Ujjwal's stunned face. The tallest agent—*Agent Ravi*—stepped forward, his polished Oxford shoes crunching over Rakshasa ash. "**We know what you took from the ghat,**" he said, his voice smooth as poisoned honey. "**Hand it over, and the girl walks free.**"
Anika gripped Ujjwal's arm, her nails digging into his skin. "What did you *do*?" she hissed.
The pearl pulsed cold in Ujjwal's chest, whispering instincts he didn't understand. *Kavacha.* The shield materialized on his left arm, its lotus petals glowing faintly. Agent Ravi chuckled. "**Cute parlor tricks. But we've neutralized worse.**"
He snapped his fingers.
The two other agents raised devices—sleek, black rods humming with a high-pitched whine. Ujjwal's shield flickered. *They're dampening the Godshard's energy.*
"**Last chance,**" Agent Ravi said, pulling a pistol from his holster. Not a firearm—a glass-barreled weapon filled with swirling gray liquid. *Atheist's Bane*, Maa Shanti had called it in her rants. A toxin that severed mortal ties to the divine.
Anika stepped in front of Ujjwal. "You're not taking him."
Agent Ravi sighed. "**Bravery bores me.**" He aimed.
A conch shell blared.
Maa Shanti materialized in a burst of golden light, her sari billowing despite the still air. The agents staggered back, their devices sparking and dying. "**Run, fools!**" she roared, her voice shaking the walls. "**Or I'll turn your bones to chalk!**"
The agents fled, their composure shattered.
Maa Shanti rounded on Ujjwal. "**Idiot boy! You triggered the blood-rune's trace!**" She tossed him a jute sack. "Pack. Now. You're leaving Kashi."
Anika bristled. "Who *are* you?"
"The woman saving your skin," Maa Shanti snapped, rummaging through Ujjwal's closet. She pulled out his grandmother's pearl necklace and grunted. "Laxmi's trinket. Should've guessed."
Ujjwal froze. "You knew her?"
"We *trained* together," Maa Shanti said, shoving clothes into the sack. "Before she quit to marry that fool poet. Now move!"
Anika blocked the door. "I'm not letting you drag him into—"
Maa Shanti flicked her wrist. Anika crumpled, asleep before she hit the floor.
"**What did you—?**"
"A *devi*'s mercy," Maa Shanti said. "She'll wake in an hour, remembering nothing. Now *go*." She thrust a train ticket into Ujjwal's hand—*Varanasi to Mumbai*—and a faded photo of a woman in a lab coat standing before the Sphinx. "Find Amunet Hassan in Cairo. She'll guide you to the Eye of Ra."
Ujjwal hesitated. "Why are you helping me?"
Maa Shanti's glare softened. "Because your grandmother once carried the Jyoti Mukta. And it killed her."
The words struck like a physical blow. Before Ujjwal could speak, Maa Shanti shoved him toward the window. "The station's crawling with Council rats. Take the ghats. The river will hide you."
---
**Dashashwamedh Ghat – 5:47 AM**
The Ganges flowed slate-gray under a bruise-colored sky. Ujjwal crouched behind a chai stall, the pearl's cold weight a constant reminder of his recklessness. Pilgrims began to gather for the morning *aarti*, their chants mingling with the clang of temple bells.
A hand gripped his shoulder.
He spun, Trishula materializing—but it was Anika, her eyes wild. "You think I'd let you ditch me?" She brandished a syringe filled with shimmering liquid. "Adrenaline shot. Woke me up."
"Anika, *please*—"
"You're stuck with me," she said, her voice trembling but firm. "Now what's the plan?"
Before he could answer, the river's surface boiled.
A figure emerged—a woman with serpentine eyes and moss-draped hair. *A Naga.* Her scales gleamed jade-green, and she bowed to Ujjwal. "**The river remembers your grandmother. We grant you passage.**"
Anika gaped. "Are you *seeing* this?"
The Naga gestured. A boat materialized, its hull carved with Ashoka symbols. "**Hurry. The Council comes.**"
Sirens wailed in the distance. Ujjwal dragged Anika into the boat. As the Naga pushed them into the current, the water shifted, folding around them like a veil. The ghats blurred, replaced by a mist-wrapped channel flanked by ancient stone arches.
"**The Old Ganges,**" the Naga said. "**A path unseen by mortal eyes for millennia.**"
Anika gripped the boat's edge. "Where does it lead?"
"**Where you need to go,**" the Naga replied. Her gaze lingered on Ujjwal. "**Beware the Silent Council. They serve a master who wears many faces.**"
As the boat drifted into the mist, Ujjwal's chest flared. The pearl's voice echoed, faint but urgent: *"Find the Eye. Restore the Prism."*
---