Anshu and others were sitting on the terrace along with others. She somewhat, missed her brother. She still had the sight of her brother struggling for life on their first encounter with demons. He was out for his training in the palace since the past fifteen days. She couldn't believe that he survived there for this much amount of time. She thought he would be back in a day but he stayed. He, there, was training with his classmate and she, here was training with her friend Chitrakshi. She didn't know why but was attracted to this place, this world, ETKing. Here many strange things happened to her so far. The day on which Neel came back from the Forge, she suddenly found a Zulu Iklwa near her bed. She didn't know who kept it there but finding a weapon near her bed, on the very same day, on the very same time. This wasn't a coincidence right? 

Alright, Anshu wasn't alone right now. To her left and right were Chitrakshi and Karan respectively. In front of her were Yuvan, Shoubdha and Alice. All she knew was that Yuvan was another Saptasiddhi bearing the mark of Vayu. He indeed was related to Karan somehow, however he didn't have Tez power like Karan. Instead he had superhuman strength. 

Shoubdha on the other hand, was an Elaston. That was the most relatable English term Anshu found in the dictionary. She bearded the mark of Varun, the water God. Along with Vaani and Dhruv, she is one of the people in the Kailash Graham you couldn't resist. She somehow will find a way to talk to someone. She neither can sit idle nor can she see one sitting alone. As a result, Anshu wasn't sitting alone. She admit it or not but she started to like this place a lot more than a lot. 

As to say about her physique, she had black hair up to her shoulders. She was a bit tan but that just increased her beauty. She had small eyes along with black eyeballs. 

As to say what they were doing on the terrace, they were discussing about the invitation they all got for the party in the palace the very next day. 

"What's this party about?" Anshu asked everyone but just portrayed herself as dumb. 

"It's Prince's birthday." Shoubdha replied. 

"You mean Dhruv's?" She obviously remembered the fight between her brother and that prince Dhruv. 

"Yes, but you can't speak his name randomly. Respect is all that matters." 

"Leave it." Anshu said regretting to start this conversation. 

"Looks like some one is SHY!" 

"Don't act like a moron. It's just that I would be able to meet my brother again." 

"Liar!" 

"I am not lying. Besides, I heard you were talking 'bout my brother quite often these days." Anshu made this one, but the look she got on her face made her believe that she somehow got the right nerve. 

"Can we talk about something else?" 

"You mean excluding my brother right?" 

Everyone around burst into laughter. 

"Hey I just wanted to say-" 

"Don't be SHY." 

"Drop it." 

"Now we are even." 

Chitrakshi interfered in between. 

"Guys and girls, we need to discuss about something important." 

"Bark." Anshu and Shoubdha said in unison. 

"As I was saying, many people from all over the kingdom will be there. We have to arrive there by two which means leaving from here at twelve. No delay anyone. I want everyone to be ready by half past eleven. Alright?" 

Everyone nodded. 

"And, carrying weapons with you isn't allowed as not to mention the high security over the palace. Alright that's it. Inform it to others, spread the news. Good night." Saying this she headed towards the door. 

There was a stroke of white light in the sky as if a comet. Chitrakshi stopped herself in a chance to see the view. But in utterly nasty ways, the Shine fell over Anshu.

Anshu didn't know what was happening but astonishingly, the room and people around suddenly started to grow larger. 

¤¤¤¤¤

Neel was lying on his bed like a wild animal. Was he tired? Of course he was. Fifteen days have been in this palace and the work he was doing in the name of training was ridiculous. First he was asked for dusting of five rooms and the hall in less than a hour. Neel regretted his actions of coming here as the hall itself was as big as a playground. 

The very next day he was asked to mop the whole floor of eleven rooms which Vaani herself made constantly a mess once he finished a side! And today he was told to rub the floor with the help of a toothbrush. Gods! This was torture! 

I am in a Concentration Camp right now. Neel thought. 

Even the smallest bone in his body was in pain. Thanks to the training. People say that after a few days, you get used to the things and tasks become easy. They haven't met Vaani yet. If they had, they hadn't said so. 

The window near Neel's bed suddenly went open due to high speed winds. 

Neel cursed. 

Things were not quite good recently. The very next day, he was supposed to get up early and recheck that everything was all right. And obviously, Vaani. Well she was a girl about whom he had to think he himself didn't know why. She asked him for friendship and on the very day a demon entered the house, turned it upside-down, blasted a market, abducted his parents and he got himself in this mess. This wasn't coincidence right? But beside that also, his concern was related to Vaani. That girl was hiding something. He just knew she was. Moreover, she was acting strange recently. She wasn't decent anymore but she also wasn't aggressive. She was no more ditching him nor they were in the middle of any arguments now. She was just quite, just so quite. 

She was ignoring him and ignorance was the very thing that troubled Neel. It isn't that he isn't used to ignorance. He is indeed. But ignoring him for no reason was something he didn't like. 

Cursing, he got up as so to close the window. He saw a white Shine in the sky. 

A shooting star. He thought. 

But the star left a shine on him. As the light touched his bare skin he felt as sudden force on his body as someone was pushing him back. He went flying in the room and collided with the shelf. He fell on the floor as the shelf followed, falling over him.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤