“When I Needed You”

A sacred hush clings to the mountain, the new brass box resting in the center of the ritual ground.

Shaamvi sits cross-legged before it, her hands open in her lap, palms facing the sky. Salt and ash circles her like a seal of fire and faith. Her eyes are closed, but her presence is awake.

Beside her, KaanKuwar stands alert. His eyes trace the horizon, then the sky, then down to the quivering edges of the salt and ash circle.

And Shaamvi begins to chant.

Her voice, low and unwavering, weaves into the air.

"O Sun God, radiant eye of heaven, who banishes night and shadows deep."

"I call upon your light, not for me but for the one who's lost."

"A spirit, unbound by grace, who fled the holy knot last night."

"O blazing truth burn away its darkness."

She opens her eyes and tilts her head skyward.

"In the name of the eternal, I summon what fled."

"In the name of the Merciful God, I summon you."

"Come now, return to light. I call you back. I call you back."

"The ash trembles, the salt shifts."

Shaamvi continues; her voice doesn't shake. "I call you. In the name of the holy light, I call you back."

A sudden chill fractures the air.

Then….it comes.

The spirit bursts forth like smoke torn from the furnace, a writhing mass of shadow and hate.

Before Shaamvi could react, it strikes — a violent blow to her chest.

Shaamvi is flung back, breath stolen mid chant. Her feet leave the ground, arms flailing towards the jagged stone behind her— but she never reaches it.

In a blink, KaanKuwar moves before thought can form. He catches her mid-air, his arms wrapping around her from behind, pulling her into his chest.

Her back meets the strength of him, not the stone.

His grip is firm and prprotective,ike a shield of scale and flame…like a serpent coiled not to strike but to guard.

They fall together but he takes the weight of it all.

The jagged stone slams into him instead.

And for an instant, it is not the chaos she feels but the steadiness of his heartbeats against her spine.

He carefully loosens his grip, releasing her from the shelter of his arms.

His voice comes gently, with concern. "Are you okay?"

Shaamvi nods. 

He gazes towards the spirit, who still lingers in the air.

He steps forward not with rage but with pity. Pity foe soul who chose darkness instead of light, who is twisted by cursed evil spells.

He lifts his arms into serpentine motion, fingers weaving through the air. A surge of invisible force erupts.

A storm rises, spiralling into a cyclone that surrounds the spirit in a cage of wind.

The ghost shrieks, resisting, but KaanKuwar's power holds it in a current it cannot escape.

"Now!" he calls out Shaamvi. "Fast, do it now!"

She stands up at once—one hand raised in prayer, the other clutching the brass box. Her hair flying like black ribbons in the storm, clothes swirling as she begins her final chants, her voice bright as firelight.

The spirit gives them a loud scream. It begins to pull inward, thread by thread…into the box.

And then— silence.

KaanKuwar lowers his hands. The storm dissolves.

He steps toward her, breath deep and measured.

"You need to cast more seals on it" he says, voice low, calm but edged with urgency. "Or it will break free again."

Then without another word, he begins to leave.

"Wait…" Her voice is soft, barely a breath, but it holds him still.

He turns, eyes catching hers.

"Why?" she asks. "You helped me....and those black magic spells you spoke about—what did you mean?"

His expressions, casual "Someone cast a black magic spell on you last night," he says as if stating the weather, "you were clearly the target."

He starts to walk away again.

She blinks, processing….. Then calls out, a touch louder, though still tender.

"You didn't answer…why did you help me?"

He turns back to her, again. A smirk tugging at his lips, "You are not the only one who helps humans," he says.

Then after a breath, "It's my duty to protect anyone who trusts me."

"I didn't trust you," she replies, chin lifted.

His smile deepens, "I thought you did".

Because he knows, she did. And though her lips deny it, her eyes do not.

He finally walks away.

She stays behind, the air still humming with what passed between them.

And quietly, she thinks, 'thank you…whatever you are— you came when I needed you.'