As soon as Netra met with Paari, she rushed out of the palace to see the night-dwellers. They were all temporarily accommodated in the houses of mound people. Night-dwellers and mound people were working together to build new homes. The mound looked crowded. Her eyes looked for Giza but she could not find him anywhere. 

“Appa, why did you bring everyone from the night side? Did you free the prisoners?” Netra ran to her dad and asked him.

“Prisoners? What prisoners? We brought everyone from there because Isfe’s tornado collapsed, Netra. No one said anything about prisoners.”

“Oh no!” Netra murmured. “How long was I asleep?”

“About six days!” He replied. He could clearly see his daughter’s distraught. 

“No!” Netra slapped her head hard. “The coven leaders! They are all there. In the forbidden forest. Isfe was keeping them as prisoners. Without the tornado, they might all be dead!” Netra said hurriedly. 

“They were all alive?” Maayon asked in astonishment. 

Without wasting a second, Netra and Maayon hopped on their hover vehicles and went to the night side. The tornado city that had beautiful trees and plants is now a barren land covered in snow. The trees were all dead, some uprooted due to the harsh climate and some stood there without life. The huts that they lived in were all covered in snow. 

“That way, appa!” Netra led the way and soon they discovered the crystal cave. The colorful crystals have lost their colors and are now just icicles. Netra ran into the cave and Maayon followed his daughter. As she reached the dark ends of the cave, she started calling for the coven leaders. Nothing came back except for the echo of her voice.

“We need them to break the curse, appa! What if they are dead?” Netra asked her dad, worried.

“They will be alright!” Maayon patted his daughter’s shoulder and he ran before her to look for them. 

“Netra!” He called for her and Netra ran in the direction of his call. The sight they had before them was giving them goosebumps. Pamba had turned herself into her snake form and wrapped all four of them in her tight grip giving them a chance to survive this harsh weather.

“Pamba!” Netra called and the snake slowly lifted its head and hissed at her. Maayon quickly used his spell to warm up the place and Pamba slowly let them out of her constricted wrap. The men were barely breathing! Maayon broke open the crystal wall and ran in to help them. 

“They are dying. We have to take them to our place.” He said and Netra nodded her head in agreement. Pamba was too weak to turn herself into her human form and hence Netra picked her up in her hands and placed her gently on the vehicle. Maayon placed two of them in his vehicle and two of them in Netra’s vehicle and they flew to their mound. 

The next few days were spent in the nursery with the sick ones. Ellavan and Senthalir spent their time near Anastasia to make her better. Paari’s health got better too and he spent his days understanding the new environment. Netra sat near Pamba and Maayon spent his days with the coven leaders until they got better. 

“You have been very helpful, Pamba. I can never thank you enough.” Netra told Pamba after she regained her health.

“I'm truly honored to help you in this great cause, princess. I was so scared when everyone left the place. I thought I would die there without telling our people that I had helped our god.”

“I promise you, Pamba. You will see your world, your people! You will die in honor and I will make sure that you will go to the light as you wished for. I am giving you my word.” Netra hugged Pamba and Pamba broke down into tears of happiness. A god promising light to her and thanking her is the ultimate euphoria to her.

“Thank you for breaking us free, Netra.” The coven leaders told her.

“You have to thank Pamba. You all owe her big time. She was the one that kept you all alive.”

“She had been our protector for as long as we can remember. We had tried to kill ourselves numerous times and she was the one that brought Isfe to stop us. We thought she was being faithful to Isfe. we never knew she had an agenda to help Maya.” Maran said to Netra and turned to Pamba. “Thank you, Pamba.” He said and all the others thanked her as well. Pamba took it all in humbly.

“Karmegan!” They all neared Ellavan. “We are sorry. When you tried to warn us to turn us around, we should have listened to you. Our greed and lust sabotaged the balance of the universe. We have become the bad guys in history.” Seedan said with regret.

“You all want to make it right now and that is what is important and that truly counts. Leave the past behind, let's do what is needed now.”

“We are all here! We need Kaalan and the Chalice to break the curse. Kaalan is still with Theeya. Where is the chalice?” Asuran asked.

“We lost it to Isfe, I think,” Ellavan said.

“Killing Theeya is impossible. We have to bring them to a fight to kill Isfe and Kaalan. Isfe has her magic and Theeya still but we are far stronger than them. We have unity, Netra, and a good cause. Nature will surely help us win them over this time. All we have to do is bring them out from their hiding spot to take the chalice and Kaalan’s blood.” Gandharvan said and they all agreed to what he said. 

“I don't think Theeya and Isfe are together now. In fact, Theeya killed the body that Isfe was residing in.” Netra said what she knew.

“Then getting the chalice is an easy job. Without Theeya, Isfe is an easy target. Locating them is a huge problem.” Maran said.

“Theeya has Netra’s baby girl. We have been trying to locate her for the past four days to no avail. We cannot locate Isfe either.” Ellavan said in a defeated tone.

“Theeya is no good. All she ever touched was turned into ashes. She is deceitful! She is a monster. It was because of her that we turned bad.” Gandharvan said in agitation.

“No! Theeya is not a bad person. Something in my heart tells me that she is much like me. I am not worried about my baby girl. She is safe with Theeya. All I want now is Isfe and her life. If what Ella uncle says is true, then my friend Gurmeet is also with Isfe. Her safety is very important to me. Join forces. Use all your magic. Locate Isfe. That is your only job. Isfe is mine to kill.” Netra said that made everyone raise eyebrows at her. 

“We will do the needful, Netra. We will find her soon,” Asuran said.

‘How can she say Theeya is good even after witnessing everything that has happened because of her?’ they all thought unanimously. Losing her daughter to her had made her a little wobbly, they thought.

Maayon taught Ellavan and Paari how to breathe in this low-density air. He helped them learn how to efficiently use breathing to feel lite during a fight. He showed them his gizmos and how it works. The differences between Maayon and Ellavan disappeared as they reached into their hearts. When Ellavan knew there were no bad intentions involved, it helped him forget Maayon’s deception. Above all, Anastasia’s love made his heart free of any past bitterness. His heart was filled with love and love only. 

Netra gave back her power of controlling animals to her mom. Senthalir was so excited to get her animal friends back after a very long time. Anastasia tried to summon plants and trees and it worked. Anastasia and Senthalir worked together to practice their skills while Netra, Ellavan, and Paari worked on their moves in their wolf form. It was a majestic sight to see the black wolf and white wolf fight each other to refine their skills. 

Ellavan trained Netra hard. He taught her all his moves. He also taught her Adhiyan’s tricky quick moves that he witnessed in the battle on the blue moon day. The very important moves are how to tackle down the enemy and how to escape the enemy’s hands to reach their jugular. Netra practiced those moves with utter dedication and concentration. Every Time she reached for the jugular, she saw Isfe, and her grip made Ellavan bleed. Paari had to come between to free Ellavan from Netra. 

“Sorry, uncle! I think I am losing my head!” Netra told Ellavan after severely injuring him in the training fight.

“No, Netra. You are not losing it. You are getting better at this. Don’t let this rage out. Contain it all in. Unleash it on your target. I am sure the target won’t see the next sun rise.” 

“I need her blood, uncle. I’m turning into a monster. This urge to kill her is insatiable. I am scared. I have never even thought of harming anyone but now I want to take someone’s life. This change in me is scaring me. If I kill my own grandma to avenge my husband’s death, what difference would it make? How am I different from her?” Netra spoke emotionlessly. Her eyes stayed dead but Paari and Ellavan could see her heart bleed through her words.

“Adhiyan’s loss has made a void in all of us, Netra. You may think that you want to kill Isfe to avenge Adhiyan’s loss but the truth is beyond you. Isfe is to be put down. She doesn't deserve to live and you are a god. You are not killing anyone but punishing the sinner. Your heart still thinks like a human. You are far greater than an ordinary human, Netra.” Paari said for which Netra gave him a bitter smile.

“You don’t know how much I miss being an ordinary human. There were times when I wondered and longed for magic in my life. But now all I wish is to get back to my old life with my grandma Sivagami. A peaceful life with no surprises and shocks. No heartbreaks. No above and beyond!”

“I can understand what you are going through, Netra. Don’t let these thoughts get to your mind. To win a fight, your body and mind should think in the same line. Even if you think a minute before going for a kill, you will lose. Losing is not an option for us, Netra. Come on, fight.” Ellavan diverted her thoughts to the battlefield. 

“You need to take care of the wound, uncle.” She said and they went together into the palace.

Maayon and the coven leaders together started using blood magic to locate Isfe and Theeya. Maayon brought his mother’s locket that she used to wear the amirtham in to use in the blood magic. Though Ellavan was one among them and he had regained the memories of when he was Karmegan, he could not perform magic spells other than things Maayon taught him to control people when he pretended to be Niranjan. So they left him out and formed a closed circle to find Isfe. They tried to use their locator spell but Isfe’s cloaking spell was too strong for them to break it. Since they were kept as slaves under Isfe for so long, Isfe had power over all of them. 

“We all have to combine our magic together to break her cloak,” Asuran said and they all agreed.

They made a pit and sat around it. Slowly they started chanting mantras as they slit their palm and shed their blood into the pit one by one. When Maayon spilled his blood into the pit, the pit caught fire. Maran, Gandharvan, Seedan, and Asuran looked at Maayon. 

“Don't look at me. You know the cloaking spell made by the family member cannot be broken.” Maayon said to them. Even though Maayon was older than Netra and others, he is still a little boy to the coven leaders. They smiled at him calmly.

“You cannot break her cloaking spell. But you are her blood. We can make a blood trail with your blood to find her.” Asuran said, which made Maayon raise his eyebrows.

“You can do that? But if that is the case, I could have found my mom a long time ago and stopped her. I never knew this. Even Kaalan never told me there is a spell for it.” Maayon said but as soon as he said that out loud, he understood that Kaalan never stayed for him but as a spy for Theeya. It made him sulk. Now thinking back, all the blood magic Maayon knew was from Kaalan. He remembered practicing them together. 

“He didn't want you to find your mom. That was why he never taught you that.” Maran said in an effort to cheer him up.

“For as long as I know, he has been by my side. In all ups and downs, he has never left me. I thought of him as my shadow. Though I never realized his real age or his true intentions, he had always stayed with me. My mom and dad were long gone. My sister was banished! My wife was dead! I had no family except for him. I cannot tolerate his betrayal. I am not angry. I am hurt and I know this hurt will never go away.” Maayon spoke like a kid himself. 

Netra and Ellavan, who came in their wolf forms to know the progress that they had made, overheard Maayon’s little banter. They silently went out in amusement. 

“Maayon! The great Maayon who has been living beyond time, who can control people across the universe, who can make people believe what he wants them to believe with just a spell, is upset over a little betrayal?” Ellavan asked Netra.

“No, uncle. It is not a little betrayal. Human lives are merely 60-70 years. The betrayals humans face are meager and yet they could not tolerate such betrayals and they even go to such extents to kill the person who betrayed them. Their anger and agony are far too much for a little lifespan. But for Appa, Kaalan has made a fool out of him for thousands of years. Even now, appa has no knowledge of why he stayed with him for such a long time. He doesn't know Kaalan’s true intentions. His hurt is far greater than any hurt. His trust system is broken but he spent no time on himself after that. He is running towards his goal for the greater good.” Netra said.

“True!” Ellavan seconded that. He was thinking in his shoes before. He even thought for a second that Maayon deserved what he got from Kaalan because that is how exactly Maayon used him a while ago and betrayed his trust. But now thinking from Netra’s point of view, he could understand the scale of Maayon’s hurt.