As they neared the jagged mouth of the cave, the teenage boy paused. With practiced, cold efficiency, he pulled a mask over his face and tightened the straps of his reinforced gloves. In the pale moonlight, his black suit and masked visage made him look less like a boy and more like an omen of death.

  Sunil hissed with impatience. "Hurry up! This isn't the time for a costume change. My sister is in danger!"

  "Do me a favor," Chandru’s voice came from behind the mask, muffled and detached. "Stay here. Do not enter the cave."

  Sunil’s eyes flared. "I’m going in to save my sister! Who are you to stop me?"

  Chandru turned, his posture weary. "You are an adamant boy, Sunil. I'm sorry for this."

  "Sorry for what?"

  "For this," Chandru whispered. Before Sunil could react, Chandru’s hand moved in a blur, striking a precise pressure point on Sunil's neck. The world went dark, and Sunil slumped to the mossy ground, unconscious.

  Chandru stepped into the cave, and the stench hit him immediately—the metallic tang of blood mixed with the scent of rot. To his horror, the cavern was a gallery of nightmares. The corpses of young women lay scattered like discarded dolls, while others were shackled to the limestone walls, their eyes wide with broken spirits.

  "A new step in my sanctuary," a voice hissed from the shadows. The vampire scout emerged, his claws clicking against the stone. "Nobody has had the guts to step into my cave. Who are you, little shadow?"

  Chandru didn’t answer. He looked at the bodies, then at Sona, who was bound and trembling near the vampire’s throne. "What have you done to these girls?"

  The vampire grinned, revealing rows of needle-teeth. "Reproduction. It is necessary for survival, is it not? Since our population is dwindling, it is an order from our King: use human vessels to breed a new generation of hybrids."

  Chandru’s fists tightened, the leather of his gloves creaking. "Then why are all these dead bodies here?"

  "Failed experiments," the vampire shrugged. "They weren't strong enough to carry the seed."

  Chandru exhaled, a cold, killing frost appearing in his breath. "Prepare yourself."

  "For what?" the vampire mocked.

  "To face my wrath."

  The vampire erupted into a mocking laugh. But before the sound could echo, Chandru was there. He moved with a speed that defied human biology. In a single, violent motion, he tore the vampire’s arm from its socket. The creature shrieked, attempting to flee, but Chandru was relentless. He systematically dismantled the monster—shredding its legs and gouging its eyes until the scout was nothing more than a heap of silent, ash-bound remains.

  Chandru moved through the cave, breaking the shackles of the survivors. When he reached Sona, she looked up at him not with fear, but with a deep, reverent awe. To her, he wasn't just a boy; he was a god of the moon.

  Outside, Sunil groaned as he blinked back to consciousness. His eyes widened as Sona came running out of the darkness, throwing herself into his arms. He hugged her with a sob of pure relief as the other villagers arrived, drawn by the commotion.

  As the chaos of the rescue took over, the masked figure began to slip away into the trees.

  "Wait!" Sunil shouted, running toward him. "Mr. Moonmask! I’m sorry... for how I treated you. For everything."

  Moonmask paused. He reached up and pulled back his mask, revealing the sweat-streaked face of a boy who looked far too young to have seen such carnage. He offered a small, tired smile.

  Sona stepped forward, bowing her head. "He is my brother. I apologize for his temper."

  Chandru’s gaze fell on the scimitar at Sunil’s hip. "That’s a fine weapon. So, you’re the adopted son of the Kartha?"

  "Yes," Sunil said, his voice brimming with newfound purpose. "Can I join you, Mr. Moonmask? I want to fight like you."

  "If he goes, I want to join too!" Sona added, her voice steady.

  Chandru looked at them both—two children forged in the fires of grief. "Train," he told them. "Train until the day you are recommended by a Kartha. I hope to see both of you one day as part of Section Dravi."

  With those words, he vanished into the shadows of the forest, leaving behind a legend that would haunt the siblings for the rest of their lives.

  The consequences for Sona’s defiance were swift and brutal. Jothi, consumed by a cold, manic fury, did not reach for the iron rod this time. Instead, she forced Sona to kneel in the center of the house, surrounded by her half-siblings, and systematically shaved Sona’s head. It was a punishment designed to strip away her identity and her beauty, leaving her shamed in the eyes of the village.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  But the night held a different kind of justice.

  As Jothi slept, a shadow slipped through the window. Sunil stood over her bed, his eyes reflecting a hollow, dangerous light. He uncapped a bottle, pouring a pungent, flammable liquid over Jothi’s hair. The cold splash jolted her awake, but before she could scream, Sunil struck a match.

  He dropped the flame.

  The fire erupted instantly, the light of the blaze illuminating Sunil’s face—not as the boy who begged, but as a hunter who had found his teeth. While Jothi’s shrieks brought the rest of the family scrambling into the hall, Sunil was already in Sona’s room.

  "Come with me," he rasped, holding out his hand. "To the village of Kunnam. We train there, under their Kartha. We leave this place behind."

  Sona looked at her reflection in the darkened window—pale, shorn, and scarred. She took his hand. Together, they vanished into the night.

  They reached Kunnam and built their own shelter, a small hut on the outskirts of the village. For the first time, life was defined by their own choices. They lived simply, their days consumed by the grueling, rhythmic discipline of the Kunnam Kartha’s training. They grew stronger, their bodies hardening and their bond thickening like scar tissue.

  Days bled into months, and months into years.

  Sunil stood alone in the rain, staring at a mound of fresh earth. For the second time in his life, he stood at a funeral that felt like an ending. This time, it was for his sister.

  Once he was truly alone, he turned his gaze to the plot of land beside the main grave—a hole he had dug with his own hands for Sona’s body. He stared into the depths of the earth, but there was no casket. The rectangular pit remained mockingly empty.

  ?"It’s fate," he muttered, his voice catching in his throat. "My twisted fate. We always knew the risks, Sona. We didn't fear death... but we were supposed to face it together. My life is nothing without you."

  He gripped the hilt of his scimitar, the metal cold and biting against his palm.

  "But why did you left without me. I was supposed to be the one. I was supposed to be selected for Section Dravi. But the Kartha chose you ahead of me, Sona. He looked at my scars and my wounds and saw weakness, not experience. He saw a broken boy where he should have seen a warrior."

  His voice began to rise, shaking with a decade of suppressed rage. "And now? You are gone. Mr. Joel is gone. My family is buried under the mud or lost to the wind. And you, Sona... your body is being piloted by some Mythic puppet."

  He looked up at the grey, weeping sky, his murmur escalating into a raw, guttural shout that echoed through the headstones.

  "What is Section Dravi doing? What is your hero Moonmask?"

  He kicked a clod of dirt into the empty trench, his chest heaving with the weight of his helplessness.

  "And what am I doing... standing here staring at your empty grave?"

  Sunil's eyes hardened, the grief curdling into a dark, singular resolve. "My purpose in life doesn't end here. I won't just mourn a ghost. I need answers... and I will find the strength to question fate itself."

  The storage room on the terrace was suffocatingly quiet after Raksha’s revelations.Chandru stood by the door. The weight of the past—of Sona and the boy he had met in the rain—hung heavy in the air.

  As Chandru turned to leave, Raksha’s voice cracked the stillness. "Say something! What shall I do? I can’t bear this anymore—living in the memories of a ghost!"

  Chandru paused, his hand gripping the doorframe. "I have saved numerous lives, and I cannot remember every one of them. At the same time, I have watched far too many slip through my fingers." He turned his head slightly, his gaze unreadable. "If you are planning to abandon Sona’s body out of guilt, that is a worse decision. Instead, make her wish come true. Be a student of Section D. Be one of us."

  Without waiting for an answer, he stepped out.

  Left alone, Raksha closed her eyes. She initiated Neural Rooting, a deep-dive process where her goblin essence fused with the host's residual cellular memory, bypassing the conscious mind to access the biological "black box" of the brain.

  Images flickered: The shadows of the Twins—Vana and Neon—looming over a broken body.

  ?"Is she dead? I hit her lightly," Vana asked, his voice casual, as if discussing a broken toy.

  ?"Not yet, but soon—she will be," Neon replied coldly.

  ?Vana hovered over the severely injured Sona. "Shall I hit her again?"

  ?"Not required, Vana. Her internal bleeding will finish the job." Neon looked down at Sona’s fading form with clinical indifference. "What shall we do with the body?"

  ?"Trade her to the Goblins," Neon said. "In return, ask the buyer to provide intelligence on the other vessels of this girl. We'll use her to lure the rest out."

  ?"Do we have to supervise her?" Vana asked.

  ?"Let that be outsourced to some mixed-blood," Neon dismissed. "We have work at Manali."

  ?"Another meeting? I hate it," Vana grumbled.

  ?"Don't worry. It won't take long. Cave-demons are not nearly as strong as we are. Their King should bow in our presence."

  ?"What if he doesn't?" Vana asked.

  ?"Then," Neon replied, his voice dropping to a lethal whisper, "make him bow."

  The memory dissolved into a static of grey and black—the exact moment Sona’s heart had finally surrendered.

  The next morning, Subha and Vaishu arrived to find the team already assembled at the basement: Pedro, Pari, Chandru, and to Subha’s annoyance, Raksha.

  Raksha didn't waste time. She detailed the Twins' plan to head to Manali, a town near the Himalayas range.

  "And we’re just supposed to believe you?" Subha snapped, her arms crossed tightly. "This girl thinks she’s one of us. What on earth makes you think we trust a single word out of your mouth?"

  "That is why I am coming with you," Raksha replied calmly. "If you find that I’ve lied, or if you think it’s a trap—you can act. Kill me where I stand."

  "And if we're outnumbered?" Subha challenged, looking at Pedro.

  "That won't happen," Pedro intervened, his voice steady. "You aren't going alone. For this mission, Section D is joining forces with Section Bengal (Section B). Together, your combined strength will outweigh the Mythics."

  Pari checked his gear, the metal clinking. "Alright. If everyone is clear on the objective..." He looked at Chandru. "Shall we?"

  "Let's go," Chandru said.

  They began to move toward the transport bay when a sleepy Rohan stumbled in, yawning widely. "Why is everyone dressed like you're going on a new mission?"

  "Because we are," Chandru said, his eyes scanning the room. "Where is that bastard?"

  "Still sleeping," Rohan mumbled, gesturing toward the back.

  The scene shifted to the boys' quarters, where Surya lay sprawled across his bed.

  A massive thanks to everyone who has stayed with BLINK all the way to Chapter 25. I’m genuinely grateful for every read, follow, and favorite.

  Today marks the conclusion of Volume II: The Goblins and Gremblins Saga.

  While originally planned for 10–12 chapters, the introduction of new characters and the deep-dive into the past required 15 chapters to truly do the narrative justice.

  The Journey So Far:

  Volume I (Vamp Saga): Chapters 1–10.

  Volume II (Goblins & Gremblins Saga): Chapters 11–25.

  ?I will be taking a two-week break to prepare for our most ambitious arc yet (Volume III : Cave-Demons and Titans Saga) . I’ll be releasing two bonus chapters during this break.

  If you’re enjoying the journey so far, a comment or rating would mean a lot. Feedback and constructive criticism are always welcome.