CHAPTER 6.4:K.I.D.: THE TEMPERING — KALISRADHA

CHAPTER 6.4: K.I.D.: THE TEMPERING — KALISRADHA 

[08:30] 05.01.2090

Capital city Kakuda, 

Rudishikaarah country,

Mahabumi Continent,

1100Km to the North-Northwest of JUSM

Kalisradha was about to be crushed. Devash's thoughts became chaotic. He was already half submerged into the shadow underneath. Yet he stopped. His body froze. He didn't know what to do. His eyes widened. His mouth slightly opened. His hand unknowingly extended forward. Reaching for her, yet his physical hand wasn't capable of saving her. But, as a miracle, he saw a light. 

Above the monster, a bright radiance shone. Splitting the vast sky, an Angel like figure had appeared above them. She was there in the sky with open arms. A golden trail left behind of something that had appeared from the angels hands. 

Devash saw the giant monster above Kalisradha was been vanished. Getting turned into dust. Ceasing to exist right before his eyes. Yet his relief didn't last long. 

The monster was vanishing, yet one leg had already reached Kalisradha. A quick glance and he knew that before the monster could vanish completely, that leg would come into contact with the ground, and with Kalisradha in between.

His body started shaking. He knew he had to do something yet he didn't know what. And he didn't know how. Both monsters above him and Kalisradha were vanishing yet not fast enough. If he did nothing he would survive. He just needed to let his body do what it was doing naturally, yet his body refused. 

A second was all it needed until the monsters were completely vanished. Yet that single second was missing from their lives. Without any option left, Devash closed his eyes. He fell deeper and deeper into the despair in his mind.

Admist the chaos unfolding in his head, a single memory overpowered everything else. A single memory of her giving something to him when they were little. Something so small that it was completely covered when they closed their little palms. 

As the memory ended, he saw a path. A dark and shadowy path. An option so absurd that not even years of contemplating would lead to a correct answer. Yet all it took Devash was an instant. Less than one hundredth a of second.

"Kali... You're really a piece of work huh..."

A soft smile beemed over his despair filled face. He looked at his extended hand and looked over to Kalisradha, who was just getting up from being thrown. Still in the dark of the situation. Literally. Yet she caught a glance of Devash's hand and something coming out of it. She reached her hand forward.

A deep, black shadow, extruded from Devash's extended hand. It swiftly passed through all the wreck in between them and reached Kalisradha. 

*BANG*

The fading monster's leg came down first. With a heavy bang sound and a little splash sound it connected to the ground. Tiny red drops sprayed all over the area.

Kalisradha saw it from the other end. As her face began to fill with anger, a soft voice called her name. The deep black shadow entered her body. Like a ghost slipping through a solid wall, it passed into her without a sound. The second monster's leg came crushing down and Kalisradha sank into the dark shadow underneath. 

*BAng....*

Dark. Darker and darkest. Kalisradha fell into the deep shadows. 'Where am I? What happened to m-!!!!' Before she could even finish her thought, the incredible vastness and depth swallowed her whole.

*huff...huff....* Her breathing became heavy. As if slowly sinking in the deepest parts of the ocean. Her body felt heavy. Soon it vanished. She felt as if she was engulfed in darkness.

'What was I doing.....Where was i going.....' Kalisradha's subconsciousness wondered as wondering what, one had the previous dinner. Not important at all. Just a lingering thought. She raised her hand yet she couldn't. Engulfed in the pitch black darkness, she couldn't see her hands. Nor her legs or her body. She couldn't even feel them. 

They might have been there or they might not. She couldn't tell. Slowly she started sinking to the deepest parts of that bottomless pitch black darkness. Her eyes didn't see. Her nose didn't smell. Her ears didn't hear. Alongside her body, her mind had started to sink too. Until herself, her most certainty, was reduced to just a thought. 'Who am i........'

".......dha...., .....radha...." In the vast darkness, where even light cease to exist, a voice resounded somewhere. And soon everywhere. She couldn't hear it. But she felt it. As if resounding from the vast darkness yet resounding from within her too. She tried to reach her hand but couldn't. Or rather, didn't know if she did it or not in the first place. 

"Kali..." Again. A voice coming from within and out. Yet only the pitch black darkness was there. She still felt sinking. Yet somehow the darkness became more subtle. More and more bright. A blurry figure appeared. It was dissolving in the darkness yet maintained enough sustenance to form a hand. She extended her hand. She felt a smokey and liquidy sensation running throughout her wholemeal body. 

The darkness disappeared. She saw a bright radiance. As the first rays of sunshine a diver glimpses at after emerging from the darkest depths of the ocean. She felt a slight push from beneath. With a splash sound she found herself surrounded by smokey winds. Next thing she knew, she was gasping for air. Breathing heavily and relentlessly.  

Under the shade of a collapsed building, she laid confused. Just a moment ago she was sinking yet she was completely dry. A little before that she was under huge monsters. Yet it wasn't there. Nothing was there. Not even a submerged piece of proof. As if they turned into dust and were carried by the wind. 

Before she could process, her eyes were drawn to the slowly disappearing radiance in the vast sky. Something had been in the sky yet now it wasn't. The only clear visual Kalisradha got was an uncaring and unchanging smile. On a face where everything else was covered. The perfect professional smile she strived to achieve vanished into the vast sky. 

She stood up, took a few steps forward and analyzed the surrounding and the situation. That's when a sudden flashback played in her mind. A very quick one. She was there, Devash was there and two giant monster's legs where above them. Her breathing became uneven. Slowly gulping she looked just a few meters ahead. Where they had been until a while back. 

A huge imprint was left where Kalisradha was. Debris and wreck crushed to dust underneath it. Same thing was there were Devash was. With only two small additions. 

A fresh blood smell and a layer of deep red liquid and white dust scattered around the imprint. Her uneven breathing stopped completely. Her knees felt weak. She body felt heavy. Yet she stood. She didn't collapse. No tears flowed down her white-ish face. Instead, inside her closed mouth, her teeth made noises. Her eyes turned firery and red. 

She was angry. Her fists tightened. Her stance become rigid. The monsters were gone, the thing in the sky was gone and, Another piece of what defined her was gone. 

She looked around only to find another piece of her gone. Destruction upon destruction. Bodies upon bodies. Fear and terror upon the screams and panics. Pieces of her sky high office and home was resting in the ground, in flames. 

*HUUUHHHHH* 

*HAAAAHHHHHH*

She took a very deep breath and exhaled. Then she tapped her choker. Two quick taps followed by another, after a beat. 

*Ring..Ring..Rin- Clik...*

"OHH MISS!!! Thank goodness you're fine. Miss...what just happened??? It's as if the world-" Kalisradha's choker called someone. Before even three quick rings, it was answered. A young high pitched voice started flowing into her ears. And it seemed it went on forever. Until Kalisradha spoke. 

"Sneha... What's the situation? How much was affected? And are the Presidents safe?" Kalisradha's cold, impartial voice cut her off before she could go on. 

"Miss... it's gone... most of Rudishikaarah has been destroyed. Multiple giant monsters flattened the country from every corner until an angel like divine being shot something from her hands and eradicated them!! More than half the population is dead. As for the presidents i couldn't reach them after sir Devash took them underground." Sneha put on her glasses. Her expression changed from worried to serious before she started addressing Kalisradha again. 

"I'm sure Devash stored them safely! Is there any Air vehicle we can use right now?" Kalisradha questioned looking into the sky since almost all roads were unusable.

"I can't get a hold of vehicles in any military facility... which leaves only the one in this base... do you want me to send it to your position?" Sneha quickly checked the multiple screens around her before answering, yet almost all wasn't working. 

"Yes, send it here. And we'll get the presidents out of here safely!!!" Kalisradha sounded so righteous yet her thoughts were filled with a different kind of dread. 'If i were to guess this as a global attack, the presidents value in each country could drastically increase or decrease depending the size and damage done.... and what or who was behind it. Let's act first and think later..'.

Organizing her thoughts, Kalisradha took off in search of the underground subway passage they were supposed to be in.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

 On the other side of the country, deep in Rudishikaarah's ocean's floor bed, stood a single base. Like an egg buried in sand but enormous. Silver in color and with two capital K's marked in red. Fortified and sealed. Inside a single living soul was present. 

Sneha sat in a dark room illuminated with displays which filled the whole room. Infront of her chair, a long control panel reaching all the way from one end of a wall to another. A pair of round glasses on her eyes and a head full of black curly uncombed hair. Alongside the room, her cream skin was illuminated as the displays were turned on. Which they were 24/7.

"...." She opened her mouth to speak again yet she didn't. She thought it was unnecessary. Yet what she saw from the only working camera near Kalisradha was important. 

The camera stood there, hanged to the wall with one screw. A red lighting blinking slowly. It captured Kalisradha waking up. Yet before that it captured how she emerged. Wrapped in a blackish shadow like thing. As soon as she surfaced, the blackish thing went inside her. As air going inside your lungs.

Sneha opened her mouth shedding and actually spoke this time with a few tears rolling down her face, "Miss.... I'm sorry for Devash...." From Kalisradha's choker, she got a first row seat experience to Devash's sacrifice.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Kalisradha froze for a bit. She didn't spoke. A second after she was on her way without a word more to Sneha. 

[08:44]

After a little, she found the underground subway passage. Yet it was blocked. She didn't have force or a gadget to use in this situation. Until a certain someone's face came to her mind.

She closed her eyes. She remembered she was going to be crushed yet she woke up in a different place, completely unharmed. She subconsciously knew what Devash had done. Afterall Devash used his ability mostly under her commands. 

She took a deep breath and Inhaled slowly. Before it was over, her feet started sinking to the ground. From the small spot of shade under her feet. "Take me inside...." She whispered.

She fell completely into the darkness. Once inside she closed her eyes and extended her hand. She still didn't knew if the hand was extended or not but she believed she had extended it. 

She felt something holding her hand. She felt like walking but she wasn't sure. Soon her hand was let go. She opened her eyes. Still in the dark yet not the pitch black darkness. She felt the hard ground under her feet. She slowly took a few steps forward. 

"AHHH!!!" One of the presidents screamed and fell down, tripping over his own feet. Two red dots glowed from the dark corner of the subway. As a wolf appearing from the woods aiming for the stables, Kalisradha appeared from the shadows. Step by step, heartbeat by heartbeat. 

"Don't me afraid, It's me, Kalisradha. I'm so glad each one of you are safe." She started yet was soon interfered by futile complaints and their nonsensical bickering.

"LOOK WHAT HAPPENED KALISRADHA!!! HOW DO YOU PLAN TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY!!" The bald man, Seqoi shouted at Kalisradha. As she was going to respond, she saw the state they were in. 

Some had fainted. Some had shouted so much that their faces had bloated. Sunken eyes and wet pants. They already had done their best to survive. The only difference is that, while a lone coyote would survive in a pack of cats effortlessly, that same coyote would struggle enormously to stay alive in a pack of such coyotes. 

Kalisradha crossed her hands and listened to all the nonsense coming her way. She had actively blocked her hearing by internal earbuds, so they went right above her head. Just then the earbuds rang. She pressed the choker and with a clicking sound, the call came through. 

"Miss, the Aircraft just landed near you. I'll blast the opening in five, so get away." Unbeknownst to anyone, the emergency Aircraft had landed right behind them. Yet, due to the debris blocking the entrance, nobody heard it. 

"We'll now clear the entrance, please get away from there..We'll have to use some rough methods so please stay away as far as possible for your own safety. " After confirming the order to shoot, Kalisradha told the presidents to move. 

Five. They all were in the middle of blaming Kalisradha yet everybody went silent. Four. Even if they all hated her, they knew she was very serious when she spoke. Three. And most of all, they knew if she said she'd do it, she would. Two. They all ran like little children running to bed after turning off the lights and hid behind Kalisradha. One. 

*BRUSTTTT* 

*BANGGGG* 

*CRASHHH*

The heavy guns in the Aircraft activated and with explosive sounds, the debris blocking the entrance was blasted off. Once the smoke was cleared, light rays intruded through the gaps leading the way out. 

Once Sneha signaled it was safe, Kalisradha led the way the with a little effort they made their way to the outside. 

The sunlight, light from flames and artificial lights hit them all at once. Yet before they could even bask in the light after being trapped underground, it became dark. As if the world ceased to exist. Everything around them was pitch black. As if they were embraced by never ending darkness. 

"WHAT HAPPENED!!!" 

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!!"

"OH GOD... WE WERE SO CLOSE WHAT'S IT NOW!!!"

From all the screaming and panicking, they forgot to check on one thing. They forgot to look at Kalisradha who they shoved behind and went to bask in the light first. 

As if noticing someone who had been looking at you the whole time, they all simultaneously turned towards Kalisradha. She stood there. However her visual was strange. As if a black fabric had been extended from her and the overparts were covering them.

That's when Kalisradha spoke. She lifted her hand and pointed at her head. As pointing to an important location. 

"NOTHING IS LOST!!!"

She spoke calmly and coldly. Yet a dreadful sensation ran down their spines. It was because all of them knew what she had meant. And they instantly realized that even after this world ending disaster, they weren't capable of escaping Kalisradha's grasp. 

Suddenly, without the need of any manaciles or any tech, their minds formed an image. One image. All of them saw it. Even though it was made from each one's different consciousness, the image was the same. 

An image of Kalisradha pointing a gun at their heads from behind. Each one blindfolded and deafened. Unknowing if the gun would ever fire and if it does, when. Everybody gulped audibly. 

Right then the darkness disappeared and light appeared again. Everything became visible. But all the politicians were frozen in place. Kalisradha moved forward of them and lightly tapped Seqoi on the shoulders. 

"Now then, please allow me to escort you ladies and gentlemen to your countries." Saying that, Kalisradha made her way near the Aircraft. Sneha automatically opened the doors from the computer in her base and uploaded the route and charging schedules of it. 

One by one came into their senses and obediently followed Kalisradha and got inside the Aircraft. Right after they entered, they noticed that It had food and water to serve all passengers. Alongside many other essentials. Truly a machine build to serve in case of an emergency. 

Without another word of complaint, they took off. And so began their way back home. However it wasn't so easy for some. To go back to the starting point, you needed the starting point afterall. 

As Kalisradha waved her hand, standing still, without any emotion, the Aircraft took off. It started it's one day travel around the Mahabumi Continent. Fortunately the sun had began to rise so they wouldn't need to worry much about the charging schedule. Lastly she got in contact with Sneha one final time. 

"Sneha, make all the preparations to leave. If this is a global incident as i suspect, then many northern countries like Bordumond wouldn't be able to survive. We have to start mass evacuation immediately or it'll be too late..."

"....But to where Miss??" Sneha asked confused.

"Where else...To the center of this continent, TEFORTIS!!! NOTHING IS LOST...I JUST NEED TO REBUILD EVERYTHING THAT WAS TAKEN FROM ME AND PUNISH THOSE WHO DARED TO, ALONG THE WAY!!! SIMPLE AS THAT!!!"

Kalisradha ended the call and made her way to the imprint on the ground. The one which was where Devash once stood. She stared at it quietly for a while. After a little, she reached inside her breast pocket and took a silver coin. And then she tossed the coin to the imprint and left without a sound. 

She went to make things right. Make her life right. Make her world right. She knew she could. As she always did. 

But she was wrong. Many things were lost. At that time, neither Kalisradha nor Sneha could even wildly imagine the aftermath of which was left behind. Her plan to secure the presidents votes by saving them, soon would proved to be useless.

As some of those Presidents went home, there wasn't a home. There wasn't a country. There wasn't a nation to rule nor vote. Just piles and piles of wreck and destruction. That day, some countries died.

Kalisradha had been wrong about one thing. She underestimated the scale of the destruction that took place on 05.01.2090. She underestimated the K.I.D.

​Yet even the end of the world could not break her. It only served as fuel for her relentless ambition. Unbeknownst to the world, and unbeknownst to even herself, the woman who relied on Devash was gone. In her place stood someone who would crawl, bleed, and march through the ashes until the very end.

​She had truly become the terrifying embodiment of her own vow:

​"NOTHING IS LOST."