The claw rose from the floor of the temple like a spear of bone and shadow — five fingers, each ending in hooked talons, dripping with black ichor that hissed where it touched the stone.
Ravi stood frozen.
Not from fear — but recognition.
The Sleeper… was not a beast.
It was a memory.
Beneath the Temple
The ground collapsed beneath their feet. Ravi, Meera, and Kiran tumbled into a massive underground chamber. They landed hard, dust choking the air. Statues lined the walls — ancient depictions of beings half-human, half-monster, twisted by power they could not contain.
And then… it emerged.
The Sleeper was nearly seven meters tall, its body shaped like a human but stitched together from the remnants of hundreds. A face made of many — eyes stacked in circles, mouths speaking different languages in unison.
"Ravi Rawat…Blood of the Ash Bearer…Keeper of Silence…Ender of Ends…"
It didn't roar. It sang.A deep, groaning melody that made the walls bleed and the torches scream.
Meera clutched her ears. "We can't fight that!"
Ravi stepped forward, aura glowing faintly silver. "We don't run either."
The Battle of Many Mouths
Kiran attacked first, twin blades slicing the air, striking true — but the Sleeper reformed instantly, its flesh unbothered. It swung a massive fist that shattered a column. Dust and debris rained down.
Meera raised a protective barrier of chanting sigils, but it cracked under the Sleeper's breath alone.
Ravi called on the Void.
His palm shimmered with stillness. "Shunyam Hasta."
The air stilled. The ground quieted. Even the Sleeper paused, one head cocked as if listening.
But it wasn't enough.
The creature shrugged off the void strike like mist.
"You silence what lives, Ravi Rawat.But I am made of what should have died."
Inner Desperation
Ravi's heart pounded. Sweat ran down his spine.
The creature's existence defied all rules. It wasn't alive. It wasn't dead. It was leftover pain — the unfinished grief of a world that once wielded too many gods.
He thought of his parents. Of the fire. Of Meera's tears when she healed the dying. Of Kiran, risking everything again and again.
He thought of all the unfinished things.
And then it clicked.
The Tenth Limb didn't just end.It completed.
The Awakening
Ravi inhaled deeply and focused. He let the Void stretch not into darkness, but into wholeness. The hunger… was not for destruction. It was for rest.
He moved in a motion unlike martial technique — it was calm, a soft gesture, like closing someone's eyes before burial.
"Trinetra Karuna," he whispered.The Hand of Mercy.
A pulse spread outward.
The Sleeper staggered.
Its many heads stopped singing.
Its many mouths fell silent.
One by one, the faces peeled away… revealing bones, then dust, then nothing.
Ravi had ended what was never allowed to end.
Aftermath
The cavern quieted. The earth was still.
Kiran fell to his knees. "Please tell me that's the last one."
Meera looked at Ravi with both awe and fear. "What… what did you do?"
Ravi didn't answer immediately.
He looked at his hands. They weren't glowing anymore.
"I listened."
Above them, in the ruined temple, Rakta Vina watched the cracks close.
She smiled.
"The Ashtrakaal begins… with mercy."