Garuda in Brahmastra

I woke up to pain.

It wasn't the sharp kind that came from wounds or bruises. No, this pain was deeper, lodged within me like a blade twisting with every breath I took.

My entire body ached, my muscles refusing to respond, but the worst was my aura core—it felt as though it had been ripped apart and barely stitched back together.

The moment I tried to circulate my aura, a searing, stabbing pain shot through my chest, forcing me to grit my teeth and stop.

I took slow breaths, staring at the dim embers of the soon-to-be-dead campfire through my tent opening. My mind was in a trance, but memories flashed in my head—the tree.

Its massive roots, its earth-shattering strength, the sheer futility of our attacks, and finally, my wings straining as I carried my injured teammates to safety.

I had pushed myself too far. My body had given out. I fell into a coma.

I had no idea how long I was out, but I needed to move.

With sheer willpower, I forced myself to sit up, the weight of exhaustion pressing against me like a lead blanket.

Every joint screamed in protest, but I ignored it, swinging my legs off the cot. My boots met the damp earth, and I inhaled sharply as another wave of dizziness hit me. Still, I refused to stay still.

I stepped out of the tent, craving fresh air.

That's when I noticed the atmosphere.

The camp was quiet, but not the quiet of rest. No, it was thick, suffocating, charged with something cold and bitter. My eyes adjusted to the darkness, and at first, I could hardly believe what I saw.

They must have been training—or at least, that's what it seemed like.

Dev stood a little distance away, hurling his trident at the trees with unbridled intensity. His trident glowed, but his throws were stiff.

Amrita stood near a brook, cracking her water whip with sharp, vicious strikes. Droplets scattered violently with each impact, her usual fluidity replaced by sheer force.

Pooja stood statue-like, her shield Astra raised, bracing against imaginary attacks over and over again. Her arms trembled slightly, but she never lowered her guard.

Indra… Indra remained silent. He stood apart from the rest, gripping his sword so tightly his knuckles turned white. Lightning sparks flickered around the blade, but he just stared at the ground, lost in thought.

This wasn't training.

This was torture.

Frustration, anger, and something else—something deeper—radiated off them in waves.

They were geniuses, told since the day they entered the Brahman Society that nothing was impossible for them. They had never known true failure.

Until now.

Until that tree crushed them.

They had sparred with each other, tested our strength in battles, but they had never been defeated like this before—completely, utterly, and humiliatingly.

 We had thrown everything at the Sentinel Tree and barely made it alive.

This wasn't just about losing a fight. It was about pride.

"Everyone."

My voice cut through the silence.

They all froze.

Slowly, they turned to look at me. Their gazes ranged from surprise to resentment, as if they weren't ready to let go of their anger just yet.

I met each of their eyes, my voice firm. "What's done is done. We lost. But standing here torturing ourselves over it won't change anything."

Dev exhaled sharply, looking away. Amrita's grip on her whip tightened. Pooja lowered her shield slightly, and Indra finally looked up.

I took a step forward, forcing my voice to remain steady despite the throbbing pain in my bones. "We need to stop dwelling on failure and start figuring out how to win."

A long silence followed.

For a moment, I thought they might just ignore me, might just bury their frustrations deeper like a wound left untreated. But then—slowly, reluctantly—they let their walls crack.

And everything spilled out.

Dev was the first to snap. He let out a sharp, bitter laugh, tossing a rock into the fire, sending embers scattering. "Figuring out how to win?" he echoed, his voice laced with frustration. "Right, because that's worked out so well for us so far."

His eyes burned as he turned to face me, his trident gripped so tightly his knuckles turned white.

"Do you have any idea how humiliating that was? I've never—never—felt so useless in a fight. My Astra is fire, Anuj. Fire! The thing that's supposed to burn everything in its path! And yet, what happened? It just swallowed my flames like they were nothing. Like I wasn't even there!"

He let out a harsh exhale, his aura flickering angrily. "I trained my whole body and soul believing my Astra could destroy anything in its way. And now I find out there are things it can't even touch?"

"You're not the only one," Amrita muttered, staring at her hands like they had betrayed her. She flexed her fingers, her water whip coiling slightly around her wrist.

Her eyes narrowed as she clenched her fists, her knuckles turning pale. "No matter how precise, it didn't matter. I've always been able to adapt, to counter whatever comes my way. But this time, no amount of skill made a difference."

She gritted her teeth. "I'm not used to losing. I don't like losinng"

Indra, who had been silent up until now, let out a humorless chuckle.

 "I actually hurt the damn thing. I cut its branches, I saw it flinch—and still, it didn't matter." His jaw clenched, his voice dropping lower. "It just grew back. Like I hadn't done a damn thing."

His grip on his sword tightened, electricity crackling angrily across the blade. "You know how many times people told me my Astra was powerful? That lightning destroys everything in its path? But now? Now, I know that's a lie."

He scoffed, looking down at his blade. "I might as well have been swinging a stick"

Pooja sat stiffly, her shield Astra resting beside her. She had been listening quietly, but now her fingers curled into fists, and she finally spoke—low, controlled, but trembling with frustration.

"You all had a chance to fight back," she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. "I didn't even get to hit it."

Everyone turned to her as she lifted her gaze, her expression unreadable. "I stood there, blocking attacks, taking the brunt of everything, and I still couldn't hold."

She took a slow breath, shaking her head. "I was the first to go down. And that's what pisses me off the most."

The air was thick with frustration, the fire crackling between us like a living thing. Their anger, their disappointment—it was real, and I felt every word like a blade.

But as I looked at them, the weight of their emotions settling into my chest.

I let out a breath, tilting my head back to look at the stars beyond the canopy. "You think I don't feel the same?" My voice was quiet, but it cut through the air like a blade.

They all looked at me.

"I wasn't just defeated—I had to flee and in the end I blacked out. My body literally gave up on me." I exhaled slowly, my fingers twitching slightly as I tried—and failed—to summon even a flicker of aura.

 "And now, my core is exausted. I can't even circulate my energy without pain."

I met their eyes, my voice firm. "I lost, just like you. And yeah—it hurts. It makes me want to punch something, scream, go back out there and keep fighting until I collapse again. But tell me—" I paused, looking at each of them.

"Does it change anything?"

Silence.

I continued, stepping forward. "We lost. We lost badly. But what's done is done. We can sit here, sulk, and let this defeat eat away at us. Or we can get up, take everything we've learned, and figure out how to win."

I saw the change happen—slowly, reluctantly, but it was there.

Dev let out a breath, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, well… sitting here bitching about it isn't gonna change anything, huh?"

Amrita crossed her arms, exhaling sharply. "No, it won't."

Indra smirked faintly, though there was no real humor behind it. "I still want to cut that damn thing apart."

Pooja picked up her shield, resting it on her lap. "Then let's figure out how."

I nodded. "Exactly."

We all gathered around the fire, and for the first time since our defeat, we weren't just dwelling on failure.

Dev leaned forward, his fingers tapping against his knee impatiently. "Before we even think about a plan, we need a complete picture of what we're fighting. We didn't lose because we were weak—we lost because we didn't understand what we were up against."

"Agreed," Amrita said. "We were overconfident. We need to break this thing down piece by piece."

I took a deep breath. "I'll start. Its sensing ability isn't unlimited. I noticed while I was flying that its awareness extends only ten meters from its body—outside of that, it doesn't react to anything."

"Good," Indra said, nodding. "Now for the worst part—its regeneration."

 His voice was tight. "The damn thing doesn't heal instantly, but if we don't kill it fast enough, it'll start recovering —branches, roots, all of it."

Dev scoffed, shaking his head. "And then there's the fact that it absorbs Astra attacks. Fire, water, lightning—it doesn't matter. If we use pure elemental energy, it just soaks it up like a sponge."

Pooja frowned. "Its physical attacks are ridiculously strong. If any of us get hit directly… we won't get back up."

"And its leaf shower attack," Amrita added, rubbing her shoulder where some of the sharp leaves had grazed her. "It doesn't do real damage, but it blocks our vision."

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "And then there's its earth wave attack. That was the worst one. The sheer force of it nearly killed us all."

As we pieced together all of its abilities, the weight of what we were up against settled over us like a storm cloud.

No one spoke for a long time.

Then Dev muttered, "Great. So it's an impenetrable fortress."

Silence.

Then, Amrita straightened. "No fortress is impenetrable."

We sat in a tight circle around the campfire, the flames flickering against the tension in our expressions. The frustration from earlier still lingered, but now, it had a purpose.

Dev leaned forward, his trident resting against his knee. "Alright," he muttered, eyes flicking between us. "We know what that damn thing can do. But every fortress has a weak point. Let's start there."

"Yeah," Amrita agreed, rolling her shoulders.

I nodded. "I'll go first," I said, running a hand through my hair.

 "Its omniscient awareness isn't actually omniscient. When I was in the air, I noticed that it only reacts within a ten-meter radius. The moment I got closer, it targeted me instantly. But when I stayed outside that range, it didn't respond at all."

Indra frowned, tapping his sword against the dirt. "So, what? We just have to stay beyond ten meters the whole time? That doesn't really help if we need to get the herb."

"Not entirely," I admitted. "But it means that if we want to make a coordinated attack, we need to start outside that range, then strike before it has time to react."

Pooja nodded. "At least it means we won't get attacked before we move in. We can actually set something up before it notices us."

A small win.

"Okay," I said. "What else?"

"My turn," Dev said, exhaling through his nose. He stared into the fire for a moment, then looked back at us. "It can't leave the herb. That's its biggest limitation."

Amrita tilted her head. "You sure? I mean, it chased us a little bit when we were retreating."

"Yeah, but not far," Dev countered. "Think about it—if it could move freely, it would have chased us down and killed us. But once we got out of that clearing, it stopped. It didn't follow. Hell, it could have crushed us while I was carrying Pooja, but it didn't."

Pooja crossed her arms, eyes narrowing in thought. "So it's leashed to the herb. That explains why it didn't just drag the fight away from its core area."

I nodded. "Exactly. It has to stay in that area, which means positioning is key. If we force it to move, even slightly, we can use that time to strike."

"Another thing," Pooja spoke up, tapping her shield. "It's slow."

Indra scoffed. "Tell that to my ribs."

She shot him a flat look. "No, seriously. Its attacks are fast, but its body isn't. When it swings its branches, yeah, those things are blazing fast. But the tree itself? It moves like a glacier."

Amrita frowned. "Now that you mention it, whenever it shifted toward us, it took time. It wasn't instant."

Dev snapped his fingers. "That's true! It needed time to adjust before launching attacks. Every time I dodged a root, there was a small pause before it could reposition and strike again."

"So," Indra said, resting his chin on his fist, "if we force it to move, we get a small window where it can't attack as effectively."

"Right," I agreed. "If we hit it from two directions at once, it'll have to split its attention, making it even harder for it to counter both at the same time."

"Divide and conquer," Amrita mused, a small smirk creeping onto her face. "I like it"

Indra ran a hand down his sword, the faintest crackle of electricity sparking against his fingers. "The last thing we know? Physical attacks actually hurt it."

Dev grunted. "Well, yeah. But they didn't do enough."

"No, but it's the only thing that worked," Indra pointed out. "Think about it—fire, water, pure lightning? Nothing. It absorbed all of it. But when I cut it—when I mixed my Astra aura with my sword—it actually left a mark."

Pooja nodded. "We have to infuse our weapons with Astra instead of using pure energy blasts. That's the only way we're going to deal real damage."

"But only if we land a hit," Amrita said. "We need precision. If we waste our strength on bad attacks, we'll drain our aura for nothing."

"Then we don't waste it," I said firmly. "We choose our strikes carefully. Every attack needs to count."

This wasn't an unbeatable enemy. It was hard, yes. But it had weaknesses.

Weaknesses we could use.

Indra exhaled, rubbing his forehead. "So, to summarize—this thing is a monstrous fortress, but it's not invincible."

Dev let out a dry chuckle. "Great. So now we just have to break into an impenetrable fortress and steal the most well-guarded thing in the jungle. No big deal."

With this in mind, we finally started crafting a strategy.

The fire crackled softly between us, casting long shadows over the tense expressions of my team. We had spent hours dissecting the tree and making plans.

Then Dev, who had been staring at the fire in deep thought, finally straightened up. His usual cocky smirk was absent, replaced by something sharper.

"Alright," he said, his voice steady. "I've got a plan."

We all turned to him.

He looked at each of us before continuing, his tone firm, commanding. "This fight isn't about brute force. We aren't taking that thing down—it's too big, too strong, too damn resilient. We're stealing the herb and getting out."

He turned to Pooja first.

"You're the shield. The tree is hyper-aware of threats, and the second we move, it'll react. You need to draw its attention first. Stand in front, tank its attacks, force it to focus on you while we set up the rest of the plan."

Pooja sat up straighter, gripping the edge of her shield. "Alright," she said, nodding. "But I won't last forever. If that earth wave comes again, I'll need to brace early or I'm out of the fight."

Dev nodded. "That's where I come in."

He jabbed a finger at himself. "Once it starts focusing on you, it'll use its leaf storm to blind you and whip attacks to overwhelm you. I'll handle that. I'll burn the leaves mid-air before they block your vision, and I'll intercept the whips with fire strikes. That way, you're only dealing with its limited physical attacks."

Pooja gave a small, determined smile. "Sounds manageable. But if it targets you?"

"Then I move." Dev's eyes gleamed with a fire of their own. "I'll stay mobile, keep shifting positions so it can't pin me down."

I crossed my arms, analyzing the plan so far. "That will buy us time. But the tree still won't be moving away from the herb. We need it to shift its position."

"Exactly," Dev said, turning to me and Amrita next. "That's where you two come in."

I nodded, already seeing where this was going. "You want me to carry Amrita and drop her behind the tree."

"Right," Dev confirmed. "Once she's back there, she uses a full-force tidal wave to push the tree forward—toward Pooja and me. That way, it's forced into a two-front battle. And away from herb"

Amrita tapped her chin, considering. "I'll need to be dropped as close as possible so I can get the best angle. Otherwise, the wave won't push it far enough."

"I can do that," I assured her. "I'll fly at top speed and stay low to avoid detection until we're close enough."

She nodded.

Which brought us to the final, most critical part of the plan.

Dev looked at Indra, who had been listening intently, his sword resting across his lap.

"And you," Dev said, "are our finisher."

Indra's lips curled into a small grin. "Now we're talking."

"When Amrita forces the tree forward, that's when Anuj will swoop down with you and drop you near the herb's wooden dome. Your sword is the only thing that cuts the wood so easily. You cut through it with your lightning blade, grab the herb, and Anuj flies you the hell out before the tree can react."

Indra's grip on his sword tightened, and he nodded. "I can slice through the wood fast—but once I start cutting, the tree's going to notice immediately."

"That's why it needs to be as distracted as possible," Dev said. "With Pooja taking the brunt from the front, me keeping it in check, and Amrita forcing it from back, it won't have much defense."

A silence stretched between us as we each absorbed our roles.

Then, Pooja broke it.

"And after that?" she asked.

Dev exhaled. "We run. As soon as Anuj gets Indra and the herb out, we retreat at full speed. We don't waste time fighting—it's not about winning against the tree. It's about winning the damn mission."

Another silence.

Then Indra let out a short laugh. "So we're basically robbing the jungle's biggest monster, and hoping it doesn't kill us in the process?"

"Pretty much," Dev said.

Indra grinned. "Sounds fun."

Pooja rolled her eyes. "Sounds reckless."

Amrita smirked. "Sounds like our only shot."

The fire crackled between us, its glow reflected in the newfound determination in everyone's eyes.

"Then it's settled," Dev said, standing up and stretching. "We get some rest. Tomorrow, we pull off the craziest heist this jungle has ever seen."

One by one, we nodded.

When we finished laying it out, we all sat in silence.

Then Indra smirked. "That's either the best plan we've ever come up with… or the dumbest."

I exhaled, shaking my head. "Either way, it's happening tomorrow. Get some sleep. We need everything we've got."

For the first time since our defeat, we had a real plan.

For the first time, we believed we could win.

Tomorrow, we would win.