(A/N):
Drop a here that you find funny. Or reflects your mood.
Guys I hope you put more comnts and power stones... Which will encourage ...
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The Goddess Mahakali’s attention moved on.
Slowly.
Her eyes swept across the clearing.
Across the kneeling practitioners.
Across the shattered ritual circles.
Across the ruined offerings.
Then her gaze settled upon sothing else.
"...."
Sothing that had been overlooked amid the chaos.
The sacrificial altar.
Several bound won remained there.
Their wrists tied.
Their bodies trembling.
The stone slabs prepared for the ritual stood behind them.
Large slabs of dark stone.
Each stained by previous offerings.
Each designed to hold a victim in place.
Beside them lay the ceremonial swords.
Weapons that only monts ago had been raised to take innocent lives.
Now they rested abandoned upon the ground.
The won had witnessed everything.
"...."
"...."
"...."
The lightning. The fog.
The arrival of Karichathan.
The appearance of Mahakali.
Their terror had only grown with every passing mont.
Yet now, as the goddess looked toward them, sothing else appeared in their eyes.
Hope. Fragile. Desperate.
Hope.
So of the won were crying.
Others had gone silent from fear. Looking at the Goddess Mahakali.
One clutched her bound hands so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.
Another whispered prayers beneath her breath.
Not knowing if anyone was listening.
Not knowing if she would live to see another sunrise.
Their eyes remained fixed upon Mahakali.
Fearful.
Yet pleading.
The goddess said nothing.
For several monts she simply looked at them.
The forest remained silent.
The spirits watched.
The practitioners watched.
Even Karichathan stood quietly waiting for what the goddess will do next.
Then sothing changed.
The terrifying pressure that had filled the clearing softened.
Only slightly.
Not enough to disappear.
Not enough to make anyone comfortable.
But enough that the won noticed it.
Enough that the spirits noticed it.
Enough that the practitioners noticed it.
The won looked at one another uncertainly.
One of them began crying openly.
Not from fear this ti.
From relief.
Because despite the terrifying appearance before them.
Despite the severed heads.
Despite the sword.
Despite the fierce eyes.
For the first ti that night they felt sothing else beneath the rage.
Compassion.
The fierce compassion of a mother protecting those who could not protect themselves.
Goddess Mahakali’s gaze remained upon them.
"...."
And for a brief mont, the won understood sothing many devotees spend lifetis trying to comprehend.
The sa goddess who destroys arrogance.
The sa goddess who shatters ego.
The sa goddess who terrifies demons and tyrants.
Is also the goddess who stands beside the helpless.
The protector of those abandoned by others.
The refuge of those who have nowhere left to run.
The practitioners kneeling nearby slowly lowered their heads further.
Because they were finally beginning to understand why her anger had been so great.
This was never rely about Devaratha.
Their greed had driven them to a point where they were willing to murder innocents.
Pregnant won.
Unborn children.
Lives that had done nothing to them.
All for power. All for revenge of soone.
All for ambition.
And now the First Goddess Mahavidya herself was looking directly at the evidence of their sins.
No one wanted to imagine what judgnt might co next.
Even Karichathan remained unusually quiet.
Watching. Waiting.
"...."
Because everyone present understood one thing.
Mahakali had not appeared rely to witness.
She had appeared to decide.
The terrified won remained kneeling before the altar.
Their hands were bound.
Their bodies trembled from exhaustion and fear.
For hours they had believed they would never see another sunrise.
That their lives would end upon those cold stone slabs.
That their unborn children would perish alongside them.
Now they stood before the very goddess whose na many of them had prayed to throughout their lives.
Goddess Mahakali’s blazing eyes rested upon them.
For a few monts, nothing happened.
Then one of her ten hands moved.
It was a simple gesture. Effortless. Almost casual.
Yet the effect was imdiate.
CRACK!
The sacrificial altars shattered.
The sound echoed throughout the clearing.
Massive fractures spread through the stone structures.
Then the entire sacrificial platform broke apart.
Chunks of stone collapsed onto the ground.
The ritual site that had been prepared so carefully was reduced to rubble in seconds.
At the sa mont, the ropes binding the won snapped apart.
Not cut. Not untied.
Simply broken.
As though an invisible force had decided they no longer deserved to exist.
The won stared at their freed hands in disbelief.
For a mont they remained frozen.
Unable to process what had happened.
Then one by one they dropped to their knees.
Tears stread down their faces.
So sobbed openly.
Others could not even speak.
They folded their hands toward the goddess.
Offering prayers. Offering thanks.
Offering the only thing they possessed.
Their gratitude.
One young woman lowered her forehead to the ground.
"Mother..."
The word escaped through tears.
Another held her swollen stomach protectively.
Her child had been saved.
Her family had been saved.
Her future had been saved.
Many of the spirits gathered throughout the forest smiled quietly at the sight.
Even Karichathan looked pleased. Seeing the won
The practitioners, however, felt no relief.
Because Mahakali’s attention was no longer upon the won.
It had returned to them.
And that terrified them far more than before.
The goddess slowly turned.
The movent alone caused several practitioners to tremble.
Her gaze swept across the gathering.
Across the clan leaders.
Across the elders.
Across every participant in the ritual.
Then suddenly—Every tantra practitioner scread.
The pain ca without warning.
"-AHHHHHHHH!!!"
One mont they were kneeling.
The next they were clutching their throats.
Their hands imdiately flew toward their necks.
Cries of agony erupted throughout the clearing.
So rolled across the ground. Others collapsed forward.
Several practitioners clawed desperately at their own skin.
Trying to understand what was happening. Trying to stop the pain.
But nothing helped.
The flesh around their necks had begun glowing.
Dark red.
Like tal inside a furnace.
Smoke rose from their skin.
The sll of burning flesh filled the air.
Their screams echoed throughout the forest.
The gathered spirits watched silently.
The won looked on in shock.
The remaining clan leaders were no different.
They too suffered.
The burning sensation felt unbearable.
As though invisible fire had wrapped itself around their throats.
As though their own karma had beco a burning chain.
One elder cried out.
"rcy!"
Another slamd his forehead against the ground.
"Please!"
A third scread until his voice broke.
Yet the pain continued.
Not enough to kill.
Only enough to make them understand.
Then Goddess Mahakali spoke.
The mont her voice echoed through the clearing, every sound vanished.
Even the screams quieted.
Not because the pain ended.
But because her words demanded attention.
"There is no such thing as good power."
Her voice rolled across the forest like thunder.
"There is no such thing as evil power."
The practitioners looked up despite their suffering.
Mahakali’s eyes blazed like cosmic fire.
"The river that sustains life can also drown."
"The fire that warms can also destroy."
"The sword that protects can also murder."
The forest remained silent.
Every soul listened. Every spirit listened.
Even the wind seed to stop.
The goddess took another step forward.
The earth beneath her feet cracked.
-Crack!
"Power is power."
Her voice carried the weight of ages.
"It possesses no virtue."
"It possesses no sin."
Her eyes swept across the suffering practitioners.
"The choice belongs to the one who wields it."
Several practitioners lowered their heads in sha.
Because they knew she spoke the truth.
Mahakali continued to speak her words echoed around.
"You were given knowledge."
"You were given teachings."
"You were given wisdom passed down through generations."
Her voice beca colder.
"And what did you do with it?"
The practitioners could not answer.
The goddess answered for them.
"You twisted it."
"You corrupted it."
"You turned sacred knowledge into a tool for hatred."
The burning around their necks intensified.
Several cried out once more.
"You sought power."
"Not understanding."
"You sought revenge."
"Not justice."
"You sought domination."
"Not wisdom."
The words struck harder than the pain itself.
Because they knew she was right.
Every step of the ritual. Every sacrifice. Every decision.
Had been driven by greed.
Not spirituality. Not devotion.
Not faith.
Mahakali’s eyes finally settled upon the clan leaders.
The n responsible for guiding the others.
The n who should have known better.
The n who had led everyone here.
"You did not dishonor tantra."
Her words made them pause.
Then her gaze hardened.
"You dishonored yourselves."
The clearing fell silent once more.
The burning marks around their necks continued glowing.
A permanent reminder.
A visible judgnt.
A mark that would follow them long after this night ended.
The won who had been rescued watched quietly.
The spirits remained silent.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Karichathan folded his arms while sitting atop a nearby rock.
For once, even he had nothing clever to say.
Because everyone present understood.
This was not punishnt born from cruelty.
This was judgnt.
And judgnt, unlike revenge, was ant to teach.
Whether the practitioners learned from it remained to be seen.
But none of them would ever forget this night.
Nor the lesson delivered by the First Mahavidya herself.
The agony did not end.
If anything, it beca worse.
The tantra practitioners rolled across the ground screaming.
So clawed desperately at their necks.
Others begged for rcy.
A few tried chanting protective mantras through gritted teeth.
Nothing worked.
The burning sensation continued spreading around their throats.
The glowing marks beca brighter and brighter until the entire clearing was illuminated by the crimson light radiating from their necks.
The sll of scorched flesh filled the air.
Many of the younger practitioners had already collapsed from the pain.
The clan leaders fared no better.
The n who had once commanded respect throughout five kingdoms now lay helpless upon the ground.
Their robes were covered in dirt.
Their faces twisted in agony.
The won who had been freed instinctively moved away from the scene.
Even the spirits watching from the forest had beco silent.
No one wished to interfere.
This was divine judgent.
Then the changes began.
One practitioner suddenly cried out louder than the others.
His body started shrinking.
The people around him watched in horror.
His arms beca shorter.
His legs contracted.
His entire fra rapidly diminished in size.
"What is happening?!"
His scream echoed through the clearing.
Then another practitioner began shrinking.
Then another. Then another.
Panic spread through the gathering.
The transformation was happening to everyone.
Bones shifted. Muscles contracted. Faces twisted.
Their ears slowly lengthened and beca pointed.
Their features grew rougher.
Stranger.
Their bodies continued shrinking until most of them stood no taller than a two-year-old child.
The clan leaders stared at one another in disbelief.
Monts ago they had been imposing figures.
Respected elders.
Powerful practitioners.
Now they looked completely different.
The realization struck them harder than the physical pain.
Several imdiately began weeping.
Others scread in frustration.
So begged the goddess to reverse what was happening.
But Mahakali’s expression never changed.
She stood amidst the clearing like the embodint of cosmic judgnt itself.
The glowing marks around their necks finally stabilized.
What had begun as burns now ford a distinct collar-like mark encircling each practitioner’s throat.
The mark looked almost as though invisible chains had been branded directly onto their souls.
Then Mahakali spoke. Her voice rolled across the clearing like thunder.
Every spirit lowered its head.
Every practitioner froze despite their suffering.
"You have spent your lives chasing power without wisdom."
Her blazing eyes swept across the gathering.
"You have consud."
"You have taken."
"You have desired."
"Yet you never learned contentnt."
The practitioners trembled.
None dared interrupt.
Mahakali’s voice grew colder.
"You sacrificed innocence for ambition."
"You mistook greed for strength."
The clan leaders lowered their heads in sha.
The truth of her words pierced deeper than any weapon.
Then the goddess raised one of her hands.
The pressure in the clearing intensified.
"Therefore hear my judgnt."
The forest itself seed to hold its breath.
"From this day forward, you and your descendants shall live as dwarfs."
The practitioners felt despair consu them.
So imdiately began pleading.
Others openly sobbed.
But the goddess continued.
"You shall carry the reminder of your greed upon your bodies."
Her eyes settled upon the glowing collars around their necks.
"And because your thirst for power was never satisfied..."
The practitioners felt dread.
Pure dread.
"...your thirst shall never be satisfied."
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(Author note:)
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Don’t forget to review guys...
Guys I have a new fic which nad: Karuppan: King of Openings.
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