Veilguard South Command – Confidential Briefing Room
The room was cold and dim. The table in the center was smooth black stone. Around it sat five people—leaders of the Veilguard's Mumbai division. No windows. No outside sound. Just sealed silence and serious eyes.
Dharan stood at one end of the table. His coat was still dusty from the hospital mission. He didn't sit.
"He's stable," Dharan said. "Sleeping. No signs of psychic backlash so far."
A woman with silver hair tapped her fingers on the table. "The Bhuta came from inside the girl?"
"Yes," Dharan said. "But it was pulled out. By him. Somehow."
Another man leaned forward. His voice was sharp. "You're saying the boy—Arjun Joshi—performed a forced exorcism. With no mantra. No training. No awakened chakra?"
"No confirmed chakra," Dharan corrected. "But raw Shakti is active. Green spectrum. Heart-based. Possibly Anahata."
That made them pause.
An older man with a cracked voice finally spoke. "That chakra requires the Trial of Air. Hanging from a banyan tree through storm and night. It has never awakened by accident."
"It didn't," Dharan said. "That's the problem. His Shakti awakened first. Without cause. The girl was already dead. Something in him reached out. Pulled her back. Then triggered the Bhuta."
"Is he possessed?" the silver-haired woman asked.
"No," Dharan said. "I scanned his aura. It's chaotic but clean. No tether. No shadows."
Another officer, a woman in Veilguard grey, leaned back. "Could it be bloodline? Any family records?"
"None," Dharan said. "He's adopted. Background is blank after age five. No known Guru contact. No signs of Tapasya or trauma rituals. It doesn't add up."
"Then it's a leak," someone muttered. "A false guru. An illegal mantra."
"Or something older," said the cracked voice man. "We've always assumed the Shakti system is locked. Maybe this is proof it's not."
"Regardless," the silver-haired woman said, "he's dangerous. Power without training is a liability."
"He's also a miracle," Dharan said calmly. "He did what shouldn't be possible. He brought a dead girl back. No chakra stamp. No backlash. We should be studying him, not locking him away."
"Do you trust him?" the sharp-voiced man asked.
"No," Dharan said. "Not yet. But I believe he doesn't know what he is."
Silence fell again.
Finally, the silver-haired woman spoke.
"Observation for now. Full psychic testing. No exposure to faction secrets. If he fails mental integrity scans—terminate."
Dharan didn't flinch. "Understood."
"And Dharan," she added, "If he is something new… something uncontrolled… then gods help us all"