Jwala Vayu
Chapter 12
The Sand Demons arrive at the base of operations, worrying Rahul, Bala, and others.
Suraj says, “The military is approaching, it will take at least 30 Minutes.”
Rahul says, “30! Till then, there would be no base of operations and us.”
Bala says, “We need to hold them.”
Suraj looks through binoculars and says, “Something worse is happening!”
Rahul looks, and it’s a bigger Sand Demon who is behind the sand demons, seems to be the leader for this group, and says, “We need to stop them!”
They check the weapons, and Suraj says, “We have RPG and Missile launchers, that will hold them. When they turn to glass, they break off easily.”
Rahul says, “We burn them as well.”
Rahul changes the fire devices for massive explosions, sees Pratap and Sanju, and says, “Guys, you have lost your loved ones. Sanju, you are my best friend, like a brother, don’t leave me, please. We need you!”
Pratap, in his visions, enters a lavish party where there are VIPs and his father, Ashok Shirke arrives and takes him inside party and shows him around, all drinks and cash and enjoyment, as Sanju arrives at his own house and sees a baby born ceremony, and sees his child with Mona, his mother and brother, Vikram. Mona says, “It is a boy!”
Venkat says, “Their pulse is dropping, Pratap, Sanju, wake up!!!”
Rahul arrives at the doors and says, “God, we are kind people. I know you bless kind ones; give us strength, if not, take care of Mona and my unborn child.”
Rahul launches a petrol barrel, and Suraj shoots it with a grenade launcher, and the sand demons explode. They jump and surround them. Bala then fires the flame weapons and burns them, and they turn to glass and break off.
Sanju opened his eyes and found himself inside his old home. The faint scent of tea lingered in the air, and soft laughter echoed through the hallways.
“Sanju?”
His heart stopped. Meera stood in front of him.
She looked alive. Real. Her eyes sparkled like they always had.
“Come back home,” she whispered, reaching for his hand. “You don’t have to fight anymore.”
Sanju says, “I am a father!”
Mona smiles, hugs, and says, “I am proud of you, stay now.”
His mother says, “Name him, son!”
Sanju says, “I will name him!”
Ashok says, “People call us arrogant, like the way we think, we have power, money as well, we control everything.”
Pratap agrees, smokes a cigar, and says, “People should understand that you did nothing wrong in your life.”
He enjoys the drinks with his father.
The military arrives with tanks and fire, but the big Sand Demon arrives ahead and destroys the tanks. Fighter Helicopters shoot missiles and weaken him, but he still stands. Rahul looks at a truck full of petrol barrels, and Suraj says, “I understood, go!”
Venkat says, “Their pulse is heading them into a coma.”
He then says, “Bring the Heart shock machine.”
The doctor says, “Sir, they are still alive, we cannot.”
He says, “We need to!!”t
They, Pratap, Sanju, and Venkat, say, “CLEAR!”
Ashok says, “You were just 1 when I left you for that expedition. I am sorry, but now we are together. No power will stop us.”
Pratap, meanwhile, was trapped in his vision. He stood in an office, the walls lined with newspaper clippings of his father’s achievements. Ashok Shirke sat behind a desk, flipping through documents.
“You finally understand, don’t you, son?”
Pratap shook his head. “You… you caused this.”
Ashok sighed. “No, Pratap. I created a future. A world without limits. But they—” he gestured to the outside world—“were too weak to accept it.”
Pratap’s hands trembled. “This isn’t real.”
Pratap hugs him, and suddenly, some guests turn into sand, and he says, “DAD!!!”
Ashok says, “Nothing, we did nothing wrong!”
The guests at Sanju’s party turn to dust, and Sanju says, “No, my son!”
Mona says, “Live for our family, Sanju. Here, this is your chance.”
Rahul sits inside the truck and sees Mona’s picture, which is his mobile screensaver, and says, “Sorry, dear, I love you!”
Pratap hugs back his father, and another jolt hits his heart, and says, “You did wrong, Dad, you got corny with the machine, your patience ran out, and your ego caused this. You had your chance, your doing has led to all this. I love you, but we have failed in power and money as businessmen. I am not failing; I am a cause of many deaths, not anymore.”
Pratap wakes up and falls off the bed.
Sanju says, “WE don’t have a child, Mona. We lost it when you and other people vanished. I would do anything to bring you back, but you are gone. Once they have gone forever, we don’t bring them back, we will have a chance to meet again, you, mother, and Vikram, not now, I need to go, be a leader, savior, and a brother. Let’s leave our meeting for our destiny to fulfill.”
Sanju wakes up and falls off the bed.
Rahul takes the truck ahead, and the demon stops it, and his leg gets stuck, and suddenly two missiles hit the big demon, and he falls back. Rahul stops and sees Sanju and Pratap with missile launchers. Bala says, “It’s like Zeus and Ares have paired up!”
The massive demon raised both its hands, and the storm reacted instantly. The wind howled, forming a shield of swirling debris, blocking the military’s attacks.
Then it spoke.
A deep, inhuman voice rumbled through the air, layered and distorted, as if a thousand voices spoke simultaneously.
“You cannot stop the storm.”
It raised a clawed hand, and suddenly, the fire from the explosions reversed, pulling back into the air. The soldiers gasped as their weapons crumbled into sand.
Sanju gritted his teeth. “It’s adapting.”
Venkat’s voice came through the comms. “Sanju! The storm’s core is linked to a specific frequency. You must destabilize it before it fully merges with Earth’s atmosphere.”
Sanju grabbed a flare launcher and aimed at the leader’s glowing core.
They fire again, Big Sand Demon stops, runs at him, and takes Rahul out of the truck. Sanju says, “Your kindness won’t stop this demon!!!”
They get out, and Pratap starts the truck and leaves it at full speed to crash into the demon. Suraj aims at the car as it crashes, creating a massive explosion in the core. The Demon turns to glass and falls immediately, as Sanju, Rahul, and Pratap walk ahead of it.
The demon let out a deafening screech, its body splitting apart in a violent burst of golden sand.
The remaining demons froze, then collapsed into dust.
The storm began to retreat.
As the sun rose over the battlefield, the air was eerily silent. The once-chaotic stormfront was now nothing more than a distant golden mist, slowly dissipating.
Bala says, “Will they keep on coming?”
Venkat says, “We need a permanent solution!”
Sanju turned as Venkat approached, holding a classified folder.
“This isn’t over,” Venkat said grimly. “Satellite scans detected a disturbance in Alaska. The storm’s origin point is active again.”
Sanju says, “You gave an idea that I sarcastically passed off.”
Pratap says, “I have a team in the USA that can help!”
Rahul says, “ALASKA?”
Sanju’s jaw clenched. “Then that’s where we go next.”
Pratap chuckled darkly. “Time to clean up my father’s mess.”
As the remaining survivors regrouped, one thing was clear— The final battle would occur where it all began.
They all nod. Rahul says, “I am not ready for frostbite!!”
Jwala Vayu
Chapter 13
Mona and Kiara arrive in Delhi, as the storms have calmed down. The ‘free’ time had increased, but alerts between the cities were managed due to massive collaborations between Delhi and other cities, regarding data being analyzed, and the times of the storm being shared. Mona says, “So USA??”
Rahul says, “Yes, Alaska, the storm had started there, and we need to get there and end it for real.”
Mona says, “Last time when you fought those demons, you nearly died.”
Rahul says, “I did, it was a narrow escape.”
Mona says, “You better come back after it's done.”
Sanju says, “Kids?”
Kiara says, “They are safe, at your house, and have befriended more kids and are learning as well.”
Sanju says, “I never thought that a day would come when some people and I would be responsible for saving Earth. Managing day-to-day struggles and activities was a huge thing, but managing an entire city, and now this is a major upgrade.”
Kiara says, “I have always seen you as a leader. You led by example, with principles and ethics, and you considered both sides and made choices. Meera would be proud now and then as well.”
Sanju says, “She is.”
Kiara says, “I will check the stuff that is ready or not?”
Sanju says, “Hey, Kiara, were you at my wedding???”
Kiara says, “I was there for a minute. I saw you and Meera on that stage and just left.”
She leaves, and Sanju whispers, “I knew it!”
The PM and President call Venkat, Sanju, Bala, Rahul, Pratap, Mona, and Kiara for a dinner before they leave for the USA, and other team members. Rahul says, “Who thought we would meet these dignitaries when Earth is in apocalypse mode!”
Sanju says, “I never thought, man!”
The president says, “We have been facing a global incident, millions of people have unfortunately vanished and passed away. Brilliant minds like Venkat and his team helped us, and we found that volunteers and soldiers like Sanju, Bala, and Suraj helped cities safely. We did what was possible, we did what could save and preserve. Now we have a bigger fight at our course, we fight where everything began.”
PM says, “Like Sir said, we have lost people. We cannot bring them back; we can value who we have and move ahead. I believe we can win this global war, manage ourselves, and help each other rebuild, redesign, and reclaim the honor and life we have lost. I know a ‘simple’ life is not possible after this, but we should value that we have a LIFE!”
Venkat takes the stage and says, “We are building these Suits in Pratap’s USA facilities, which have various features. Twenty-five years ago, we didn’t have a lot of safety, but now we have made some changes. Also, there is a feature; we have placed a special explosive in your suit. If Jwala Vayu or the Sand Demon catches up, and there is no option, you can detonate it.”
They see the design of the Suit as well.
Sanju is seen in his room after dinner, and he reminisces about his memories of his wife and family members, as well as how it happened. The whole recap from day 1 of the Jwala Vayu comes up in his visions, and he goes for a late-night walk inside the hotel. As he walks, he hears music and comes to Suraj’s room. He is working on an art piece, and Sanju says, “I didn’t know you were such a good artist!”
Sanju looks at the other artwork worked by Suraj, and Suraj, who is seen smoking a cigarette, says, “It was a hobby vs patriotism for me, I chose Patriotism and joined the army. My daughter loves my work, so wherever I am posted, I promise to do some work and send it to her every time. Why aren’t you asleep?”
Sanju says, “Tensed, we will leave for the USA tomorrow. The seriousness is pretty high for this one.”
Suraj paints and says, “You see me and you have seen things, horrible and dangerous. I have noticed some incidents, even when there is a small chance of survival, people don’t take that chance and let go.”
Sanju says, “I never let go! I had hope that things would get better.”
Suraj says, “Because you stood for something, we stand for something. Or else people stand for shit, it dried for them, like this paint!”
Sanju says, “What dried up?”
Suraj says, “Belief, brother, human soul that we talk about!”
Sanju says, “It seems you have seen something much worse.”
Suraj says, “I was posted in Kashmir, some months ago, we got news of these Taliban terrorists that had taken a small village hostage, me and a unit of 20 soldiers, went and killed all of them, the limits of bloodshed and massacre were crossed. It was a nightmare for all of us. Blood everywhere. I thought I would not make it. It was a black place for me.”
Sanju sees the cut marks on Suraj’s back and continues, “Some days I got this ‘special’ drink from the locals, and I had it, I don’t feel any pain now. A day later, I came on this bridge and I saw this, I saw this (gets emotional and sobs) woman standing there, I stepped out and she saw deep in my eyes, I knew what she was going to do, I had the idea, you know what I did?”
Sanju comes close and sees the drawing made, which resembles the story narrated by Suraj, and says, “What did you do?”
Suraj cleans his tears and says, “I walked and stopped for a second, I heard the splash! She was gone, after taking so many lives, it was one I could have saved, but I didn’t, I realized that, if I had saved that one I would, I would have understood what was left in my goddamn soul.”
Some tears fall on the artwork, and Sanju sees this and walks off. Suraj is seen crying as he remembers the whole incident.
The next day, they are seen getting ready. Sanju sees Rahul saying his goodbyes to Mona, and Kiara comes to Sanju and says, “I wanted to show you something.”
Kiara shows a video of Ashish, Neelam, and other kids and residents from the shelters addressing and wishing Sanju and others luck in saving the world. Kiara says, “Please come back. If you don’t, I will take your leadership as an example and save as much as possible.”
The world watched as the Prime Minister stood before a battered podium, his voice steady despite the weight of history pressing on his shoulders. The past weeks had been filled with loss, despair, and sacrifice. But tonight was about the fight ahead.
“My fellow citizens,” he began, his eyes scanning the faces of soldiers, scientists, and survivors gathered before him. “We have lost much. The storm swallowed friends, family, and entire cities. But if loss alone defined humanity, we would have perished centuries ago.”
His voice hardened.
“Today, we stand at the edge of history—not as victims, but as warriors! We have stared into the abyss, and we have fought back. For every city that fell, we built a new stronghold. For every life lost, a hundred rose in their place to fight.
This is not extinction. This is our resistance.
Tomorrow, our bravest heroes will embark on a mission to the very heart of the storm. They do not go alone. They carry with them the strength of an entire world—the hopes of children who deserve to see the sun again, the memories of the fallen who whisper for vengeance in the winds.
We do not kneel to storms. We break them.
And when the final battle comes, when the storm unleashes everything it has left, we will answer with fire, steel, and unyielding will.
The storm may be vast. But it has never faced a force like us.”
A roar erupted from the crowd. The world was ready.
Sanju hugs Kiara and exits the plane with Rahul and others; they fly off to the USA.
In Alaska,
Deep inside the Jwala Vayu caves, a wall breaks and hits, and an earthquake begins. A dome-like structure comes up, and inside, a human is present and says, “They are coming; let us move!”
Demons emerge, carry the dome ahead with their army, and move ahead at full speed, crossing the Alaska ice-cold planes.