The second struck the wooden doorframe.
Splinters flew through the air.
Inside the lonely riverside house, everyone dropped to the floor.
Inspector Prakash crawled toward a broken window and looked outside.
"I can't see him!"
A third shot rang out.
This one struck a shelf, sending old books crashing to the ground.
The elderly archivist, Narasimha Rao, remained surprisingly calm.
Almost as though he had expected this day for years.
"They've finally found me," he said quietly.
Aditya helped Ananya behind a stone wall.
"Stay down."
"What about you?"
"I'm not letting him escape."
For a brief moment, their eyes met.
Neither spoke.
Yet something passed between them.
Trust.
Perhaps something more.
Then another shot echoed outside.
The moment was gone.
Prakash spotted movement among the trees.
"Left side!"
The attacker was using the fading daylight for cover.
Aditya rushed toward the rear exit.
If the shooter escaped now, they might lose their only lead.
The back door opened onto a narrow trail leading toward the Kaveri River.
Fresh footprints marked the wet ground.
The attacker had moved recently.
Very recently.
Aditya followed.
The trail descended toward the riverbank.
Dense vegetation surrounded him.
The roar of the flowing river grew louder.
Then he saw something.
A black-clad figure running between the trees.
"Stop!"
The man glanced back.
For a second Aditya saw his face.
A scar stretched across his cheek.
Then the stranger disappeared into the forest.
Aditya chased him.
Branches whipped against his arms.
Loose stones slid beneath his feet.
The distance between them narrowed.
Then suddenly—
The stranger vanished.
Gone.
As if the earth had swallowed him.
Aditya stopped.
Breathing heavily.
Confused.
He searched the area.
No footprints.
No broken branches.
Nothing.
Then he noticed a patch of disturbed soil.
Near a massive banyan tree.
He knelt down.
The ground sounded hollow when tapped.
A hidden chamber?
Before he could investigate further, Prakash's voice crackled through his phone.
"Aditya! Come back immediately!"
"What happened?"
"It's Narasimha."
When Aditya returned to the house, he found the archivist sitting at an old wooden table.
Several ancient documents lay before him.
Ananya was listening carefully.
The old man's hands trembled.
Not from fear.
From age.
And perhaps from the burden of secrets.
"You don't have much time," Narasimha said.
"What do you mean?" Aditya asked.
The old man looked at him sadly.
"The cipher was never meant to protect treasure."
Everyone stared.
"What then?" Prakash asked.
Narasimha opened one of the documents.
Inside was an old map.
Hand-drawn.
Detailed.
Ancient.
"The cipher protects evidence."
Aditya frowned.
"Evidence of what?"
The archivist hesitated.
Then spoke.
"Of betrayal."
Silence filled the room.
Outside, darkness settled over the river.
"The final years of the kingdom were not as history remembers them," Narasimha continued.
"Certain powerful families secretly worked against the crown."
Ananya leaned forward.
"And the cipher proves this?"
"Yes."
The old man pointed to several names written on the map.
Most were unfamiliar.
One was not.
Varma.
Prakash exchanged a glance with Aditya.
The name appeared again.
Always Varma.
Always connected.
Narasimha carefully unfolded another document.
This one revealed a hidden network of tunnels beneath old Mysuru.
Passages connecting palaces, temples, and estates.
One route was marked with a tiger symbol.
Another with the three interlocked circles.
Then Aditya's eyes widened.
The map showed a location near the very banyan tree where the attacker had disappeared.
"The hidden chamber," he whispered.
Narasimha nodded.
"The Second Key."
Just then, the old man's expression changed.
Fear returned to his eyes.
He looked toward the window.
As though seeing something outside.
Something terrible.
Then he whispered four words.
Words that froze everyone in the room.
"Leela has returned."
A sudden gust of wind slammed the window shut.
The lamp flickered.
And outside, standing on the riverbank beneath the moonlight, a woman watched the house.
Her long dark hair moved with the wind.
Her emerald-green eyes gleamed in the darkness.
Before anyone could reach the door, she disappeared into the night.Leaving only footprints beside the Kaveri.