Part two, in the Samsaara Series.
Samsaara : Malakh-ul-maut
Rishaan finds himself in the midst of another adventure that takes him to Alkapuri to catch the most dangerous person he will ever come across.
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"Ibn Zuhr?" Parizaad was shocked.
"Yes. My love, it is I. Please, help me now," he said.
"Parizaad, it is not your Ibn Zuhr, although he looks like him. Do not fall for his trickery. Instead ask the more important question," Lord Ishrafil said.
For a moment she was weakened at the sight of her lover. She dropped to the floor, unsure of what was happening. Perhaps it was all a dream that she would wake up from any moment. But the moment lasted for a long time. Long enough for her to regain her will, for she was far stronger than the ordinary guardian.
Parizaad asked, "You look like my Ibn Zuhr, felt like him as well. You sound and spoke like him as well. But something felt off for a while."
"No, I am your Ibn Zuhr, believe me," he said.
"I believe that you are Ibn Zuhr, but for how long have you been him," Parizaad asked.
Lord Ishrafil said, "Let me help you with that answer. I can access his memories."
Wisps of black smoke streamed out of Lord Ishrafil's palm and glittering gold letters dotted the smoke. The stream of smoke moved closer to the imposter and he continued to grow further nervous.
"Wait! I will confess. Just keep your mental manipulations away from me," he said.
"Go on, I am losing patience," Parizaad spoke.
"We, the watchers have kept a watch over you for years. Ever since you were deemed as a threat, we looked for a weakness in you. But you seemed to be perfect in every way. But only when our numbers dwindled down to near nothings did you relax enough to let your guard down. We used to watch you come to the shore and look out into the sea but none of us knew why. You'd hardly believe my luck when we saw you chasing after a disheveled lunatic and saw his break your heart when we realized what he meant to you. All that was left for me to do was to replace him and show you the version of him that existed in your mind in the past," he confessed.
"No—" she spoke.
"Yes, there is no point in sugar coating the truth to make it hurt you less. I had my watchers steal his memories and then changed myself to look like him," he said.
"What did you do to him?" she asked.
"Why, ofcourse, I killed him. Quite brutally infact. The young lad was strong, very strong. It took a lot to end his life. But we did it. Tore his limbs apart first, flayed his skin until only a mass of flesh and bones remained and then burnt him to ashes. I must say, I enjoyed the sight of it thoroughly. His screams aroused the monster within me thoroughly," he said trying to break Parizaad mentally so that he would have just one opponent.
"Enough!" Lord Ishrafil thundered.
"You killed my Zuhr," she sobbed.
"Yes, I did. Would you to see his bones? We had to hide what remained of him so we tried to throw his ashes into the sea. For some reason the sea only crept backwards. So his remains are there along the shore. You might even see a fleck of your lovers rotting flesh. That is, if the maggots have not devoured it," he spoke.
