Notes

All monsters and heroes have beginnings.
Sixteen-year-old Manisha survived the King's attempted destruction of her people, the naga, five years ago by posing as a temple priestess. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Pratyush, the last of the monster slayers, serves the King by undertaking hazardous missions across the land. During Pratyush's repeated visits to the temple, he and Manisha develop a tentative, forbidden bond, but everything changes after another temple guest sexually assaults Manisha and pushes her into a pit of vipers. Still alive and now imbued with terrifying, snake-like power, Manisha wanders into the wilderness, where she's repeatedly forced to defend herself. Little does Manisha know that Pratyush has been dispatched to slay a reported monster capable of turning men to stone -- nor does he realise that he's tracking the girl he loves.