Feroz hit the ground—
Hard.
Air slammed back into his lungs.
Burning.
Sharp.
Unforgiving.
For a few seconds—
Nothing made sense.
No sight.
No direction.
Only ringing.
Only dust.
Only silence.
Then—
A voice cut through it.
"Feroz!"
Yusuf.
Distant—
But real.
Feroz blinked.
Once.
Twice.
The darkness began to break.
Shapes returned slowly.
Blurred.
Unsteady.
The hall—
Was broken.
Pillars cracked open.
Stone scattered across the ground.
And the carved tree—
Split down its center.
Light leaking through the fracture—
Like something inside was trying to escape.
Yusuf's hand grabbed his arm.
Pulled him up.
"Can you stand?"
Feroz forced himself upright.
His legs resisted.
But held.
"…yes."
His voice was rough.
Unstable.
But alive.
His eyes moved instantly.
Searching.
Scanning.
"Where is he?"
Silence answered first.
Then—
Nothing.
The center of the hall was empty.
No figure.
No body.
No trace.
Only faint strands of blue light—
Fading.
Disappearing into the air.
Feroz's chest tightened.
"That was him…"
A pause.
His voice dropped.
"It was really him."
Yusuf didn't respond immediately.
The stone tree groaned again.
Another crack split through its roots.
"No," Yusuf said quietly.
A pause.
"It was him…"
His eyes hardened.
"But not fully."
Feroz turned sharply.
"What does that mean?"
Yusuf exhaled slowly.
Choosing his words.
"When your father tried to trade his life…"
A pause.
"He broke something."
Feroz didn't move.
Didn't interrupt.
"The Free Masons didn't kill him."
The words hung.
Heavy.
Cold.
"Then what did they do?"
Yusuf looked toward the broken tree.
"They bound him."
Silence.
"…bound?"
"To the source."
His gaze didn't shift.
"To this."
Feroz followed his eyes.
To the cracks.
To the light.
To the thing beneath the stone.
"You mean…"
His voice lowered.
"He's connected to it?"
"Yes."
The hall trembled again.
Stronger this time.
Then—
Something moved.
From within the split trunk.
Not a figure.
Not a shape.
Energy.
Raw.
Unstable.
Both dark—
And bright—
At the same time.
It pulsed.
Like a heartbeat.
Slow.
Heavy.
Alive.
Feroz froze.
His arm burned.
The mark—
Flared.
Brighter than ever before.
Pain surged through him.
Sharp.
Immediate.
Yusuf stepped in front of him instantly.
Blocking him.
"Do not let it connect to you."
Feroz gasped.
"Connect—?"
Another pulse.
Stronger.
Faster.
His vision broke.
Fragments—
Images—
Forcing their way into his mind.
The park.
The tree.
Night air.
Flashing police lights.
Voices.
Distant.
Unclear.
A covered body.
Still.
An officer speaking—
Calm.
Routine.
"We found him under the tree."
Feroz's breath stopped.
But this time—
Something changed.
The body—
Moved.
Not fully.
Just the hand.
Barely.
But enough.
The cloth shifted.
And underneath—
The mark.
The same mark.
Burning.
Alive.
Feroz screamed.
"I don't want this!"
The energy reacted instantly.
Unstable now.
Violent.
Pulsing out of control.
Yusuf grabbed his face.
Forced him to focus.
"Listen to me!"
A pause.
Sharp.
Demanding.
"The future is not fixed!"
The energy exploded outward.
A shockwave.
Stone shattered.
Pillars collapsed.
Dust filled the air again.
And in the center—
Something began to form.
Slowly.
Piece by piece.
A shape.
Not solid.
Not shadow.
Something in between.
Feroz stared through the pain.
His breath uneven.
His vision shaking.
The figure—
Looked familiar.
Too familiar.
Same height.
Same posture.
Same mark.
But older.
Colder.
Still.
Twenty-seven.
The figure opened its eyes.
Empty.
No emotion.
No hesitation.
"This is what happens…"
Its voice was calm.
Controlled.
"When you fail."
Yusuf stepped back slightly.
Shock breaking through his control.
"That's not a vision…"
A pause.
His voice lowered.
"It's something else."
The figure turned its gaze toward him.
"It is a possibility."
The hall shook harder.
Ceiling breaking apart.
Stone falling around them.
Time collapsing with it.
The older version began to fade.
Breaking into light.
Into fragments.
Into nothing.
But its voice remained—
Echoing.
Lingering.
"The path… remains the same."
Then—
Silence.
The energy collapsed inward.
The glow vanished.
Feroz dropped to his knees.
Breathing hard.
Drained.
The mark dimmed slowly.
Leaving only heat behind.
Dust settled.
The hall—
Ruined now.
Yusuf stepped closer.
Watching him carefully.
"You've seen it."
A pause.
"Your breaking point."
Feroz didn't respond immediately.
His head lowered.
His breathing steadied.
Then—
Slowly—
He looked up.
Something had changed.
The fear—
Still there.
But no longer leading.
"No."
His voice was quiet.
But firm.
"I saw what I refuse to become."
Yusuf held his gaze.
Said nothing.
Didn't need to.
Far above—
Beyond stone—
Beyond distance—
In a quiet city park—
A tree stood still.
Unmoved.
Waiting.
The soil beneath it shifted slightly.
Almost unnoticeable.
And deep—
Far beneath its roots—
Something answered.
Not with light.
Not with sound.
But with patience.