The temple lies in eerie silence, save for the ragged breaths of Arjun and his team. The battle had been fierce, their opponents relentless, but in the end, the Cult had chosen to retreat—though not in defeat. One of their masked leaders, cloaked in a robe of deep crimson, had left them with a parting message before vanishing into the shadows.
"You are not the only ones seeking the truth. The past will not stay buried forever."
Karna sheathes his dagger, exhaling sharply as he wipes sweat from his brow. "Well, that's reassuring," he mutters, sarcasm laced in his voice. "Not only do we have lunatics chasing after us, but now we've got history itself coming back to haunt us."
Sarika frowns, clutching her staff tightly. "What do you think they meant? Are there others like them trying to unearth this secret?"
Brihaspati steps forward, his usual calm demeanor laced with urgency. "This is not the time to ponder their words. We should leave before more of them arrive. The Cult rarely operates alone."
Arjun nods, glancing toward Karna, Aditi, and Lavanya. They had fought hard, but exhaustion clings to their bodies. Even Esha, despite her mysterious surge of power during the fight, looks unusually tense. It should be an easy decision—leave before the enemy regroups. But something about this place still feels… unfinished.
A low whisper drifts through the air, faint as a breath but sharp enough to send a shiver down the spine.
Esha stiffens.
Her golden eyes darken slightly, her hands trembling as she grips her arms.
"Wait," she murmurs. "There's something else here."
Everyone turns to her, sensing the unease in her voice.
Lavanya raises an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
Esha's expression is unreadable. "I don't know. It's… calling me."
A tense silence follows.
Karna shifts uncomfortably. "Yeah, that sounds like the exact kind of thing we should run away from."
Esha ignores him, stepping toward the inner part of the chamber. The whispers grow louder, yet no one else seems to hear them. Her chest tightens. There's something here—something familiar.
Brihaspati places a firm hand on her shoulder. "Esha." His voice is gentle but unwavering. "This temple is dangerous. Whatever you're sensing—"
"It's connected to me."
The conviction in her tone silences him.
Arjun crosses his arms, glancing between Brihaspati and Esha. "If there's a chance that this place holds answers, shouldn't we take it?"
Karna groans. "Seriously? We just survived getting torn apart by shadow creatures. And let's not forget the Cult will probably send reinforcements. How about, for once, we don't do the most reckless thing possible?"
"I agree with Karna," Aditi says firmly. "We don't even know what's left in here. Esha is sensing something, but that doesn't mean we should walk straight into another trap."
Esha clenches her fists. "It's not a trap."
Lavanya watches her carefully. "Are you sure?"
Esha hesitates. She isn't sure. Not completely.
But something in her gut tells her that if she leaves now, she will regret it forever.
Arjun exhales, looking at Brihaspati. "What do you think?"
Brihaspati studies the temple's worn walls, tracing the ancient markings with his fingers. His eyes darken in thought. "This place is old—far older than the Cult's influence. It was built to protect something. If there are still secrets left behind, they may hold the answers we seek."
Karna throws his hands in the air. "Great. We're doing this. Again."
Arjun smirks. "You can wait outside if you're scared."
Karna glares. "I'm not scared. I just have a healthy sense of self-preservation."
Lavanya chuckles. "That's debatable."
Sarika sighs. "We'll need to be careful. If we stay, we should move quickly."
Arjun nods, turning back toward Esha. "Lead the way."
Esha doesn't hesitate this time. With each step she takes deeper into the temple, the whispers grow louder—and the past inches closer.
Esha moves as if in a trance, her golden eyes glowing faintly in the dim light of the temple ruins. The whispers grow stronger, weaving through her mind like echoes of a forgotten past. The others follow cautiously, their footsteps barely making a sound on the cold stone floor.
Karna tightens his grip on his dagger. "I swear, if this leads to another death trap, I'm leaving."
"You always say that," Lavanya mutters.
"And yet, I'm still here. Which says more about my bad choices than anything else."
Esha suddenly stops. The air shifts. A faint breeze brushes past them, though there are no openings for wind to enter.
Sarika shivers. "Did anyone else feel that?"
Arjun steps closer, noticing Esha staring at the ground. "Esha?"
Without a word, she kneels and presses her palm against the stone. A faint hum reverberates through the chamber. The ground trembles. Dust and debris fall from the ceiling as an ancient mechanism groans to life.
With a deep rumble, the stone beneath them begins to split apart, revealing a narrow staircase descending into darkness.
Lavanya whistles. "You've got to teach me that trick."
Brihaspati's expression remains unreadable. "This passage was hidden well. Someone didn't want it to be found."
Aditi steps forward cautiously. "Or they wanted to make sure only the right people could find it."
Esha exhales, feeling an invisible pull toward the passage. The whispers have faded, replaced by a deeper sense of knowing. "This is it," she says softly. "The answers are down there."
Arjun gives a firm nod. "Then let's go."
The team descends the staircase, their torches casting flickering shadows along the damp, ancient walls. Strange symbols and carvings line the passage—images of warriors, celestial beings, and swirling patterns of light.
Brihaspati runs his fingers along one of the carvings. "These are scriptures… older than any I've seen before." His eyes narrow as he reads the inscriptions. "They speak of a guardian."
Sarika tilts her head. "A guardian of what?"
Brihaspati hesitates. "'The Keeper of Radiance'… The one who was lost in time."
Arjun steps closer, tracing a figure on the wall. It depicts a warrior bathed in light, a shining ring floating above their palm. Surrounding them are shadowy figures, recoiling from the brilliance.
Karna crosses his arms. "So, the Ring of Light wasn't just some powerful artifact—it had someone protecting it?"
Brihaspati nods. "Not just protecting it. Bonded to it."
Esha exhales sharply. Something about those words stirs something inside her.
Lavanya steps forward, observing another carving. It shows the same warrior standing before a great, faceless entity—something vast, looming, and unknowable. The warrior is holding the Ring of Light high, as if warding it off.
Aditi frowns. "Who… or what were they fighting?"
No one answers.
At the end of the passage, they reach a circular chamber. The walls are covered in more ancient symbols, but at the center stands a massive stone tablet, its surface marked by an inscription glowing faintly.
Esha approaches first, drawn to the energy radiating from it. Her fingers hover just above the inscription before Brihaspati speaks.
"Wait," he says, stepping closer. "Let me read it first."
Everyone waits in tense silence as Brihaspati studies the ancient script. His eyes narrow as he translates.
"The Ring of Light was never meant to be wielded by the reckless. Its radiance is both salvation and destruction. Those who seek its power without wisdom will be consumed by its fire."
Karna whistles. "Sounds like every artifact we've ever come across."
Brihaspati ignores him and continues.
"Bound to the guardian, its light was eternal. But when the guardian fell, the ring was lost, and the world was left vulnerable to the coming darkness."
Esha's breath catches.
Sarika whispers, "The guardian fell? What does that mean?"
Brihaspati shakes his head. "It's unclear. But it seems the Ring of Light isn't just a weapon—it was meant to protect something greater. And without its guardian…" His voice trails off.
Aditi finishes for him. "The world became vulnerable to the Cult's influence."
A heavy silence settles over them.
Arjun clenches his fists. "Then we need to find this ring before they do."
Esha doesn't answer. Her gaze lingers on the inscription, and for the first time, the whispers return—soft, but clear.
"Find me."
Her heart pounds.
Something… or someone… is waiting for them.
Esha's fingers brush against the cold surface of the ancient relic, and a surge of energy pulses through the chamber. The air thickens, humming with an unseen force, and before anyone can react, a blinding light engulfs them. Their surroundings vanish, replaced by a vast battlefield stretching into the horizon. The sky above churns with dark clouds, swirling violently as streaks of golden energy tear through the storm.
Arjun grips Gandiva, his stance tensed as he realizes they are no longer in the temple. Karna moves instinctively, scanning the landscape, but his eyes widen when he notices the countless figures locked in battle—warriors clad in radiant armor clashing against monstrous beings wreathed in shadows.
Aditi gasps as a wave of immense power crashes over them. The battlefield trembles under the weight of an unseen force, and at its center stands a lone warrior, bathed in a celestial glow. His silhouette is barely visible, but the Ring of Light gleams on his finger, illuminating the darkness that threatens to consume everything.
Sarika clutches her chest, her breathing uneven. "This… this is not just a vision. We are reliving history."
Lavanya narrows her eyes at the figures in the distance. "That warrior… he isn't fighting to destroy the darkness. He's sealing it away."
The ground quakes as the monstrous force surges forward—a vast entity of pure shadow, shifting between forms, its presence suffocating. It lashes out, sending waves of darkness crashing into the warriors who stand against it. Cries of agony echo through the battlefield, but the warrior wielding the Ring of Light does not falter. He raises his hand, and the ring pulses with divine brilliance, pushing back the encroaching void.
Esha stares at the warrior, a strange sensation twisting in her chest. "Who is he?" she whispers, her voice barely audible. The more she watches, the more she feels something calling to her, a connection she cannot explain.
Brihaspati, observing the vision with sharp eyes, mutters, "The Cult is not just seeking the rings for power. They fear what they contain."
The battle rages on, and the warrior presses forward, his form glowing brighter as he channels the ring's power. The monstrous force roars, its form shifting wildly as if trying to escape its fate. The warrior chants an incantation, the very air trembling with divine energy, and with one final surge, he drives the light into the heart of the darkness.
A blinding explosion erupts, consuming everything in golden radiance. The team shields their eyes as the vision begins to fragment, the battlefield dissolving into a whirl of light and shadow.
When the light fades, they are back in the temple chamber, the relic still glowing faintly beneath Esha's fingertips. The silence is deafening.
Karna exhales sharply. "So that's what they're after. They don't want the rings for themselves… they want to break the seal."
Arjun clenches his fists, realization dawning upon him. "If that darkness is freed… it won't just be the Cult we have to worry about."
Esha looks down at her hands, her mind racing. The vision, the warrior, the connection she felt—it all lingers, unsettling yet undeniable. The relic's glow fades, leaving them with only questions, but one thing is clear.
The Cult isn't trying to conquer the world.
They are trying to unmake it.
A heavy silence lingers in the chamber as the glow of the relic fades, leaving only the flickering torchlight to cast long shadows across the stone walls. Everyone's mind races with the weight of what they have just witnessed. The vision was not just a glimpse into the past—it was a warning, a fragment of a lost history that the Cult seeks to undo.
Arjun takes a deep breath, crossing his arms. "We came here looking for a clue about the Ring of Light. But now… we have something even bigger. If the Cult is trying to unseal whatever that warrior locked away, then finding the ring might not be enough. We need to know who he was."
Karna leans against a broken pillar, arms behind his head. "Yeah, because tracking down the Ring of Light wasn't already hard enough. Now we're chasing ghosts too?" His tone is lighthearted, but his eyes hold a rare seriousness. "Don't get me wrong, I get it. If that thing in the vision gets loose, we're all doomed. But how do we even start looking for a guy who lived who-knows-how-long ago?"
Sarika frowns, deep in thought. "The vision must have appeared for a reason. There has to be a way to trace his identity. Maybe through records, legends, or…" She hesitates, her gaze shifting toward Esha, who remains unusually quiet.
Esha's fingers curl slightly, her eyes locked on the relic. She has barely moved since the vision ended, lost in thoughts she can't quite put into words. The sensation from the vision still lingers—the flicker of familiarity, the feeling that the warrior's presence was not entirely foreign to her. It doesn't make sense, but the more she thinks about it, the stronger the connection feels.
Brihaspati watches her closely. "Esha. You sensed something in the vision, didn't you?"
The question snaps her out of her trance. She looks up, meeting the gazes of her companions. For a moment, she hesitates. Revealing too much has never been her way. But this time, she can't ignore it.
"I… felt something," she admits slowly, voice quieter than usual. "It wasn't just a vision for me. There was something familiar about it. The warrior, the energy he wielded—it wasn't entirely unknown to me."
Aditi steps closer, concern in her eyes. "What do you mean?"
Esha exhales, choosing her words carefully. "I don't know. But for a brief moment, it felt like I had seen it before. Not just in the vision. Somewhere deeper. Like a memory I can't grasp."
Lavanya raises an eyebrow. "You're saying you might be connected to him?"
Esha shakes her head. "I don't know. But I need to find out."
The group exchanges uneasy glances. This revelation changes things. If the warrior in the vision is somehow linked to Esha, then uncovering his identity might also unravel the mystery of her own origins.
Arjun looks to Brihaspati. "What do you think?"
The sword master strokes his beard, his expression unreadable. "If the Cult seeks to undo the warrior's actions, then his identity is just as important as the Ring of Light itself. But answers won't come easily. The past does not reveal itself without a cost."
Aditi folds her arms. "So do we continue searching for the ring first, or do we follow this new lead?"
Karna groans. "Great. Another impossible decision. Why can't we ever just have a straightforward quest?"
Lavanya smirks. "Because that would be boring."
Sarika sighs, pressing a hand to her temple. "We don't have enough information to make a perfect choice. But we know two things: the Cult is after the ring, and the warrior in the vision was its last known wielder. If we find out who he was, we might learn where the ring is now."
Esha clenches her fists. "Then I need to follow this lead. If there's even a chance that I can remember something, I have to try."
Arjun studies her for a long moment before nodding. "Then we'll find out the truth together."
Brihaspati closes his eyes briefly, then speaks. "The answer may lie in Gandhara's oldest records. If there is any place where a forgotten warrior would be remembered, it is there."
Aditi straightens. "Then our next destination is clear. We find the lost history of the warrior, and we uncover the truth behind this vision."
Karna exhales dramatically. "More old books? Fantastic. Just what I signed up for."
Lavanya elbows him. "You'll survive."
As the tension eases slightly, Arjun places a hand on Esha's shoulder. "We'll figure this out. No matter what."
She looks at him, expression unreadable for a moment, before nodding. The path ahead is uncertain, but one thing is clear: the past is calling, and they can no longer ignore its echo.
As the first light of dawn spills over the distant hills, the group makes their way out of the ancient temple's ruins, their thoughts weighed down by the revelations of the past night. The vision has changed everything, turning their search for the Ring of Light into something far greater. They no longer seek just a powerful artifact—they now hunt for a lost truth, buried under centuries of forgotten history.
Brihaspati walks ahead, leading the way through the overgrown path that winds away from the temple. His expression is unusually solemn, his mind already working through the possibilities. He knows of only a few who might have knowledge of such a vision, and only one whose wisdom stretches far enough to grasp its true meaning.
"There is an old sage," he finally speaks, his voice breaking the long silence. "A man who has spent his life studying the lost knowledge of this land. If there is anyone who can help us understand what we saw, it is him."
Arjun steps forward. "Where can we find him?"
Brihaspati glances westward. "Beyond the borders of Gandhara, deep within the Valley of Echoes."
Lavanya raises an eyebrow. "Sounds welcoming."
Karna groans. "More mountains? Great. Just what I wanted after nearly getting eaten by shadows."
Sarika shoots him a look. "Would you rather be wandering around blindly?"
Karna smirks. "Honestly? Sometimes, yes."
Despite his words, no one argues. If this sage can provide the answers they need, then there is no other choice.
They leave Gandhara behind, heading west toward the Valley of Echoes. The landscape shifts as they travel—rolling plains giving way to jagged cliffs, dense forests thinning into rocky, barren terrain. The air grows colder, the sky a pale shade of blue as wisps of mist coil through the distant hills.
But even as they move forward, Esha cannot shake the feeling that something is still following them. The whispers have not faded. If anything, they have grown stronger.
At first, they are faint—like a distant voice carried by the wind. But as they press on, the presence becomes more insistent, pressing against the edges of her thoughts. She does not speak of it, not yet. The others have enough to worry about.
They set up camp by a quiet stream as night falls. The fire crackles between them, casting flickering light over their tired faces. Aditi sharpens her sword with steady hands, while Lavanya cleans her daggers. Karna stares at the flames, occasionally tossing small pebbles into the embers.
Brihaspati sits apart from the rest, eyes closed in thought. Arjun, noticing his silence, moves closer. "You seem troubled."
The old master opens his eyes slowly. "This vision… it is not something to take lightly. Such memories do not surface without reason. Something is guiding us toward the past, but whether it is a warning or a trap, I do not yet know."
Arjun nods, his gaze thoughtful. "We'll be careful."
Brihaspati studies him for a moment before nodding. "See that you are."
Esha watches the exchange from the edge of the camp, her back resting against a tree. She does not feel tired. The whispers still murmur at the edge of her mind, growing louder the longer she ignores them.
She closes her eyes.
And suddenly, she is elsewhere.
The fire is gone. The forest is gone.
She stands in an empty space, endless and dark, with only a faint golden light in the distance. The whispers surround her now, forming words she cannot fully understand.
Then, from the darkness, a figure steps forward.
Cloaked in shadow, eyes burning like twin embers.
Esha's breath catches. She recognizes this presence. The warrior from the vision.
He does not speak, but his gaze locks onto hers, piercing through her very being.
A single thought forms in her mind, not her own, but something placed there—
Remember.
Her eyes snap open, breath unsteady. The fire still crackles, the others still resting, unaware of what just happened.
She presses a hand to her chest. The feeling lingers, heavy and inescapable.
She cannot ignore this any longer.
The past is calling her. And this time, it will not let go.