The wind above Skybone Ravine had changed.
Not just in direction, but in essence. It now carried a pulse, as though the very air was alive — whispering secrets from the farthest edge of Mahakaal Lok. Lakshya stood near the shattered altar of the false Herald, still breathless from battle. The golden glow of his Vardaan had dulled to a flicker, but it warmed his chest like a quiet reminder: You survived. But something worse is coming.
High above, three suns flickered behind a sheet of thick, unnatural clouds.
"You feel that too?" said Aarna, brushing a bloodied lock of hair behind her ear. Her blade was still drawn, humming faintly — unnerved like its wielder.
Lakshya nodded. "Something's gathering. Something ancient."
Ashwin, the scholar of the group and bearer of the Truth Lens, adjusted his spectacles and frowned. "I don't think we defeated a Herald back there. We merely uncovered a mask — a puppet acting under some... decaying influence."
He tapped a rune glowing on his palm. "The real one is coming. And it knows we're here."
✦ The Call of Trinetra
They had only a few hours of rest before a sound tore across the land — a horn, deep and layered, as if blown through three worlds at once.
It came from the east, past the Echoing Marshes, beyond the Seven Roots of the Saptavriksha Tree.
Ashwin nearly dropped his tablet. "That's the Trinetra Signal — the ancient call of the Divine Eye. It only sounds when a true Herald enters the material realm."
Aarna swore under her breath. "We're not ready for that."
Lakshya stood. "We weren't ready for this life either. But we're here."
✦ Journey to the Three-Eyed Spire
The Trinetra Signal had originated from a mountain that didn't exist on any map: the Spire of Samdrishti, said to be the Eye of Mahadev carved into stone.
As they approached the base, Lakshya noticed time was... twisting. Birds flew backward. Water rose up waterfalls. Aarna's voice echoed before she spoke. Even his own heartbeat felt staggered.
"This place is bent," she muttered. "Like reality is tired of behaving."
"Or like the Third Herald is already here," Ashwin added grimly.
At the summit was the Shrine of Antravarta — built long ago by the first sages who saw through the illusion of space and time. Lakshya reached its broken gate and paused.
In front of it stood a figure. Cloaked in maroon and silver threads, with a third eye glowing bright on its forehead — not painted, not symbolic, but living, blinking.
The Third Herald.
✦ The Third Herald — Kshya, the Warden of Time
"I am Kshya," the being said, its voice layered — male and female, young and ancient.
"I watched you rise from the ashes of destiny. And now I shall watch you fall into the embrace of decay."
It lifted its hand, and the world around them paused. Birds froze mid-flight. Trees stopped swaying. Even Aarna and Ashwin were caught in temporal paralysis — their forms outlined in flickering blue light.
Only Lakshya could move.
He staggered forward. "You want to control time... why?"
Kshya tilted its head. "I do not want. I simply am. Time is not a river. It is a flame. And you are a shadow that defies it."
Lakshya raised his hands, calling on his Vardaan. But his powers sparked slowly, as though time itself was resisting him.
"You face the Shackle of Endings," Kshya said. "Every breath you take here is a borrowed one. Every thought an echo. You shall wither before you realize you've begun to die."
✦ Inner Battle: Lakshya vs. Decay
The Third Herald didn't attack physically — it attacked through time.
Lakshya began aging — just slightly at first. His hair tinged with gray. His limbs weakened. Moments flashed before him — failures that had never happened, regrets that never existed.
In one vision, he saw himself abandoning the path. In another, he saw Mahakaal Lok engulfed in silence.
But then… a voice cut through the illusion.
"Fear not decay, child of flame. You carry the seed of rebirth."
It was the voice of Vriddhi Ma, the forgotten goddess of cycles — a presence deep within his Vardaan.
And suddenly, he understood: decay was part of the cycle. Not the end, but the soil for rebirth.
✦ Vardaan Surge: Flame of Continuum
Lakshya unleashed a surge of divine energy — his Flame of Continuum, igniting around him in swirling orange and white light. The world shuddered, and time itself cracked like glass.
Kshya stumbled.
"You… resist entropy?" the Herald gasped. "You dare defy the thread of fate?"
"I am fate," Lakshya roared. "And I will decide when my story ends."
He charged, striking not with a weapon, but with willpower channeled into Vardaan energy — punching straight into the Third Eye of Kshya.
A burst of golden fire erupted — not destructive, but cleansing.
Time flowed again.
Aarna and Ashwin dropped to the ground, gasping as the stasis broke.
Kshya staggered, its form unstable. "You are… anomaly. Unwritten. Beware, Lakshya. For the Seventh awaits."
And with that, it dissolved — not destroyed, but scattered across the streams of time.
✦ Aftermath: A World in Motion
The Trinetra Signal faded.
Birds sang again. The sun returned to its true position. The Spire of Samdrishti calmed.
Lakshya collapsed at the shrine's base, chest heaving. Aarna rushed to his side. "What… what was that?"
Ashwin stepped closer, stunned. "That wasn't just power. That was command over decay itself."
Lakshya stared up at the sky. "Kshya wasn't lying. There's more. Stronger ones. We're just… scratching the surface."
Aarna helped him stand. "Then let's keep climbing. Let's show these Heralds that we're not here to survive... we're here to live."