The rain hadn't started, but the sky warned it would. Grey clouds brooded above the city skyline like a threat long ignored.
Arjun stepped quietly into the university library, pushing open its massive teakwood doors. The scent of old pages and dust hit him like incense in a temple. This place had always been a refuge for him—until now.
Something about the map. The symbol. The Chrono Key.
It all leads back here.
He moved swiftly through the aisles, ignoring the curious glance of the librarian. His fingers traced the spines of books like a blind man searching for hidden scripture—until he stopped at the exact volume he'd handled yesterday.
"Sanskrit Codes of Time."
He flipped through the pages again, but now… the secret compartment was gone.
"No way…"
He tapped along the back cover. Nothing. Then he slid his hand across the shelf behind the book. A soft click.
The wooden shelf shuddered—then popped open, revealing a narrow hollow space. Inside lay a folded parchment scroll, a rusted pendant, and a smooth circular stone inscribed with a glyph he'd seen only once before:
The spiral.
His heart raced as he pulled the items out. The parchment was brittle, but still readable. It appeared to be a handwritten journal entry, dated:
"6th century BCE — Ujjain."
"The Key cannot fall into wrong hands. I've sealed it within the Archive of Shadows. If this is ever read, the threads are already breaking."
—Rishi Bharadwaj, Chrono Guardian.
Arjun blinked.
Rishi Bharadwaj? One of the Saptarishi? That's... impossible.
But the ink, the language, the rhythm of the words—it felt right. As if it wasn't written for everyone, just… for him.
---
He stared at the stone. The spiral shimmered briefly. Not glowing, but… vibrating. As if it recognized him. His mind reeled back to the flash visions he saw the night before.
Ancient ruins. Future cities. Blood-soaked battlefields. And in every one, himself—or versions of him.
Why me?
Then, from deep within the library, he heard it.
Footsteps.
Not the librarian. Not a student. These steps were deliberate. Heavy. Quiet… but not quiet enough.
Arjun grabbed the scroll and pendant, tucked them into his bag, and slipped between two tall bookshelves.
The figure passed slowly. Cloaked in deep maroon, face hidden under a hood. The stranger stopped exactly where the book had been. He ran his hand across the shelf—just like Arjun had.
He's looking for the Key.
Arjun's breath hitched.
The figure turned toward the aisle Arjun hid in. He began walking toward him—slow, sure steps.
---
Just as Arjun prepared to run, the lights in the library flickered off, plunging everything into darkness.
A whisper floated through the dark:
"We see you, Kaladarshi…"
And then—a flash of light.
The figure was gone.
But Arjun's phone buzzed with a new message from an unknown number:
[You've touched the thread. Now the timeline bleeds.]