The monk's voice carried like a ripple across still water."Before you step into the Ashram, prove your worth."
Dev, Shubham, and Laxmi exchanged uncertain glances. None of them spoke, but their footsteps echoed in the silence as the monk led them into a wide courtyard. The air grew strangely heavy, pressing against their skin as though unseen eyes were watching from every direction. The Ashram loomed behind the monk, its wooden doors tall and silent, like a gate to another world.
Dev swallowed, trying to quiet the unease in his chest. Something about this place felt alive.
Without warning, the monk lifted his hand. The courtyard blurred. Stone walls melted away into a strange landscape—half shadow, half flame. The air burned hot and cold at once, a contradiction that made every breath sting. The ground beneath their feet shifted into glass, floating over an endless abyss.
Dev stumbled, blinking hard. "What is this place…?"
Shubham's voice was a whisper, trembling. "It feels… wrong."
"An illusion," Dev muttered, though even he wasn't sure.
The darkness stirred. From the abyss, figures began to rise—shapes of men, beasts, and creatures neither of them had seen before. Twisted by shadow, their forms flickered like broken flames. Their eyes burned with an unnatural glow, cutting through the haze.
One stepped forward—a towering knight clad in shattered armor. Its sword gleamed with pale fire as it raised the blade toward Dev.
The trio instinctively drew close together.
"It's not real," Laxmi said quickly, her voice firm though her hands shook. "It can't hurt us."
The knight struck.
The ground split with a thunderous crack, sending shockwaves through their bones. Dev stumbled backward, ears ringing. Shubham cried out, clutching his arm where the blade had grazed him. No blood spilled, yet the pain in his face was real.
Dev's heart pounded. "They test our minds," he realized aloud. "Not our bodies."
The creatures began to move faster, circling like wolves closing in. Some were beastlike, with fangs dripping shadow. Others wore broken faces, hollow-eyed and screaming silently. The glass ground shook beneath their weight.
Fear coiled in Dev's chest. Every instinct screamed at him to run, to fight, to do anything but stand still. He forced his fists tight, grounding himself.
"Don't let fear control you," he said, his voice firmer than he felt. "If we give in, the illusion wins."
A beast lunged at Shubham, its claws swiping through the air. Shubham flinched, nearly falling back. His mind raced—counting steps, tracing angles, trying to make sense of impossible geometry. But no logic held here. His breath came fast and ragged.
Laxmi grabbed his arm. "Don't think—trust yourself."
The knight raised its blade again, its massive shadow falling over Dev. This time, Dev didn't step back. His chest tightened as Singh's face flashed in his mind—the professor's steady eyes, his calm voice. Courage is not the absence of fear, but the strength to face it.
The blade came down.
Dev did not move.
The sword passed through him like smoke, shattering the knight into fragments of mist.
Laxmi gasped, her eyes wide. "We don't fight them. We face them."
The realization lit a fire inside her. Shadows twisted toward her, snarling with inhuman hunger. She forced herself to stand tall, her heartbeat hammering in her throat. As their faces closed in, she held her ground. Her fear screamed, but her spirit did not waver. The illusions broke apart like glass, scattering into nothing.
Shubham's turn came next. A beast lunged, its jaws gaping wide. He froze for a breath, then clenched his jaw and steadied his feet. "Not real," he whispered to himself. "Not real."
The beast slammed into him—and shattered into shards of darkness. Shubham gasped, relief flooding him as the fragments scattered into the void.
One by one, the figures dissolved until only silence remained.
Then the world itself cracked.
The dark glass shattered like a broken mirror, light bleeding through the fractures. The flame and shadow melted away, swallowing the illusions whole.
And then it was gone.
They stood once more in the stone courtyard of the Ashram, the heavy silence returning as though nothing had happened. Their bodies were untouched, but their hearts raced as if they had just survived a war.
Shubham bent forward, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. Laxmi closed her eyes, whispering a silent prayer. Dev simply stared at the monk, his fists still trembling, his mind reeling with the echoes of Singh's voice.
The monk's face revealed nothing. His eyes were calm, almost indifferent. After a long pause, he gave a single nod.
"You may enter."
The massive wooden doors creaked, their sound deep and ancient. Beyond them lay shadows and silence, the heart of the Ashram.
Dev's pulse thundered in his ears. Singh's death, the unanswered call, the strange test—they all pointed to something larger, something hidden within these walls.
This was no longer just a journey of curiosity. It was a trial. And they had only just taken the first step.