The sight of the Neelgarh royal guard below them was more disorienting than any temple trap. It was a fragment of their old world, of politics and duty, crashing into their new reality of ancient cults and life-or-death survival.
"My uncle, Shwet," Neel whispered, his face pale in the moonlight. "He's the War Councilor. He always argued that the vow was a foolish risk, that we should let Tejgarh burn itself out. He said protecting you made Neelgarh a target." He looked at Anal, his eyes wide with alarm. "He can't find us here. He can't know about the temple, the Conclave... any of it."
Anal understood instantly. If Shwet discovered they had been working together, if he learned the extent of the threat targeting Anal, he would likely drag Neel back to Neelgarh and use the incident as proof that the alliance with Tejgarh—even a secret, protective one—was a catastrophic mistake. It would shatter the fragile understanding they had just forged and leave Anal utterly alone against the Conclave.
"Back into the ruins," Anal hissed. "We can hide in the rubble until they pass."
They scrambled away from the ledge, slipping back into the still-settling dust of the collapsed temple entrance. They pressed themselves into a narrow crevice between two giant fallen blocks, the cold stone biting through their thin robes. The clinking of armor and the murmur of voices grew louder, then stopped directly outside their hiding place.
"By the gods," a deep, authoritative voice—Shwet's—rang out. "The entire mountainside has collapsed. Search the perimeter! Look for any signs of passage."
"He couldn't have been here, my lord," another soldier replied. "This is an ancient site. Unstable. It must have given way on its own."
"Prince Neel is reckless and drawn to trouble," Shwet countered, his voice cold. "His little 'mission' of protection will get him killed. I want this area scoured. If he followed the Fire Prince here, there will be evidence."
Anal and Neel held their breath, their bodies tense. A single cough, a dislodged pebble, would give them away. Anal could feel the heat of anxiety building in his core again, but he clamped down on it, focusing on the cool, damp stone against his back and Neel's steady presence beside him.
After what felt like an eternity, the sounds of the search began to move away.
"Nothing, my lord. No tracks, no signs of a camp. It appears no one has been here for years."
Shwet let out a frustrated grunt. "Very well. We continue north. My informant suggested the Conclave was active near the Whispering Falls. We will find my nephew there and put an end to this folly."
Their voices faded as the troop moved on, their torchlight receding into the forest.
For a full minute after the last sound had disappeared, neither of them moved. The relief was so potent it felt like a physical force.
"They're looking for you," Anal finally said, his voice low. "They know about the Conclave."
"Not all of it," Neel replied, stepping out of the crevice and brushing dust from his clothes. "My father's court is divided. Men like my uncle believe the best way to deal with the Conclave is to find and eliminate them before they become a greater threat, but they see you as part of that threat. They don't believe in the prophecy of unity, only in the danger of your power." He looked in the direction his uncle had gone. "If they find us, they will separate us. Permanently."
The truth of it settled over them. They were caught between two fires: the Conclave, which wanted to possess Anal's power, and a faction within Neelgarh that saw eliminating him as the simpler solution. There was no safe haven.
"We can't go back to the Gurukul," Anal stated. It wasn't a question. "If Shwet's informants knew to look here, they likely know we study there. It's the first place they will look for you, and the Conclave will be watching it for me."
"Then we keep moving," Neel said, his jaw set. "We stay ahead of them both."
"To where?" Anal asked, the vast, hostile world suddenly feeling immense and terrifying.
Neel was silent for a moment, thinking. Then he looked east, towards the distant, jagged peaks of the Vindhya Mountains.
"Guru Vrish once told me about a place," he said slowly. "A sanctuary for those who walk the path of elements, hidden from the eyes of kings and cults alike. The Ashram of the Silent Peak. He said if we were ever truly lost, to seek it."
It was a thin hope, a rumor of a myth. But it was the only one they had.
"Then that's our path," Anal said, a new resolve hardening within him. He was a prize, a key, a target. But he was also a prince, and he would not be hunted like an animal. He would find this sanctuary, he would master the inferno inside him, and he would face his destiny on his own terms.
As they turned to leave the ruins and slip back into the concealing darkness of the forest, a glint of metal caught Anal's eye near the collapsed entrance. Half-buried in the rubble was Agneya's serpentine dagger. Without thinking, Anal stooped and picked it up, slipping the cold, carved steel into his belt.
It was a trophy from their first battle, a reminder of the enemy they faced. But as his fingers brushed against the coiling serpent on the hilt, a strange, faint energy pulsed from the metal, a dormant echo that whispered of a network far larger and more connected than they had ever imagined.
---