The Test of Faith.
Now the mountain begins to reveal its secret 🔱✨
đź”± Chapter 7: The Divine Sign
After the test in the cave, something inside Aarav had changed.
The fear that once controlled him no longer had the same power. It was still there, hidden in the corners of his mind, but it no longer ruled him.
The old man watched him closely over the next few days.
They spoke very little.
Each morning, Aarav meditated at the foot of the mountain. Each evening, he sat in silence, watching the sky turn from gold to darkness. Time began to lose its meaning. The world he had left behind felt like a distant memory.
One night, something unusual happened.
Aarav woke suddenly.
He did not know why.
The village was asleep. The air was completely still.
But inside him, there was a strong pull.
Stronger than ever before.
It called him toward the mountain.
Without thinking, he stood and began to walk.
The ground was cold beneath his feet. The sky above was filled with stars. The mountain stood before him, silent and vast.
As he reached the place where he had first met the old man, he stopped.
The air felt different.
Charged.
Alive.
Then he saw it.
Near a large stone, something was glowing faintly.
Aarav stepped closer.
It was a symbol carved into the rock.
A trident.
Ancient. Perfect. Radiating a soft, blue light.
Aarav's breath caught in his throat.
He had never seen it before. Yet it felt familiar.
As he reached out his hand, his body began to tremble.
The moment his fingers touched the symbol—
A sudden surge of energy shot through him.
His eyes closed instantly.
And he saw.
Not with his eyes, but with his consciousness.
He saw the mountain.
Not as stone and earth, but as something alive.
He saw the old man, younger, standing in the same place many years ago.
He saw countless others. Seekers. Meditating. Waiting.
And then—
He saw a figure.
Tall. Still. Infinite.
Surrounded by silence.
A presence beyond form.
A presence beyond time.
Aarav could not see the face.
But he felt it.
Power.
Peace.
Truth.
A voice spoke within him.
Not loud.
But absolute.
"You have begun to remember."
Aarav's eyes opened suddenly.
He fell back, breathing heavily.
The glow of the symbol slowly faded.
The night became normal again.
But Aarav was no longer the same.
Behind him, a familiar voice spoke.
"You saw it."
It was the old man.
Aarav turned, his hands still trembling.
"What… was that?" he whispered.
The old man stepped closer.
"The mountain has accepted you," he said.
Aarav's heart pounded.
"Accepted me… for what?"
The old man looked into his eyes.
"For the path you were born to walk."
The wind moved gently around them.
Aarav looked back at the stone.
Though the light was gone, he could still feel its presence.
Deep inside himself, something ancient had awakened.
Something that had always been there.
Waiting