The forest burned behind them.

  Anshul and Riva stood at the edge of the vilge, packs on their backs, faces lit by the glow of dawn. Smoke drifted into the pale sky, rising like ghosts of the battle.

  > “You sure about this?” Riva asked softly.

  Anshul didn’t answer at first. He was staring at his hands—scorched, trembling, but alive. The mark on his chest pulsed beneath his shirt, warm and steady.

  > “No,” he said finally.

  “But I think I’m done waiting for answers to find me.”

  Fshback — Moments Before Departure

  The vilge elder, her face carved by age and wisdom, pressed an old scroll into Anshul’s hands.

  > “This belonged to your mother,” she said.

  “She left it with me the night she disappeared into the forest.”

  Anshul’s breath caught.

  He unrolled it.

  Inside, a faded sketch of the sunmark, and words written in old Devanagari:

  > “If the sun ever calls you by name… follow it.”

  His mother had known.

  She had prepared him.

  Now — In the Mountains of Solka

  They trekked through winding paths, ancient ruins, and temples swallowed by vines. The world grew quieter with every step, but Anshul’s mind thundered with questions.

  > Who were those attackers?

  Why was I hidden?

  Why me?

  That night, under a moonless sky, they reached a crumbling shrine etched with glowing sor runes.

  The doors opened for him.

  Inside: silence. Dust. Statues of celestial warriors long forgotten.

  At the center—a massive sun disk, cracked and faint, like it had waited centuries for someone to touch it again.

  He stepped forward and pced his hand on it.

  And the world changed.

  The Truth Revealed

  A vision seized him.

  Blinding light.

  He stood in the Sky Realm, on the steps of a ruined celestial court. Before him—his father.

  The Sun God.

  Not radiant. Not proud. But weary. Dimmed.

  > “You were not meant to awaken this early,” the god said.

  “But the darkness grows impatient.”

  > “Why me?” Anshul whispered.

  > “Because you are what I was… before power broke me.

  You are hope, not fire.

  You are the one who must choose—what I could not.”

  Behind the god, chains rattled. A massive shape stirred in the gloom.

  > “What is that?” Anshul asked, stepping back.

  > “A piece of me I locked away.

  The other half of the sun—the one that burns without purpose.

  And it wants out.”

  The vision ended.

  ---

  Back in the Shrine

  Anshul colpsed to his knees, gasping.

  Riva caught him. “What did you see?”

  He looked up, eyes brighter than ever.

  > “A war is coming.

  And I’m the one who left the door open.”

  ---

  Epilogue — The First Sunrise

  At dawn, the first true light rose over the shrine.

  Anshul stepped outside and lifted his hand. The sunlight bent toward him, wrapping around his fingers like a ribbon of fme.

  He didn’t flinch.

  He welcomed it.

  Riva watched silently. “So… what now, Sunborn?”

  Anshul didn’t smile. He just stared at the horizon.

  > “Now… I stop runn

  ing. And start becoming.”

  End of Arc One

  To be continued next week