The cavern didn't shake—
it bowed.
Like the air itself recognized the white being rising from the water.
Manraj's breath snagged in his throat.
His fire pulsed under his skin, frantic, chaotic—like it was trying to escape him.
Zoya yanked him backward.
"Don't let it touch you," she whispered.
The white figure drifted toward them, wings of light folding and unfolding like breathing ribs. Its faceless "head" tilted, and every carved symbol in the cavern vibrated with a low, mournful hum.
Azhar stepped forward, shadows rising like a storm around him.
"Stay away from him."
The being did not obey.
Shadows lashed out—
a dozen black tendrils striking the creature like lightning.
They passed straight through.
Azhar staggered, chest heaving, as if the effort had drained something deeper than power.
Zoya cursed under her breath.
"It's not solid—it's memory."
The being stopped only inches from Manraj.
Zoya shoved him behind her and unleashed a surge of Silence so sharp the air warped.
The world muted.
The water stilled.
The cavern went soundless.
The being flickered—
but didn't disappear.
Instead, its wings dimmed…
and it knelt.
Manraj froze.
Zoya's voice cracked.
"What—what is it doing?"
Azhar backed away, eyes wide with dread.
"It's recognizing him."
The being spoke again—its voice not sound but pressure, a thousand whispers converging:
"Child of Silence… you were stolen."
Manraj's chest clenched.
"Stolen…?"
The flame inside him bucked, as if rebelling against the words.
Zoya tightened her grip on his wrist.
"Explain," she demanded. "Now."
The cavern lights flared.
The being raised one hand.
White energy spiraled upward, painting the walls with moving illusions:
A ritual circle.
Three forces clashing—fire, shadow, silence.
And in the center—
Manraj.
But not as he was now.
As a child.
Eyes glowing white, not amber.
Zoya staggered.
"…Silence. He wasn't meant to carry fire—he was meant to carry this."
Azhar shut his eyes, jaw clenched.
"I tried to save you," he whispered. "They dragged you into the fire when the silence chose you first."
The being's wings slammed open.
Symbols burst across the cavern, glowing too bright to look at.
Manraj fell to his knees, gripping his head as memory after memory—
blurred, torn, buried—
slammed into him.
White flame.
A hand pulling him back.
Azhar screaming his name.
Surtr's voice booming:
"Balance must be protected."
Zoya knelt beside him, her voice shaking.
"Manraj—stay with me, stay with me—"
But the being leaned in, its voice brushing his mind like cold breath:
"Your fire is a cage.
Your silence is the truth.
Choose…"
The cavern floor cracked violently.
Water surged upward in spirals of light.
Azhar hurled shadows, trying to pull Manraj back.
Zoya pressed her palms against Manraj's temples, flooding him with Silence to ground him—
But the being reached for him anyway.
Manraj gasped—
Fire and silence clashing inside him like two storms trying to devour each other.
Zoya screamed his name.
Azhar shouted something lost in the eruption.
The being's voice drowned everything out:
"R
emember who you were…
and the world will remember what it buried."
The cavern exploded in white.
Reality twisted.
The world snapped—