The water moved quietly.
Steady.
Unbothered by the world around it.
Elham stood at its edge, his eyes fixed on the surface.
It reflected the sky clearly.
Too clearly.
"You feel it," John said.
Elham nodded slowly.
"Yeah… it's stronger now."
John stepped beside him.
"That's because you're not ignoring it anymore."
Elham swallowed.
The feeling in his chest had changed again.
It wasn't uncertain anymore.
It pressed outward.
Like something waiting.
"What is it?" Elham asked.
John looked at the water.
"It's the part of you that knows what's true."
Elham frowned slightly.
"Then why does it feel… off?"
"Because you haven't chosen yet."
That hit deeper than anything else.
Elham looked down at his hands.
"They all believed him," he said quietly. "Even when something felt wrong."
John didn't answer right away.
"Truth doesn't force itself on anyone," he said after a moment. "It waits."
Elham's chest tightened.
"What if I choose wrong?"
John's voice stayed calm.
"Then you follow something false."
Silence settled.
Behind them, Asher shifted slightly.
"You're overthinking it," he said.
Elham turned.
Asher met his gaze.
"You said something felt wrong," he continued. "So either you trust that… or you don't."
Elham hesitated.
"It's not that simple."
"It kinda is," Asher replied. "You're just making it harder than it needs to be."
That stayed with him.
Elham looked back at the water.
The feeling in his chest pulsed again.
Stronger.
Clearer.
"You said people agree to it," Elham said, glancing at John.
John nodded.
"They do."
"Then this is the same thing?"
A brief pause.
"Yeah."
Elham exhaled slowly.
He stepped forward.
The water touched his feet.
Cold.
Sharp.
He hesitated for a moment.
Then stepped deeper.
The current pressed gently against him as it rose to his legs, then his waist.
Behind him, Asher watched quietly.
John followed, stopping a short distance away.
Elham turned slightly.
"What do I say?"
John's gaze stayed steady.
"Say what you believe."
Elham swallowed.
The words didn't come right away.
He looked down at the water.
Then closed his eyes.
Malchiel's voice echoed in his mind.
The crowd agreeing.
That feeling in his chest pushing back.
Then John spoke again, quieter this time.
"Unless one is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter what is true."
Elham's breath caught.
The words settled deep.
He inhaled slowly.
"I don't believe him," he said.
The words felt small.
But real.
"I don't believe something just because everyone else does… especially if it feels wrong."
The pressure in his chest shifted.
Stronger.
"I believe in God," he said.
His voice steadier now.
"I think… what's true comes from Him. Not from people trying to control everything."
The wind changed.
A sudden stillness fell over the trees.
Asher looked up.
"…Do you feel that?"
The sky above them began to shift.
Clouds that had been drifting slowly now pulled apart, as if something unseen was forcing them back.
Light broke through.
Not soft.
Sharp.
Focused.
It fell directly over the stream.
Elham opened his eyes.
The moment he spoke again—
"I choose God."
The light intensified.
The sky parted fully above them.
A single column of brightness pouring down, striking the water where he stood.
Something gave.
Not outside.
Inside.
The pressure in his chest surged outward.
The water rippled violently—
Then stopped.
Completely still.
The light reflected across its surface, blinding for a moment.
Warmth spread through Elham's body, pushing against the cold.
He gasped.
He could feel it.
Not just as emotion.
Not just as belief.
Something real.
The air itself felt different.
Asher took a step forward, shielding his eyes slightly.
"…That's not normal."
John didn't move.
His gaze steady.
"No," he said quietly.
"It isn't."
Elham lifted his hand.
The water responded.
Not wildly.
Not violently.
But clearly.
It shifted toward him.
As if it recognized him.
His breathing slowed.
The light above began to soften.
The clouds slowly drifting back into place.
But the feeling did not leave.
It stayed.
Steady.
Unshaken.
Elham lowered his hand.
The water began to move again.
But something had changed.
He stepped back onto the shore.
His hands trembled slightly.
"…I felt it," he said.
John nodded.
"You chose."
Asher stared at him for a moment.
"…You did something," he said.
Elham looked at his hands.
"…I didn't try to."
"That's the point," John said.
Silence settled again.
Then John spoke once more.
"They will feel it."
Elham looked up.
"Who?"
John's gaze shifted toward the village.
"The ones hiding."
The wind returned.
The world resumed.
But something had begun.
And for the first time—
Elham wasn't unsure anymore.