Years passed quietly in Shivgarh Village.
The storm that had brought Rudra was slowly forgotten by
most people, becoming just another story told to children during winter nights.
But for Meera and Elder Somdev, that night was never forgotten.
And the child who had fallen from the sky did not grow like
other children.
A Different Child
By the age of six, Rudra was already stronger than most
children older than him. He could carry water buckets that other children
struggled to lift, climb trees faster than the village boys, and walk long
distances without getting tired.
But what made him different was not his strength.
It was his silence.
Rudra did not talk much.
He did not fight with other children.
He did not complain.
He did not cry.
He observed.
He watched the sky, the forest, the river, the animals, the
people — as if he was trying to understand something that no one else could
see.
Sometimes Meera would wake up in the middle of the night and
find Rudra sitting outside the house, looking at the stars.
"Why are you not sleeping?" she asked once.
Rudra looked up at the sky and replied quietly,
"I feel like I forgot something… but I don't know what."
Meera did not understand what he meant, but those words made
her uneasy for some reason.
Animals and Silence
Another strange thing about Rudra was animals.
Dogs never barked at him.
Cows followed him calmly.
Birds sometimes landed near him and did not fly away.
Even wild deer in the forest did not run immediately when
they saw him.
One day, Rudra found a snake trapped under a fallen branch
near the forest. Instead of running away, he lifted the branch and freed the
snake.
The snake looked at him for a few seconds, then slowly
slithered away into the forest.
When Rudra told this to the other children, they did not
believe him.
"You're lying," one boy said.
"If it was a snake, it would have bitten you."
Rudra just shrugged and said nothing.
But Elder Somdev, who heard the story later, became very
quiet.
The Black Token
On Rudra's seventh birthday, Elder Somdev called him to his
house.
The elder lived alone in a small hut near the edge of the
village. Inside his house were many old things — broken tools, ancient coins,
strange stones, and a few very old books that almost no one could read.
Somdev opened a wooden box and took out a small black metal
token with strange symbols carved on it.
"I want you to keep this," the elder said.
Rudra took the token and looked at it carefully. The metal
was cold but very smooth, and the symbols on it looked unfamiliar.
"What is this?" Rudra asked.
"I don't know exactly," Somdev replied.
"But it is very old. Older than this village. Maybe older
than the kingdom that existed here long ago."
"Why are you giving it to me?" Rudra asked.
Somdev looked at him carefully.
"Because this object reacts to you."
Rudra frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"
"Hold it tightly," the elder said.
Rudra closed his fingers around the token.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the symbols on the token glowed very faintly — so faint
that only Somdev noticed.
The elder's eyes widened slightly, but he quickly hid his
expression.
"Yes," he said quietly. "I was right."
"Right about what?" Rudra asked.
Somdev did not answer directly.
Instead, he asked, "Rudra, have you ever felt like something
is calling you? Not a voice, not a sound… just a feeling?"
Rudra immediately looked toward the mountains in the
distance.
"Yes," he said.
The Forbidden Mountains
Beyond Shivgarh Village stood a long range of dark mountains
known as the Black Ridge Mountains.
The villagers never went there.
Not because of wild animals.
Not because of lack of paths.
But because people who went there sometimes did not come
back.
And those who did come back… never went again.
They refused to talk about what they saw.
Some said there were ruins in the mountains.
Some said there were ghosts.
Some said there were monsters.
Some said the mountains were cursed.
But no one knew the truth.
Somdev walked outside his house and pointed toward the
mountains.
"Those mountains were not always empty," he said.
"What do you mean?" Rudra asked.
"Hundreds of years ago, that entire region was ruled by
cultivators — powerful people who could fly, control elements, and live for
hundreds of years."
Rudra listened carefully.
"What happened to them?" he asked.
"They disappeared," Somdev said quietly.
"All of them?"
"Almost all."
"Why?"
The elder remained silent for a long time before answering.
"Because of a war," he said.
"A war for something that should never have been found."
Rudra felt a strange pain in his head again — the same pain
he had felt once before in a dream he could not fully remember.
"What was the war for?" Rudra asked.
Somdev looked directly into his eyes and said slowly:
"For something called… The Heart of the Universe."
The moment Rudra heard those words, images flashed in his
mind for a split second:
A burning sky.
A broken fortress.
A black sphere covered in cracks.
A man and a woman standing near an altar.
A portal opening in space.
The images disappeared immediately.
Rudra grabbed his head.
"Are you alright?" Somdev asked.
"I saw something… but I don't understand," Rudra said
quietly.
Somdev nodded slowly, as if he was expecting this.
The Elder's Warning
Somdev placed his hand on Rudra's shoulder.
"Listen carefully, Rudra. One day, you will go to those
mountains. I can see it in your eyes. I can see it in your fate."
Rudra did not feel surprised hearing this.
It felt like something that was always going to happen.
"But when you go there," Somdev continued, "your life will
change forever. You will enter a world that is beautiful and terrible at the
same time."
"What kind of world?" Rudra asked.
"A world of cultivators, ancient clans, hidden sects,
monsters, spirits, kings, and gods."
Rudra looked toward the mountains again.
For the first time in his life, he felt something clearly.
Not fear.
Not excitement.
But pull.
Like something far away was waiting for him.
That Night Again
That night, Rudra had another dream.
He stood in complete darkness again.
In front of him floated the broken black sphere, slowly
pulsing like a heartbeat.
Thump…
Thump…
Thump…
Cracks spread across the sphere, and faint light escaped
from inside.
Then a voice echoed through the darkness.
Ancient. Slow. Endless.
"…Find… the fragments…"
Rudra tried to speak. "Who are you?"
The voice spoke again.
"…Before they do…"
"Who?" Rudra asked.
But the sphere suddenly cracked further, and a bright light
filled everything.
Rudra woke up suddenly, breathing heavily.
He was sitting outside his house again without remembering
when he had come outside.
He looked toward the mountains.
The wind blew from that direction.
For a brief moment, the black token in his hand became
slightly warm.
Rudra closed his fist around it.
He did not know why.
But he knew one thing for sure.
One day, he would go to those mountains.
And when that day came…
His real life would begin.