The golden light had vanished. But the heat remained.

  Anshul stood in the heart of the Forbidden Forest, chest heaving, fingers trembling. The sunmark still glowed faintly on his chest, pulsing like a second heartbeat beneath his skin.

  > “He said I’m… the son of a god?” “What the hell does that even mean?”

  He turned slowly, expecting the man with the glowing eyes to reappear. But there was nothing. Only the soft rustle of leaves and the distant crackle of a dying fire.

  Yet the forest felt different now—like it had acknowledged him.

  He began walking back… but the path had vanished. Trees had shifted. Moss covered his footprints.

  He was lost.

  Hours Later — Sunset

  Anshul emerged at the edge of the forest, face streaked with sweat and dirt. As he stepped back into the vilge, everything felt… off.

  People stared. Not with suspicion—but fear.

  And then he saw it. Reflected in a shop mirror. His eyes.

  They weren’t brown anymore. Not fully.

  Flickers of golden fire danced in his irises.

  > “No… no no no…” he muttered, spshing water on his face. “This can’t be real.”

  But it was.

  He turned to run—only to find Riva standing there, arms crossed, eyes wide.

  > “You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she said softly.

  > “I think I am one,” he replied, voice shaking.

  She pulled him into the bcksmith’s workshop, away from the eyes of the vilge.

  > “Start talking. Now.”

  Elsewhere…

  In the ruins of a forgotten temple in Kalinga, a priest dug through old stone scrolls. His hands trembled as he uncovered a symbol etched into obsidian: ☉.

  > “It’s happening again…” he whispered, horrified. “The Sunborn has returned.”

  Far above, in a hidden sky temple cloaked from mortal sight, divine sentinels gathered in silence.

  > “He bears the mark.” “Then the pact is broken.” “The other gods… must be warned.”

  Back in the vilge — Nightfall

  Riva listened to everything.

  The visions. The fmes. The glowing man. The sunmark.

  She didn’t ugh. She didn’t question. She just nodded.

  > “You’re not crazy,” she said. “But you’re not safe either.”

  Anshul looked up. “You believe me?”

  > “I’ve seen the symbol before,” she whispered, pulling a dusty page from her satchel. A torn manuscript, older than the vilge itself.

  The same sun symbol… and a prophecy beneath it:

  > "When the child of the burning star awakens, The chains of the forgotten will rattle once more. And the world shall choose—light… or ruin."

  Anshul stared at it.

  And for the first time in his life, he wasn’t afraid of what he might become.

  He was afraid of what would happen if he didn’t.

  > “If I’m meant to be something more… then I need to find out why.”

  Riva smiled.

  > “Good. Because someone’s already looking for you.”

  At that moment— A loud boom echoed outside. Screams followed.

  They rushed out into the street.

  At the edge of the vilge stood a tall, armored figure cloaked in bckened robes. His face hidden. His voice like a bde of iron—

  > “By order of the Eternal Fme, The boy marked by the sun shall be delivered. Alive…

  or broken.”

  He raised his hand.

  Fire erupted.

  And Anshul’s nightmare had just begun.

  To be continued ..