"When destiny repeats itself, fate sends a guide.But sometimes, even guides hide their scars."
The Temple in the Mist
Two weeks after the pulse-doctor visit, Meher sat alone atop a cold hill in Mussoorie. The air carried the smell of snow and incense. She'd come here for clarity—but all she found was deeper confusion.
Suddenly, the wind stilled.
A voice spoke behind her—warm, ancient, unshakably calm.
"It's always the mothers who remember first."
She turned.
An old man sat cross-legged behind her on the stone steps. He wore an olive-brown robe. Blindfolded. Wrinkled like tree bark.
"Who are you?" Meher asked, heartbeat thundering.
He smiled. "I've had many names.But most know me as… Eshaan, Keeper of Forgotten Flames."
"What do you want?"
"Nothing. I've waited centuries for you. I was Kael's guardian in Velundor. And yours, before you became Lyra."
The Flamechild's Truth
Back at the cottage, Eshaan brewed them tea. Kiaan, still skeptical, kept a hand on Meher's arm. They sat close now. Almost like instinct told them: the world's about to burn again.
"Your child is not human. Not fully," Eshaan said.
"Excuse me?" Meher's voice trembled.
"She—yes, it's a girl—holds pieces of your fractured souls. The part of Kael that died in guilt… the part of Lyra that died in fire… and a third fragment."
"Whose?" Kiaan asked.
"Rishaan's."
Silence.
"When Lyra died," Eshaan continued, "the three of you were bound by a soul-knot of fire and fate. But in this life, all three shards have entered the same soul: your daughter."
Kiaan staggered back.
"We're not ready for a child like that…"
"No," said Eshaan. "But the world isn't ready either. And Rishaan… he knows. He will try to possess her."
The Training Begins
Eshaan taught them rituals from the old kingdom:
Meditation that unlocked past instincts
Dreamwalking, to revisit their former lives
Flame chants that connected them to the soul-pulse of the child
Kiaan learned to fight again—not with fists, but flame. His aura sparked when angry now, and mirrors cracked when he touched them in rage.
Meher's body began glowing faintly each night, as if her unborn child was radiating memory.
She could feel the baby whisper to her in sleep.
Not words.
Images.
A cradle.A field of fire.Rishaan's shadow over the baby's face.
A New Threat
One stormy night, Kiaan stood outside Eshaan's hut sharpening a blade when he saw him—
A tall man in a wool coat, leaning against a tree, watching.
Rishaan. Reborn. Wearing the face of a charming scholar.A "historian," he claimed.And Meher's new university-appointed guardian.
She didn't recognize him.But her baby did. The night she met Rishaan, she bled lightly. The first time in weeks.
The child was warning her.
"He's close," Meher whispered to Eshaan."And he's smiling at me like he's known me forever."
"Because he has," Eshaan replied. "But next time, you'll be ready."
The Final Revelation
Before the chapter closed, Meher had one last dream.
This time, she saw her daughter's face.
Clear.
Bright green eyes. Golden curls.The same birthmark Kael once had.
The child whispered,
"I know the way out, mama. I know where the soul gate is."
Meher jolted awake.
Next to her, a fire burned blue.
She whispered back, through tears:
"Hold on, baby. Mama's coming."
End of Chapter Six