Location: Himarashtra – The Frosted Veins of the Himalayas
White.
Endless, absolute white.
Snow howled like a living creature through the frozen canyons of Himarashtra, India's forbidden northernmost frontier. The land was untouched by GPS, satellites, or drones.
And yet, someone had carved a path through it.
An ancient trail, glowing faintly blue beneath the frost.
Aarav stood at the edge of the drop. "This place shouldn't exist."
Diya studied the compass embedded in her gauntlet. "It doesn't. This is off the grid—literally. The needle's spinning like mad."
They'd followed Ashvra's trail north after the events at Suryakhet. The storm had subsided, but the world hadn't gone quiet—it had gone colder.
Aarav looked up. Jagged mountains rose like fangs around them.
> This place is older than the Himalayas themselves.
Older than the Regalia.
Older than even Ashvra's betrayal.
---
The Frozen Door
The cave mouth was half-buried in permafrost, the entrance shaped like a half-closed eye. Symbols were etched around it—ones neither Diya nor Aarav could decipher.
But the Wheel in Aarav's palm glowed red-hot the moment he approached.
"It's calling to the Regalia," Aarav murmured.
Diya cocked her gun. "Or warning us."
They stepped inside. The air shifted. Heat vanished. Breath became mist.
Inside lay a temple, entirely carved from black ice. Frozen pillars, sealed sarcophagi, and above all, a massive astral map stretched across the ceiling—constellations no longer found in modern star charts.
Aarav whispered, "These stars don't exist anymore."
Diya stared. "Or haven't been born yet."
Then the voice came.
> "Welcome, Fireborne."
They turned, weapons ready.
---
The Sleeper Awakens
From a block of blue-tinted crystal, a figure stirred.
Ten feet tall. Skin like obsidian. Hair of silver threads. Not a man—not exactly. Eyes burned with cosmic fire. Chains laced with runes bound its limbs.
> "I am Ahamkara. The First God. The Echo of Time. You have awakened me too soon."
Aarav stepped forward. "What is this place?"
Ahamkara tilted its head. "A vault. A prison. A graveyard for forgotten gods. You walk on bones of a time before time."
Diya frowned. "Are you one of the Regalia?"
Ahamkara's laugh rumbled like a glacier splitting.
> "The Regalia are pieces of my heart.
Your 'crown,' 'wheel,' and 'blade'—they are echoes of me.**"
Aarav froze. "You created them?"
"No. They were created from me. After I died."
---
The God's Bargain
Ahamkara stepped forward. The Wheel flared in Aarav's hand—almost afraid.
"You carry the Cycle," the god said, "but you don't understand it. Time is not a river. It is a serpent devouring its own tail."
"Then why are we here?"
"To make a choice," Ahamkara replied. "Ashvra opened the Eye. The time-collapse has begun."
He extended a hand.
From the ice, a mirror formed. Within it, Aarav saw visions—cities burned by suns, oceans swallowed by dark stars, himself holding the shattered Wheel... and Ashvra, kneeling before a throne made of bones.
"You will either be a god, or the final fuel to restart the world."
---
Ashvra's Arrival
A blast of wind cracked the chamber.
Ashvra appeared—his eyes colder than the snow outside.
"So he showed you the truth," he said to Aarav.
Ahamkara regarded Ashvra. "You smell of regret."
Ashvra ignored him. "You don't understand, Aarav. The Regalia aren't weapons. They're keys. To open this prison. To let the god within out."
Aarav's voice turned sharp. "And you think he'll save us?"
"I think he'll end us. And that's the only way to stop what's coming."
The tension thickened. Diya drew her weapon. "Enough riddles. Someone explain what this thing is."
---
The Cataclysm Seed
Ahamkara raised his hand. The ice around them turned transparent, showing a massive seed buried in the mountain's heart—pulsing with black light.
> "This is the Cataclysm Seed," Ahamkara said. "The end of your world. Ashvra wants to contain it. I want to destroy it."
Aarav snapped, "Then destroy it!"
"I can't. Not alone. I was fragmented. The Regalia must be reunited. Only then can I be whole again."
Ashvra interrupted, "And if he becomes whole, he will rewrite time itself. You, me, every version of us—erased."
Ahamkara offered a final word:
> "The wheel spins. But it can be broken. The fire dies. Or it can burn brighter. Choose."
---
Sudden Collapse
Before anyone could speak, a quake rocked the temple. The Cataclysm Seed flared violently.
Ashvra snarled. "It's waking up—too fast!"
Aarav made a choice.
He lunged forward and touched Ahamkara's chest. The Wheel in his palm flared with a thousand colors. Time fractured.
Visions poured into him. Gods dying. Empires burning. Ashvra screaming. Diya—dead. A girl made of stars. A voice whispering…
> "If you awaken all four, the world ends."
---
Everything Shatters
The ground split. The temple exploded in light. Aarav fell into a hole in reality, his body phasing in and out.
Ashvra dove after him.
Diya screamed.
Then: silence.
---
Unknown Location – Timeless Zone
Aarav floated in an endless white void. Time stood still.
He saw himself, younger… then older… then king.
The Wheel whispered, "You are not one man. You are all who have ever carried the fire."
Then the voice of Ahamkara thundered:
> "Find the fourth. Or be unmade."
---
⚡ To be continued…