Morning sunlight covered the red hills as if nothing had happened.
Birds sang. The wind moved gently across the fields. The village woke to another ordinary day.
But Arjun was no longer ordinary.
He stood outside his house, staring at his palm.
The eye symbol was faint now, almost invisible—but when he focused on it, he could feel it.
A pulse.
Slow.
Alive.
He had not told anyone about the underground chamber. Who would believe him? A stone guardian. A sealed ancient force. A door beneath the earth.
It sounded like madness.
Yet his burned hand proved it was real.
Suddenly—
Pain shot through his palm.
He gasped and grabbed his hand.
The eye mark glowed faint red.
And in that moment, he saw something.
Not with his eyes.
Inside his mind.
A vision.
Darkness.
The stone door.
Cracks forming again.
And behind it—
A shape moving.
Watching.
Arjun stumbled backward.
The vision vanished.
His breathing became heavy.
"It's not over," he whispered.
That night, he returned to the hills.
He didn't know why.
Maybe curiosity.
Maybe fear.
Maybe destiny.
When he reached the place where the crack had opened, the ground looked normal again.
But the air felt different.
Charged.
As if the earth itself were restless.
Then he heard footsteps.
Arjun turned sharply.
A man stood at the edge of the hill.
Tall. Thin. Dressed in dark clothes.
Arjun had never seen him before.
The stranger's eyes were fixed directly on him.
"You found it," the man said calmly.
Arjun's heart pounded. "Found what?"
The man smiled slightly.
"The Seal."
Cold fear ran down Arjun's spine.
"How do you know about that?" Arjun demanded.
The stranger walked closer. His voice lowered.
"Because I have been searching for it… for twenty years."
The wind suddenly became stronger.
Dust swirled around them.
"You should not have sealed it again," the man continued. "It must open."
Arjun stepped back. "Why?"
The man's eyes darkened.
"Because what is behind that door… is not just destruction."
He paused.
"It is power beyond imagination."
The eye mark on Arjun's palm burned intensely.
The stranger noticed.
His smile widened.
"So it chose you."
Arjun clenched his fist.
"I won't let it out."
The man's calm expression changed for the first time.
Not anger.
Excitement.
"We'll see."
Without warning, the stranger raised his hand.
The ground beneath Arjun trembled.
Small cracks formed in the soil.
Red light flickered beneath the earth again.
The Seal was weakening.
And this time—
It was not an accident.
The stranger stepped back into the shadows of the hill.
"This is only the beginning," he said softly.
Then he disappeared into the darkness.
Arjun stood frozen.
The mark on his palm glowed brighter than ever before.
The battle was no longer just about the door.
It was about something much bigger.
And someone else wanted it opened.