The room beyond the Eye Door was silent.
No wind.
No light except the soft golden glow coming from the symbols carved into the walls.
Feroz looked around carefully.
The room was almost empty.
Only a long stone path stretched ahead.
It was narrow.
On both sides...
there was only darkness.
Not ordinary darkness.
It looked endless.
Suleiman stopped before the path.
"You must walk alone."
Feroz looked at him.
"No lesson?"
Suleiman smiled.
"There is."
"What is it?"
"You will understand after you walk."
Feroz sighed.
"Everyone here likes making simple things sound difficult."
Suleiman chuckled.
"And yet... you are still here."
Feroz smiled a little.
"Fair enough."
He stepped onto the stone path.
The moment his foot touched it...
the door behind him disappeared.
Now there was only one direction.
Forward.
---
He walked slowly.
The stone beneath his feet felt warm.
Every step echoed through the darkness.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Nothing happened.
After several minutes Feroz frowned.
"That's it?"
His own voice echoed back.
"...that's it?"
He kept walking.
Still nothing.
No monsters.
No visions.
No voices.
Only silence.
The silence became uncomfortable.
His thoughts grew louder.
He started thinking about Haroon.
Was he safe?
Had Younus found another clue?
Did Haya reach the crossroads safely?
What was Vaheen doing now?
Then...
he thought about Qadir.
His father had walked strange paths before.
Had he also walked here?
Did he feel this same silence?
---
Without warning...
the stone path became heavier.
Feroz blinked.
His legs suddenly felt tired.
He took another step.
It was harder.
Another.
Even harder.
He looked down.
Nothing had changed.
Yet every step now felt as if someone had tied heavy chains around his legs.
He pushed forward.
His breathing became slower.
Sweat formed on his forehead.
"What is this?"
No one answered.
---
He remembered the river.
Do not force.
Flow.
He stopped struggling.
Instead of trying to overpower the weight...
he simply accepted it.
He adjusted his breathing.
One slow step.
Then another.
The weight did not disappear.
But it stopped getting worse.
Feroz noticed something.
"The harder I fight..."
"...the heavier it becomes."
He smiled slightly.
"So that's the lesson."
---
The path continued.
Far ahead...
a faint light appeared.
Feroz walked toward it.
The closer he came...
the clearer it became.
It was not a light.
It was a person.
Standing completely still.
When Feroz got closer...
his heart skipped.
The man looked exactly like him.
Same face.
Same height.
Same eyes.
Only one difference.
This version wore ordinary clothes.
No blood.
No scars.
No glowing mark.
Just...
a normal young man.
The stranger smiled kindly.
"You look tired."
Feroz stayed alert.
"I'm learning not to trust people who appear out of nowhere."
The young man laughed.
"Good."
"You've learned something already."
---
"Who are you?"
The stranger looked at him quietly.
"I could ask you the same question."
"My name is Feroz."
The stranger nodded.
"I know."
"Because I'm you."
Feroz frowned.
"No."
"I've already met one strange version of myself."
"The one beneath the Tree."
"You aren't him."
"No."
"I'm not."
"Then who are you?"
The young man looked down at the path.
"I'm who you were."
Silence.
Feroz stared at him.
"What does that mean?"
The young man smiled sadly.
"The boy who believed every problem had one simple answer."
"The boy who thought every enemy was evil."
"The boy who believed strength meant fighting."
Feroz looked away.
He remembered everything Suleiman had taught him.
Everything the river had shown him.
Everything about Zarqaan.
About choices.
About truth.
Slowly...
he understood.
---
"You aren't really me."
"No."
"I'm your memory."
"The part of you that hasn't accepted you've changed."
Feroz stayed quiet.
The words hurt.
Because they felt true.
---
The younger version stepped aside.
Behind him...
the path continued.
"You can keep walking."
"But if you do..."
"...you cannot become who you used to be again."
Feroz looked behind him.
There was no road back.
Only darkness.
He looked ahead.
Another unknown road.
"So..."
"There really isn't a way back."
The younger version smiled.
"There never was."
---
Feroz closed his eyes.
He thought about the orphanage.
His childhood.
Mrs. Aliya.
Haroon.
Yusuf.
The Circle.
The Boundary.
The Threshold.
Vaheen.
The Tree.
Nothing could erase those experiences.
He had already changed.
Pretending otherwise would only trap him.
Just like the man walking against the river.
He opened his eyes.
"I don't want to go backward."
The younger version smiled warmly.
"I know."
He slowly faded into golden light.
The heavy weight disappeared instantly.
The stone path became light again.
Far ahead...
another door slowly opened.
Feroz took a deep breath.
Then walked forward.
Without looking back.