The river continued to rise.
Tez stood on the riverbank and watched in silence.
Behind him, the hidden city of Jalapuri was disappearing beneath the water. The towers that had stood for thousands of years were slowly sinking. The golden lights inside the city went out one after another.
The Nirantara River swallowed everything.
Yet Tez could not move.
His eyes remained fixed on the sky.
The third light was still there.
A black star.
It did not shine like an ordinary star.
Instead, it seemed to swallow the light around it.
Even the moon looked weaker beneath it.
Vaidehi stood beside Tez.
Neither spoke for several moments.
Finally, she whispered,
"Why is it black?"
Maitreyi looked at the ancient map.
"I don't know."
"You know more than anyone here."
"Not about this."
Maitreyi turned the map toward the others.
Five symbols remained visible.
But above them, the black star slowly moved.
"It is not part of the original Guardian map."
Tez looked at her.
"Then what is it?"
Maitreyi shook her head.
"Perhaps the better question is—who put it there?"
A cold wind passed through the forest.
Tez looked at Vaidehi.
Her pendant was still glowing faintly.
His Guardian Seal was glowing too.
The two objects seemed to respond to each other.
He remembered the message from Vaidehi's mother.
He is not the only one chosen by the Heart.
Tez finally asked,
"Vaidehi, what do you remember?"
She looked at him.
"About what?"
"The Heart."
She lowered her eyes.
"I don't know."
"You must have felt something in Jalapuri."
"I did."
"What?"
She hesitated.
"A voice."
"What did it say?"
She looked toward the black star.
"It called me by a name."
Tez frowned.
"What name?"
Vaidehi shook her head.
"I don't know if I should tell you."
"Why?"
"Because I don't know who I am anymore."
Tez stepped closer.
"You are Vaidehi."
She looked at him.
"You say that as if it is simple."
"It is."
"It isn't."
Tez was silent.
Vaidehi touched her pendant.
"When that voice spoke, I felt as if I had heard it before."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"Your childhood?"
"Maybe."
"Your mother?"
"No."
She looked at Tez.
"Somewhere much older."
---
The Road to the Black Star
They could not stay beside the river.
The land was becoming dangerous.
Water had already entered the forest.
Devadatta ordered everyone to move toward higher ground.
They began walking east.
The black star remained above them.
No matter how far they travelled, it stayed in almost the same position.
It was as though it were following them.
Aarav looked upward.
"I don't like that thing."
Bhaskar smiled.
"You don't like anything that looks dangerous."
"That's because dangerous things usually hurt."
"Fair point."
Maitreyi did not smile.
She was studying the star.
"According to the old texts, the Guardians used stars to mark hidden places."
Tez asked,
"Could this be another marker?"
"Maybe."
"Then why is it black?"
"I don't know."
Maitreyi looked troubled.
"There's something else."
"What?"
"The ancient records mention something called the Black Star."
Everyone stopped.
Tez turned toward her.
"You said you had never heard of it."
"I said I had never seen it."
She opened one of the damaged records from Girivana.
Most of the pages were torn.
Some words were missing.
But one passage remained.
Maitreyi read slowly.
«"When the seventh light becomes dark, the sleeping city will remember its dead."»
Aarav looked confused.
"That doesn't make sense."
Maitreyi continued.
«"The Black Star is not a door."»
She paused.
"It is a warning."
Tez looked at the sky.
"A warning of what?"
Maitreyi closed the book.
"The records do not say."
---
The Forest of Silent Birds
By afternoon, they entered a different part of the forest.
The trees were darker here.
Their trunks were thick and twisted.
The leaves were almost black.
No birds sang.
No insects made a sound.
Even the wind seemed to avoid the place.
Tez noticed something strange.
The animals were running away from them.
Deer disappeared into bushes.
Monkeys climbed high into the trees.
Even snakes moved away from the path.
Aarav whispered,
"Something is wrong."
Devadatta nodded.
"Stay close."
They continued.
After some time, they found an old stone marker.
A black star had been carved into it.
Tez touched the carving.
The Guardian Seal became hot.
He immediately pulled his hand away.
Maitreyi examined the stone.
"This is older than Jalapuri."
"How old?"
"Perhaps several thousand years."
"Who built it?"
"The same people who built the hidden cities."
Tez looked around.
"Then why haven't we heard of this place?"
Maitreyi's expression became serious.
"Because someone wanted it forgotten."
---
The Abandoned Settlement
As evening approached, they found houses.
An entire settlement stood in a clearing.
But nobody lived there.
The houses were small.
Their walls were made of mud and stone.
Old grain jars lay outside.
A broken wooden cart stood near a well.
There were no bodies.
No signs of a battle.
The people had simply disappeared.
Tez entered one of the houses.
A clay lamp sat near the window.
It still contained oil.
"Someone left in a hurry."
Devadatta examined the door.
"There are no signs of forced entry."
Maitreyi looked at the walls.
"Look."
Every house had the same mark.
A black circle.
With a line crossing it.
The Black Eclipse.
Tez's expression hardened.
"Vardhan."
Devadatta shook his head.
"Maybe."
"No."
Tez pointed at the ground.
Footprints.
Dozens of them.
All moving in one direction.
Toward the eastern side of the settlement.
"They were taken somewhere."
"Or they went willingly," Maitreyi said.
Tez looked at her.
"Why would an entire village leave everything behind?"
"I don't know."
They followed the footprints.
They led to a small stone temple.
Inside, there was nothing except a broken statue.
The statue had no face.
But its hands were joined together.
Beneath it was an inscription.
Maitreyi brushed away the dust.
Her face changed.
"What does it say?" Tez asked.
She translated:
«"When the forgotten call, do not answer."»
A cold feeling passed through Tez.
"Why?"
Maitreyi looked at him.
"Because the forgotten may not be dead."
---
The Two Children
Tez walked around the temple.
Something caught his eye.
A carving on the wall.
Two children.
A boy and a girl.
They stood before a glowing object.
The Heart.
Tez moved closer.
The boy had the same small mark on his shoulder that Tez had carried since childhood.
The girl wore a pendant.
Vaidehi's pendant.
Tez's breathing became heavy.
"Vaidehi."
She came closer.
Her face turned pale.
"That's us."
"But we were children."
"Yes."
"Together."
She touched the carving.
The stone began glowing.
For a moment, the temple disappeared.
Tez saw a memory.
He was a small child.
Perhaps five or six years old.
He was standing beside a river.
A little girl was beside him.
Vaidehi.
But she was also only a child.
They were holding hands.
A woman stood behind them.
Tez's mother.
Another woman stood beside her.
Vaidehi's mother.
Tez heard his mother say:
"One day they will return here."
Vaidehi's mother answered,
"If they remember."
"They won't."
"Then how will they find the city?"
His mother looked at the two children.
"The Heart will remember for them."
The vision disappeared.
Tez fell back.
Vaidehi stared at him.
"We met before."
Tez nodded.
"But neither of us remembered."
"Someone erased it."
"Yes."
She looked frightened.
"Why?"
Before Tez could answer, a deep sound came from outside.
GONG.
The temple shook.
Then another.
GONG.
The black star in the sky became brighter.
---
The Attack of the Shadows
The forest became completely dark.
Something moved between the trees.
Devadatta drew his sword.
"Everyone together."
A shadow crossed the temple entrance.
Then another.
Aarav raised his weapon.
"What are those?"
Maitreyi whispered,
"Not men."
The shadows rushed toward them.
They were shaped like people.
But they had no faces.
No eyes.
No mouths.
Only dark bodies surrounded by black smoke.
Tez struck the first one.
His weapon passed through it.
The creature disappeared.
Then reappeared behind him.
Tez turned.
It attacked.
Vaidehi stepped between them.
Her pendant flashed.
A burst of white-blue light struck the creature.
It screamed without a voice.
Then vanished.
Everyone stared at Vaidehi.
She stared at her own hands.
"I didn't do that."
Tez stepped toward her.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Another shadow attacked.
This time Vaidehi raised her hand without thinking.
The pendant shone again.
The creature disappeared.
The forest became silent.
The remaining shadows retreated.
Tez looked at her.
"Your pendant protected us."
Vaidehi shook her head.
"I don't know how."
Maitreyi whispered,
"The second Seal is awakening."
---
Beneath the Settlement
After the attack, they returned to the temple.
The shadows were gone.
But Tez could not stop thinking about the memory.
He and Vaidehi had met as children.
Their mothers had known.
The Guardians had known.
Someone had erased it.
Why?
Tez looked at the floor.
The carving of the two children was still glowing.
He touched it.
The stone moved.
A hidden staircase appeared beneath the temple.
Cold air rose from below.
Devadatta looked down.
"This was hidden."
Maitreyi nodded.
"Very carefully."
Tez looked at the stairs.
The Guardian Seal began glowing.
Vaidehi's pendant responded.
The two lights joined.
A message appeared on the first step.
Maitreyi read it aloud:
«"The third door does not open for the chosen."»
She moved closer.
Another line appeared.
«"It opens for the forgotten."»
Tez looked into the darkness below.
He understood.
This was the place where forgotten memories had been hidden.
Perhaps the truth about his childhood was waiting below.
He took the first step.
Vaidehi followed.
Devadatta looked at the others.
"Stay together."
One by one, they descended.
The staircase seemed endless.
The light from above slowly disappeared.
Then Tez heard something.
A child's laughter.
He stopped.
Vaidehi looked at him.
"What is it?"
"I heard a child."
"Where?"
"Below us."
They continued.
The laughter came again.
This time, Tez recognized it.
It was his own childhood laughter.
He stopped breathing.
At the bottom of the stairs, a vast stone chamber appeared.
Thousands of small doors covered its walls.
Each door carried a name.
Some were ancient.
Some were almost unreadable.
But one door stood directly before Tez.
There was no name on it.
Only a symbol.
A boy.
A girl.
And the Heart between them.
Tez reached toward it.
Before his hand touched the stone, a voice came from behind the door.
A child's voice.
His own voice.
It whispered:
«"You promised you would come back."»
Tez froze.
Vaidehi gripped his hand.
Then another voice answered from inside.
A little girl's voice.
Vaidehi's childhood voice.
«"And you promised you wouldn't forget me."»
The door began to open.
Tez and Vaidehi looked at each other.
Neither knew what waited beyond it.
But both understood one terrible truth.
Their forgotten past was not dead.
It had been waiting for them.