The Forbidden Element

The cavern echoed with Surya's ragged breaths. His body trembled, steam rising from his skin. The energy inside him—the Brahma Shakti—was wild, untamed, and refused to submit.

Aaryan sheathed his sword and crossed his arms. "You're forcing it."

Surya wiped the sweat from his brow. "If I don't push, how the hell am I supposed to control it?"

Aaryan sighed. "Power doesn't obey brute force. You can't treat it like your sword. The more you resist it, the more it resists you."

Surya clenched his fists. He could still feel it—the raw energy pulsing in his core, shifting like a storm trapped inside a fragile vessel.

Saria stepped forward. "Maybe you're looking at it the wrong way. This power... maybe it's not something to control. Maybe it's something to understand."

Surya met her gaze. Understand it?

Rohan smirked, cracking his knuckles. "Or, y'know, you could just let me burn it outta you. Might speed things up."

Surya rolled his eyes, but Aaryan suddenly raised a hand, silencing them all. His silver eyes sharpened.

"We're not alone."

The atmosphere shifted. The air grew dense. Unnatural.

Then—

A shadow moved.

An Unseen Threat

A blur of darkness descended from the cavern walls.

Surya barely reacted in time. He spun, drawing his sword—CLANG!—his blade met an unnatural force.

His attacker was fast. Almost inhuman.

A figure cloaked in black, masked, their movements smooth as flowing water. Assassin.

Surya shoved forward, but the attacker twisted midair, landing gracefully. No sound. No wasted movement.

Aaryan's sword was already drawn. "They found us faster than expected."

The assassin tilted their head, as if studying them. Then, in a voice barely above a whisper—

"You are not ready for what's coming."

They vanished.

Surya's eyes widened. No... not vanished.

Faster than his eyes could follow.

Before he could react—

A blade was at his throat.

Saria gasped. Rohan's fists ignited with flames, but Aaryan raised a hand.

The assassin didn't strike. They were testing him.

Surya tightened his grip on his sword. His instincts screamed, but something inside him—his power—didn't react.

That realization hit him harder than the assassin's blade could.

I wasn't fast enough. I wasn't strong enough. Even with Brahma Shakti... I hesitated.

The assassin's masked face turned slightly. "You seek to control what was never meant to be wielded."

Then—they were gone.

Silence.

The weight of what just happened settled over them.

Surya sheathed his sword, jaw clenched.

Not ready?

Then I'll make myself ready.

Meanwhile... In the First Kingdom

A grand chamber loomed, bathed in dim, eerie light. The Shadow Order stood gathered, their leader seated at the head of a long stone table.

Before them, the same assassin kneeled.

"He hesitated."

The leader leaned forward, his presence alone casting a suffocating weight over the room.

"Good. Let him fear. Let him doubt himself."

A cruel smile formed beneath the shadows of his hood.

"Soon, Surya Raj will come to understand... that not all legends are meant to be reborn."

(TO BE CONTINUED...)