> "Time forgets nothing. It only hides it behind silence."
—Whispers from the Smriti Tree
---
Scene 1 – The Edge of the Unseen
The Eastern Fringe was known across Neo-Bharat for one thing: its unmeasurable silence.
No drones flew over it.
No scanners could map it.
No satellites returned data once they passed above.
It was called the Forest Without Time.
Where the clocks refused to tick. Where you could enter and never age—or age a hundred years within a moment.
Sharvani stood at the border of this forgotten place. Her bare feet sank slightly into the moss. The wind carried a fragrance—old sandalwood and burned incense.
She whispered a simple mantra:
> "Om Sāntih Sāntih Sāntih…"
[Peace. Peace. Peace.]
The forest opened a path for her.
---
Scene 2 – Aarav's Vision
In Brahm Archive, Aarav sat cross-legged, palms open on his knees. Ever since the name Agnivesh awakened inside him, his dreams had become storms.
Flashes of past lives.
Fragments of war.
Familiar faces... now shadows.
But one vision was new.
A forest where time stood still.
A tree with seven roots, each glowing with ancient mudras [spiritual hand gestures] etched into the bark.
And a woman... cloaked in blue fire, eyes fierce with sorrow and duty.
> "The First Guardian," he whispered. "She waits for me there."
He stood up.
The Archive trembled as if reluctant to let him go.
But the path had chosen itself.
---
Scene 3 – In the Forest
Sharvani walked carefully. Here, every step felt like a question.
The trees were impossibly tall, their leaves forming strange yantras [mystic diagrams] when seen from below. The sun did not rise or set. The air was thick with silence—as if the forest didn't breathe like the rest of the world.
She came upon a clearing where a single tree stood alone.
Its bark was pitch black. Its branches moved slowly, not with wind, but will.
This was the Smriti Tree [Tree of Memories].
And beneath it stood the Guardian.
She was regal.
Clad in rusted battle armor that shimmered with faint cosmic fire. Her eyes held lifetimes of pain—and something else.
Regret.
> "I failed him once," she said. "And it destroyed the balance of the world."
Sharvani bowed.
> "You speak of Agnivesh."
> "You carry the echo of Devi Vajra," the Guardian replied. "Then you know what must come."
> "Not fully," Sharvani admitted.
The Guardian raised her hand.
> "Then I shall show you."
---
Scene 4 – The Memory Shown
The Guardian pressed her palm against Sharvani's forehead.
A flood of memory surged.
She saw:
A young man, Agnivesh, standing atop the Sunspire, invoking the last of the sacred flames.
A war between Guardians and the Skyborn Beasts during the Last Realm Break—a dimensional fracture caused by too many souls being reborn without closure.
Agnivesh sacrificing his name and karma to seal the rift, thus being forgotten by all—even the Guardians sworn to protect him.
And the betrayal.
One Guardian did not help.
One turned away.
> "I was that coward," the First Guardian whispered.
Tears fell silently.
> "Then why do you remain?"
> "Because memory can be penance," she said. "And I must serve the flame once more."
---
Scene 5 – Aarav Arrives
The trees bowed.
Literally.
As Agnivesh—no longer just Aarav—walked into the clearing, his aura disrupted time around him. Leaves that had fallen centuries ago gently floated back upward.
The Guardian turned.
Her lips trembled.
> "You…"
Agnivesh stopped. His voice was steady.
> "You remember."
She nodded.
> "I do. And I come to ask… for your wrath."
Sharvani looked up.
> "Wrath?"
> "There is a law," the Guardian said. "Only those truly remembered can summon a Guardian to war."
Agnivesh extended his hand.
> "Then return with me. The world cracks again."
She stepped forward, kneeling.
> "By the sacred rites of memory and flame, I am yours to command."
Her ethereal body solidified into a half-human form.
A golden chain shimmered in the air—linking her soul to his aura.
The First Guardian had returned.
---
Scene 6 – A Rift Opens
As the Guardian bound herself, a shriek shattered the stillness.
Not human.
Not machine.
A Ripwalker emerged from the trees—a creature made from fractured time and forbidden memory. It had no true shape. Its body was a collection of frozen events, distorted faces, and locked cries.
Agnivesh's hands lit up. He formed the Trikona Mudra [triangle of balance] and whispered:
> "Agni-astra."
[Flame weapon.]
A firebolt of ancient design burst from his palms—silent and holy. It struck the Ripwalker, burning not just its form—but its birth moment.
It screamed as it died… in reverse.
The forest healed instantly.
Sharvani stepped closer.
> "That was not just a creature," she said. "It was a warning."
> "The Great Realm Break," the Guardian confirmed, "has begun to leak."
---
Scene 7 – The Sky Cracks
Far above in Neo-Bharat's capital city, a fissure appeared in the upper atmosphere.
But it wasn't physical.
It was dimensional.
People looked up.
A giant eye appeared for a single moment. Ethereal. Judging. Familiar only to those who remembered the Last Cycle.
Inside the Network HQ, alarms failed.
Instead, a single line of code appeared on every monitor:
> "अग्निवेश"
[Agnivesh]
The CEOs, technocrats, and synthetic overlords all paused.
> "He's back," someone whispered.
A councilman clutched his chest.
> "And this time… he has a Guardian."
---
Chapter End Note:
The Forest Without Time has given its blessing.
The First Guardian has reawakened.
And the sky has cracked.
But cracks grow.
And not all Guardians wish to serve.