07. Fragments of Her Name

The silence was unnatural.

Aiyu stood alone on the edge of the misted gorge, gazing at the mouth of the cave Denghai, "The Place That Remembers." Known today by another name whispered in secret: The Red Zone.

It was sacred once. Now, it was something else.Something awake.

Behind him, the winds stirred, carrying whispers through the pine trees that lined the mountain ridge. The air was sharp, not with cold, but with memory.

Jivan, his most trusted companion, stood at a respectful distance, his presence steady and unshaken. He had been with Aiyu since childhood, through blood rituals, trials of spirit, and the old silence of the hidden tribes.

Their people, the Yatra-sut, the Wayfarers of the Soul, lived high in the sacred folds of the Himalayan shadowlands. Few knew they still existed. Fewer still knew their purpose:

Guardians of balance. Protectors of the soul-bound paths.

Aiyu's fingers grazed the armband that hummed with faint energy. Yuzi's token. Still dim. Still present.

He exhaled.

"It feels like history is repeating itself," he murmured.

Jivan stepped forward, his voice low. "The signs are too clear. The contracts grow. Human souls are being traded like ink on paper. The dark realm is no longer whispering, it's speaking openly now."

Aiyu nodded grimly.

"Fame. Power. Pleasure. That's the price. And humans are too willing to pay it."

The sacred balance was tipping. And if the prophecy from the old Vedic scrolls was true, once the soul-market reached its threshold, the border between realms would rupture.

No more humans.Only beasts wear their faces.

He turned back to the cave. It breathed; he could feel it.

Even the trees leaned away from it, roots curving unnaturally.

Aiyu spoke firmly. "No one crosses this line. Not even Team Alpha. If this cave draws in another soul for sacrifice, it could open completely."

Jivan frowned. "And if it's already too late?"

Aiyu's gaze darkened. "Then I'll seal it from within."

Jivan didn't argue. He never did.

He knew Aiyu wasn't simply a leader. He was the vessel chosen by ancestral rite, bearer of the bloodline power. He wasn't trained for diplomacy or politics. He was forged for thresholds like this.

The wind stilled as Aiyu stepped forward.

The cave loomed, yawning wide a mouth waiting to be fed.

But as Aiyu passed the invisible spiritual boundary, the pressure dropped like a mountain onto his shoulders. He staggered for a breath, regaining his composure.

This wasn't just darkness. It was ancient grief. It wanted him to feel everything that had been lost here.

He let it.

He knew the cost of stepping inside. Not just physically, but karmically. A misstep here wouldn't just wound the body, it could unthread the soul.

"Master once said," Aiyu murmured, more to himself than to Jivan, "If the balance continues to fray… disaster will not come like fire. it will come like silence."

He looked back one final time.

Jivan met his eyes. "You know what lies ahead."

Aiyu gave a faint nod. "I also know who I am."

He paused, fingers brushing the token connected to Yuzi again, Yuzi's token. That same mysterious resonance tugged faintly at his consciousness. Not affection. Not an attraction.

But… recognition. As though some part of her was tied to this land, this story, this cave. And he was meant to witness it.

"I go alone," Aiyu said, voice steady.

Jivan bowed his head slightly. "Then may the soul of the first flame walk with you."

Aiyu stepped through the mist, letting the cave swallow him. inside, the darkness pulsed once.

A warning.A memory.A hunger.

And far behind him, the mountain whispered in its native tongue:

"The cave does not forget those who enter it……only those who survive it."

The further Aiyu stepped into the cave, the colder it became, not in temperature, but in essence. It was as if the cave rejected warmth, devoured it, hollowed it out.

And yet, he pressed forward. Alone.

This was the burden of a leader from the Yatra-sut tribe, the hidden protectors of the soul realms, descended from a lineage so old that time itself refused to record it. Their name was spoken only in whispers, and even those had begun to fade.

He walked carefully, tracing his fingers along the cave's rough stone. Symbols shimmered in and out of view, ancient glyphs etched by hands long since turned to dust.

One word pulsed beneath his touch.

"Ajna."The eye beyond eyes.

"Someone tried to close this place once," Aiyu murmured, "but they failed."

Not far ahead, the altar stood stone cracked, seal broken, soul remnants floating like smoke caught in slow motion. Something had fed here. Not recently… but not long ago either.

He crouched, placing his hand flat on the altar.

And that's when it happened.

A shimmer of blue light burst near the edge of his vision.

Aiyu's hand flew to his blade, his instincts didn't wait.

But then the light settled. Soft. Delicate.

The Little Blue Spirit.

No sound. No warning. It simply hovered there, glowing faintly with something between sorrow and caution.

"You," Aiyu muttered. "You again…"

He narrowed his eyes, but didn't raise his weapon. The last time he saw this spirit, it had been circling Yuzi's shoulder as she bled out under the scared tree. It hadn't left her side.

But now, it was here.

Alone.

"She didn't send you," Aiyu said quietly. "Did she?"

The spirit didn't respond. But it drifted closer to the fractured seal, pulsing gently like a heartbeat.

Aiyu felt it then not a command, but a pull.

A presence inviting him to act. Not for glory. Not even for duty. But for necessity.

To stop what was waking. He laid both palms over the stone. His voice dropped into an ancient tongue, a chant passed through bloodlines and soulmarks.

"Aham brahmasmi… na varnah… na bhayah…"

The glyphs in the stone surged with light. Energy tore through the cave walls like unseen vines curling inward. Dust fell from the ceiling. The seal fought back, it remembered being broken and wasn't sure it wanted to be whole again.

The spirit's glow flared, spinning once, and merged into the light of the formation.

Aiyu's eyes widened. "What are you doing…?" The formation began to stabilize. Slowly. Barely. But enough. The seal closed. The hunger retreated. But not without leaving behind a whisper:

"One has already crossed."

Aiyu stumbled back, breath ragged. Sweat slicked his brow despite the cold.

He looked at the altar, now dull and still. And then to where the Little Blue Spirit had disappeared.

He felt it, not understanding, but a shift. This wasn't over. Outside the cave, the clouds had thickened. A crow circled above, no sound, just motion. Watching. it's been 2 weeks since Aiyu went inside the cave.

Jivan stood at the tree line, tension in his stance. As Aiyu emerged, Jivan rushed forward.

"Is it done?"

Aiyu nodded slowly. "For now. But something… isn't right. That spirit. It helped me seal it. I don't know why."

Jivan frowned. "Who?" he doesn't even have an idea who Aiyu is talking about.

Aiyu turned, face hardening. "I'm not sure it belongs to her. Or at least… not in the way we think."

He paused.

"She's not from our world, Jivan. Not fully."

Jivan looked troubled. "Do you trust her?"

Aiyu didn't answer right away. He looked toward the dark horizon.

"I don't even know who she is."

In a forest clearing miles away, Yuzi sat beneath the yellow spirit tree, her eyes closed, a faint scar now visible over her left wrist where the formation once flared.

She whispered something to the wind. A language not spoken aloud in centuries. the tree shuddered. And somewhere deep beneath the surface of her calm expression…

A name burned quietly behind her eyes.

"You will answer for what you did."