The Road to Silence

The desert before dawn was a sacred thing—quiet, immense, breathing slowly like a great sleeping beast.

Veer tightened the straps on his pack, his breath forming soft clouds in the chill air. The sand beneath his feet felt harder in the early hours, the heat of the previous day still clinging to the dunes like fading memories.

Agniya emerged from the shadows, her twin blades crossed on her back and a single water flask swinging from her side. A faded cloth scarf covered the lower half of her face, shielding her from the biting winds. She gave Veer a quick glance.

"You sure about this?" she asked.

"About heading into a cursed, forgotten city that just tried to invade our minds?" Veer smirked. "Not at all."

"Good," she replied. "Then we're thinking clearly."

They set off together, following the path carved centuries ago by spice traders and spirit-walkers alike. The ancient trail, known only in scattered verses and half-buried scriptures, stretched westward—toward the ruins of Svar Lok, once the crown jewel of an empire, now lost in time and myth.

By midday, the sun burned high, a molten eye in a silver sky.

The wind had died down, but the silence was almost oppressive. Veer walked with his head slightly bowed, one hand always near the satchel holding the black shard. The weight of it had changed—heavier, almost pulsing like a heartbeat.

> [System Note: Spiritual Resonance Increasing]

[Approaching Zone of Echoed Memories]

"You feel that?" Agniya asked, her voice tense.

Veer nodded. "It's like… the world is remembering itself."

Suddenly, a shape moved in the distance—small, rapid, and low to the ground.

They stopped instantly.

Veer squinted. "A mirage?"

"No," Agniya muttered. "Too fast. Stay low."

They crouched behind a rock formation, watching as the figure drew closer. It was a boy, no more than ten, riding on the back of a strange creature that resembled a cross between a lizard and a deer. Its skin shimmered with sand-colored scales, and its eyes glowed a dull yellow.

The boy wore a turban, too large for his head, and a long tunic tied with frayed rope. He pulled the creature to a stop as if sensing eyes on him.

"Should we call out?" Veer asked.

Agniya hesitated. "If he's from the desert, he may not trust outsiders."

But the decision was made for them.

The boy turned his head and stared directly at them.

Then he smiled.

"I know your names," he called in a high, clear voice. "Veer of the Ash. Agniya of the Flame. The spirits spoke of you."

Veer and Agniya stood slowly.

"Who are you?" Veer asked.

"I'm called Mikra," the boy replied, sliding off his mount with a practiced ease. "I'm a guide. I travel where most do not."

"Do you live out here?" Agniya asked, her tone careful.

The boy shrugged. "I sleep where the sand is soft and the stars are bright. My people were wiped out long ago by the shadow-things. So now, I walk."

Veer exchanged a look with Agniya.

Mikra stepped forward, unafraid. "You're heading to Svar Lok, aren't you?"

"Yes," Veer said, surprised. "How did you know?"

Mikra smiled again, this time with a glint of mischief. "Because only two kinds of people come through this path: fools… and heroes. You smell like both."

The lizard-creature behind him chirped in agreement.

Veer let out a dry laugh. "Can you guide us there?"

"I can do better," Mikra said. He reached into his satchel and pulled out a map, old and sun-worn, the ink faded but still visible. He pointed to a jagged line near a cluster of ruined towers. "There's a hidden entrance. Not many know about it—an old aqueduct that feeds straight into the city's underbelly."

Agniya crossed her arms. "And what do you want in return?"

The boy tilted his head. "A favor."

"From us?"

"From fate," Mikra said, serious now. "If you make it back from Svar Lok alive, tell the winds that Mikra still walks the sands."

Veer stared at him, sensing something more behind those childlike eyes. He nodded. "You have our word."

Mikra bowed, then clapped twice. The lizard mount let out a soft trill and began walking again. "Follow me then, heroes. The sands remember everything—and they're waiting."

They traveled for hours beneath the deepening gold of late afternoon.

As the sun dipped lower, Veer noticed shapes in the sand—runes, too ancient to read, carved into stone half-buried beneath drifting dunes.

"Here," Mikra said, stopping at the edge of a rocky canyon. "This is where the trail ends."

He stepped aside, revealing a narrow crack in the stone wall. A hollow hiss came from within, and cool air poured out like breath from a sleeping giant.

Agniya unsheathed her blade.

Veer lit a torch.

Mikra waved. "You'll find the old city down there. Just follow the silence. And beware the ones who whisper without tongues."

Veer paused. "Aren't you coming?"

Mikra shook his head. "I've walked as far as I'm allowed. Beyond this point… only those claimed by destiny may enter."

The words felt heavy.

Veer turned to Agniya. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

They stepped into the crack, and the darkness swallowed them.

The tunnel twisted downward, carved not by tools, but by something older—will, perhaps, or pressure from forgotten gods. Strange carvings lined the walls, and the air was thick with the scent of wet stone and metal.

Then they saw it.

The first glimpse of Svar Lok.

It stretched out like a mirage below them—a massive underground city illuminated by glowing crystal veins that pulsed with blue-green light. Towers leaned as if caught mid-collapse. Bridges arched across rivers of silver mist. The silence was absolute.

But something moved in the distance.

Shadows too tall, too thin, gliding like ghosts across the broken streets.

> [System Alert: Entered Lost Domain – Svar Lok]

[System Functions Altered – Word Usage May Echo Across Time]

Agniya whispered, "What does that mean?"

"It means," Veer said softly, "we're not alone down here. And time… might not be either."

As they descended the final steps, a soft chime rang through the city. Not mechanical. Not magical. Just… memory.

And with it, the gates of Svar Lok shuddered open.

The road ahead was paved with forgotten names, broken crowns, and the whisper of things that should not walk.

But Veer and Agniya walked forward—two lights in a city of silence.

Their journey had only just begun.