Chapter 50: The Fifth Gate is a Child

The trail ended at a cliff.

Below, a still lake mirrored the sky perfectly—too perfectly. Not a ripple. Not a breeze. Just silence thick enough to touch.

Aarav stepped to the edge.

The yogi who walked with him said nothing. He simply nodded toward the reflection.

"The Fifth Gate waits."

Aarav stared into the lake.

And saw not himself.

He saw a child.

Thin. Wide-eyed. Dirty hands. A tunic stitched too many times. No armor. No wisdom. No fire.

Just a boy.

And then the boy spoke.

"Why didn't you protect me?"

The voice wasn't angry.

It was raw.

Pure.

True.

Aarav felt something in his gut twist—because he knew this wasn't just memory. This wasn't just emotion. This was the part of himself he had left behind to become what he thought he needed to be.

He knelt at the cliff's edge.

The boy watched.

"I didn't know how," Aarav whispered.

"Then why do you keep walking?" the boy asked.

"Because I promised we'd never be small again."

"Then take me with you this time."

Aarav reached out.

Touched the reflection.

And the lake cracked like ice.

The boy stepped out—not onto water, not onto land.

Into him.

Not consumed. Not erased.

Integrated.

Aarav stood. Taller. Quieter. Whole.

The Fifth Gate didn't open.

It became part of him.

Far above, a star blinked out.

In the Celestial Court, one of the elder gods collapsed.

And in the sky...

a second tear began to form.

—End of Volume Two: The Path of Many Gates—