Golden Portal

Under the dim silver haze of the moon, the night in Lumisgrave whispered with a familiar stillness as Arslan sat cross-legged on his bed, deep in thought. The faint glow from the magical wall-lanterns flickered, casting soft shadows that danced against the stone walls of his Mythic Base room. Within him, Kar'Thael stirred.

"So," Kar'Thael said from inside his shared consciousness, his tone uncharacteristically quiet, "you told me once your father was kidnapped when you were six."

Arslan nodded slightly, already knowing where this was going.

"Have you... found any clue about it?" Kar'Thael's voice wasn't taunting for once — it was sincere, even cautious.

Arslan let out a soft breath. "No. Nothing. My mother never wanted to talk about it. Said she'd tell me when I turned twenty. And when I did, all she said was that demons came and took him."

Kar'Thael paused, then said, "Then let's go ask her."

Arslan turned his head. "What?"

"Let's go," Kar'Thael repeated. "She's the only one who saw it happen. Maybe she left something out, or maybe she saw something and didn't understand it at the time. If there's even a thread of truth there… it's worth following."

Arslan remained silent for a moment, eyes narrowed with reluctant agreement. "Fine. But you keep quiet. I don't want to scare her."

Kar'Thael chuckled. "If she can raise a boy like you, she won't scare easy."

—

Night had draped its velvet cloth over Lumisgrave as Arslan made his way down the empty paths of the capital. Though cloaked in the silence of dusk, the glow of rune-lamps lit the ancient cobblestone streets that twisted toward the Lower District—toward Runehollow.

Runehollow wasn't grand. It was a modest place, older, filled with narrow alleys and homes built with weather-worn stone and copper-topped chimneys. This was Arslan's homeland. Here, he was not the Mythic-ranked Echelon Knight. He was just a boy once lost in shadows.

As they walked, Kar'Thael broke the silence.

"You know," he began with a dry tone, "for someone so filled with gloom, you have a poetic hometown name. Runehollow… has a romantic ring to it."

Arslan rolled his eyes but said nothing.

"You think your mother will recognize me?" Kar'Thael added.

"She better not," Arslan said.

Moments later, Arslan stopped in front of a small house with ivy crawling along its stone walls. Before he could knock, the door creaked open. A middle-aged woman stepped forward, and her face lit up.

"Arslan!" she gasped, rushing forward.

She embraced him tightly, arms around his back, her hands trembling. "It's been so long, I thought you forgot me."

"Never," Arslan said, smiling faintly.

She pulled back, brushing a hand across his cheek and then kissed his forehead. Kar'Thael, still hidden inside Arslan, went silent—but Arslan felt something strange within him.

Warmth.

"She smells like the woods," Kar'Thael murmured within, awestruck. "This feeling… is this what it's like to have a mother…?"

Arslan ignored the sentiment, stepping inside.

Dinner was simple but warm—spiced stew, freshly baked herb bread, and tea that smelled like lavender. Arslan sat beside his mother, and for a long while, they just talked about mundane things: Runehollow, the neighbors, how the Lower District children were learning to control their new powers.

But then Arslan leaned in. "Mother, I need to ask you something serious. It's about Father."

Her smile faded slightly, and her hands trembled around her cup.

"Please," Arslan said softly. "No more half-truths."

She nodded and exhaled shakily. "I told you he was taken. That much is true. But… I didn't tell you everything."

Arslan leaned forward. Kar'Thael was listening closely from within.

"On the night he disappeared," she said, "we were just sitting together after dinner. He had been working on something strange. An old… key. It was ancient. Bronze, maybe older. Embedded with a small crystal in the center. A few days before he was taken, that key began to glow."

Arslan's eyes narrowed. "Glow? How?"

"A soft golden light. Like the sun at dusk. He didn't know why, but he said it was reacting to something. He was scared, but also excited. The night it happened, a golden-colored portal opened. Right in our living room. Out of nowhere. A demon—large, with no face—stepped through and took him."

"No fight?" Arslan asked quietly.

She shook her head. "He didn't even resist. He looked at me and said, 'Take care of Arslan.' Then he stepped forward into the portal."

Arslan clenched his fists on the table. "Why didn't you tell this to anyone?"

"I did!" she said. "I went to the Guards, to the Council… but no one believed me. They thought I was mad. A demon portal in Runehollow? A key that glows? They thought I made it all up after losing my husband."

Inside Arslan's head, Kar'Thael spoke with intensity. "A key… with a crystal… and a golden portal…"

"You know something?" Arslan thought.

"No. But I know this—keys embedded with crystals were once used to activate old magic vaults... or gates. Especially by the elders of Arcana."

Arslan stood up, his mind racing.

His mother reached out. "Wait, is something wrong?"

"No," Arslan said with a half-smile. "You told me what I needed to know. Thank you."

Before leaving, she held his hands. "Just don't go chasing after things that took your father."

Arslan nodded, kissed her forehead, and walked out into the night with the moon hanging heavy above the rooftops.

—

The walk back to the Mythic Base was quiet at first.

Kar'Thael finally broke the silence. "That… was heavy."

"You heard her."

"I felt her. That hug… I felt it too. She held us."

Arslan didn't respond.

"That key," Kar'Thael continued, "it might be connected to the ARCANA…, YOUR father has a link to my world.May be to my Family".

"You think my father was working with your family"..

"I don't know". Kar'Thael said "There's a hope that he might be Because before Demon attack on our planet I was in Bound Threshold for 65 years añd then after it My father summoned me back to Arcana... Perhaps during that time your Father gets attached with us..."

He further added"One more thing, there was also a key for Bound Threshold which my Father used to summoned me back to Arcana"

"Then I need to find that key." Arslan said

"If it still exists," Kar'Thael murmured. "But yes. And your father… if he really stepped into that gate willingly, maybe he had a plan. Or maybe he was protecting you."

Arslan stopped walking and looked up at the sky, filled with stars.

"Next time," he muttered, "we visit the place he worked before being taken."

"If really we have a connection then we will going to save our families "

Kar'Thael replied softly, "I'll follow you. Whether it's light or shadow."

They returned to the base in silence, carrying more questions than answers, but now, a new path had opened—one paved with old keys, vanished memories, and the golden light of forgotten doors.