The preparations were quiet.
A prince leaving the capital would normally shake the kingdom.
Announcements. Escorts. Ceremonies.
None of that happened.
Aditya Varma left before dawn.
No royal banners.
No grand army.
Only a small group of chosen warriors—loyal, skilled, and unaware of the true purpose of the journey.
To them, it was a reconnaissance mission.
To him—
It was something else.
The gates of the capital opened slowly.
The world beyond stretched wide and uncertain.
For a brief moment, Aditya paused.
Not out of hesitation.
But because something within him shifted.
The moment he crossed the gates—
The feeling returned.
Stronger.
Clearer.
The pull.
He exhaled slowly.
"…it's guiding me."
Beside him, The Witness walked silently.
As if he had always been there.
As if distance meant nothing to him.
"Not guiding," he said calmly.
Aditya glanced at him.
"Calling."
The difference settled heavily.
Days passed.
The land changed.
The structured beauty of the kingdom gave way to something older.
Untamed.
Forgotten.
Villages became scarce.
Roads disappeared.
The air grew heavier.
The soldiers began to notice.
They spoke less.
Watched more.
Slept uneasily.
One night, as they camped beneath a sky devoid of clouds—
A soldier approached Aditya.
"My lord…"
Aditya looked up.
"…speak."
The man hesitated.
"…this place… it doesn't feel right."
Aditya said nothing.
The soldier continued.
"…the ground feels… hollow."
A pause.
"…and sometimes, when I close my eyes…"
He swallowed.
"…I feel like I'm somewhere else."
Aditya's gaze sharpened slightly.
"…what do you see?"
The soldier froze.
"…a battlefield."
Silence.
"…but not ours."
Aditya turned away.
"…get some rest."
The soldier nodded quickly and left.
The Witness stepped forward from the shadows.
"It's spreading."
Aditya didn't ask what he meant.
He already knew.
On the seventh day—
They reached it.
There was no wall.
No gate.
No visible marker.
And yet—
Everyone felt it.
The horses refused to move.
The wind stopped.
Even the air seemed reluctant to cross.
Aditya stepped forward.
The moment his foot touched the ground beyond—
The world shifted.
Not violently.
Not visibly.
But fundamentally.
Behind him—
The soldiers froze.
"My lord… we cannot go further."
Their voices carried fear.
Not of enemies.
But of something they could not understand.
Aditya turned.
"Stay here."
"My lord—!"
"That is an order."
Silence followed.
They obeyed.
But none of them looked relieved.
Aditya stepped forward.
Alone.
The Witness followed.
The world beyond the boundary was… wrong.
The sky was dimmer.
The light softer.
As if everything had been drained of its full existence.
Ruins stretched across the land.
Not of a kingdom.
Not of a civilization he recognized.
Something older.
Something erased.
Aditya walked slowly.
Every step felt heavier.
The pull grew stronger.
"…it's close."
The Witness said nothing.
And then—
He saw it.
At the center of a vast, broken expanse—
Something stood.
Not fully.
Not completely.
A structure.
Curved.
Familiar.
But broken.
Half of it was buried.
The other half—
Exposed.
A bow.
But not whole.
Its limbs were incomplete.
Its form fractured.
Its presence—
Unstable.
And yet—
It pulsed.
The same way the artifact had.
The same way the earth had.
The same way—
He had.
Aditya stopped.
"…this is it."
The air grew still.
Even The Witness did not move.
For the first time—
There was no commentary.
No explanation.
Only silence.
Because both of them understood—
This was not just a weapon.
It was a piece of something far greater.
Something unfinished.
Something waiting.
Aditya stepped forward.
Slowly.
Carefully.
The closer he got—
The louder it became.
That pulse.
That rhythm.
That call.
And then—
It stopped.
The moment he stood before it—
Everything went silent.
Aditya reached out.
His hand hovered just inches away.
The world held its breath.
And for the first time—
The bow did not reject him.
It waited.