Arjun did not go home immediately.
He stood on the hill long after the stranger disappeared.
The wind had calmed, but the earth beneath his feet still felt warm… as if something deep below was breathing.
The Seal was weakening again.
And this time, someone was helping it
The next morning, Arjun went to the oldest man in the village—Hari Kaka.
Hari Kaka was known for his stories. Most villagers laughed at them. They called them myths.
But Arjun remembered something.
Years ago, Hari Kaka once spoke about "The Eye Beneath the Earth."
At that time, everyone had ignored him.
Now Arjun needed answers
Hari Kaka lived in a small mud house near the edge of the village. His white hair moved gently in the morning breeze as he sat outside, drinking tea.
When Arjun approached, the old man looked at him carefully.
"You went to the hills last night," Hari Kaka said calmly.
Arjun froze.
"How do you know?"
The old man's eyes slowly shifted to Arjun's palm.
"The mark," he whispered.
Arjun quickly opened his hand.
The faint eye symbol shimmered under the sunlight.
Hari Kaka closed his eyes.
"So… it has chosen again."
Arjun felt a chill run through him.
"Chosen? Chosen for what?"
Hari Kaka motioned for him to sit.
"Long ago," he began, "before this village existed, there was a kingdom here. The Red Kingdom. It was powerful, but greedy."
Arjun listened silently.
"The king discovered something beneath the hills. A force. Not a weapon… not a creature… something older. Something that feeds on human desire."
Arjun remembered the red light.
The laugh.
The voice.
"What happened?" he asked quietly.
"The king tried to control it," Hari Kaka said. "But power cannot be owned. It can only be contained."
The old man's voice grew serious.
"So the royal guardians sealed it underground. They created the Door. They created the Key. And they marked a protector."
Arjun's heart pounded.
"A protector?"
Hari Kaka nodded slowly.
"The Seal chooses one person every generation. When the prison weakens… the chosen one must defend it."
Silence filled the air.
Arjun's voice trembled.
"And if the protector fails?"
Hari Kaka looked toward the red hills.
"The hills will burn. And the darkness will spread far beyond this village."
Arjun felt the weight of those words.
Then he remembered the stranger.
"There's someone else," Arjun said quickly. "A man. He wants the Seal opened."
Hari Kaka's face darkened.
"Did he have sharp eyes? Calm voice? Like he already knows everything?"
"Yes."
The old man sighed.
"He is not the first."
Arjun's breath stopped.
"What do you mean?"
"Every generation," Hari Kaka said slowly, "the Seal chooses a guardian. And every generation… someone tries to break it."
The wind grew stronger again.
"Those people are called Seekers."
Arjun's stomach tightened.
"They believe the force beneath the hills can make them unstoppable."
Hari Kaka looked directly into Arjun's eyes.
"But they never understand the cost."
Arjun clenched his fist.
"What is it really?" he asked. "What is behind the Door?"
Hari Kaka hesitated.
For a long moment, he did not speak.
Then he whispered:
"It is not just power."
He leaned closer.
"It is consciousness."
Arjun's mind raced.
"It thinks. It learns. It waits."
A sudden pain shot through Arjun's palm again.
He gasped.
The mark glowed bright red for a second.
Hari Kaka's expression changed to fear.
"It knows you now," the old man said.
At that exact moment—
A loud explosion echoed from the direction of the hills.
Birds flew into the sky.
The ground shook violently.
Arjun stood up instantly.
Smoke was rising from the red hills.
The Seal had been attacked.
And this time—
It felt stronger.
Hari Kaka's voice trembled.
"The Seeker has begun."
Arjun stared toward the smoke.
This was no longer a mystery.
It was war.
And he was standing at the center of it.