"There are things the gods never speak of, and places they dare not tread."
---
The fog thickened as Asma-Ra and Vāma-Sattva journeyed deeper into the Valley. The air was heavy, thick with unspoken secrets, as though the land itself sought to consume the memory of all who entered it.
And yet, the second Shard called to him, a distant pulse within the fog.
Asma-Ra knew this path was not like the others. The gods had their domains—the heavens, the hells, and everything in between—but there were places beyond even them. Places that defied the rules of existence, where time folded in on itself, and truths were lost in the shadows.
> "Do you feel it?" Vāma-Sattva's voice was soft, almost reverent.
"Something is watching us… lurking just beyond our sight."
Asma-Ra nodded, but his eyes were focused ahead. He had no time for fear. His journey was bound to a greater purpose—the restoration of Dharma. The loss of one Shard would not end his pursuit.
And yet, as they pressed forward, an unsettling sensation crawled under his skin. Something was following them.
---
They reached the next clearing, where the second Shard lay—suspended in the air, its faint glow illuminating a jagged stone altar.
But before they could approach, the ground trembled, and the shadows shifted.
It was subtle at first—like a flicker in the corner of one's eye—but then it became undeniable: a shape, stretching and twisting in the dark, a form that should not exist.
And then, it spoke.
> "You are not meant to be here."
---
The voice was not a sound—it was a presence, a cold weight that pressed down on the heart, suffocating. It was as if the very fabric of reality bent and broke at the utterance of those words.
Asma-Ra turned slowly, his grip tightening around his blade. The shadow before him shifted, forming into something indescribable—a swirling mass of darkness, an absence of form, but still distinctly aware.
---
The Shadow.
It was not a creature of flesh or bone. It was something older—something that existed before gods and demons. A forgotten thing that had no name, no history, and no allegiance.
> "You seek the Shards of Dharma," the Shadow hissed, its form rippling like ink spilled in water.
"But the Shards belong to no one. They were never meant to be whole. They were never meant to be found."
Vāma-Sattva stepped forward, his flame flickering but steady.
> "What are you?" he demanded.
The Shadow paused, as if considering the question.
> "I am what remains of the gods' forgotten truths.
I am what was cast aside when the heavens turned their backs on what they could not control."
---
Asma-Ra felt a coldness seep into his bones as the shadow expanded, growing larger with every passing breath. It was not just a physical thing. It was a presence, a weight upon existence itself.
And it knew him.
> "You… are familiar," the Shadow whispered, its tendrils lashing out like serpents.
"I have seen your kind before. You are the ones who forget, the ones who dare to rewrite destiny."
Asma-Ra's mind flashed back to the lessons of his past lives. The rebellion, the choices—the things he had forgotten.
---
The Shadow laughed, a sound like wind through dead trees.
> "Yes. You are like all of them. Like the gods who feared their own creations. Like the asuras who sought immortality and ended up bound in the chains of their own ambitions."
Vāma-Sattva raised his hand, calling forth a burst of flame, but the fire flickered and died against the Shadow's presence.
> "You cannot burn what has no substance," the Shadow growled. "You cannot destroy what never was."
---
For a moment, there was silence.
Asma-Ra gripped his blade tighter, stepping forward, his voice steady.
> "You speak of the forgotten.
But I am the one who remembers."
At his words, the ground beneath them cracked. The fog thickened until it was suffocating, and the air grew stale, as though the very land was holding its breath.
The Shadow, in its fluid form, shifted once more, now almost entirely black, its presence an oppressive weight upon their souls.
> "You remember what you should not. That is your curse," it hissed.
"But you are still bound to the very chains you seek to break."
---
In a single motion, Asma-Ra swung his blade at the darkness, the steel cutting through the air like lightning. But the Shadow was swift—too swift. It sank into the ground, vanishing into the earth as if it were part of it.
And when it reappeared, it was right behind him.
---
> "You are the Forgotten Ones, lost in the shadow of your own desires. But even the Shards you seek—they will not save you."
The Shadow lunged, tendrils wrapping around Asma-Ra, pulling him toward its gaping maw of nothingness. But before it could consume him entirely, a burst of fire erupted from Vāma-Sattva.
> "Get away from him!" Vāma-Sattva shouted, unleashing the full force of his flame.
The Shadow recoiled, but only for a moment.
> "You cannot burn the darkness inside of you," it said, its voice a twisted mockery. "You cannot burn the forgotten."
---
Asma-Ra, now free from the Shadow's grasp, stood tall. He could feel the weight of its words, but they did not break him. He would not forget.
> "I will not be consumed by you," he said, his voice steady.
Vāma-Sattva, still alight with flame, moved to stand by his side.
> "You speak of being forgotten, but we are the ones who remember.
And we will not allow the world to forget again."
---
The Shadow's form rippled violently, but it did not move forward.
Instead, it whispered in a voice that shook the air.
> "Then you will remember that even the gods fear what they have cast aside."
---
With a final tremor, the Shadow dissolved back into the fog, leaving Asma-Ra and Vāma-Sattva standing alone once again.
The air grew still. The fog parted, revealing the second Shard, now free for the taking.
Asma-Ra stepped forward, his hand steady as he claimed the Shard.
And as the crystal pulsed in his palm, a new realization washed over him.
The Shards were not simply tools to be collected. They were pieces of a greater truth, a truth that even the gods feared to face.
The truth of what had been forgotten.
---
END OF CHAPTER XX
Next: Chapter XXI – "The Price of Knowledge"