Samagra seemed different with each step away from Madhya. Shim had walked for three days, watching the familiar crystalline patterns of his home district fade into increasingly strange formations.

  The Prana flows here felt older, wilder, carrying whispers of distant planes. His pack containing Maya's crystal and Ravi's Prana sphere hung heavy on his shoulder, a constant reminder of what he'd left behind.

  When Shim first saw Bhudwar rising from the horizon, he thought he was hallucinating. Unlike Madhya's elegant spires, this district was a maze of impossible architecture.

  Massive crystalline towers—the legendary Amritdhara—twisted upward like frozen waterfalls, their surfaces reflecting glimpses of another realm. Between them, structures that seemed borrowed from a thousand different worlds created a dizzying patchwork of styles and shapes.

  "First time in the Watchers District?"

  Shim turned to find a girl about his age observing him with curious eyes. Her silver-blue skin marked her as something other than the races he knew from Madhya, and her movements seemed to ripple with the Prana currents around her.

  "That obvious?" he asked.

  She smiled. "You have that look. I'm Aria. I'm training with the Observers." She gestured toward the nearest Amritdhara tower.

  "Though I suspect you'll want to see the Darshini first. Most travelers do."

  "The what?" Shim asked

  "The viewing pools. Where we watch the Mortal Realm." She tilted her head, studying him with increasing interest.

  "Though... the Prana moves strangely around you. You're not just a regular traveler, are you?"

  Before Shim could respond, a commotion erupted from the nearby market square. Shouts and the distinctive crackle of disturbed Prana filled the air. Without thinking, Shim rushed toward the sound,

  Aria close behind.

  In the square, a swirling vortex of unstable Prana had formed above one of the smaller viewing pools.

  A crowd had gathered, watching in horror as the vortex grew, threatening to consume the surrounding stalls. Two official-looking figures in elaborate robes were attempting to contain it, but their efforts seemed to only make it worse.

  "Another breach," Aria whispered.

  "They're getting more frequent."

  Shim felt the Prana beneath his skin respond to the disturbance. Acting on instinct, he stepped forward, reaching out with his consciousness the way Vakra had taught him. But here, far from Madhya, the power responded differently—more directly, more powerfully. Golden light erupted from his hands, weaving through the vortex, not fighting it but guiding it, drawing it back into natural flows.

  The square fell silent as the disturbance dissipated. Shim lowered his hands, suddenly aware of every eye upon him. Among the crowd, a tall figure in official robes watched him with particular intensity before disappearing into the gathering crowd.

  "That was..." Aria started, then shook her head in amazement.

  "I've never seen anyone handle a breach like that. Who are you?"

  "My name is Shim. I'm from Madhya, and..." he hesitated, then decided on honesty,

  "I'm looking for answers of the questions about myself."

  Aria's eyes widened.

  "Then you definitely need to see the Darshini. But first, you should meet Amara. She'll want to know about this." she replied

  Amara's chamber within the highest Amritdhara tower was unlike anything Shim had seen in Madhya. The circular room was lined with dozens of small Darshini pools, each showing different glimpses of the Mortal Realm.

  Cities of glass and steel, vast deserts, snow-capped mountains—fragments of a world both familiar and alien.

  The Head Observer herself stood at the central pool, her ancient Yaksha features illuminated by its glow. When she turned to face them, Shim noticed her eyes—not silver like other Yakshas, but swirling with colors that seemed to reflect all the scenes around them.

  "So," she said, her voice carrying the weight of centuries.

  "you're the one who calmed the breach." Her gaze settled on him with unsettling intensity.

  "Your Prana... it sings with old harmonies. Very old."

  "He's from Madhya," Aria explained, her Samvedi features brightening with excitement.

  "He controlled the breach like nothing I've ever seen."

  "Madhya?" Amara raised an eyebrow.

  "Vakra's ward, then. We've heard whispers, even here." She gestured to the pools around them.

  "Do you know what we do here, young Shim?"

  "You watch the Mortal Realm," he replied, trying not to stare at a pool showing a vast city at night, its lights creating patterns that reminded him of the Bridge's crystalline surfaces.

  "We maintain the balance," Amara corrected.

  "The Mortal Realm—Bhu, as its inhabitants call it—is more crucial to the cosmic order than most realize. These breaches..." she waved her hand at the pools, and Shim noticed several showing similar disturbances to what he'd encountered in the square. "They're not natural. Someone is deliberately weakening the barriers between realms."

  "But why?"

  "That," came a new voice,

  "is what we're trying to determine."

  A tall figure entered the chamber—the same official Shim had seen in the square. His features were sharp, his robes elaborate, and his eyes held a calculating intelligence that made Shim instinctively uneasy.

  "Darvin," Amara's tone carried a subtle warning.

  "I wasn't expecting you."

  "News of our young friend's display in the square traveled quickly." Darvin's smile didn't reach his eyes.

  "Such remarkable control for one so young. Perhaps he could assist with our... investigations."

  Before Amara could respond, one of the pools suddenly flared with intense light. The image within it shifted rapidly: a modern city, a ancient temple, a strange symbol that made the Prana beneath Shim's skin buzz with recognition. Then everything went dark.

  "Curious," Darvin murmured.

  "The pools rarely react to visitors."

  "Perhaps," Amara said carefully,

  "young Shim should rest. Aria, show him to the Wanderers' Quarter. The nomads there often have space for travelers."

  As they left the tower, Shim felt the weight of Darvin's gaze following them. Outside, the eternal twilight of the Bridge had deepened, and the Amritdhara towers glowed with their own inner light.

  "Darvin's the Barrier Master," Aria explained as they walked.

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  "He's responsible for maintaining the veils between realms. But lately..." she glanced around before continuing,

  "things have been strange. The breaches, missing records from the archives, rumors of humans glimpsing the Bridge."

  They reached the Wanderers' Quarter, where structures of various architectural styles housed the Bridge's nomadic peoples.

  A group sat around a Prana fire, sharing stories and meals. Among them, a figure in a hooded cloak looked up as they approached.

  "We've been expecting you," the figure said, lowering their hood to reveal features that seemed to shift between races.

  "I am Kai. And you, Shim of Madhya, arrive at an interesting time."

  Aria touched Shim's arm gently. "I'll come find you tomorrow. There's more you should see." Her silver-blue features softened with concern.

  "Be careful who you trust here. Even the watchers are being watched."

  As she walked away, Kai gestured for Shim to join them by the fire.

  "You seek answers about yourself," they said, not a question but a statement.

  "Perhaps you should start by asking why the Darshini pools react to your presence. Or why your Prana carries echoes of power far older than the Bridge itself."

  The Wanderers' fire cast strange shadows as Kai shared tales of the Bridge's distant reaches. Other nomads joined them—a one-eyed Rakta warrior who'd walked the edge of the Abyss, a young Agni scholar documenting forgotten Prana techniques, and others whose races Shim couldn't identify.

  "The breaches aren't random," Kai said, stirring the Prana-fire with a crystalline rod.

  "They form patterns. Ancient patterns." They traced symbols in the air—curves and lines that made Shim's pendant pulse warmly against his chest.

  "You see it, don't you?" Kai noticed his reaction.

  "Your pendant. May I?"

  Hesitantly, Shim removed the crystal pendant he'd had since childhood. In the firelight, its subtle glow matched the rhythm of the Prana flowing through him.

  Kai examined it without touching it.

  "Samvedana crystal. Very rare. They say it was mined from the first tears of creation." They looked at Shim with eyes that seemed to see through him.

  "It's no coincidence you ended up here, when the veils between realms grow thin."

  A commotion from the direction of the Amritdhara towers interrupted them. Shouts and the now-familiar crackle of disturbed Prana filled the air. But this was different from the breach in the square—more controlled, almost purposeful.

  "Right on schedule," Kai muttered, rising smoothly.

  "Watch, but be careful. Some secrets reveal themselves only when they think no one's looking."

  Shim followed the sounds to a smaller observation tower. In the shadows, he saw Darvin and several robed figures around a modified Darshini pool. The water swirled unnaturally, and through it, Shim could see clear images of Earth—not the usual glimpses, but focused views of specific locations. Of people who seemed to be looking back.

  "Dangerous game they're playing."

  Shim startled. Aria stood beside him, her silver-blue features hard in the darkness.

  "I followed you," she explained softly.

  "I've suspected Darvin for months, but could never prove anything. He's selling glimpses of our realm to certain humans. Each viewing weakens the barrier a little more."

  "Why?"

  "Power. Knowledge. Maybe something worse." She gripped his arm suddenly.

  "Look."

  In the pool's surface, a symbol flared—the same one he'd seen earlier, the one that made his Prana resonate. Darvin was speaking urgently to someone on the other side, his voice carrying tones of bargaining.

  "We have to stop them," Shim whispered.

  "We will." Aria's hand found his in the darkness.

  "But we need proof. And..." she hesitated,

  "there's something you should see first. Something in the Ancient Archives about that symbol, and... about you, I think."

  A noise made them retreat quickly into the shadows. As they hurried back toward the Wanderers' Quarter, Shim felt Aria's hand still in his, her presence both comforting and exciting in a way he hadn't expected.

  "Tomorrow," she whispered as they parted.

  "Meet me at dawn by the First Pool. There's a prophecy you need to hear."

  Back at the Wanderers' fire, Kai merely nodded at his return.

  "The threads begin to weave," they said cryptically.

  "Sleep well, Shim of Madhya. Tomorrow, your path becomes clearer."

  As Shim lay down in the simple quarters the Wanderers had offered, his mind swirled with the day's revelations. The breaches, Darvin's schemes, the mysterious symbol, Aria's discovery in the Archives... and beneath it all, the constant pulse of Prana through his veins, singing with harmonies older than the Bridge itself.

  His last thought before sleep took him was of Aria's hand in his, and the feeling that his journey was about to take an unexpected turn.

  Dawn in Bhudwar painted the Amritdhara towers in colors that didn't exist in Madhya. Shim found Aria waiting by the First Pool—the oldest Darshini in the district, its waters black as night but scattered with points of light like stars.

  "I barely slept," she admitted, her silver-blue features animated with excitement and anxiety.

  "What I found... I had to make sure." She led him through hidden passages beneath the Archives, her Prana-light illuminating ancient inscriptions on the walls.

  They emerged in a circular chamber. At its center stood a pedestal holding what appeared to be a fragment of the Bridge itself, but darker, older.

  "The First Fragment," Aria whispered.

  "From before the Bridge was fully formed." She placed her hand near it, careful not to touch.

  "Watch."

  The fragment pulsed with internal light, and images formed in the air around them: three towering figures, a flash of violence, a strand of hair falling, blood mixing with light... and something else—a seed of creation, preserved by a third force.

  "There's more," Aria said, her voice trembling slightly.

  "Words appeared in the Archives, words that haven't been seen in centuries.

  " She withdrew a small scroll. "When blood of destruction and hair of creation mix, preserved by the eternal balance, a bridge between all shall walk in flesh."

  The Prana beneath Shim's skin surged at the words. The Samvedana crystal around his neck blazed with sudden light.

  A slow clap echoed through the chamber.

  "I must thank you," Darvin's voice was silk over steel as he emerged from the shadows with two robed figures.

  "We've been trying to access this chamber for months. The Fragment responds only to certain... resonances."

  "The breaches," Shim realized.

  "You're not just selling views to Earth. You're looking for something."

  "For someone," Darvin corrected.

  "The prophecy speaks of a bridge between realms. Do you know what power that represents? The ability to walk between planes at will?" His eyes gleamed. "Of course you do. You can feel it in your blood, can't you?"

  The robed figures moved to surround them. Aria stepped closer to Shim, her hand finding his.

  "Your little interference ends here," Darvin continued.

  "The Fragment will help us identify the one we seek, and—"

  "Step away from them, Darvin." Amara's voice cracked like thunder

  She stood in the chamber's entrance with Kai and several Wanderers, their combined Prana filling the air with power.

  What happened next was chaos. Darvin's followers attacked with corrupted Prana, dark energy that seemed to eat at the Bridge's substance. Shim felt Aria's hand torn from his as they were separated in the fight.

  Something deep inside Shim shifted. The power that had always flowed through him found new purpose. Golden light erupted from his hands, not just controlling the corrupt Prana but transforming it, purifying it. The Fragment resonated with his power, filling the chamber with blinding radiance.

  When the light faded, Darvin and one follower were bound in chains of pure Prana. The other had fled. The chamber was silent except for the hum of power.

  "Well," Kai said quietly,

  "that answers several questions."

  Amara approached the Fragment, her ancient eyes filled with wonder. "The prophecy reveals itself in its own time. But now you understand why you must go to Earth, don't you, Shim?"

  He nodded slowly. The images from the Fragment, combined with the prophecy... his path was becoming clear.

  "The breaches Darvin created have weakened the barriers," Amara continued.

  "Someone on Earth is searching, just as he was. You must find them first."

  Aria stood quietly nearby, her expression a mixture of pride and sadness. Later, as they stood at the Edge Gate where travelers could cross to Earth, she pressed something into his hand—a small crystal that pulsed in harmony with his pendant.

  "A piece of the First Pool," she explained.

  "So you remember where to find your way back." Her hand lingered on his.

  "Be careful in their realm. It's... different there."

  "I'll return," he promised, meaning it more than he expected to.

  "Of course you will," she smiled, though her eyes shimmered.

  "You still have to explain how you did that trick with the light."

  As Shim stepped through the Gate, the last thing he saw was Aria standing with Amara and Kai, her silver-blue features bright with unshed tears. The Mortal Realm beckoned, and with it, the next step toward understanding who—and what—he truly was.