They didn't leave the City of Bells for three days.
Not because they couldn't — but because none of them spoke about what had happened.
The Seventh Limb — Shravanmaya, the Limb of Sound — now pulsed quietly in Ravi's soul.But its after-echo still lingered in their ears.Every word felt too loud.Every silence too loaded.
And Meera…She hadn't looked Ravi in the eye since the illusion shattered.
The Campfire Between Them
On the third night, they made camp beneath an old stone arch where the bells no longer sang.
Kiran had gone to scout ahead, leaving them alone.
Ravi sat across the fire from Meera, sharpening his blade.But his mind was on her.Always her.
And finally, she spoke.
"I almost… let go."
He looked up.
"In the city," she continued, eyes wet. "I believed the lies. I saw you dying and thought—maybe it would be better if I wasn't beside you. Maybe I'm the danger."
Ravi didn't answer immediately.Instead, he reached over the flames and took her hand.
"You are the reason I haven't become a monster."
She looked up sharply.
"You think you're not already changing?"
He didn't flinch. "I know I am."
He touched her wrist, where a faint trace of dark sigil still glowed.
"But I don't want to change without you."
Silence again.But this time… it was warm.
A Night Without Enemies
Meera leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"I'm scared, Ravi. The deeper we go, the more the world turns against us. Even the Limb we just claimed—it didn't test our strength. It tested our hearts."
Ravi's voice was quiet. "Because power doesn't corrupt all at once. It starts by making you doubt the people beside you."
"Do you doubt me?" she asked.
"No," he said. "Only myself."
And in that moment, with no monsters in sight, no Sages whispering doom, no gods watching...
They kissed.
It wasn't grand. It wasn't magic.It was human — two souls clinging to the last honest thing they had.
The Shadow Watches
But far above them, on a crooked tree where no bird dared nest, the false Meera crouched.
Watching. Listening. Grinning.
"Love," she whispered."The cleanest thread to cut."
From the shadows behind her, a new figure stepped forward — wrapped in robes of ink and smoke.No face. Only eyes — too many to count.
"Prepare the next trial," it rasped."They must climb the mountain of truths unspoken."
The Next Limb Calls
At dawn, the map burned again.
A new mark appeared — far to the northeast, beyond the storm-blasted peaks of Kaalparvat, the mountain where lightning never sleeps.
The Eighth Limb — VayumayaThe Breath of the Divine.
A place where one cannot lie.
A place where secrets die screaming.
Ravi felt the pull.
But Meera's hand tightened around his.
And for the first time in days… he smiled.