Recap:
Ansh and his friends found the third Anchor deep within a time-warped monastery in a salt desert. Ansh was attacked by a Watcher inside a twisted memory but awakened stronger, holding on to the name Miralai—possibly the last link to his forgotten self.
They traveled through the desert in silence.
Dark clouds now covered the sun, and the air smelled like lightning. Ansh clutched the tear-shaped pendant—the third Anchor. Its gentle warmth helped him focus.
Vaishnavi pointed ahead. "There. The Shifting Hills."
The landscape was a strange blur. Hills twisted and moved. What looked like a slope one second would vanish the next. Colors bled into each other. The ground shimmered like a heatwave—but it was cold.
Ishu raised an eyebrow. "Is this even real?"
Ansh sighed. "It is... and it isn't. We're entering illusion."
The first step into the hills felt like stepping into a memory.
The air turned thick. The sky bent. Their reflections showed different versions of themselves—older, younger, angry, smiling. The ground whispered.
"Who are you really?"
They moved slowly. The hills weren't just illusions. They were alive—feeding off doubt.
Vaishnavi paused. "Be careful. If we start doubting ourselves, this place will eat us alive."
Suddenly, Ishu cried out.
He stood staring at someone up ahead.
"That's... my sister. But she's gone. She died years ago."
The girl smiled and waved.
Vaishnavi reached for him. "Ishu, wait! That's not her!"
But Ishu was already running.
Ansh and Vaishnavi chased him, the hills around them shifting. The sky turned purple. Trees that weren't there before began to grow. Laughter echoed.
They found Ishu kneeling before the girl. She looked so real. So warm.
"Don't leave again," he whispered.
The girl touched his cheek. "Stay. Forget the pain."
Vaishnavi shouted, "It's a trap! She's feeding on your sadness!"
Ansh stepped forward and held up the pendant.
Light exploded.
The girl screamed and turned into a Watcher. It lunged—but Ansh sliced through it with a beam of silver light from the pendant.
The creature vanished.
Ishu gasped. "I'm sorry... I didn't know. It felt so real."
"This place wants to trick you," Ansh said. "It wants you to forget who you are."
As they moved deeper, the hills started whispering.
To Ansh: *"You failed them. You let them die."
To Vaishnavi: *"He doesn't trust you. You're just the smart one—not the chosen one."
To Ishu: *"You are nothing without them. Always the sidekick."
They covered their ears. It didn't help.
They found an ancient tree at the center of the hills. Its roots curled like claws, and its trunk had a hole—inside it, a black gem pulsed.
Vaishnavi gasped. "The final Anchor."
But then the earth split.
And from below rose a figure.
It looked exactly like Ansh.
"Welcome back, Sovaan," it said.
This wasn't a mimic like before.
This was Ansh.
Another version.
He wore black armor, eyes glowing gold. His voice was cold.
"You left us," he said. "You chose to forget. Now you want to steal what you abandoned?"
Ishu stepped in front. "He's not your enemy."
The dark Ansh snarled. "You don't know what he's done."
He lifted a hand. The hills twisted violently. Illusions spiraled out—memories of fire, screaming cities, falling stars.
"You ended a world," he said. "You killed Miralai."
Ansh's knees buckled. "No... that can't be true."
"Why do you think the Watchers fear you? You were their king."
Vaishnavi grabbed Ansh's shoulder. "Don't believe him. This is his trap."
But deep down, Ansh felt something break. The truth was too close.
The pendant dimmed.
The hills swallowed them in shadows.
But then—
A voice.
"You chose to forget to protect what was left. I forgave you then. Forgive yourself now."
Miralai.
Her voice.
Ansh stood.
"Maybe I made mistakes. Maybe I was Sovaan. But now I'm Ansh. And I won't run anymore."
Light exploded from the pendant, the silver sphere, and the prism. All three Anchors reacted.
The fake Ansh screamed. His armor cracked.
"This isn't over!" he hissed, before vanishing in dust.
The final Anchor pulsed and floated into Ansh's hands.
It was shaped like a heart.
Vaishnavi smiled. "We have them all."
But Ansh looked up.
The sky above the hills had torn open. The Watchers were no longer hiding. They were coming in waves.
"It begins," he said.
Ishu drew his blade. "Then let's end it."
End of Chapter 11