Chapter 9: The Child of the Eighth Gate
Location: The Forest of Yamaloka – Twilight Border of the Living and the Dead
Mist slithered between ancient banyan trees twisted like skeletal hands. The air hung heavy with silence, as if time dared not enter here.
Anaya and Aarav moved cautiously, guided only by a map carved into a piece of Naga shell — a gift from Revati. Behind them, Guruji floated gently on a makeshift palanquin held aloft by four sarcastic yakshas he'd summoned "on internship."
> "Welcome to Yamaloka's edge," Guruji yawned. "Where things that should not exist... often do."
Anaya shivered. "Are you sure he's here?"
> "Not just here," Aarav whispered. "I can feel him. The boy... the Eighth Seal."
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The Boy in the Hollow Tree
They found him where the trees no longer grew — a clearing of ash and cracked stone. In the center stood a hollowed-out tree, glowing faintly with runes from an age before the Vedas.
A boy sat cross-legged inside, maybe ten years old, his eyes closed. A strange, pulsating symbol floated above his head — the Mark of the Eighth Gate, the forbidden one.
When Aarav stepped closer, the boy opened his eyes.
> "You're late," he said calmly. "I've been waiting for 5,000 years."
> "Who... are you?" Anaya asked.
The boy tilted his head.
> "I have no name. They called me the Endling. I was born in the moment the Fifth Yuga cracked open. I am the prophecy... unspoken."
Lightning cracked in the distance. Thunder rolled like a war drum.
> "And I'm the only one who can close the Gate... or open it forever."
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Visions of the First Gate
When Aarav touched the boy's hand, visions erupted into his mind — flashes of the Astradhari War, the breaking of time, and a secret meeting in the celestial halls of Brahmaloka.
He saw the Saptarishis, ancient and weary, arguing over a scroll.
> "The Eighth Gate must never be born," one said.
"But if it is, it must be kept hidden — not killed," said another.
"The future will depend on who reaches him first," whispered Rishi Atri.
Then Aarav saw himself, kneeling before the dying Rishi Agastya, vowing to protect the child — the vow he had forgotten.
> "You swore to raise him as your son," the vision ended. "But you left him in the borderlands to rot."
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Anaya's Secret
The boy looked at Anaya now.
> "And you... you were the one who erased me from the Akashic records."
Aarav turned sharply. "What?"
Anaya stepped back, guilt flickering in her eyes.
> "I did it to protect him. If Karakali found out he existed, she would've used him to open the Gate."
> "You knew all this?" Aarav demanded.
> "I remembered only recently," Anaya said softly. "His existence was veiled even from my own memory — a seal I placed upon myself."
The boy stood now. "It doesn't matter anymore. She knows I'm awake."
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Enter: The Crimson Rakshasa
A dark spiral erupted from the sky, and from it descended a Rakshasa clad in molten crimson armor, with a face half-human, half-scorched skull.
His weapon was a blade of inverted fire, burning cold.
> "Child of the Eighth Gate," he roared. "By order of the Queen of Ash, you are to be delivered."
Aarav summoned his trident.
Anaya drew her bow, her eyes glowing.
But the boy stepped forward, unafraid.
> "I am not ready," he said. "But I am no longer afraid."
He raised his small hand.
The forest exploded with light, and in a blinding moment, the Rakshasa was hurled back — not destroyed, but broken and scattered across dimensions.
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Aftermath – The Boy's Warning
Smoke cleared. The forest moaned. The boy collapsed into Aarav's arms.
> "There will be seven more," he gasped. "Each stronger than the last. They are not Rakshasas. They are the Echoes of the Gate."
> "Can we protect you?" Anaya asked.
> "Not always," he said. "But you can remember me this time. That's all I ask."
Aarav looked down, heart heavy. "I remember now. I remember your name."
> "Say it," the boy whispered.
> "Vedanta."
The forest sighed, as if remembering too.
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In the Court of Karakali
The Rakshasa rematerialized in the throne room of Karakali, kneeling before her, his form trembling.
She rose slowly, eyes gleaming like emerald flame.
> "So... the Eighth Gate child has awakened."
Behind her, the Nine Crowned Rakshasas stepped from the shadows — generals of the forgotten realm.
> "Then the hunt begins," she hissed. "Let the worlds burn."
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End of Chapter 9
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