Satya had difficulties breathing and the grip on him kept tightening as time passed on.
"Argh..
I re.. I read about it in a book."
Satya blurted out while trying to breathe
After a bit, the grip loosened around him and Satya could finally breathe again.
After releasing him the Shadow began to break out in its madness,
"How....
How...
HOW..
All records regarding it were destroyed by [Them]"
The Shadow chanted something in it's madness.
Suddenly, the world seemed to get covered in an ominous atmosphere,
Dark clouds could be seen approaching in the distance.
As the dark clouds were about to cover us in its shade
"Disperse."
The shadow regained its sanity and a clear voice resounded in the world, tearing away the ominous atmosphere.
"Never again should its name take place in your mouth, traveller."
The Shadow gave a stern warning to Satya
Satya, in confusion of all the ominous events that transpired,
Agreed without hesitation.
Satya had many questions in his heart but he pressed them down in the deepest parts of his heart, afraid of the situation they could cause.
"We should continue to move"
Satya said and started to go back to the main path.
The Shadow followed suit.
Soon they were once again on the stone laden path,
Their legs continued again on the journey, but Satya's mind was still stuck on what happened at the pond.
As they were continuing on their journey,
Soon they reached a bridge.
And Satya was amazed by the artist who made that bridge,
The bridge was an unique type of architecture, it was like the wooded architecture of Japan where they make some parts and interconnect them in a way so they maintain their shape without needing any bonding agent,
But the thing about this was that instead of wood it was stone they used.
To the left side of the bridge, was a waterfall and behind that waterfall, Satya could see some words shining in the glimmer of water,
They were "Apah pravaah"
As soon as those words were muttered by Satya,
A sudden shift in reality could be felt and the flowing water grew fierce.
The water was empowered by Satya's magic.
Satya without any effort could feel his magic being used without any imagination.
The water soon grew more fierce,
It was hitting the bridge with all of it's momentum, yet the marvel of stone architecture stood unfettered by the momentum of the water.
Soon as some moments passed in this manner the water grew calm and translucent once again.
Satya continued on his journey looking at this, keeping all of these moments in his heart.
As the sun was reaching towards the horizon painting the sky in hues of crimson.
Satya saw a signboard in front of him,
Some words were carved in stone on it by the ancient architects.
"Prathamottara"
[The first ascension] was what it meant according to Sanskrit.
True to it's name as soon Satya stepped inside, he felt as if he had crossed a barrier.
The Shadow remained outside.
"Why aren't you coming inside?"
"I can't"
The Shadow answered in a pained voice.
"Haa , the Shadow who said even reality can't stop him from talking is afraid of a mere barrier"
Satya mocked the Shadow.
"I actually can't, I have tried countless times in the past, but to no avail."
The Shadow Said Remembering the countless pain.
"Give it one more try.. For me atleast"
Satya looked at the Shadow.
The Shadow hopeless yet for Satya gave it one more try.
As if to fulfill the wish of Satya,
The Shadow was allowed inside.
The Shadow surprised by the turn of events looked around.
As soon as Satya's eyes lit up,
A formless pressure pressed down on the Shadow.
Even though it was intangible it was still treated like a tangible object.
The pressure was pushing the Shadow outside,
Reality was always such to give hope and to take it away in the next moment.
"Hard, but manageable"
The pressure of the barrier was still pushing the Shadow, but it managed to remain inside by it's will.
"Are you able to move.?"
"Yes"
The Shadow sounded reserved.
Satya looked behind him to see a wall.
It wasn't visible outside the barrier, but now inside Satya could see it clearly.
In the middle of the wall was a checkpost.
Satya walked inside it.
On it's walls Satya could see many shining scriptures.
Satya tried to figure out what they meant.
It read.
"The wall to keep safe the world beyond, from the broken ones,"
As soon as Satya read it
Something tried to crawl into his mind and he started screaming.
"Arghhhh"
{The ruins of old times,
Lay still new in the eternal world,
Breathing life into travellers,
By the end of the gazing sun}