episode 5

For a while after the temple was built, there was indeed peace. People would come during the day, light lamps, and say, "Everything is fine now."

But the night... it never became completely silent.

A priest was appointed to serve there. On the very first night, at exactly 2:17, the temple bell began to ring on its own.

*Ting... Ting... Ting...*

The priest thought it must be the wind. But as he looked toward the sanctum—the flame of the lamp stood perfectly still... there was absolutely no breeze.

And then he saw them—small, burnt footprints on the earthen floor...

leading straight into the temple.

The next morning, a message written in ash was found on the temple wall:

"I stopped him... but he still wakes."

The villagers were terrified, yet no one allowed the news to spread.

A few days later, another strange incident occurred.

A child, playing in the temple, suddenly froze. His eyes went blank, and in a low voice, he spoke:

"The door is shaking..."

Then, he collapsed.

That night, summoning his courage, the priest began to dig at the very spot where the pit had once been open.

Just a short depth down, he struck a stone slab.

Carved upon it were these words:

"Should the guardians falter... the path shall open once more."

The priest's hands began to tremble.

He lifted the slab—

A blast of cold air rushed up from below... followed by a faint whisper:

"Let me out..."

Suddenly, a voice called out from behind him—

"No."

The priest turned around.

There was no human being there...

only a faint apparition—the figure of a child.

The very same burnt footprints... but this time, they seemed not terrifying, but serene.

The voice spoke again:

"I am still here... I won't let him out..."

It was Aarav.

But there was no longer any human warmth in his eyes—only a sense of duty.

The priest asked softly:

"For how long...?" There was a moment of silence.

Then came the reply—

“Until someone else is ready to take my place…”

The very next day, a new warning was inscribed outside the temple:

“Do not come here at night.”

But it is human nature—one feels compelled to go precisely where one is forbidden.

One night, a group of boys snuck into the temple as a dare.

One of them laughed and said—

“Let’s see who stops us!”

The moment he approached that spot—

The ground trembled slightly.

And beneath his feet…

A thin fissure opened up.

From within, that same voice spoke—

“Will you take my place…?”

The other boys fled.

But that one boy remained standing right there…

As if someone had seized hold of him.

By morning, the temple was silent once again.

There was only a new inscription on the ground—

“The Guardian has changed.”

Now, the question is…

When the villagers arrived at the temple in the morning, there was something different in

the air—as if something heavy had been removed…

but not completely.

Written on the wall in ash was:

“I am leaving… but the door is still here.”

The priest understood—the guard had changed.

He immediately looked at the crack in the ground.

There was no hole there anymore… just a faint black mark, slowly pulsing—as if alive.

Just then, a shadow appeared in the corner of the temple.

This time it wasn't scary.

A child… calm… smiling slightly.

It was Aarav.

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