Darkness took everything.
One moment—
Feroz stood in the stone room.
Yusuf.Mrs. Aliya.
All there.
Then—
Nothing.
Gone.
He was alone.
In complete black.
No light.
No sound.
No ground.
Feroz turned quickly.
"Mrs. Aliya?"
No answer.
"Yusuf?!"
Still nothing.
His voice echoed—
Lost.
Swallowed.
The air felt cold.
Sharp.
Like winter cutting through him.
The silence—
Too deep.
Too heavy.
His own heartbeat sounded loud.
Then—
Whispers.
Soft.
Faint.
Then louder.
More voices.
More and more.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
All speaking at once.
"You're not ready."
"You are weak."
"You will fail… like your father."
Feroz clenched his fists.
"This isn't real."
But it felt real.
Too real.
The darkness moved.
Twisting.
Shifting.
Then—
Shapes formed.
Figures stepped out.
Cloaked.
Faceless.
The same shadows.
The ones that chased him before.
But this time—
They didn't wait.
They attacked.
Feroz reacted fast.
Raised his arms—
BOOM.
Light exploded from his hands.
Two shadows flew back.
Gone.
But more came.
Ten.
Twenty.
Maybe more.
Everywhere.
He jumped back.
Dodged a strike.
Dark tendrils cutting through the air.
His breathing grew fast.
Heavy.
His chest burned.
The power inside him rose again.
Wild.
Unstable.
Like a storm.
He struck again—
Another blast.
More shadows broke.
But—
His vision blurred.
His legs weakened.
He was getting tired.
Too fast.
One shadow rushed him.
Claws ready—
To tear through him—
And then—
A voice.
Inside his head.
Calm.
Deep.
"Don't run from it…"
"Feel it."
"Let it flow."
Feroz froze.
That voice—
Not his.
Familiar.
His father?
He stopped fighting it.
Stopped forcing it.
The energy changed.
It wasn't fire anymore.
Not something outside him.
It felt… natural.
Like blood.
Like it belonged.
He took a slow breath.
The next shadow came—
Fast.
But Feroz didn't panic.
He lifted his hand.
Calm.
Focused.
A beam of light shot forward.
Clean.
Precise.
It hit—
The shadow broke.
Gone.
Smoke.
He moved again.
Not wild now.
Controlled.
Each strike—
Clean.
Each movement—
Sharp.
Time passed.
Seconds—
Or hours.
He didn't know.
Until—
The shadows stopped.
Faded.
Gone.
Silence returned.
Feroz dropped to his knees.
Breathing hard.
Exhausted.
Then—
The darkness lifted.
Slowly.
The world came back.
Stone walls.
Candlelight.
The room.
Mrs. Aliya stood to the side.
Watching.
Eyes wide.
Yusuf leaned against the wall.
Arms crossed.
Calm.
"You lasted longer than I thought," he said.
Feroz looked up.
Still breathing heavy.
"Was that… real?"
Yusuf nodded slightly.
"Real enough."
A pause.
"The shadows came from your mind."
"Your fears."
"Your memories."
"But the danger…"
He looked at him directly.
"That was real."
"If you failed—"
"You wouldn't wake up."
Feroz wiped the sweat from his face.
"So… I passed?"
Yusuf studied him.
Then nodded.
"You have power."
"But power alone means nothing."
"You need control."
A pause.
"This was only the beginning."
Mrs. Aliya stepped closer.
Placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You are stronger than you think."
"But this is not over."
"The Free Masons will come again."
"And next time—"
"They won't send shadows."
Yusuf's face darkened.
"They already know."
A pause.
"He's alive."
Silence.
Feroz stood up slowly.
Tired.
But different now.
His eyes sharper.
Steadier.
"Then let them come."