Tanthai awoke just before dawn, startled from sleep by the sound of whispers.
They weren't voices in the air—they were inside him.
He sat up quickly, chest tight, and looked around the small forest camp. The fire had burned low. Mia was curled near a tree with her map pouch under her head. Sangchai was already awake, sitting cross-legged and still as a statue.
Only the archer, the other Tanthai, stood at the edge of the clearing, sharpening his arrows.
The whispers faded as the morning light touched the serpent mark on Tanthai's arm. He rolled up his sleeve again. The golden coils shimmered faintly, still warm to the touch.
What is this thing?
He touched it gently, expecting pain, but it pulsed softly instead—almost like it was alive.
"Couldn't sleep?" a quiet voice asked.
He turned. Mia had opened her eyes, watching him with calm curiosity.
"No," he muttered. "The… mark. It feels strange. Like it's trying to say something."
Mia sat up and walked over, kneeling beside him.
"May I see?"
Tanthai hesitated, then nodded. He held out his arm.
She leaned in. Her fingers were gentle as she traced around the mark without touching it directly. Her brow furrowed.
"It's not like any curse or blessing I've seen," she whispered. "It's old. Older than the trees here. It's not just a symbol—it's a seal."
"A seal for what?"
She didn't answer. But her eyes showed fear.
Sangchai approached silently. "It is a seal for memory. And for power."
Tanthai looked up. "What kind of power?"
"The kind that was buried for a reason."
After a quick meal, the group began their journey deeper into the jungle. Their goal, Sangchai explained, was a sacred pool called Nam Kan, where spirit-seers once purified themselves. If the mark was reacting, that pool might help reveal its truth.
The jungle changed as they walked.
The air grew heavier, and the plants grew stranger. Leaves twisted into unnatural shapes. Vines moved ever so slightly, like they were breathing. Tanthai felt his skin itch beneath his clothes.
But it wasn't just the jungle changing—he was.
Every hour, his senses felt sharper. He could hear the quiet splash of a frog in the distance. He noticed tiny details in the soil. His dreams, even while walking, grew stronger—flashes of gold temples, rivers filled with fire, a woman's voice calling his name.
He didn't tell the others. Not yet.
When they reached the sacred pool, it was nearly dusk.
It wasn't large—just a circle of still, black water surrounded by flat stones and broken statues. The biggest was a naga coiled around a pillar, her fangs chipped, her eyes long faded.
Sangchai bowed before it. Mia lit small candles along the edges. The archer stood at the tree line, watching the shadows.
Tanthai stepped forward slowly.
His heart beat faster. The mark on his arm grew hotter.
He knelt by the edge of the water.
"Place your hand in," Sangchai said softly.
Tanthai did.
The moment his skin touched the surface, the world tilted.
He was no longer in the jungle.
He was standing in a palace made of green stone and gold. The ceiling was open to a sky filled with stars. A wide river flowed through the center of the room. Sitting on a throne at the far end was a woman with serpent eyes and a crown of water lilies.
Tanthai fell to his knees.
"You have returned," the woman said.
He opened his mouth, but no sound came.
"You carry my mark," she said. "But your heart is still asleep. You must remember, or all will be lost."
Tanthai reached out to her. "Who are you?"
But her form blurred—and was replaced by flames.
The palace collapsed. The river turned black. Screams echoed in every corner. Fire swallowed the walls. He saw a shadow—a monk with burning eyes—ripping open a temple gate.
And then he saw himself—or someone who looked like him—lying dead at the edge of a shattered shrine, the same mark on his arm.
Tanthai gasped and pulled his hand out of the water, falling backward.
His chest heaved. Sweat poured from his face.
Mia rushed to him. "Are you alright?"
"I saw… something. I saw her."
"Who?" Sangchai asked gently.
"The Naga Queen."
His voice trembled. "She spoke to me. She said I carry her mark. But I don't understand. None of this makes sense."
"She chose you," Sangchai said. "Even if you don't understand why."
Tanthai pressed his hands into the dirt.
"I saw a monk. He destroyed everything. He… he had fire in his eyes."
The archer's expression darkened. "That's him. Phra Malok. The monk who walks between death and life."
"He was the one in my vision."
Mia sat beside him. "If the Queen is showing you the past, it means you're not just marked. You're bound to her fate."
Tanthai felt sick.
"I'm just a student," he whispered. "I got into fights. Skipped class. I'm not a prince or a warrior. Why would she choose me?"
"Maybe you're not meant to be either," Sangchai said. "Maybe you're meant to be something else. Something no one has seen yet."
That night, as the others rested, Tanthai sat by the pool, watching the stars reflect in the black water.
His hand still burned from the vision.
He closed his eyes, letting the memory wash over him again. The Naga Queen's voice. The fire. The death. His own body lying motionless beneath a broken sky.
If he really had lived before—if he had failed once—what did that mean now?
He heard Mia's soft footsteps before she sat next to him.
"You look like you're about to break," she said gently.
Tanthai gave a small, bitter smile. "I already did. I broke the day I left home. I just didn't know it yet."
She didn't reply right away. Instead, she reached into her pouch and handed him a folded piece of dried banana leaf. Inside were herbs crushed into a paste.
"For the shaking," she said. "It helps when the world feels too loud."
Tanthai took it, surprised by her care.
"Thank you," he said, voice low.
Mia looked out at the pool. "You know, when I lost my brother, I thought it would kill me. But the pain taught me how to survive. And that's what you're doing now—surviving."
He stared at the stars. "I don't want to just survive. I want to fix something. Maybe for once, I want to be useful."
Mia smiled. "Then start with us. We believe in you—even if you don't yet."
End of Part 3