The giant golden doors slammed shut behind Ayaan with a deafening BOOM.<\/p>\n
Dust rained from the ancient ceiling.<\/p>\n
The sound echoed endlessly through the hidden treasure chamber while the poor boy stood frozen before the massive throne.<\/p>\n
The old Maharaja remained perfectly still.<\/p>\n
His glowing eyes never blinked.<\/p>\n
Never moved.<\/p>\n
Only watched.<\/p>\n
Ayaan tightened his grip on the torch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI-I think you made a mistake,\u201d he whispered nervously. \u201cI\u2019m nobody.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ancient king\u2019s expression darkened slightly.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d he said calmly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were hidden.\u201d<\/p>\n
The golden chamber suddenly trembled.<\/p>\n
Mountains of treasure glittered beneath flickering torchlight while strange glowing symbols slowly awakened across the walls.<\/p>\n
Ayaan stepped backward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
The Maharaja slowly rose from the throne.<\/p>\n
The sound of ancient gold armor scraping against stone filled the chamber.<\/p>\n
For a moment, the boy forgot how to breathe.<\/p>\n
Because the old king did not move like a weak man.<\/p>\n
He moved like something untouched by time itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was the last ruler of Suryagarh,\u201d the Maharaja said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe kingdom buried beneath this jungle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ayaan looked around the impossible chamber in disbelief.<\/p>\n
The lost golden kingdom from the old stories\u2026<\/p>\n
was real.<\/p>\n
The king slowly descended the throne steps.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you,\u201d he continued quietly, \u201ccarry the blood of my family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ayaan shook his head instantly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s impossible. I grew up begging in the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Maharaja stopped directly before him.<\/p>\n
Then slowly lifted a trembling hand toward the boy\u2019s neck.<\/p>\n
Around Ayaan\u2019s throat hung a tiny broken pendant he had worn his entire life.<\/p>\n
The old king stared at it silently.<\/p>\n
Pain filled his ancient eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat symbol belonged to my daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ayaan froze.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy\u2026 mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
The Maharaja closed his eyes briefly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother escaped the massacre the night our kingdom fell.\u201d<\/p>\n
The chamber darkened.<\/p>\n
Far above them, thunder rumbled through the jungle ruins.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe traitors hunted every royal child,\u201d the king continued. \u201cSo she hid you among the poor where nobody would ever search for a prince.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prince.<\/p>\n
The word echoed inside Ayaan\u2019s mind like a dream.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo\u2026\u201d he whispered.<\/p>\n
But before the Maharaja could answer\u2014<\/p>\n
A loud horn suddenly echoed through the tunnels outside the chamber.<\/p>\n
The old king\u2019s expression instantly changed.<\/p>\n
Fear.<\/p>\n
Real fear.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey found the door.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ayaan turned toward the sealed entrance nervously.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho found us?\u201d<\/p>\n
The Maharaja looked toward the darkness beyond the treasure room.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe men who destroyed our kingdom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Suddenly\u2014<\/p>\n
Heavy impacts slammed against the giant golden doors.<\/p>\n
BOOM.<\/p>\n
BOOM.<\/p>\n
Dust exploded from the walls.<\/p>\n
Voices shouted from outside in a language Ayaan didn\u2019t recognize.<\/p>\n
The old king moved faster than humanly possible and grabbed a massive golden sword from beside the throne.<\/p>\n
Its blade ignited with glowing fire the moment he touched it.<\/p>\n
Ayaan stared in shock.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not just a king\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
The Maharaja\u2019s eyes burned brighter in the darkness.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another violent crash shook the chamber doors.<\/p>\n
Cracks began spreading across the ancient gold.<\/p>\n
The old ruler stepped protectively in front of Ayaan.<\/p>\n
For the first time in centuries\u2026<\/p>\n
the last king of Suryagarh prepared for war again.<\/p>\n
And somewhere beyond the collapsing doors\u2026<\/p>\n
the enemies who wiped out an entire kingdom had finally come to finish the bloodline forever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The giant golden doors slammed shut behind Ayaan with a deafening BOOM. Dust rained from the ancient ceiling. The sound echoed endlessly through the hidden treasure chamber while the poor boy stood frozen before the massive throne. The old Maharaja remained perfectly still. His glowing eyes never blinked. Never moved. Only watched. Ayaan tightened his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}