Echo of paradise: The legend of love and exile - Виктория Юрьевна Лутова

– every month, the tribe gathered under the Tree of Life to light two fires: one made of light, the other of darkness. These flames symbolized their dual nature. During the ritual, each participant could share their fears, doubts, and hopes, cleansing their souls and strengthening their connections with one another.

The Day of Unity – once a year, the tribe celebrated a special day when light and darkness reached balance. On this day, they engaged in constructive activities: building new dwellings, planting trees, or creating new beings. This day reminded them that their strength lay in working together.

The Song of Peace – the tribe sang this simple melody every morning. It conveyed harmony and gratitude for life.

These rituals helped the tribe maintain inner peace and strengthened their connection with nature and one another.

Chapter Forty-Five

The Tribe's Trials

But even with the guidance of Adam and Eve’s rituals and teachings, the tribe could not escape hardship. One day, a new force entered their world—a being born of neither light nor darkness. It was unpredictable, chaotic, and destructive.

The creature began to tear through their settlement, and the tribe had no idea how to stop it. Aura tried to banish it with light, but it consumed her power. Kronos tried to destroy it with darkness, but that only made the being stronger.

Then Lissa proposed a different solution: “We cannot defeat it, because it is not an enemy. It is a part of this world, just like we are. We must understand it.”

She approached the creature and began to engage with it, without trying to fight. Slowly, it began to calm, and the tribe realized the intruder was the embodiment of chaos—born from their own inner discord.

This experience became a lesson. The tribe understood they could no longer ignore their conflicts, and that each of them affected the world around them.

Chapter Forty-Six

The Philosophy of Balance

Over time, the tribe began to develop its own philosophy, rooted in the understanding that light and darkness were not merely forces, but different ways of perceiving the world around them.

Light helped them see beauty, inspiring harmony and order. Yet they also realized that too much light could be blinding and overwhelming.

Darkness, in turn, gave them the strength to change, to accept the unknown, and to overcome hardship. But they also understood that darkness could become destructive if not balanced by light.

The tribe taught their descendants that each of them carried both light and darkness within—and that their task was to find balance between the two.

Chapter Forty-Seven

The Legacy of Adam and Eve

Adam and Eve became more than just teachers to their tribe—they became embodiments of harmony. They were no longer simply creators, but an inseparable part of the community, equals among equals.

They watched their students grow, learning to overcome challenges and forge their own traditions.

Yet Adam and Eve understood their journey was far from over. They felt their world was only the beginning, and that new trials and discoveries awaited them.

Epilogue

A Living World

Adam and Eve’s tribe continued to grow. Each new day brought fresh lessons, new joys, and new trials. But they knew their strength lay in unity—in their ability to embrace both light and darkness.

Somewhere far away, in the silence of eternity, God watched over them. He saw how they grew, learned, and created. He knew their story was only beginning, yet also saw they were ready for what lay ahead.

Their world was alive, just as they were. And in that lay its true beauty.

PART NINE

BEYOND THE BORDERS OF EDEN

Chapter Forty-Eight

The Call of the Horizon

Many years after the founding of the tribe, as their settlement thrived, a new question began to stir in the hearts of Adam, Eve, and their students: What lay beyond their world? They knew their land stretched far past the visible horizon, but they had never dared to venture too far.

One day, Lissa—ever driven by curiosity and a thirst for discovery—approached Adam and Eve. “We’ve built our home here, but I feel there is more beyond this place. We cannot stay here forever. We need to find out what awaits us past the horizon,” she said.

Eve pondered. “Perhaps this is our next path. We’ve learned to find balance here, but maybe our world is greater than we imagine,” she replied.

Adam, though cautious, agreed. “If we go together, we can face whatever challenges come our way,” he said.

The tribe decided to send out a small group of explorers to discover what lay beyond their known world. The group included Lissa, Kronos, Feros, and two young members of the tribe, eager to prove their strength.

Chapter Forty-Nine

The Lands of Chaos

The journey beyond Eden proved to be arduous. They passed through dense forests where the trees seemed to live lives of their own, whispering in an unknown tongue. Then they crossed a desert where the sand was black and the sky a dull gray, as if darkness itself was watching their every move.

But the most mysterious of all were the Lands of Chaos. This was a realm where light and darkness had blended into something unstable. In one area, the land was bright and fertile; in another, barren and lifeless. The laws of their world seemed broken here.

Kronos felt powerful in these lands. “This place is born of darkness, but it is incomplete. There is no balance here,” he said.

Lissa, however, felt only unease. “If there is no balance, then this place is dangerous. We must be careful,” she warned.

The group pressed on, but soon encountered beings native to these lands—creatures that obeyed neither light nor darkness. They were chaotic, their forms ever-shifting, as if they could not find their true nature.

Chapter Fifty