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

Eve turned away, but his words stirred something deep within her. She couldn’t explain why, but his love was both a comfort and a weight. She loved him, and yet, her love for God was greater.

And now, cast out from paradise, that love had become thirst.

A thirst to become what He was.

Chapter Two

The Voice of Darkness

Night had fallen, and with it came the cold.

Adam and Eve, sheltering beneath the trees, tried to sleep. But sleep would not come. For the first time, they felt fear. In paradise, there had been no night, no darkness, no unknown. Now, they were alone in a world that felt foreign and wide.

Eve lay on the ground, staring into the darkened sky. She thought of God—of how He had looked at her, of how He had loved her. But now, that gaze felt like a dream slowly fading. She closed her eyes—and heard a voice.

“Do you feel it, Eve?” the voice whispered—low and deep, like an echo rising from a void.

Eve’s eyes snapped open. She looked around. There was no one. Adam lay beside her, his breath slow and even. But the voice continued:

“That emptiness within you?

That is your strength.

That is your freedom.”

Eve sat up, wrapping her arms around her knees.

“Who are you?” she whispered.

“I am part of you.

I am the darkness you brought into this world.

I am what you could become.”

A chill moved across her skin. She didn’t know where the voice came from, but it had a strange, quiet calmness—almost comforting.

“I don’t want to be darkness,” she said.

The voice laughed, soft and hollow.

“You already are. Don’t you see?

You fractured God’s soul.

You cast yourself out of paradise.

You are the source of your sorrow.

But that is not weakness, Eve.

That is power.

You could be more than human.

You could be God.”

Eve hesitated. The words sounded like a promise, like the answer to the hunger that had been growing inside her.

And yet—deep within—something stirred in protest.

“Adam…” she whispered, glancing toward her sleeping husband.

“Adam is weak,” the voice replied. “He follows because he does not know who he is.

But you, Eve…

You know.

You feel.

You can become more.”

Eve closed her eyes, willing the voice to leave. But it did not.

It remained—quiet, steady, and impossibly close.

And in that moment, she understood:

it was part of her.

And it was not going away.

Chapter Three

The Road Ahead

At dawn, Adam and Eve set out on their journey.

They did not know where they were going, but they knew they must keep moving. The world around them was harsh, yet not devoid of beauty. The sun rose over the horizon, bathing the earth in a golden light.

Adam stole a glance at Eve, but she avoided his gaze. She was lost in thought, wrestling with something he could not understand. Still, he chose to stay by her side, no matter what lay ahead.

“We will find our way,” he said softly, trying to offer comfort.

Eve nodded, but within her heart, a storm raged.

She knew their path would be long, fraught with trials—through pain, darkness, and temptation.

But she also knew she could not stop.

She had to find answers.

She had to find herself.

Ahead of them stretched a world of tests, and a God who watched them with both love and sorrow.

Chapter Four

Shadows of the Past

Days turned into nights, and Adam and Eve pressed on.

The world around them felt alien, but it was not devoid of life. They found sustenance in wild fruits and drank from rivers, but all of it seemed but a pale shadow of what they had once known in paradise. With each step, they were reminded of all they had lost.

Eve withdrew further into herself. Her thoughts constantly returned to the moment she had touched God—when she had felt His soul. It had been like touching eternity, like gazing into an abyss where there was neither beginning nor end.

And now that abyss lived within her, whispering, calling her.

One day, as they rested at the foot of a hill, Adam spoke.

“You’re thinking of Him.”

His voice was soft, yet tinged with sorrow.

Eve turned toward him. Her eyes were filled with longing.

“I cannot forget, Adam. His light… His love… It was more than I could bear. I feel like a part of me is still there, with Him.”

Adam looked away. He knew he could not compete with God. He was but a man, formed from dust. But he also knew he could not let Eve go.

“I have lost a part of myself too, Eve. But we can find each other. We can create our own paradise.”

Eve looked at him, and in her gaze flickered a shadow of doubt.

“Adam, don’t you understand? We are no longer who we were. I feel it within me… The darkness. It grows. It calls to me.”

Adam stepped closer and took her hands in his.

“I feel it too. But I won’t let it win. We are together, Eve. We always will be.”

Eve wanted to believe him. But deep within, she knew their journey was only beginning. And ahead of them lay trials that might separate them forever.

Chapter Five

Temptation

On the third day of their journey, they encountered a mysterious figure who blocked their path. He was a man, yet not quite ordinary. His eyes glowed with an otherworldly light,