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

and his smile was as cold as the winter wind.

"Who are you?" Adam asked, stepping in front of Eve, as if to protect her.

The figure laughed softly.

"I am the one who knows what you seek. I am the one who can give you the answers."

Eve stepped forward, ignoring Adam’s warning gaze.

"Answers? What answers?"

"You seek God, don’t you?" the stranger spoke, his voice smooth, yet powerful.

"You wish to understand why He left you. Why He divided Himself. Why you can no longer be with Him."

Eve froze, the words struck her like a blow.

"Yes… I want to know."

The stranger took a step closer.

"You can know. But to do so, you must accept what you deny. You must embrace your darkness, Eve. You must become what you are destined to be."

Adam grabbed Eve’s hand, pulling her back.

"Don’t listen to him! This is a lie. God cast us out, but He didn’t abandon us. We must find our way back to Him ourselves."

The stranger turned his mocking gaze toward Adam.

"You, as always, are weak, Adam. You cling to what has already been lost. But Eve… she knows. She knows that true strength lies in acceptance. Tell me, Eve, don’t you feel that you were made for something greater?"

Eve hesitated. His words seeped into her soul like poison. She did feel that she was made for something more.

But at what cost?

"What do you want from me?" she asked.

"Nothing that you don’t already want yourself," the stranger replied.

"Simply allow yourself to become what you have always been. Let your darkness become your light."

Adam tugged at her hand.

"Eve, no! We must keep moving. Don’t listen to him!"

Eve looked at Adam, then at the stranger. A storm raged within her. She knew that the choice she made now would alter their fate forever.

Chapter Six

The Sundering

Eve turned away from the stranger and followed Adam.

Yet the words the stranger had spoken clung to her.

They were like a seed buried deep within her soul—

and she knew it would grow.

When they were alone again,

Eve asked the question that had long haunted her:

"Why do you always try to protect me?"

Adam replied,

"Because I love you."

Eve stopped and looked at him.

"But you don't understand me," she said.

"You don’t see what I feel.

You want to reclaim what we lost—

but I long for more.

I want to understand who I am."

Adam sighed.

"We lost paradise, Eve,

but we didn’t lose each other.

Isn’t that enough?"

Eve shook her head.

"I don’t know, Adam.

I don’t know."

And that night,

as Adam slept,

Eve heard the voice again.

"You’ve made a choice,

but this is not the end.

You know your path is not with him.

You must keep going."

Eve closed her eyes.

She knew the voice spoke the truth.

But she also knew

that every step she took

drew her farther from Adam—

and that was the deepest pain of all.

PART TWO

EXILE AND SEPARATION

Chapter Seven

Fire and Ice

Eve awoke in the stillness of night.

Moonlight filtered through the branches above, casting shadows across the earth.

Beside her, Adam slept peacefully—

his face serene, yet lined with weariness.

He bore not only the weight of exile,

but the burden of love—

a love that had become a trial.

Gently, Eve rose, careful not to wake him.

She felt a pull, invisible yet undeniable,

drawing her into the unknown.

It was the voice again—

not whispering this time,

but singing, low and entrancing,

reminding her of all she had lost.

She walked through the forest

until she reached a clearing bathed in silver light.

At its center stood a figure—

the same stranger they had encountered by day.

But now he appeared transformed.

His eyes glowed like embers,

and a cold wind curled around him.

"You’ve come," he said,

his voice both tender and commanding.

Eve stopped, her heart tightening.

"I don’t know why I’m here," she admitted.

The stranger smiled.

"You do. You always have.

You feel something inside you—

a force you cannot name.

You sense you were made for more.

And you are right."

Eve took a step closer.

"What do you want from me?"

"I want to help you, Eve," he said.

"I want to show you who you can become.

You think God has turned from you—

but He hasn’t.

He gave you a gift.

The gift of freedom.

The gift of choice.

You can become One with Him—

but only if you accept yourself.

All of yourself."

"Accept myself?" Eve echoed.

"Yes," the stranger said.

"You fear your darkness—

but it is part of you.

It is the part of God

He placed within you.

Embrace it,

and you will become more than human.

You will become what you were destined to be."

Eve looked at him,

feeling a fire ignite within her soul.

She knew his words were true—

and yet, they frightened her.

She thought of Adam—

his love, his struggle to hold on to her.

"And what about Adam?" she asked.

The stranger smirked.

"Adam is the past.

He is weak.

He cannot understand you—

because he cannot see what you see.

His place is behind you,

not beside you."

Eve closed her eyes.

Inside