"Strange," he noted. "It's as if… it's alive. Always warm."

Dinara looked at him intently.

"Warm? Are you sure it's not just your own body heat? Metal usually takes on the temperature of the body."

"No, this is different." Alexei shook his head. "It was warm even when I first took it out of the envelope. And… this will sound strange, but sometimes it seems to pulse, as if it has a heartbeat."

Dinara nodded thoughtfully.

"In our mountains, there are legends about sacred objects possessing their own life force. Some shamans believe that certain stones or metals can 'remember' a person's energy or events." She smiled. "Of course, from a scientific perspective, this sounds fantastical. But here, in these ancient mountains, you sometimes start to believe such stories."

They fell silent, listening to the sounds outside. The wind rustled in the shrubs; somewhere in the distance, a night bird called. The pursuers, it seemed, couldn't be heard.

"We need to get some sleep," said Dinara. "Tomorrow we have a long journey ahead."

She turned off the lamp, and the grotto plunged into semi-darkness, illuminated only by moonlight filtering through the entrance. They made themselves as comfortable as possible on the narrow bench, pressing against each other for warmth. Nights in the mountains were cool even in summer.

"Thank you for coming to my aid," Alexei said quietly. "You could have simply refused when I called."

"I wanted to refuse," Dinara admitted. "But then I realized this might be my chance to learn the truth. About my grandfather, about the past… about everything."

"What truth?"

"I don't know. But all my life, I've had the feeling that there's some secret in our family. Grandfather never spoke of it directly, but sometimes, especially when he thought no one could hear him, he would whisper strange phrases. About light in water, about a key that would open a door… I thought it was just an old man's muttering. But now…"

She didn't finish the sentence, but Alexei understood. Now, with the appearance of the medallion, these strange phrases were beginning to make sense.

"We'll solve this mystery," he promised. "Together."

Dinara didn't answer, but in the darkness, her hand found his and squeezed it. And so they fell asleep—shoulder to shoulder, holding hands, under the protection of ancient rocks that held many secrets.

At some point during the night, Alexei had a strange dream. He stood on the shore of Issyk-Kul, and the water before him glowed from within, as if an enormous fire burned in its depths. From the water emerged the figure of a monk in dark clothing, who extended something shining toward him. Alexei wanted to move closer, but the water around the monk began to bubble and foam, forming a whirlpool. The monk shouted something Alexei couldn't understand and disappeared into the depths, and with him, the glow vanished as well.

Alexei awoke with a pounding heart. Beside him, Dinara breathed quietly, still holding his hand. Beyond the entrance to the grotto, dawn was breaking—the sky in the east was brightening, taking on a delicate pink hue. A new day was beginning, one that might bring them closer to unraveling the secret of the medallion and what it had protected for centuries.

Twilight descended on the mountain road as Bakyt's UAZ, having left behind the winding serpentine, entered a small valley. The last rays of the setting sun gilded the peaks of the surrounding mountains, but below, among gardens and low mud-brick houses, shadows were already deepening.