Chapter 1
Evara Jamwal
The mountains of Shimla had always felt like home to Evara Jamwal.
At nineteen, Evara lived in a beautiful wooden house perched on a quiet hillside, surrounded by endless apple orchards that stretched like a green ocean across the valley. In spring, the trees bloomed with delicate white flowers, and in autumn they carried apples so red they looked like tiny lanterns glowing under the golden sun.
Every morning the mountains woke slowly. Mist rolled lazily between the hills, birds sang from the tall pine trees, and the crisp cold air carried the sweet scent of apples.
Evara loved those mornings.
She would step out onto the balcony wrapped in a warm hoodie while her dog Kiwi—a fluffy bundle of chaos—ran excitedly around the yard as if the world had just begun again.
Evara was the only child of her parents, the center of their quiet little universe.
Her father, Professor Jamwal, taught literature at a university in Shimla. His world was made of books, poetry, and stories from centuries ago. Her mother often joked that while her father lived in novels, Evara lived on the hockey field.
And it was true.
Hockey was not just a sport for Evara.
It was her fire.
Fast, sharp, and fearless, she had earned a reputation as one of the most promising young players in her region. Her talent had eventually taken her far from the peaceful hills of Shimla to the competitive grounds of **Star Sports Academy in New Delhi.
For a while, life felt like a dream.
Professional coaches.
Intense training.
Players from all over the country fighting for the same goal.
Evara pushed herself harder every single day.
Until something happened.
Something that shattered that dream.
No one in Shimla knew the full story. Even her parents never asked too many questions. They only knew that one day their daughter came back home… quieter, emptier, and carrying a silence that no one could break.
The hockey stick that once never left her hands now rested untouched in the corner of her room.
Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months.
Evara stopped playing.
She stopped running.
Sometimes she barely even stepped outside.
Depression wrapped around her like the cold winter fog that often covered the hills of Shimla.
But healing, like the mountains, moves slowly.
It began with small things.
Kiwi dragging her outside for long walks through the orchards. The sound of wind moving through apple trees. The quiet evenings where her father read poetry on the balcony while the sky turned shades of orange and violet.
And one evening,
Her papa sat beside her and tell her a story that give a hope to her .
Almost without thinking, Evara picked up her hockey stick again.
The first strike was clumsy.
The second was better.
By the tenth shot, something inside her chest began to burn again.
The love for the game had never truly left her.
A few weeks later she heard about trials for **Glacier Peak Sports Academy in Manali—an academy famous for shaping national and international athletes.
The best of the best trained there.
At first, doubt crept back in.
What if she wasn’t strong enough anymore?
What if the past followed her there?
But then she remembered the girl she used to be.
And maybe… the girl she could become again.
So Evara Jamwal traveled to Manali and gave the trial with everything she had left.
Speed.
Skill.
Determination.
When the results were announced, she stood silently among dozens of players as the coach began reading the selected names.
For a moment, the world felt still.
Then she heard it.
“Evara Jamwal.”
Her heart skipped.
For the first time in months, a real smile appeared on her face.
Because maybe—just maybe—Glacier Peak Academy wasn’t just a new beginning.
Maybe it was the place where Evara Jamwal would find herself again.
