The moment Kael's boot crossed the threshold of the ancient gate, the world shifted.
Gone were the cold winds of the Frostpeak Mountains. Gone were the towering ruins and the glow of magical wards. Instead, an eerie silence fell over him like a suffocating fog.
He stood in a long, shadowed corridor, the stone beneath his feet slick with unseen moisture. The walls pulsed faintly—alive, breathing, like they watched him.
Then the whispers began.
---
"You let them die…"
"You were too weak to save them…"
"Why did you leave her behind?"
---
Kael drew his blade on instinct, spinning—but there was no enemy, no figure to confront. Only echoes of a past long buried. The voices slithered into his mind, clawing at memories he had long since buried beneath steel and silence.
A door appeared ahead of him—massive, blackened, carved with ancient runes. The air rippled with oppressive energy.
The Trial of Blood had begun.
---
Elsewhere: The City of Emberlight – Moonstone Chamber
Within the highest spire of Emberlight, beneath the shimmering blue moonstones that powered the city's arcane infrastructure, a council met in secret. Robed figures, their faces hidden by enchanted veils, gathered around a glowing crystal orb.
A projection flickered to life, showing Kael's party entering the ruins of Tormar.
"The stone has chosen a seeker," intoned a feminine voice, cold and clear. "But the fates are not yet sealed. Should he fail, the Midnight Court will be ready."
A new figure stepped forward—her wings veiled beneath a spell of concealment. The same winged woman who had been trailing Kael from the shadows.
"Let him succeed," she whispered, her lips curling with intrigue. "Let him fight and bleed and burn through the trials. When he reaches the Stone… we will take it."
---
Back Within the Ruins – Trial One: The Hall of Regret
Kael stepped through the darkened door. The scene before him made his breath catch in his throat.
It was his village, burning.
The screams pierced him before the smoke even reached his lungs. He stumbled through the illusion—no, it felt real. He saw himself, younger, kneeling beside his mother's lifeless body, clutching the sword he had only just learned to hold.
"If you had been stronger… she'd still be alive."
The illusion twisted. Now, Liora stood there, pierced by arrows, her body falling limp.
"You'll lose her too."
Kael fell to one knee, his heart pounding. Fear wrapped its fingers around his throat. Regret threatened to drown him.
Then—
A voice. Soft. Real. Familiar.
"Papa… don't be afraid."
He looked up. A figure stepped through the smoke—Lyra. Not the illusion, but a vision—clear, calm, her golden eyes shining like dawn.
"We're waiting for you. You're not that boy anymore."
The fog shuddered. Cracks formed in the illusion. Kael surged to his feet, sword blazing with flame.
"You're right," he growled. "I'm not."
He slashed forward—his blade tore through the scene like a burning wind. The illusions shattered, the hall dissolving into fragments of memory and shadow.
Kael stood alone once more, but something had changed.
His pulse was steady. His spirit calm. He had passed the Trial of Blood.
---
Outside the Gate – The Others Await
While Kael endured his trial, the rest of his party stood in a circle of ancient runes just beyond the ruins' entrance. Liora knelt in silence, her hand resting on the hilt of her dagger.
Saelith's eyes were closed, but her ears twitched.
"He's not alone in there," she said. "There's more than memory inside that city. Something is watching him."
Naevia narrowed her gaze toward the looming entrance. "What sort of guardian do you think the Stone left behind?"
Saelith didn't answer.
Because deep beneath the stone, far below even Kael's trial, something stirred.
A second presence. Not part of the ancient test. Not bound by the Eclipse Stone's magic.
But drawn to it.
Something old.
Something hungry.