The Canyon Trials

[Shoto – Trial of Control]

Shoto hit the ground hard, sliding across obsidian stone.

The air was dead still. No wind. No echo. Just endless dark — and a circular platform beneath his feet.

Then light flared.

A reflection stood across from him. Same clothes. Same scars.

But its eyes were white-hot fire.

"You only win when you're angry," the reflection said.

"What happens when fury fails?"

Shoto's fists clenched. "You're not me."

"Aren't I?"

The doppelganger stepped forward, and the ground erupted in flame.

The trial had begun.

[Elizabeth – Trial of Choice]

Elizabeth woke in a quiet chamber.

In front of her stood a child — bleeding from the shoulder.

And behind her… Brandon, lying motionless, color fading from his face.

Then a voice:

"You can only heal one."

She gasped. "No. I can save both—"

"One lives. One fades. Choose."

Tears welled in her eyes as her power surged in both hands.

But her body wouldn't move.

Because this wasn't a healing test.

This was a heartbreaking illusion.

And she had to feel it to pass.

[Braydon – Trial of Temptation]

Braydon stood in a swirling void.

Ahead of him: a massive obsidian throne.

Sitting upon it — the creature that fell. Its body was a shifting mass of smoke, eyes like collapsed stars.

"You've already heard me. You've already obeyed."

"Finish the bond. Let me give you real power."

Gravity pulsed at Braydon's fingertips.

But he gritted his teeth.

"Not your puppet."

"Not yet."

The throne vanished.

A spike of gravity launched at his chest — his own power turning on him.

[KJ – Trial of Reflection]

KJ stood in a hallway of mirrors.

Every one showed a version of him: cruel, corrupted, marked.

They laughed at him.

"You think you're in control?" one sneered.

"You're already mine."

The shadows reached for his throat.

But then one mirror — cracked and faint — showed his real reflection. The one that had fought back.

KJ roared, darkness bursting from his core — shattering every mirror at once.

[Pate & Gage – Trial of Unity]

The two of them landed side by side — inside a collapsing cavern.

The walls pulsed with red light, each heartbeat triggering a stone fall.

"One of you must stay behind," a voice boomed.

"Only one path forward."

Pate looked at Gage.

Gage grinned.

"Wanna flip a coin?"

They both burst forward at once — refusing the choice.

And the canyon, for just a moment… laughed.