CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Chapter 17: The Trial of Shadows

The chamber pulsed with silence.

Lila had already returned from her trial glowing with the power of the Chrona Flame, and though the weight of her experience still lingered in the room, the others knew their own reckonings were far from over.

Kael stepped forward first.

The archway lit with a cold, rippling blue light. Without a word, she entered, swallowed by the glow.

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Kael's Trial: Drowning Flame

She found herself surrounded by water. An endless sea with no sky, no sun—just darkness. She swam, her limbs heavy, her breath ragged.

"You couldn't save her," the sea whispered. "You watched your sister drown."

Kael saw the face. Her sister. Pale. Smiling in memory but screaming in regret.

"You wear strength like armor to hide your guilt."

A wave crashed over her. She sank. And in the darkness, her sister's voice whispered: "It was never your fault."

Kael opened her eyes underwater. And cried. For the first time in years.