Chapter 6: A Test of Three
The morning sun was still low when the summons came.
Kiel had just arrived at the training hall, half-awake and holding a warm roll of bread between his teeth, when a courier handed him a sealed envelope with the Academy's Crimson Mark stamped into the wax.
He broke it open and read the contents twice, just to be sure.
Field Evaluation NoticeSelected participants: Kiel Ardent, Anna Valor, Elesio CordeonMission Type: Team TrialObjective: Relic recovery / Threat neutralizationLocation: Serent WoodsTime Limit: 12 hoursDeparture: Immediately
Kiel stood frozen for a moment.
He'd heard about these trials. Every so often, the academy handpicked three students to test together. It wasn't just about skill. It was about compatibility. Leadership. Decision-making under pressure.
The fact that Anna was on the list wasn't surprising.
The fact that Elesio was on it, too… that was deliberate.
Someone upstairs wanted to see what would happen when fire, steel, and a rifle were dropped into the same forest.
The three of them met at the north gate of Zephyr Academy.
Anna was the first to speak. "Of course they paired us."
Elesio gave a half-shrug. "Guess we made an impression."
Kiel just nodded, checking the buckles on his belt, his eyes scanning the tree line beyond the gates. He didn't say much. He hadn't said much since the Esten Hollow shrine.
He still hadn't told Anna or Elesio about the visions. About the blade. About the mark that still burned quietly in his memory.
They passed through the gates together, into the quiet expanse of Serent Woods—a vast, twisting forest full of old paths and even older secrets.
The mission seemed simple on the surface: locate a relic buried in a ruined temple, collect it, and report back. But the academy rarely tested students on things they already understood.
Something was waiting in those woods.
They moved in silence for the first hour.
Anna eventually broke it. "Alright, this is ridiculous. We're supposed to be a team. That means talking."
Elesio, walking a few paces ahead with his rifle over his shoulder, glanced back. "We're not in danger yet."
"Still," Anna pressed, "how do I know you won't disappear the second things go south?"
"You don't," he said calmly. "But I haven't yet, have I?"
Kiel, to everyone's surprise, chuckled.
Anna looked at him. "What's funny?"
He shrugged. "You two fight like siblings."
Elesio smirked. "And you watch like a tired parent."
Kiel nodded. "Sounds about right."
The ice broke, just a little.
By midday, they found the temple.
It was crumbling and moss-covered, half-swallowed by vines. The stone steps led down into darkness, a broken doorway leading into a chamber that smelled like damp earth and magic long left to rot.
Elesio scouted ahead, rifle ready. Anna lit her wand, casting a soft light that flickered down the hall. Kiel walked in the middle, listening. Always listening.
They moved carefully. Traps weren't uncommon in places like this, but what they found was worse.
The relic chamber was open. Too open.
No dust. No webs. And the relic—an orb of soft silver light—rested on a pedestal as if it had just been placed there.
Elesio raised his rifle. "That's bait."
Anna's light flared brighter. "Something's here."
Kiel stepped closer to the relic—and then froze.
He felt it again. That pulse inside his chest. The same feeling he had in the shrine. Recognition. A quiet voice saying:
We remember you.
"Get back," he said suddenly. "Now."
The air shifted.
From the darkness, shadows rippled. Not beasts. Not people. Something in between. Half-formed creatures with black skin like burned parchment, their mouths wide but silent.
They moved fast.
Anna raised a shield. Elesio dropped to one knee and fired—one shot, then two, both hitting dead center. The creatures slowed, stumbled, but didn't fall.
"Magic constructs," Elesio said through clenched teeth. "Not normal ones."
"They're guarding the relic," Anna shouted. "It's tied to whatever power they're feeding on."
Kiel gripped his short swords, eyes glowing faintly now, the way they had at the shrine.
He moved before he could think—sliding beneath a strike, parrying a clawed hand, flipping a dagger into the side of one creature's head.
Anna launched a burst of flame, lighting up the whole room. Elesio picked targets with precision, dropping enemies before they got too close.
And Kiel?
Kiel flowed between them. Like he belonged in the chaos. Like he'd done this before—many times before.
The fight ended as quickly as it had begun.
Ash and smoke filled the room. The relic still pulsed on its pedestal.
Elesio was breathing hard. His jacket was torn. Anna was nursing a burn on her shoulder.
Kiel stood still, hands bloodied, swords trembling in his grip.
"I felt it again," he said. "Like the shrine. Like it was pulling me toward it."
Anna stepped forward. "Then whatever this relic is... it's part of your past. Or your power."
Elesio watched him closely, his usual calm quieted by something like concern. "That wasn't just good fighting back there. You weren't human for a second."
Kiel looked at his hands, like they didn't belong to him anymore.
"I don't know what I am," he admitted. "But something's waking up. And it doesn't want to sleep again."
They didn't talk much on the way back.
The relic was sealed in a case, slung over Elesio's shoulder. Whatever it was, it felt important. Dangerous. Alive.
By the time they returned to Zephyr, the sky had darkened.
Their mission had been a success on paper. But none of them felt like celebrating.
They'd worked as a team. But barely.
Something had shifted between them—trust, fear, and something deeper.
Kiel had changed.
And Elesio knew it.