The courtyard fires blazed brighter, their flames unnaturally tall, twisting into shapes that seemed half-alive. The chanting of the Keepers rose and fell like a tide, their voices weaving a spell that sank into stone and air alike.
The silver-haired Keeper stepped forward, her staff crowned with a shard of crystal glowing in rhythm with the fire. "To wield flame and blade is not only to fight the Shadow King—it is to fight yourselves. What burns within you will either strengthen you… or consume you. This trial will show which."
Before Kael or Isolde could answer, the world shifted. The courtyard dissolved into mist, the ground beneath their feet melting away until they stood in a boundless void of shadows and flame.
Isolde gasped, clutching her chest. "Kael…"
He gripped her hand, his jaw tight. "Stay close. This is their test."
The mist coiled, shaping itself into visions. Before Isolde appeared a mirror of herself—eyes blazing, skin cracked with golden fire, a monstrous radiance spilling from every breath. The figure's voice was her own, but twisted, triumphant.
"Why resist? You were born to burn. They will bow to you—or they will turn to ash. That is the flame's destiny."
Isolde staggered back, horror knotting in her chest. "No. That's not who I am."
The doppelgänger laughed, each note a hiss of fire. "You cannot save them all, Isolde. Better to rule than to be ruled. Better to burn than to be broken."
Her mark seared hotter, tempting, urging her to give in.
---
Meanwhile, Kael faced his own vision. Out of the mist stepped his father, King Aldric, but not as he knew him. This Aldric's crown was broken, his eyes hollow, his voice filled with bitterness.
"My son. You defy your king, betray your blood, for a girl cursed by shadow. Because of you, the kingdom falls."
Behind him, phantom soldiers lay scattered, Aeloria in ruins. The Moonsilver Sword in Kael's hand dripped with black ichor, as though it had slain not shadows but men.
"You are no heir," the vision sneered. "You are a traitor who doomed us all."
Kael's breath caught, guilt slicing deep. He saw again the faces of his men at the border, those who had fallen under his command, their ghosts staring with hollow eyes.
---
The trials pressed harder. The voices of the false Isolde and the false Aldric rose together, echoing through the void.
"You will burn them. You will betray them. You are not saviors—you are ruin."
Isolde fell to her knees, clutching her chest as the golden fire threatened to tear free. Kael staggered, the weight of his father's judgment dragging him down.
But then, through the storm of lies, their hands found each other. Fingers locked, warmth surging between them.
Kael's voice was hoarse but unbroken. "You are not ruin, Isolde. You are light. My light."
Her gaze lifted to his, tears mingling with fire. "And you are not a traitor, Kael. You are the blade that stands when all else falls."
Their words cut through the illusions like steel. The monstrous doppelgänger shrieked, its fire collapsing into smoke. The phantom Aldric crumbled into ash, his crown scattering into nothing.
The void shattered.
---
They awoke on the stone floor of the courtyard, gasping, the fires dimming back to their mortal glow. The Keepers stood in silence, watching. The silver-haired woman stepped forward, her stern eyes softened by the faintest flicker of respect.
"You faced your own shadows… and you did not yield. Few have walked from such a trial with their will intact."
Isolde rose unsteadily, Kael's arm steadying her. "Then you'll stand with us?"
The woman inclined her head. "The Keepers do not bow easily. But the flame and the blade together may yet be enough. We will lend you our strength."
The fires roared higher, as though sealing the oath. For the first time, Kael and Isolde felt they were no longer alone. Allies had joined them—but the shadow was still rising, faster than ever.
And far away, in the Hollow's depths, a chain snapped.
The Shadow King stirred.
---