Chapter 40 - Let's do a trial

  “We need to do a trial.”

  The words slipped from Ariel’s mouth before she even realized she’d spoken them.

  Lilia looked at her, confused, but Ariel didn’t meet her gaze. She couldn’t.

  If she did, Lilia might see the truth behind her eyes… and she wasn’t ready for that.

  Her voice was steady, but her hands still trembled faintly, gold veins flickering beneath her skin like fading embers. The ache was dull now, bearable, but it hadn’t left her. Nothing had.

  Lilia had been kind. She’d held her, whispered that none of this was her fault, that they’d make it through together. Ariel wanted to believe that. Gods, she wanted to.

  But her words were just that—comfort. Fragile, fleeting things meant to keep the truth at bay.

  Because the truth was simple.

  The city was gone because of her.

  Lilia didnt know.

  The light that devoured the city, the flames that burned through stone and sky — she knew their color. She’d seen it reflected in her own hands.

  And Ryn’s burns… the way his skin had seared, the way his armor had melted…

  It had been her doing.

  She had done this.

  But now she knew what she had to do.

  If there really was a trial, Maybe it was a chance.

  A way to make things right.

  A way to give Ryn and Lilia something she no longer deserved.

  Every blessing demanded a cost.

  Every life spared demanded a price.

  So she would pay it.

  To atone.

  For her survival.

  For her betrayal.

  For everything she had destroyed.

  Her gaze lifted to the faint glow of the fractured moon through the cracks in the hollow.

  Every shadow seemed to whisper the same words.

  Do a trial.

  Ariel exhaled slowly.

  Yes.

  She would.

  ***

  “Ariel… what are you talking about?” Lilia whispered. “You’re barely—”

  Ariel shook her head. “We won’t survive if we stay here.”

  Lilia looked down.

  “But a trial…”

  Her words faltered. “…P-People die in those, Ariel.”

  "I know." Ariel didn't meet her eyes.

  "Then why—"

  She looked down at her hands. Her voice came quieter, hollow, trembling.

  “If we stay here, we die. Ryn won’t last too long like this. And we…”

  Her eyes drifted toward the crack in the hollow. Only the pale light from the moon poured through now, but the memory of the aberration lingered like a stain. She shuddered.

  The faint golden traces still pulsed beneath her skin

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  A long silence settled over them.

  The only sounds were the faint rasp of their breathing and the slow, uneven drip of water somewhere deeper in the hollow.

  Ariel drew in a shaky breath, steadying her voice before she spoke again.

  “Lilia… you’ve seen it too, haven’t you?” Her words came quietly… but sure.

  “They’re drawn to me.”

  She swallowed hard, glancing toward the cracks in the hollow where the fractured moon’s pale light bled through.

  “There’s no denying it anymore. I’m… a beacon to them. I'm the apostle of a celestial, Every aberration in these woods can probably feel me. The longer we stay here, the more will come.”

  She paused, rubbing her hands together.

  “Even if my blessing hasn’t awakened yet.”

  Lilia’s eyes narrowed.

  Ariel hesitated. Her voice dropped lower, trembling.

  “And not just beasts… not the mindless kind that screech and tear. The others will come too. The ones that can think."

  Her gaze drifted, unfocused, as though she could already see them in the distance. “The ones that can hunt.”

  The words hung in the air, brittle and cold.

  “And when they do…” She exhaled, the sound catching in her throat. “We won’t stand a chance.”

  Lilia opened her mouth to speak, hesitating before she finally whispered,

  “But… How—how would a trial help us?”

  Ariel turned to her slowly, golden eyes hollow but steady, the faint cracks of gold under her skin pulsing once before fading.

  “If we do a trial,” she said, “we’ll have a chance. A real one. We could earn new blessings, power enough to fight back, to survive… to win.”

  She paused, her tone hardening.

  “And if we’re strong enough…” A shaky breath. “Then the others — the ones that can think — they’ll keep their distance. No creature wants to cross three blessed.”

  Her hands trembled faintly in her lap.

  “So we do the trial,” she finished quietly. “Because if we don’t…”

  Her eyes flicked toward the hollow’s edge, to the faint shimmer of the fractured moon beyond.

  “…we die here.”

  Lilia’s voice trembled, her eyes wide and glistening in the pale moonlight.

  “I–I don’t understand what you’re saying, Ariel,” she stammered, shaking her head.

  “Even if we go… even if we try—” Her voice cracked.

  “We won’t survive those challenges. You’re still hurt, we’re exhausted, and Ryn—he’s injured, he’s our only real protection—”

  Ariel’s hand shot out, gripping Lilia’s shoulder.

  Her expression twisted before collapsing into a frown, then shifting again, caught somewhere between resolve and despair.

  It was like even her face couldn’t decide what emotion belonged there.

  “And if we stay here…” Ariel’s voice lowered, trembling.

  “That won’t change.”

  Her golden eyes flicked toward the darkness outside, the light of the veined moon catching faintly in her pupils.

  She leaned closer, voice cracking, trembling on the edge between reason and madness.

  “I need strength, Lilia.”

  The words hung for a moment, fragile as glass. Then, quieter, almost breaking:

  “We need it… or you’ll die.”

  Her gaze flicked downward, unfocused, her voice a whisper now. “ill lose both of you… Along with everything else.”

  She drew in a shaky breath, the faintest tremor running through her frame.

  “You and Ryn have to survive,”she whispered. "That's... that's all that matters."

  Her fingers clutched at Lilia’s sleeve. “Please, Lilia. Please.”

  Lilia stared at her for a long moment.

  Ariel’s expression was wrong—unreadable, stretched thin between exhaustion and something darker.

  Was she worried for her own survival… or for something else?

  Lilia’s hand twitched, reaching out to comfort her friend… then stopped halfway, hovering in the air before falling back to her side.

  A distant rumble echoed from the forest, soft at first, then fading.

  A beat of silence passed.

  Then, barely above a whisper—

  “…Fine.”

  Lilia swallowed hard, eyes lowering.

  “Let’s do the trial.”