Chapter 74 - Trial Meals

  Lilia drove the broken blade forward.

  It pierced the core.

  The sound that followed was sharp and delicate—like a gemstone fracturing from the inside.

  For a heartbeat, nothing moved.

  Then the tendrils collapsed.

  All around her, the writhing mass lost form, unraveling into strands of fading light and drifting dust. The pressure in the chamber vanished as if something immense had simply… let go.

  The creature was gone.

  Lilia staggered back as the remaining fragments dissolved, her legs finally giving out. She hit the ground hard and rolled onto her back, staring up at the fractured ceiling.

  Her chest rose and fell unevenly.

  She lay there for a long moment, breath ragged, hands trembling faintly at her sides.

  Silence filled the temple.

  Slowly, she rose, eyes darting across the chamber.

  She hadn’t seen Ryn.

  Her stomach tightened.

  Then—

  She spotted him.

  Slumped against a cracked wall, head tilted back, sword resting loosely in his hand. His chest rose and fell heavily. One eye was half-lidded, unfocused. Blood darkened the side of his armor.

  Exhausted.

  Injured.

  But clearly alive.

  The tension drained from her all at once.

  Lilia let herself fall back against the stone.

  It probably wasn’t safe.

  Definitely not safe.

  But they had survived two nights already.

  Their bodies had been pushed past their limits.

  Just a minute.

  Just a moment to breathe.

  Her eyes closed before she could even argue with herself.

  And sleep claimed her instantly.

  ***

  The next time Lilia woke, it was to warmth.

  Not darkness.

  Sunlight filtered through the broken ceiling above, pale gold and steady. Dust drifted lazily in the air, catching in the beams of light.

  And over it—

  A different glow.

  Softer. Warmer.

  She could hear Ariel’s breathing nearby, uneven, controlled.

  Heat spread slowly across Lilia’s skin. The scrape along her shoulder tightened. Bruises dulled. Torn flesh pulled itself back together beneath the steady pressure of Ariel’s Blessing.

  It blended strangely with the daylight, almost invisible unless you looked directly at it.

  Relief washed through her.

  Then guilt followed close behind.

  She had chosen to fight.

  To attack the aberration.

  So why was Ariel the one paying for it?

  Lilia pushed herself up abruptly.

  “I’m fine,” she said quickly, voice still rough with sleep. “You don’t have to—”

  She stopped.

  Ariel was kneeling in front of her, pale even under the sunlight. Sweat clung to her brow. The golden cracks beneath her skin flickered faintly, unstable.

  Their eyes met.

  Lilia hesitated.

  Then slowly lowered herself back down.

  “…Okay.”

  And let the warmth finish mending what it could

  By the time Ariel finished, her hands were shaking.

  “I need a moment,” she murmured, barely meeting Lilia’s eyes before pushing herself to her feet.

  There was a tightness in her expression that she couldn’t quite hide.

  She walked away slowly, one hand pressed lightly against her arm.

  Lilia frowned.

  She turned her gaze to Ryn.

  He was still unconscious, slumped where he had fallen. But the gashes that had torn through his armor were sealed now, the worst of the damage healed. Only dried blood and torn fabric remained.

  She turned and caught sight of Ariel’s silhouette disappearing into the light.

  That made the guilt worse.

  Lilia slowly took in the temple around them.

  What had already been ruins now looked shattered beyond recognition.

  Bones that once were spread on the floor lay splintered and scattered . Rubble blanketed the ground in uneven heaps. Several columns had collapsed entirely, leaving jagged silhouettes against the open sky.

  Dust hung thick in the air, turning the sunlight hazy and dull.

  The items that lay there were now strewn farther apart, half-buried beneath fallen stone.

  The temple hadn’t just survived the fight—

  Lilia turned toward the entrance—the place Ariel had somehow torn open without firing a beam.

  The stone there had been forced apart.

  Jagged slabs lay scattered outward, as if something had pushed from both sides at once. The edges of the rubble were darkened, scorched in uneven arcs, the stone warped and blackened.

  It had barely endured it.

  She scanned the chamber, searching for any trace of the aberration.

  Anything.

  A fragment of tendril. A shard of the core.

  There was nothing.

  No residue. No remains. No lingering glow.

  As if the fight had never happened.

  And yet the shattered pillars, the scorched stone, and the strain etched into their bodies proved otherwise.

  It had been real.

  And they needed rest.

  Lilia exhaled slowly.

  Then an idea formed.

  She stepped carefully through the broken entrance of the temple and out into the open field, the sunlight harsh against her eyes.

  She was looking for something specific.

  ***

  Ariel climbed to one of the higher arches of the temple.

  Not as high as the night before.

  Just high enough.

  It was a narrow curve of broken stone where she could sit, legs drawn in, the field stretching out below her—ruins scattered across patches of stubborn grass.

  Her body hurt.

  Not sharply.

  Not in one place.

  Just everywhere.

  Like her body didn't know anything outside of the aching.

  She’d pushed her power too far.

  Again.

  Ariel lifted her hands slowly.

  Faint golden cracks ran along her skin now, thinner than before but more numerous, tracing delicate lines across her fingers and wrists.

  Whatever she had done yesterday—

  It had cost her.

  Too much.

  She wondered about it often now.

  Ever since she’d learned the truth about her vow.

  What about her? What had it cost her mother?

  Had she suffered like this every time she used her power?

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  Had her body felt like it was splintering from the inside?

  If so…

  How had she endured it?

  Because Ariel…

  Ariel wasn’t really sure she could.

  The thought sat heavy in her chest.

  Movement in the field below caught her attention.

  She looked down.

  Lilia stepped out from the temple ruins, sunlight catching in her silver hair.

  She was carrying a rusted blade.

  Ariel frowned slightly.

  “What is she doing…” she whispered.

  ***

  Where was it… Lilia wondered.

  She walked slowly through the field, stepping over torn grass and broken stone, scanning the aftermath of the battle.

  The ground was scorched in uneven patches. The earth had been ripped open in long, jagged lines. The deeper the damage, the closer she knew she was getting.

  The air still carried the faint scent of something burned.

  She kept walking.

  And then—

  She found it.

  The corpse.

  The lizard-like aberration Ryn had killed the night before.

  It lay twisted across the ruined grass, its massive body motionless now, scales dulled and cracked where the fight had torn through it.

  Even dead, it made her pulse tighten.

  The memory of its speed. Its jaws. The way it had moved.

  A shiver ran down her spine.

  But there was no reason to be afraid.

  It was dead.

  They had killed it.

  The three of them.

  And now—

  Maybe it could sustain them.

  There was no rule saying they couldn’t.

  Lilia brought her hand to her chin

  Actually…

  Plenty of adventurers in the stories she’d read had survived by doing this.

  She let out a nervous smile

  So what was the worst that could happen…?

  Lilia raised the sword and drove it down.

  The blade pierced through with resistance.

  “Mm.”

  The scales were tougher than she’d expected, thick and layered, but once she broke through, the flesh beneath was softer. Warmer still from the sun.

  Maybe leaving it out here had helped.

  She pulled the blade free and adjusted her grip, then began cutting carefully into the torso, sawing through muscle with slow, deliberate movements.

  It wasn’t clean work.

  Sweat gathered along her brow and slipped down her temple as she worked. The scent was metallic. Heavy.

  After a while, she heard footsteps behind her.

  “What the hell are you doing, Lilia?”

  Ariel’s voice.

  Lilia paused mid-cut and turned her head.

  Ariel stood a few paces away, arms crossed, brows drawn together in disbelief.

  Sunlight caught faintly along the cracks in her skin and gold hair.

  Lilia met her gaze.

  “Uh…” she muttered, suddenly aware of how this looked.

  “Getting us… something to eat.”

  Ariel blinked.

  Then she strode forward and grabbed Lilia’s arm, turning it over. Her fingers moved quickly—checking her wrist, her shoulder, her forehead.

  “What are you doing?” Lilia asked quickly, startled.

  Ariel narrowed her eyes.

  “Making sure there isn’t something I forgot to heal. Like— I don’t know—your brain.”

  Lilia let out a small laugh despite herself.

  “I’m fine,” she said. “I just thought it would be a good idea.”

  Ariel stared at her in disbelief.

  “…Maybe you really have gone insane.”

  Lilia shook her head and giggled.

  “Not yet.”

  She glanced back at the carcass.

  “Just help me out. Trust me on this.”

  Ariel looked at her doubtfully.

  “It’ll be good,” Lilia insisted. “I swear.”

  Ariel narrowed her eyes, clearly unconvinced.

  Lilia shrugged.

  “Suit yourself.”

  She returned to cutting.

  A few seconds passed.

  Then she heard the rustle of cloth behind her.

  Ariel stepped forward with a resigned sigh and grabbed hold of the thick hide, helping pry it open.

  They worked in silence after that.

  It wasn’t clean work. The scales were tough, the flesh dense. Sweat gathered at their temples, mixing with grime and streaks of dark green blood.

  By the time they finished, nearly an hour had passed.

  Three thick slabs of meat lay on the grass beside them.

  They were both covered in dirt and dried blood.

  Lilia wiped her face with the back of her arm.

  “Now we just have to carry it,” she said.

  Ariel stared at the meat in visible disgust.

  Then, reluctantly, she nodded.

  They stacked the slabs and lifted them together, one on each side, the weight pulling at their arms as they began the slow walk back toward the temple.

  Green blood dripped steadily onto the grass behind them.

  They were nearly at the ruins when a voice stopped them.

  “…What.”

  Ryn stood a few paces away, staring.

  He shook his head once.

  “I don’t even want to know.”

  Without another word, he stepped forward and took part of the weight from them.

  The three of them carried the meat through the broken entrance and dropped it just inside.

  For a moment, none of them spoke.

  They just stood there, wiping blood from their arms.

  Ryn spoke first.

  “This is ridiculous.”

  Lilia shook her head, tapping a finger against her chin as if considering it seriously.

  “We could grill it.”

  Ryn just sighed and looked at Ariel.

  Ariel lifted her hands slightly.

  “Don’t look at me. I told her no too.”

  “You guys,” Lilia insisted, “I’ve actually read that aberration meat is really good. It doesn’t spoil easily either. If you think about it, we’re basically eating food straight from the gods. Especially since it’s from a trial.”

  Ryn shook his head slowly.

  “That's not the point.”

  “You don’t even know how that aberration formed,” he said. “For all we know, it used to be someone.”

  Lilia coughed awkwardly.

  “I doubt that.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “Fine, fine, I get it,” Lilia said quickly. “But we’re going to be fighting for who knows how many more nights. If the aberrations are like last night’s, this might be our only chance at food.”

  Ryn stared at her for a long moment.

  “I’d rather starve,” he said flatly. “I’ve seen desperate people.”

  A beat.

  “They don’t eat aberrations.”

  He stepped back slightly.

  “But I’m not stopping you, ”

  Lilia nodded.

  Then she got to work.

  She dragged the slabs of meat closer to a clearer patch of stone and knelt beside them, brushing dust from her hands. The flesh was dense and dark, threaded with unfamiliar veins of faint green.

  She paused for a moment.

  She wasn’t entirely sure how to make aberration taste good.

  But its biology wasn’t that different from a real animal. Muscle was muscle. Fat was fat. If it bled and had structure, it could be cleaned. Trimmed. Cooked.

  So she would treat it that way.

  Lilia began by slicing away the outer layers where the scales had been, carving off anything too fibrous or discolored. She worked carefully, separating thicker muscle from the tougher connective strands, setting aside pieces that looked usable.

  The smell wasn’t pleasant, but it wasn’t rotten either.

  That was promising.

  She scraped the blade clean against a flat stone and trimmed again, this time cutting the meat into thinner strips so it would cook faster and more evenly. Her movements were steady, precise—years of kitchen work guiding her hands even here, in a broken temple under six suns.

  If she had herbs, she would have used them.

  Salt would’ve helped.

  But all she had was fire.

  Ariel stood nearby, watching.

  At first, her expression was tight with visible disgust. Her nose wrinkled slightly every time the blade sank into flesh. She folded her arms and looked like she wanted to object again.

  But she didn’t.

  Instead, she studied the meat.

  Studied the way Lilia trimmed it, separating what was usable from what wasn’t.

  Gradually, the tension in Ariel’s expression eased.

  She still didn’t like it.

  But it didn’t look monstrous anymore.

  Lilia held up one of the trimmed strips and inspected it in the light.

  “If it cooks like normal protein,” she muttered, mostly to herself, “we’ll be fine.”

  Ariel didn’t respond.

  But she didn’t look away either.

  Lilia gathered a few loose stones and arranged them into a small circle near the entrance, clearing away dust and broken debris. She tore a strip of cloth from one of the discarded wrappings and began twisting it tightly, searching for something dry enough to catch.

  She reached for the flint—

  But Ariel stepped forward first.

  Without a word, she knelt beside the stones and held her palm just above the cloth.

  A faint glow formed.

  Not a beam.

  Just warmth.

  A controlled spark.

  The cloth smoldered, then caught, a small, steady flame rising between the stones.

  Lilia glanced at her.

  “…Thanks.”

  Ariel only nodded, withdrawing her hand slowly.

  They laid the strips of meat across a flat piece of stone balanced over the fire.

  At first, nothing happened.

  Then—

  A soft sizzle.

  Fat began to melt and drip, hissing faintly as it hit the flames. The surface darkened, edges curling slightly.

  The smell rose gradually.

  Rich.

  Savory.

  Unexpectedly pleasant.

  It filled the temple, blending with dust and sunlight until the ruins were filled with it.

  Ariel blinked.

  “…It smells good.”

  From somewhere deeper inside the temple, there was the sound of footsteps.

  Ryn appeared a moment later, drawn by the scent.

  He stopped when he saw what they were doing.

  His eyes shifted to the fire.

  Then to the meat.

  Then back to them.

  His stomach rumbled slightly.

  Lilia laughed softly.

  “You can’t deny it doesn’t smell too bad.”

  Ryn gave the fire a skeptical look but eventually sat down beside them.

  Ariel tilted her head slightly.

  “What happened to it being unsafe to eat, knight?”

  Lilia grinned.

  “I thought you said it might’ve been a previous human.”

  Ryn’s stomach betrayed him again with a low rumble.

  He looked away.

  “The likelihood of that is low,” he muttered.

  That did it.

  Ariel and Lilia both laughed.

  The sound of their laughter still lingered faintly in the ruined temple.

  Before long, the meat was done. Crisp along the edges, juices running clear where Lilia had cut it.

  She reached for the first piece.

  Even though it had been her idea, a flicker of hesitation tightened her chest.

  Was this really safe?

  But the hollow ache in her stomach answered for her.

  Lilia lifted the strip to her mouth and took a careful bite.

  She chewed slowly.

  Ryn and Ariel watched her without blinking.

  She kept chewing.

  Then her eyes widened.

  She swallowed.

  And took another bite.

  “This is—” she paused, almost disbelieving. “This is incredible.”

  Ariel looked at her, then at the meat, suspicion written plainly across her face.

  After a moment, she reached forward and tore off a piece for herself.

  She took a cautious bite.

  Then another.

  Her expression shifted.

  Before Ryn fully registered it, Ariel had already reached for another strip from the stone.

  Ryn sighed.

  He muttered something neither ariel or lilia could hear.

  Yet he took a bite anyway.

  And then another.

  It was good.

  Better than good.

  Rich. Savory. Deep in a way, normal meat wasn’t.

  For a brief moment, the ache in their bodies felt distant.

  Maybe aberration meat really did have something unusual about it.

  They kept eating.

  Above them, the six suns burned high in the sky, pale light spilling across the shattered field and broken temple walls.

  Before any of them realized it, Ariel and Ryn reached for the last piece at the same time.

  Their hands bumped.

  They both paused.

  Then—

  Ariel moved first.

  She snatched the strip from his grip and shoved it into her mouth before he could react.

  Ryn stared at her.

  Ariel chewed slowly, refusing to look at him.

  Lilia watched the two of them for a second.

  And burst out laughing.