The sky above Nimora was a pale gray—not raining, not screaming. Just silent… as if it were waiting.
Adam and Zira walked along a strange stone path surrounded by twisted black pillars, from which incomprehensible whispers emerged. The place felt as if it were made from solidified moans—from stone that had cried until it hardened.
"This is… the Path of the Seven Veils," said Zira, her eyes cautiously watching every detail, tinged with ancient curiosity.
Adam, still bearing signs of exhaustion from yesterday's battles, muttered, "Will we find it there… the answer to all this? About my grandmother? About this world?"
"Perhaps," Zira replied. Then she suddenly stopped, turning toward him, her face closer this time, her eyes glowing a soft amber hue.
"Adam… do you still trust me? Even after I told you I've been watching you from the beginning?"
He hesitated, but took a step closer, looking at her for a long time, as if trying to decode her voice, her gaze… her very breath.
"I don't fully trust anyone here… but I need you. And for now, that's enough."
Simple words—but they struck Zira with an odd rhythm, caught somewhere between her caution and something deeper, perhaps desire… or something far older than desire.
She stepped forward and extended her hand. "Then come. Let's hear how the stone sings."
He extended his hand too. And when their fingers touched, the world around them trembled.
The ground cracked open at their feet, and a tall stone pillar rose, splitting in half to reveal… a small child made of stone, with pale blue glowing eyes and a voice unlike any other.
The stone child said, "Two have entered—but only one heart is worthy of passage."
They both stepped back, then looked at each other in heavy silence.
"What is this?" Adam asked.
Zira's whisper carried a quiet dread: "This is the Purity Test… the place knows who lies, who hides, who remains a prisoner of their past."
The stone child stepped closer. "Are you ready to sacrifice?"
Adam squeezed Zira's hand. For the first time, she wasn't gripping tightly—but gently, warily.
"We don't know everything about each other…" he said.
"But we're on the same path," she replied.
Then the stone began to sing… a melody from a forgotten time. And every painful memory started to return.
Adam remembered the day his mother died, the moment she was buried, the looks of the people around him, and his grandmother's eyes—hiding her tears behind her steel.
Zira remembered the face of an old lover—who betrayed her… or maybe she betrayed him. She no longer remembered who was guilty. Only the pain remained.
Then…
The stone dimmed. The child returned to stillness.
A voice from afar said:
"Passage granted… but the next encounter will not be merciful."
A new door opened before them—and this time, it looked like nothing they had ever seen.
Light. A forest made of crystal. And voices calling out—voices that sounded like their own.
Adam heard his voice say, "Go back."
And Zira heard herself whisper, "Don't tell him who you are."
But both of them stepped forward. Side by side. Slowly. Stubbornly. With two weary hearts.
---
📌 Awareness Test — Human Test 🔍
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