Selena's POV
They were swallowed by flame.
But the fire didn't burn. It tested.
Each stood in a separate circle, cut off from the world — and from me.
I couldn't reach them. I couldn't speak. All I could do was watch as the Trial of Worth unraveled them from the inside out.
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🔮 Alaïra's Trial – "The Eyes Beyond"
The silver-eyed seer stood frozen, her lashes fluttering as if caught in a dream.
Suddenly, her knees buckled. A thousand voices cried in her ears. She fell into vision after vision — worlds she had seen, futures that never happened, deaths she had watched a hundred times in silence.
> "You watched the fall of kings and said nothing," a voice accused.
> "You let your sister die to preserve a prophecy."
Alaïra wept, hands pressed to her ears. "I didn't choose the visions! I was only a vessel!"
But the Trial showed her face — not in the mirror, but in a shallow pool of blood. It whispered:
> "You can no longer watch. You must act."
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⚔️ Tovian's Trial – "The Blade Remembers"
The old warrior stood still, surrounded by echoes of every battle he had ever survived. He saw his former comrades — faces aged and young, bleeding, dying.
> "You killed for kings who fed on children," a ghost hissed.
> "You called it war. But it was slaughter."
Tovian clenched his fists. "I followed orders."
The shade of a boy — maybe fifteen — walked toward him with empty eyes. "You followed monsters."
Blood dripped from Tovian's sword though it had not moved.
> "Can you still raise this blade for someone unproven?" the voice asked.
> "Yes," Tovian whispered. "But this time, I choose who I fight for."
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🩶 Nyra's Trial – "The Mirror of Hate"
Nyra stood in a dark void, facing a copy of herself.
The twin sneered. "You hate her because you envy her."
Nyra drew a dagger. "I hate her because she's dangerous."
> "You hate her because you are her," the reflection said. "Same blood. Same rage."
The room filled with fire. It morphed into her childhood village — burned by vampires. Her family screamed.
Nyra fell to her knees, trembling.
> "If you could kill her," the Trial whispered, "would it bring them back?"
Nyra didn't answer.
She simply stood, face wet with tears, and dropped the dagger.
> "No," she whispered. "But killing her won't stop me from becoming what I hate."
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❤️ Zack's Trial – "The Heart's Betrayal"
Zack stood in a school hallway — familiar, fluorescent, painfully normal.
He saw me — Selena.
But not the real me.
It was the girl I used to be — laughing, hiding from teachers, teasing him. Human. Innocent. Safe.
> "She's gone," a voice said.
> "No," Zack replied. "She's still in there."
The hallway twisted. Now I stood before him again — but as I am now. Crimson eyes. Shadow-touched. Queen of nothing.
> "You can't save her," the illusion said.
> "Maybe not," Zack whispered. "But I can stand with her. Even if it kills me."
His chest burned. A mark flared there — the Bloodbound sigil.
> "You bleed for her," the voice said.
> "Every time."
And the trial accepted his vow.
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The flames died down.
Each of them stood, shaken. But not broken.
I stepped forward, my voice echoing in the silence.
> "You've seen your truths. Still, you remain?"
One by one, they nodded.
Alaïra met my eyes. "You're not the Queen they wanted. But maybe you're the one we needed."
Tovian knelt, hand on his sword. "Lead, and I will guard your back."
Nyra scoffed. "I still don't like you. But I'll fight beside you — for now."
And Zack?
He didn't say a word.
He just stepped to my side, and took my hand.
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The Trial was complete.
I wasn't the same girl who'd been lost in the woods, or whispered about in high school halls.
I was their storm now.
And the world would soon feel it.
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