The battlefield reshaped itself with a violent lurch. One moment Kaelen stood on crystal floors, the next he was ankle-deep in ash, the air reeking of burnt metal and ozone. The trial's shifting reality pulled no punches.
Across from him, Commander Seris Dhal advanced, his obsidian armor pulsing with red veins of energy. Each step left a smoking crater. His weapon—a massive glaive of condensed gravity—sang with a low hum that bent the air around it.
"You're nothing but a relic of failed wars," Seris said coldly. "Step aside, and perhaps I'll spare her life."
Kaelen's jaw tightened. "Over my dead body."
Their weapons met with an explosion that ripped the ashlands apart, shockwaves scattering shards of molten earth into the void.
Meanwhile, the battlefield split again—Lyra was pulled onto a floating platform above an ocean of black flame. She staggered, clutching her head, as voices clawed at her thoughts. The Seed's trial was no longer metaphorical—it was dissecting her, pitting fragments of herself against each other.
From the shadows, Althira Venn emerged, blade already drawn. She didn't rush. Instead, she circled Lyra like a predator.
"You're unraveling," Althira murmured, voice calm, almost pitying. "The Seed doesn't want you. It's burning you alive."
Lyra's breath shuddered, the glow beneath her skin flickering erratically. "I won't… give in."
"Then you'll die screaming."
And then the ground quaked—Kaelith the Flamebound erupted from the black ocean, lava dripping from his molten flesh. His roar shook the platform as he hurled a torrent of fire skyward. The heat alone threatened to incinerate everything.
Above it all, the celestial jury of the Architects watched, their faceless heads tilting ever so slightly. Judging. Waiting.
Kaelen locked blades with Seris again, teeth gritted as sparks flew. "Lyra—hold on!" he shouted through the chaos.
But Lyra was already falling to her knees, the voices of infinity clawing deeper. For the first time, doubt seeped into her eyes.
And in that moment, Seris, Althira, and Kaelith all turned toward her—the Seed's glow blazing like a beacon.
They didn't just want to fight each other.
They wanted her.