The mountains loomed like jagged teeth against the pale horizon. The higher Kaelin climbed, the thinner the air became, each breath drawing cold needles into his lungs. Snow fell in restless spirals, hissing as it struck the frozen stone. His boots crunched through the frost, leaving deep marks that the wind began to swallow almost immediately.
Sova walked ahead, his steps steady as if the cold barely touched him. The old man's cloak flapped in the wind, revealing flashes of the carved staff he leaned on. He had said little since they left the ruins, only that they were heading toward the Glacier Monks, an order older than the Guilds themselves.
Kaelin's thoughts wandered to the battle they had just survived. The memory of the fire enforcer's eyes haunted him, and the ice wall he had conjured still burned in his mind. He had felt so close to losing control, as if the power had wanted to stay in the world even after the fight was over. His hands still ached from channeling it.
The path narrowed as they passed between sheer cliffs. In the silence, Kaelin thought he heard a low hum, almost like a chant carried by the wind. It came and went, sometimes distant, sometimes right beside his ear.
"What is that sound?" he asked.
"The mountain," Sova replied without turning. "And those who guard it."
The pass opened suddenly to a vast plateau of ice. Across it, half-hidden by a curtain of falling snow, stood a great temple carved into the side of the glacier itself. Towers of frozen crystal rose from its walls, gleaming faintly in the dim light. Water trickled down its surface in thin streams, freezing halfway to the ground.
Figures emerged from the storm, their robes layered thick, their faces hidden beneath hoods of white fur. They moved with a stillness that made them seem part of the glacier itself. When they stopped before Kaelin, he could feel the weight of their gaze even though he could not see their eyes.
One stepped forward. His voice was calm, yet carried in the air like the crack of splitting ice. "You carry the blood of Aeryn. It is both a gift and a curse. No one enters this temple without proving the strength of their heart and the steadiness of their hand."
Kaelin met the man's gaze, or tried to. "What kind of proof?"
The monk extended his hand, and the ice beneath Kaelin's feet rippled like water. The plateau shifted, breaking into a series of narrow bridges and floating ice platforms over a deep chasm. Far below, he could see water swirling, lit by an eerie blue glow. The wind screamed through the gap, threatening to throw him into the abyss.
"Your trial begins now," the monk said. "Cross the path, reach the temple, and do not let the mountain take you."
Sova stayed where he was, his face unreadable. "This is your step to take alone."
Kaelin's pulse quickened. His body still felt heavy from the last fight, but the cold inside him stirred at the challenge. He stepped onto the first bridge, the ice groaning under his weight. The wind clawed at him from every side, and the distant chanting grew louder, as if the glacier itself was speaking to him.
He knew this was not just a test of strength. It was a test of whether he could master the very power that was trying to master him.
...
The wind dropped the moment Kaelin stepped off the last ice bridge. The air inside the temple was still, yet colder than the open mountain. Frost coated the stone floor, crunching under his boots. The light here did not come from torches but from the ice itself, glowing faintly with a pale blue hue that made shadows seem deeper than they were.
Three monks stood in a semicircle before him. None spoke. The one in the center lifted a hand, and the air shimmered like sunlight on water. The walls dissolved, replaced by a vast hall of frozen mirrors stretching into darkness. Kaelin could see his reflection on the nearest surface, pale and tense, breath fogging in the air.
The monk's voice reached him, not through sound but like a thought pressed into his mind. This is the Trial of Silence. No blade will cut here. No power will save you unless it is truly yours. You will face the echoes of what you carry inside.
The floor beneath him shifted, and suddenly he was no longer in the temple.
He was back in the narrow alleyways of the slums, the smell of smoke and rot in the air. The cold was gone, replaced by the damp chill of midnight rain. He saw himself, younger, thinner, shivering beneath a broken awning. Beside him lay Mara, the only friend he had in those days, her small hand clutching his.
Kaelin's chest tightened. He remembered that night. Mara had not survived the winter.
The younger version of himself looked up at him now. His eyes were hollow, accusing. "You said you would keep me safe."
Kaelin stepped forward, but the ground cracked, and the boy faded into mist. Another shape formed in the distance.
It was the fire enforcer he had faced only days ago, but here the man was not burning with power. He was broken, his armor shattered, his chest scorched with frostbite. "You took everything from me," the enforcer's voice echoed, though his lips did not move. "How many will fall before you are satisfied?"
Kaelin turned away, but the hall was shifting again. The frost mirrors showed more faces now, dozens of them, strangers and memories alike, each one staring at him in silence. Their eyes held blame, fear, and grief.
His breathing grew sharp. He could feel the power stirring inside him, the same cold that had answered his call in battle. It wanted to break the silence, to shatter the illusions with ice and wind. But the monk's words echoed in his mind… No power will save you unless it is truly yours.
Kaelin closed his eyes. The images pressed in on him, whispering without sound, demanding that he yield. He thought of his mother's face, a memory that was more shadow than light, and of the stories she used to tell him of the Aeryn bloodline. She had said their strength came not from the power they commanded, but from the will that guided it.
Slowly, he opened his eyes again. The visions still stood around him, but he did not reach for his power. He stepped forward, through them. Each one dissolved into frost as he passed, until the hall was empty once more.
When the silence broke, it was the sound of his own footsteps returning to the temple chamber. The monks stood where they had been, their faces hidden, but he felt their eyes on him. The one in the center inclined his head slightly.
"You have faced the noise within," the monk said. "The path ahead is open."
Kaelin exhaled, the weight in his chest easing. He had passed the trial, but the echoes of what he had seen would follow him.