This place, like the Hall of the Ancestors, felt ancient. The mammoth corridor they were in was long and seemingly never-ending.
Kira paused next to a tall, narrow window no wider than her torso. It looked out onto stone and more walls. No view of the ocean or land was forthcoming.
Strange.
Kira touched the windowpane, an interested hum escaping her as her hand passed right through, a tingling sensation warning her she'd interrupted an energy field.
Instead of withdrawing, she stuck her body as far as she could through the field, leaning out. She didn't make it far. The window ledge was at least two feet deep, and the opening was so narrow it was impossible to fit through.
She dropped onto her heels, watching as the illusion of the window snapped into place. A window looking into what amounted to a cave. How strange.
Kira stepped away from it, studying the rest of the hallway as she slowly followed Wren.
Banners at even intervals marked their path, evidence the place had a caretaker. Architecturally, the place was as beautiful and serene as the rest of Roake. It was cold and lonely, somehow—as if the people who had made it a home were long dead.
"Is there another way out of here?" Kira asked.
"Only the Overlord or Loudon can open a passage to this place," Wren said.
Convenient.
"Perfect place for an ambush," Jin muttered.
Kira thought so too.
Maybe she should have let the real Jin come with her after all.
"Be careful. The trial preys on your fears and doubts," Wren said. "Remember who you are at all times. Don't be led astray."
Not going to be a problem.
Every sense she had was on high alert. This place felt ominous. The atmosphere heavy, as if it was waiting for something.
Yeah, dropping her guard wasn't happening.
They moved on, past columns and doors that Kira didn't have to open to know she wanted no part of.
Time felt different here, moving too slow and too fast at the same time. Almost as if they existed outside its constraints.
Their path led them to a circular room where the floor was etched with a complicated repeating pattern. It was a rotunda, the roof high above, impossibly complicated, reminding her of some of the holy places of old Europe.
Their footsteps echoed in the room as they ventured further inside.
The pattern laid into the floor ended in fifteen points along the edge, each one leading to a door that opened to incredible scenes. Some led to landscapes. Snowcapped mountains next to sand-swept deserts. Endless forests followed by oceans as far as the eye could see.
That wasn't all, Kira realized catching a glimpse of a gas cloud billowing across thousands of lightyears’ worth of stars. Some doors led to places she had no frame of reference for.
"What is this place?" Kira asked, drawn to the doors.
Wren shook his head. "Something I've only heard about in stories."
"Didn't you take this trial?"
"Every trial is different, customized to the individual."
Kira paused in front of one door. "For what purpose?"
He hesitated, his gaze moving over the different scenes. "We're descended from monsters. This place weeds out those who might waver from the path our ancestors set us on."
