I touched his arm, grounding him. “It’s okay.”
Zander’s gaze cut to mine. “Not really. Kaelith and Hein are meeting the next flight of dragons from the Lost Continent. I assumed they had an hour of free time.” He looked away, his jaw clenched. “It appears I was wrong.”
“I’ll be alright,” I said quietly, though the knot in my stomach tightened. I turned to the major. “What’s the trial?”
His shoulders straightened, but his tone remained gentle. “It’s called the Mirror of Scales.”
That didn’t sound comforting.
He gestured to the ring of polished black glass standing in the center of the field—no frame, no seams, just a looming, obsidian slab standing taller than a man. Other mirrors began to rise from the ground around it, forming a wide circle.
“The chamber is formed by enchanted mirrors,” Ledor continued. “When you step inside, they’ll show you possible futures—distorted reflections, pieces of what could be if your bond with Kaelith fractures. Failures. Betrayals. Loss. It is a test of acceptance and resilience. You must endure them and emerge with your bond intact.”
A chill crept up my spine.
“Will she be inside?” I asked. “Kaelith?”
The major shook his head. “No. She can’t help you through this one. This is yours alone.”
Of course it was. Theron wouldn’t want the Shiftling anywhere near me during a trial this steeped in manipulation.
I turned to Zander one last time. He looked as if he wanted to argue, to tear down every mirror with his bare hands. But he didn’t. He simply cupped my face and kissed my forehead.
“I’ll be here when you come out.”
I nodded once, swallowing the lump in my throat, and turned to the waiting chamber of glass.
I am not afraid.
But my heartbeat said otherwise.
The moment I stepped across the mirror threshold, the world warped. Light fractured, bending in ways that defied logic as the first vision began to stir.
Light fractured into prisms both too bright and too cold. The sound of my own heartbeat became thunder, ricocheting off a hundred reflections. I turned slowly, surrounded by glass that wasn’t really glass. Each pane shimmered like water. Some reflected me as I was… others as I might be.
One image twisted forward.
Kaelith stood across from me, her scales cracked and bleeding violet light.
“You chose Zander over me,” she hissed. “You always choose him.”
I shook my head, backing away.That’s not true. I would never?—
Another mirror flashed, dragging me to it. I saw myself standing on a battlefield, fire all around, my hand reaching for Remy… while Kaelith lay dying behind me.
“No!” I slammed my palm against the surface, but it rippled like water. The image didn’t vanish. It lingered, with betrayal heavy in the air.
“You were supposed to protect me,” Kaelith whispered in my mind. But it wasn’t her. It was the mirror’s voice, twisting her shape, her sound, her magic.
I staggered back, breath catching as the mirrors pulsed, one after the other, showing Kaelith chained, Kaelith killed, Kaelith fleeing me.
Then came the worst one.
I stood before the dragons… and they turned away. All of them. Even Kaelith. Her voice, full of finality—You are no longer worthy.
I dropped to my knees.
My vision swam. I pressed my hands to the ground, trying to remember who I was, what we were. But the magic of the trial was inside me now, infecting thought and memory.
