The Cloud Monastery was quieter than any place Ayisulu had ever known. Even the wind softened here, as if bowing to something older and stronger. She followed the elder monk deeper into the crescent-shaped hall, her footsteps the only sound on the stone floor.
Behind her, she could practically feel Arslan pacing outside like a caged wolf.
The elder monk studied her with unreadable calm.
"You saw the falcon of fire," he said.
Ayisulu nodded. "It was descending… like an omen."
"It was not an omen," the monk said. "It was a memory of what has been… and a warning of what will be."
Before she could ask more, a soft voice spoke behind her.
Snow-Mouth.
They stepped into the hall with slow, almost hesitant movements. The monks bowed slightly — deeper than before.
Ayisulu blinked. "Snow-Mouth… they treat you like—"
"One of their own," the elder monk finished. "Because they are."
Ayisulu stared. "You lived here?"
Snow-Mouth shook their head.
"I was born here."
Ayisulu gasped. Erlan would have dropped his bow if he were in the room. Arslan probably would've demanded an explanation on the spot.
Snow-Mouth continued quietly:
"I was meant to be the next Keeper of Winds. A vessel of visions. But I left."
"Why?" Ayisulu whispered.
Snow-Mouth's eyes lowered. "Because I feared the truth of what I was. And what they would make me become."
The elder monk sighed. "We did not make you anything. You ran from yourself."
"Or ran to survive," Snow-Mouth muttered.
Ayisulu felt a shock of recognition — that fear of what her power could become, that fear of being swallowed by it.
The elder monk turned to her.
"You must face a trial."
Ayisulu swallowed. "Now?"
"Yes. Before the sun reaches the bridge."
Ayisulu hesitated only a second. "I'm ready."
"You are not," he said calmly. "But you will go anyway."
He led her to the inner courtyard — a circle of smooth stone open to the sky. Mist drifted around the edges like curtains.
"The Trial of Silence," he said. "To hear one truth, you must silence ten lies."
Ayisulu blinked. "That sounds poetic. And terrible."
"It is both."
The monk placed his hand on her forehead.
"Whatever you hear, whatever you see, do not speak. Not a word. Not a sound. Break the silence… and the truth hides from you forever."
Ayisulu's mouth went dry. "Okay."
He stepped back.
And the world shifted.
Not violently — softly, like a blanket settling around her.
The courtyard changed.
The mist thickened.
And Ayisulu stood alone.
Except… she wasn't alone.
A figure appeared in the mist.
Arslan.
But not as she knew him.
He looked younger, wounded, sitting alone in a ruined yurt with blood on his hands.
Ayisulu gasped—
but remembered the rule.
Silence.
Arslan looked up, eyes hollow. "You're leaving me," the vision-Arslan whispered. "Just like everyone else."
Ayisulu's heart shattered. She reached toward him—
But her hand passed through air.
Another vision pulled itself from the mist.
Erlan this time, staring into a fire.
"If only I were born a prince," he said softly. "Maybe she would've looked at me the way she looks at him."
Ayisulu's throat tightened painfully.
More visions appeared—
Temir crying dramatically over a broken bowl,
Kanykei threatening to drown him in a bucket,
Akbota training alone, rage and grief mixed in every movement,
Chagan whispering in fear as the Shadow Weaver's threads wrapped around him.
Ayisulu trembled. Tears blurred her vision.
She wanted to speak, to comfort them, to deny the lies—
but the rule echoed in her mind:
Silence, or truth is lost.
A final vision emerged.
A falcon made of fire.
Descending.
Not toward her.
But toward—
Arslan.
Ayisulu's breath broke.
He stood alone on the Road of Winds, sword in hand, the falcon's fire curling around him like chains. His face was determined, but his knees were already buckling.
Ayisulu's chest heaved, desperate for breath—
But she did not speak.
The fire burst—
And the vision shattered.
The courtyard returned.
Ayisulu collapsed to her knees, gasping silently, tears streaking down her cheeks.
The elder monk stood before her.
"You did not break," he said softly. "Most fail. You did not."
Ayisulu wiped her face with shaking hands. "What… what did I see? Lies or truth?"
"Both," he said. "That is what makes the silence difficult."
Snow-Mouth approached her, kneeling.
"Are you hurt?"
Ayisulu whispered, "What does the falcon want with him?"
Snow-Mouth and the elder monk exchanged a glance that tightened Ayisulu's stomach.
Finally, Snow-Mouth answered.
"It is not you the Falcon wants to break."
Ayisulu froze.
"It is the prince."
---
Outside the monastery gates, Arslan paced like an angry spirit, hands clenched, coat whipping in the wind. Erlan leaned against a stone pillar, watching him with equal parts amusement and concern.
"You know," Erlan said, "she's probably safe."
Arslan shot him a glare. "Probably is not an acceptable word."
Erlan shrugged. "You can trust her."
"It's not her I mistrust," Arslan muttered. "It's everything else."
Erlan's eyes sharpened. "She'll be fine."
"And if she isn't?" Arslan snapped.
Erlan's smirk faded.
They stared at each other, tension thickening the air.
Finally Kanykei walked past and muttered,
"Great. Two roosters fighting over the wind spirit. Exactly what we need."
Arslan: "We're not fighting—"
Erlan: "Not over her—"
Kanykei: "Then shut up. Both of you."
She walked away.
They stood in silence.
Arslan sighed.
"…I'm still not leaving her."
Erlan replied quietly:
"…I know."
---
Ayisulu returned from the courtyard, pale and trembling. Snow-Mouth walked beside her. The monks followed with solemn steps.
Arslan saw her first.
He ran to her before any monk had a chance to speak, grabbing her shoulders.
"Ayisulu. What happened? Are you hurt? Did they—"
She touched his hand lightly.
"I'm okay."
But her eyes—
her eyes were full of something that made Arslan's stomach twist.
Fear.
For him.
Arslan frowned. "Ayisulu?"
She opened her mouth—
but before she could speak, the elder monk stepped forward.
"The next trial cannot wait. The Weaver grows closer."
Arslan stiffened. "She needs rest."
"She needs truth," the monk replied.
Ayisulu swallowed hard.
Her voice was barely a whisper:
"I saw something. About the Falcon. About you."
Arslan's heart stopped cold.
"What did you see?"
Ayisulu trembled.
"I saw you falling."