Seraphina's POV
The moment we step through the temple doorway, everything changes.
One second, I'm walking beside Caelan, his hand warm in mine. The next, I'm falling through darkness, screaming his name.
I hit the ground hard. My hands scrape against stone. When I look up, Caelan is gone. Lyra is gone. The Oracle is gone.
I'm alone in a massive arena made of black stone. Torches burn with blue flames along the walls. And standing across from me is a woman in full battle armor.
She's tall. Muscular. Her armor is covered in dents and scars from a thousand fights. She holds two swords that gleam in the firelight. Her face is hidden behind a helmet, but her eyes glow red through the visor.
"Welcome to the Trial of Blood," her voice echoes through the arena. "I am the Warrior Woman. Guardian of the first trial. Defeat me, and you pass. Fail, and you die."
"Wait!" I scramble to my feet. "I don't even have a weapon! This isn't fair!"
"Life isn't fair, little priestess." She tosses one of her swords at my feet. "Now pick it up. Or die where you stand."
My hand goes instinctively to my stomach. To our baby. I can't die here. I won't.
I grab the sword. It's heavier than I expected. I've never fought with a blade before. Never trained as a warrior.
Caelan! I scream through our bond. Where are you? I need help!
But there's no answer. The bond feels... distant. Muffled. Like he's a million miles away instead of right beside me.
"Your mate cannot help you," the Warrior Woman says. "This trial is yours alone. No bond. No shared power. Just you and your will to survive."
She attacks.
I barely raise my sword in time. Her blade crashes against mine with a force that makes my arms shake. She's so strong. Too strong.
She strikes again. And again. Each blow pushes me backward. My arms are already getting tired.
"Pathetic," she snarls. "You think you can protect your child? You can't even protect yourself."
She sweeps my legs out from under me. I fall hard, the sword flying from my hand.
Her blade is at my throat instantly.
"This is what happens to weak mothers," she says coldly. "They die. And their children die with them."
Rage explodes through me. Not just human anger. Wolf rage. Luna power.
"I am NOT weak!" I shift into my Luna Wolf form, my massive white body knocking her backward.
She laughs, rolling to her feet. "There it is. The real you. The predator hiding behind the scared girl."
I lunge at her, jaws snapping. But she's fast. She dodges and her sword cuts my side. I yelp in pain, feeling blood mat my white fur.
"You rely too much on your wolf," she says. "What happens when you can't shift? When you're too pregnant to transform? When you're too exhausted after giving birth?" She circles me. "Your child needs a mother who can fight in any form. Not just as a beast."
I shift back to human, breathing hard. She's right. I can't always rely on my wolf. Sometimes I'll have to fight as myself.
I pick up the sword again. This time, I don't try to match her strength. I watch her movements. Learn her patterns.
She strikes high. I duck low and slash at her legs. She blocks, but barely.
"Better," she says, sounding pleased. "You're thinking now. Not just reacting."
We fight for what feels like hours. She's still stronger, still faster. But I'm learning. Getting better.
Until she does something I don't expect.
She drops her sword and pulls off her helmet.
I stare in shock. Under the helmet is a face I know. My face. Older, scarred, with hard eyes. But unmistakably me.
"What..." I lower my sword. "How..."
"I'm you," she says simply. "Twenty years from now. If you survive. If you get strong enough. If you become the warrior your child needs."
My future self picks up her sword again. "But you're not there yet. You're still weak. Still afraid. Still doubting yourself." She points her blade at my heart. "So I'm going to kill your present self. And maybe in the next life, you'll be stronger."
She lunges.
I don't think. My body moves on instinct. I sidestep and bring my sword up. Her momentum carries her forward, right onto my blade.
My future self gasps. Looks down at the sword in her chest. Then smiles.
"Good," she whispers. "You chose to live. That's the first step." She falls to her knees. "Remember this, Seraphina. When the darkness comes for your child, when you have to choose between running and fighting..." She coughs blood. "Choose to fight. Always."
She dissolves into silver light. That light flows into me, filling me with knowledge. Fighting skills. Warrior instincts. All the experience my future self gained in twenty years, now mine in an instant.
The arena fades. I'm back in the temple, gasping, falling to my knees.
Caelan catches me. "Seraphina! Are you hurt? You were just standing there, frozen, for ten seconds, and then you started bleeding—" He touches my side where the Warrior Woman's sword cut me. The wound is real.
"The trial," I gasp. "I passed. I think."
"Ten seconds?" Lyra stares at me. "It felt like hours!"
"Time moves differently in the trials," the Oracle says calmly. "The Trial of Blood tests your will to survive. You passed. Barely." She looks disappointed. "Most Luna Priestesses fail the first trial. They're too gentle. Too kind. They won't fight when they need to."
"What were the other trials like?" Caelan demands. "Why did she get hurt? These are supposed to be tests, not death traps!"
"The trials are exactly as deadly as they need to be," the Oracle says. "If you want easy answers, go somewhere else. If you want to save your mate and child..." She points to another doorway. "The Trial of Soul awaits. Pass it, and you'll learn where the Heart of Darkness is hidden."
"What about the third trial?" I ask, still catching my breath.
"The Trial of Choice comes last. And it's the one that breaks most people." The Oracle's smile is sad. "Even those who pass the first two usually fail the third. Because it asks you to sacrifice something you're not willing to lose."
"We'll pass them all," Caelan says firmly, helping me stand. "Whatever it takes."
"We'll see." The Oracle waves her hand, and the second doorway glows with purple light. "The Trial of Soul begins when you're ready. But know this: unlike the Trial of Blood, this one tests both of you. Together. And if one of you fails, you both die."
Through our bond, I feel Caelan's determination. His love. His absolute refusal to let anything happen to me or our baby.
Together, he thinks at me.
Together, I agree.
We walk toward the glowing doorway.
But before we enter, the Oracle speaks again. "Oh, one more thing. The Trial of Soul will show you each other's darkest secrets. The things you've never told anyone. The shame, the fear, the guilt you've buried deep." She looks between us. "Most bonded pairs don't survive learning what their mate has been hiding. The knowledge destroys them."
My heart sinks. I have secrets. Things from my past I never wanted Caelan to know. Things I'm ashamed of.
And through our bond, I feel his fear spike too. He has secrets as well.
"Can we skip this trial?" I ask desperately.
"No." The Oracle's voice is hard. "To find the Heart of Darkness, you must face the darkness in yourselves first. There's no other way."
Caelan takes my hand. "Whatever we see, whatever we learn... we face it together. Agreed?"
"Agreed," I whisper, though my heart is pounding.
We step through the doorway.
Instantly, I'm ripped away from Caelan again. I'm standing in a memory. My memory.
But it's not one I want to see.
I'm back in the Ashford house. But not recently. Years ago. I'm thirteen years old, standing in the kitchen late at night.
And I'm holding a knife over Helena's sleeping form.
"No," I whisper. "No, I didn't... I wouldn't..."
But the memory plays out. Young me raises the knife higher, tears streaming down her face. Helena has been so cruel. So mean. And I just want it to stop. Want her to stop.
My hand trembles. The knife hovers over her heart.
And then I see it. See what I've buried for years.
I brought the knife down.
Not to kill. At the last second, I turned the blade and cut Helena's pillow instead. But I thought about it. I really, truly thought about murdering my stepsister.
"You're a killer at heart," a voice says behind me. Caelan's voice, but cold. "You always have been. That's why we bonded so easily. We're both monsters."
I spin around. Caelan stands there, but his eyes are empty. Judging.
"That's not true!" I cry. "I didn't kill her! I chose not to!"
"But you wanted to. And now you're going to have a child. What happens when that child cries too much? Disobeys you? Makes you angry?" His voice is like ice. "Will you think about hurting them too?"
"NO!" Tears pour down my face. "I would never hurt my child! Never!"
"Are you sure?" The scene shifts. Now I'm holding a baby. My baby. Our child. And I'm so tired. So overwhelmed. The baby won't stop crying. Won't stop screaming.
And I feel the anger rising. The same anger I felt at thirteen. The darkness that whispers: Make it stop. Make it all stop.
"No," I sob. "I'm not that person. I'm not—"
"Then prove it," another voice says.
I turn. It's the Warrior Woman again. My future self. "This is the Trial of Soul, Seraphina. Face the darkness in your heart. Accept that it exists. And choose to be better than it."
"I... I don't know how."
"Yes, you do." She points to my chest. "The Oracle's Heart chose you. Not because you're perfect. But because you know darkness and still choose light. That's what makes a true Luna Priestess."
The memory fades. I'm back in the trial space, gasping.
And across from me, Caelan is on his knees, sobbing. He's seeing his own dark secrets. His own shame.
I run to him. Fall beside him. "Whatever you're seeing, it doesn't matter. I love you. We'll get through this."
He looks at me with tear-filled eyes. "You don't understand what I've done. What I'm capable of—"
The space around us explodes with light.
When it clears, we're both standing in the same memory. Caelan's memory.
He's thirteen years old again. Standing over his sister Elena's body. But in this version, there's something different.
Young Caelan is smiling.
"Finally," young Caelan whispers. "Finally, she's gone. No more annoying little sister. No more sharing attention. I'm the only heir now."
Present Caelan screams. "That's not true! I loved her! I didn't want her to die!"
"But part of you was glad," a dark voice echoes. "Part of you was relieved. And that part has haunted you for fifteen years."
"Yes!" Caelan sobs. "Yes, for one second, one horrible second, I felt relief before the grief hit. And I've hated myself every day since!"
I grab his face, forcing him to look at me. "You were thirteen. You had a normal sibling rivalry. One dark thought doesn't make you a monster. What makes you a person is that you've spent fifteen years trying to make up for it."
"How can you still love me?" he whispers. "Now that you know—"
"Because I have darkness too," I say. "And you still love me. That's what bonding means. We see all of each other. Light and dark. And we choose each other anyway."
The memory shatters. We're back in the temple, both of us on our knees, holding each other.