The amber doorway burned brighter as we approached it.
This time there was no hesitation, no discussion, we'd already decided to face all three trials and backing out now would mean everything we'd already endured was for nothing.
Azryth's hand was steadier in mine now, the disorientation from the first trial fading as he grounded himself in the present.
We stepped through together.
The light on the other side was different from the Trial of Origin, warmer but somehow more painful, like standing too close to a fire that wanted to consume instead of comfort.
When my vision cleared, we were standing in a space that looked like nothing and everything at once, shifting between crystalline structures and empty void, between solid ground and floating in nothing.
The arbiter materialized before us, but its form was different now, more defined and more present, like it was paying closer attention.
