2025-12-15 08:41:27
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A night under the stars
Night settled thick and warm over the Isle of Darkness, the feast’s noise finally ebbing into embers and distant laughter. Above the lower courts, on a wide balcony veined with violet light, Snake and Dragon sat with Rebellion, Red, and Center, cups in hand, watching the realm breathe below them.Nearby, Assassin was thoroughly drunk, collapsed against Armageddon, who slept like a felled mountain. Below the terrace, Malice moved through his forms, blade whispering through the air as he practiced alone, every motion sharp with restrained fury.Snake exhaled slowly.“I wonder when we will ever have peace.”Center didn’t hesitate.“Maybe when Tan is dead.”Dragon’s smile was thin and dangerous.“I can’t wait for that day.”Rebellion swirled his wine.“It will be hard. Years, maybe centuries.Tan will only fall if the gods stand with us.”Center leaned back.“For that to happen, Evilside would need to marry her blood into every major line.Control the norm lands. Bind the gods through the
Goodbyes
The trials ended not with celebration, but with reckoning.Those who were not chosen were quietly pulled aside, their names etched into the secondary rolls. They would train harder, bleed longer, and return in five years to face judgment again. Some wept. Some burned with resolve.Concubines scolded and soothed in equal measure.Fathers watched in silence, disappointed, proud, or both.AFTERMATH OF SELECTIONGeneral Risk Liroid approached Flavor with a bow deeper than protocol demanded.“Thank you, my lord.For allowing Devour a chance.”Flavor’s gaze followed the boy across the grounds, already surrounded by guild markings.“The child is too good to be wasted.Darkside had to wrestle the Assassin Guild for him.”Darkside inclined her head faintly.“He will be honed properly.”Risk turned to her and bowed again.“You have my gratitude.”Snake watched it all with mild amusement.“Interesting trials,” he said.“Now the Dogs get a turn.”Center cracked his knuckles.“My guild is ready.T
The Final
The dawn broke wrong.The sky over the arena was pale, washed thin as if the sun itself hesitated to rise. No banners flew. No music played. The air felt listening.This was not a trial of skill.This was judgment.The arena fell silent in a way that felt wrong, as if the Isle itself had drawn breath and refused to release it.No wind.No murmurs.Even the concubines stilled.High above, the elders and guild heads watched as the Final Trial circle awakened. The stone floor darkened, veins of root-light threading through it like living thoughts.TRIAL SIX: ALTER.The divine families gathered in their tiers, tension threaded through every glance.Forbidden glanced sideways at his father and grimaced.“You look awful.”Flavor didn’t deny it.“That’s why you don’t show which child you favor more.”Red snorted.“But you favor me more.”Flavor gave him a dry look.“You’re Tamy’s son. Of course I will.”Punishment laughed openly.“You contradict yourself, old man.”Tamy smiled, unbothered.“
Uneasy Layers
Night settled over the Isle in uneasy layers.The trials had ended for the day, but no one truly rested, not with Trial Six looming.The Final Test.The one even the elders did not speak of lightly.Face your alter ego.What you could have been.What you still might become.RED’S HAREM: STORM BEHIND SILKRed’s voice thundered through the inner corridors.“You knew exactly what you were doing, Sen.”The curtains trembled as power rippled through the chamber.Sen’s voice remained calm.“I did what was right for our daughter.”“She is barely seventy.”“And already stronger in will than half the guild heads,” Sen replied coolly.“That frightens you.”A pause.Then Red, quieter, dangerous.“You put her under Irinrod.”“I put her where she would survive,” Sen answered.“You would have crushed her trying to protect her.”Silence followed.Heavy.Unresolved.HAL’S CHAMBERS: PEACEFUL CRUELTYElsewhere, Hal reclined on her cushions, legs folded, unbothered.She bit into a piece of root fruit, j
Endurance
The gong rang again.Not loud.Not triumphant.This one was low, dragged across metal like a warning scraped from bone.Even the elders straightened.TRIAL FOUR: ENDURANCEThe arena changed.Stone receded, folding inward like a living thing. The golden sand blackened, then cracked, revealing veins of pulsing root and flame beneath. The air thickened, heavy, suffocating, old.Void frowned.“This arena hasn’t been used since the Hollow Trials…”Poison clicked her tongue.“Endurance doesn’t test strength.It tests how long you can stay yourself.”From the shadows, chains emerged,not metal, but memory.Each chain hummed with whispers.Fear. Loss. Hunger. Guilt.For Liroids, endurance was not about pain.It was about not breaking.THE CHILDREN ENTERThe remaining candidates stepped forward.Some boasted.Some prayed.Some smiled too widely.Serpent Liroid did none of those.He stirred in Snake’s arms.A sharp breath.Then,His eyes opened.Silver-green.Clear.Focused.Snake froze.Dragon
THE ARENA TENSES: TRIAL THREE BEGINS
In the stands, Trina grabbed Rage’s hand.“Snake better win.”Dragon didn’t even look at her, only drank deeply.“No.Pray he doesn’t lose completely.When Snake is pushed to his last breath…He goes wild.”He turned slowly to meet Trina’s eyes.“You do not want to see that, Serpent’s Wife.”A shiver went through her bones.In the ArenaBlood and Assassin stood opposite Snake, Greed, and Serpent Liroid.The sand hummed with ancestral power.The Divine sigils above the arena ignited.Serpent Liroid trembled, clutching the practice blades.“Master… I… I’m not…”Snake put a hand on his shoulder.Just once.Just enough.Serpent felt the world steady.Snake whispering:“You are Liroid.You are mine.Fight.”Across the arena, Blood exhaled,and every flame torch bent toward him.Assassin lifted a single finger,and the wind knelt.Greed Liroid cracked his knuckles.“Well.I didn’t plan to die today.”Snake smirked.“Then don’t.”The sky darkened.The gong sounded.THE CLASH AND SERPENT LIRO
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