CHAPTER NINE: THE TRIAL LOOMS (Part two)
The room fell dead still.
Zephryn's words didn't ring out.
They landed.
Like a weight no one wanted to touch.
Liraen turned her head toward him slowly—
not in judgment,
but in observation.
Like she'd been waiting for the question.
Kaelen looked away.
Not down.
Just enough to not meet Zephryn's eyes.
Yolti pressed her lips together.
Selka… didn't move at all.
Liraen didn't answer.
She turned back toward the center of the room.
"You will all be assigned to the lower Lyceum gates at sunrise three days from now.
You will fight under observation.
You will be ranked based on your resonance stability, glyph control, and flame integrity."
She paused.
"And only those who pass will receive their Resonant Necklace."
Zephryn stared.
The room had already moved on.
But he hadn't.
He stepped forward once—his voice quieter now, but sharper.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?"
Kaelen closed his eyes.
"We didn't think you'd still be here."
Yolti spoke before Zephryn could.
Her voice was quiet—but real.
"…It wasn't about hiding it.
We just didn't know how to explain it."
Zephryn looked between them.
The pulse mark beneath his sleeve didn't flare.
It just felt…
distant.
Like a hand he'd extended that no one had taken.
Liraen continued the instructions without pause.
But the moment had already cracked something.
And Zephryn could feel it:
This wasn't just a trial.
This was a gate he was never meant to reach.