CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE RESONANT TRIAL (Part seven)
Torr stepped into the spiral's center.
Not in a rush.
Not in rage.
With the precision of someone who had already won.
Each footfall echoed deeper than it should've—
resonating through the glyph-lined floor like the ground itself was holding its breath.
Kaelen steadied his grip.
His halberd crackled at the center—
the fracture widening.
The pulse running through it now fought itself.
Above, Yolti reached toward the railing.
Selka gripped the edge of her sleeve.
Zephryn remained still.
Watching.
Listening.
Torr raised his hand—palm open—
and stone rose from the floor beneath Kaelen's feet.
A trap.
A cage.
A rising platform that would snap shut in seconds.
Kaelen didn't wait.
He lunged forward—
but it cost him.
The halberd splintered near the hilt as it caught the stone mid-rise—
a jagged crack slicing through its core.
His feet hit the spiral again—
barely stable.
And that's when Torr spoke.
"You can't protect him."
Kaelen froze.
The words didn't come with venom.
No cruelty.
Just truth, the way a scar speaks truth when you press on it.
Kaelen's breath hitched.
Because he knew exactly who Torr meant.
Zephryn.
The halberd trembled in his grip.
The crack widened.
But Kaelen didn't back down.
Not even when the spiral dimmed beneath him—
not even when his pulse faltered for half a breath.
He just whispered to himself—
"I already promised I would."