Soon enough, everyone was up.
Kyva took her place among the other accepted candidates, standing in a neat line before the settlent gates. This ti, they had been issued the sa uniform, each clad alike as though they already belonged to so proper order.
She found herself beside Selene and Liora, while Rowan and Cassian stood just behind them in the line. They had been assembled in the open ground before the settlent, where everyone waited in quiet formation. The others stood with an ease that spoke practice, like warriors long accustod to such gatherings.
Kyva, not wishing to be the odd one out, did her very best to imitate them.
The sun had just barely risen, its pale light only beginning to wash the sky in that soft, bluish hue that ca before true morning.
"Gods, it’s freezing out here," Liora muttered under her breath, her voice thick with annoyance as she shifted on her feet. "Are we truly ant to stand here like statues? Do these people not care if we end up freezing solid?"
Liora wasn’t wrong.
The chill in the air had sharpened considerably since the night before. The cold now crept through cloth and skin alike,biting more fiercely than it had hours ago.
Kyva, who also had to deal with cruel weather, couldn’t help but shiver as well, rubbing her arms briskly as she hugged herself, as though to trap whatever warmth remained.
Her thoughts, however, were elsewhere.
’I wonder where Snowpuff went,’ she mused, a faint thread of worry tugging at her mind. When she had risen that morning and wanted to bathe Snowpuff, the little creature had been nowhere to be found.
Her thoughts were imdiately interrupted as a distant rumble rolled across the ground, almost like the sound of thunder drawing nearer. The murmurs among the candidates slowly died away as several figures appeared beyond the settlent.
But they were not alone.
Great beasts padded behind them, creatures broad as wagons and twice as tall as a man, their heavy paws pressing deep into the ground.
The foremost among them was the most striking of all.
The massive creature bore the powerful fra of a mountain predator, sothing between a great wolf and a lion, though far larger than either. Thick fur cloaked its body in shades of ash and pale silver. And around its neck spilled a heavy mane of long, wind-tossed fur that drifted with each movent like fallen snow.
Kyva could only stare wide-eyed, completely dumbstruck.
Two twin horns curved backward from the creature’s skull, dark and ridged like ancient obsidian.
Cold mist curled from its nostrils each ti it breathed, and its pale blue eyes glead with an unsettling intelligence as they swept across the gathered candidates.
"That beast is called a Dravik," Selene whispered, drawing the attention of Liora and Kyva, as well as Rowan and Cassian who stood behind them. "I heard that only senior disciples are permitted to bond with one. They are said to possess terrifying strength."
Kyva looked back at the beast, her gaze lingering upon its towering form.
’If Snowpuff truly is a beast, would he look sothing like this one day?’
The thought made her blink.
...Or perhaps he was simply a baby beast still waiting to grow.
The idea stirred a small smile on her lips, but it faded when she accidentally t the gaze of the one seated upon the foremost creature’s back.
Upon the mighty beast rode a figure whose presence alone seed to command the environnt.
The newcors were unmistakable.
The seniors.
They descended from their mount with such effortless grace that it set them apart at once.
Though shaped like n and won, there was sothing unmistakably otherworldly about them. The candidates could not help but stare, awe plain upon their face as they took in the sight before them; the subtle horns that curved from their temples, slitted eyes that glead in the pale light, tails that swayed languidly behind them, and ears too high and sharp to belong to any human.
Their beauty was unlike anything of the mortal world.
It was not the sort that inspired comfort or warmth.
But the sort that felt dangerous.
One of them glanced over the gathered candidates with a slow and openly unimpressed gaze.
"So," he said at last, his voice smooth but edged with disdain, "the rumors were true. The Sacred Order has officially begun accepting humans."
A faint scoff followed from another senior nearby.
The one who had ridden the great beast stepped forward, the creature lowering its massive horned head behind him like a loyal war mount. Even among the others, he carried the intimidating air of command.
What the candidates saw was a tall, broad-shouldered young man, his bearing straight and unyielding. His long dark hair was drawn loosely behind him, stirring faintly in the cold breeze. A pair of curved black horns swept back from his temples, framing sharp and elegant features that might have seed almost beautiful, were it not for the severity of his countenance.
His crimson eyes were cold and asuring.
"I am Vaereth," he said curtly. "Senior disciple of the Fourth Circle."
His gaze lingered on the humans a mont too long, his expression cool and composed.
"Whether that proves wise," he added dryly, "remains to be seen."
Vaereth folded his arms behind his back and addressed them all with thinly veiled impatience.
"For those of you who have yet to realize it, standing here does not make you mbers of the Sacred Order. It rely ans you have not been dismissed... yet."
Vaereth allowed the silence to stretch for a mont longer, his gaze sweeping slowly across the assembled candidates.
When he spoke again, his voice carried easily across the clearing.
"You have already passed the Affinity Test," he said. "Each of you here possesses a connection to one or perhaps more of the four primal elents: air, water, fire and earth.
A few candidates straightened at this, pride flickering briefly across their faces, but Vaereth seed unimpressed.
"Still, affinity alone is aningless," he continued. "Within each elent lie countless paths. We have lightning from the fire elent. Storm from water. Tornado from air. Crystal from earth." His tone was asured, almost indifferent. "These are known as attributes."
A faint murmur rippled through the gathered crowd, but Vaereth silenced it with nothing more than the slight lift of his hand. The quiet returned at once.
"To discover your attributes, you must obtain what we call a Resonance orb. The trial grounds beyond this settlent contain many such orbs, and sowhere within that land lies one ant for you. If one even exists. You will enter the grounds alone and there, you will search for the orbs that resonate well with your elental affinity."
A few uneasy shifts passed through the line of the candidates.
"The trial grounds are not a garden for wandering children," Vaereth’s eyes scanned the candidates, settling on Kyva who imdiately lowered her head. "You will encounter elental beasts, creatures that are borne from the very forces you claim to wield. Many of them will not hesitate to kill you."
A low wind moved through the clearing, whispering across cloaks and grass alike.
"Beyond that, the land itself is very unstable. There are chances you may face sudden storms, collapsing terrains, flooded caverns, and raging winds fierce enough to tear a man from his feet. Just to be clear, such hazards will be common throughout this trial. You must be clever, strong and most importantly, you must trust in your own resolve."
Several of the candidates’ faces had gone noticeably pale by now.
Vaereth, however, remained unconcerned.
Reaching into the fold of his dark cloak, he withdrew a small object no larger than a coin and held it between his fingers for all to see.
"Each of you will receive a signal charm."
At his words, a few attendants stepped forward bearing small trays. Upon them rested dozens of identical tokens, each one glimring faintly in the pale morning light.
"If you find yourselves unable to continue, break the charm. We will retrieve you. Your trial will end, and you will be sent back to whatever ho you ca from. But you will live. Make no mistake. Failing is far preferable to dying."
Vaereth clasped his hands behind his back once more.
Without warning, the air behind him warped and split. Two great portals blossod open in the clearing, whilst their swirling interior shifted with unstable light, like storms trapped behind glass.
Vaereth gestured toward them.
"You will have two days," he said. "Within that ti, you must survive the environnt and find the orb that resonates with your soul."
Kyva quietly listened to all that was said, taking a huge gulp.
Okay.
So maybe joining the candidates had been a terrible idea.
Why did everything seem determined to lead her straight to her death, for heaven’s sake? All she had wanted was a place to rest, and a chance to slip free from the suffocating grip of the establishnt.
And now...
Now she was ant to venture into the wilds alone and hunt for so mysterious orb while surviving for two days.
She should have listened when Rowan warned her.
No... she would have listened, if the pillars had not lit up.
The little experience she possessed felt pitiful compared to everything the senior had just described.
This was completely different.
"We can do this."
Selene’s voice cut through her thoughts, steady and resolute. Kyva turned her head to see she was speaking to not just her, but Liora as well.
"Everyti they look at us, they see weakness," she said firmly. "They believe humans are lesser, and unworthy of standing among them. But let them believe what they want. Because when we return from those grounds, we’ll prove them wrong."
Her gaze moved between Kyva and Liora, sharp with quiet resolve.
For a mont, Kyva only stared at Selene. There was sothing steady in her eyes, sothing unshakable.
Kyva felt a small spark of admiration stir within her chest.
’Selene is so cool.’
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