By midday, the forest had gone quiet again.
Too quiet.
The birds were gone. The breeze had died. Even the trees felt heavier, as though leaning in to listen.
Luke and Amara walked while chatting about some random gossip. Then the path ended.
Before them, a basin of scorched stone dipped into the earth like the site of some ancient impact. And built into the far wall—half-covered in vines and shadow—was a doorway.
Or rather, a mouth.
It looked like the cave had grown open. Its lip was jagged, with stone "teeth" and gnarled stalactites, and the opening yawned just wide enough for two. Runes glowed faintly in a ring around the arch, pulsing red like veins under skin.
Amara stopped at the edge of the basin. "That's not natural."
Luke stepped closer.
The air coming from within the cave wasn't cold. It was warm. Breathing. Amara followed him down the slope. Neither asked if this was the next trial. They knew.
As they approached, the runes above the cave flared one by one, etching words into the stone:
TWO MAY ENTER. ALL MUST SPEAK. NONE MAY LIE.
Luke exhaled. "A truth gate."
Amara's voice was low. "And a sentient one, if I'm guessing right."
"Looks like it." He stepped forward.
The cave exhaled, sending a long, shivering breath out into the world, carrying the damp, earthy scent of stone and hidden water that spilled over the jagged entrance and mingled with the crisp, pine-laced air outside, where the mountainside stretched in uneven ridges, sunlight bouncing off scattered patches of moss and loose gravel, and the wind tugged at every exposed leaf and tuft of grass as if testing the strength of the earth itself, while far below the valley opened like a painted map, rivers glinting in the light and forests swaying gently, unaware of the quiet, ancient pulse that had just slipped from the cave's throat into the open air. The stone teeth pulled inward with a grinding sound, and the entrance opened wider, like a throat inviting them in.
Luke and Amara walked into the dark together.
Inside, the world felt different.
Not like a cave. Like a body.
The walls pulsed faintly. The air was thick, almost damp. Their footsteps were nearly silent on the warm stone floor.
After a few minutes of winding through the dark, they reached a small circular chamber. No doors. No light. Just a low pit in the center, and the same runes above, glowing a dull red.
Then the voice came.
Not out loud—inside their heads. A pressure. Ancient. Sharp.
WHO ENTERS?
Luke stepped forward. "Luke Everen. Crystal College."
Amara's voice followed. "Amara. "
A beat.
Then—
YOU HAVE WALKED BESIDE EACH OTHER. NOW SPEAK.
YOU MUST ANSWER. HE MUST BEGIN.
Luke looked at Amara. She gave a small nod.
He turned back to the pit. "What's the question?"
WHAT DO YOU FEAR, LUKE EVEREN?
The voice rattled inside his teeth.
Luke hesitated.
He could have said dying. Losing. Failing.
But none of those would have been true.
"I fear trusting the wrong person again."
There was no reaction. Just a pause.
Then:
TRUTH.
A second question followed.
WHAT DO YOU THINK SHE'S HIDING?
Luke's jaw clenched. He turned slightly, looking at Amara from the corner of his eye. She didn't speak. Didn't move.
He answered anyway. "Her past. Her name. What she really is."
Another pause.
TRUTH.
This time, Amara flinched.
Luke noticed.
AND YOU, GIRL. WHAT DO YOU FEAR?
Amara's voice was quiet. "Becoming what I was."
The walls pulsed. The air shifted.
TRUTH.
Then came the final question.
DO YOU TRUST HER?
Luke's lips parted—but no answer came.
He looked at her. Her silver hair dim in the red glow. Her hands at her sides, clenched. Her red eyes watching him—not pleading, not angry. Waiting.
"I want to, I just don't know what mischief she's up to," he said.
Silence.
Then—
TRUTH. ACCEPTED.
The pit flashed with red light.
And the floor began to shift.
A path opened beneath their feet, a stairwell cut into the stone itself, descending deeper into the living dark.
Amara didn't speak.
Luke followed her down.
But in his mind, the question still echoed—not from the cave this time, but from himself:
If she feared becoming what she was…
Then what, exactly, was she?