The air in the Trial Grounds had turned electric-charged with anticipation and barely concealed excitement. Roar of Kaelen's fierce first stage was enough to get the crowd going. Even the most skeptical spectators were forced to admit that the Talented had indeed survived his inner demons.
But the Trial Master's crimson mask concealed no emotion as he raised his hand.
"Prepare for the Trial of Fire."
In an instant, blazing rings of flame erupted from the ground, encircling the arena's center. The heat was suffocating, almost tangible. Flames licked the air like wild beasts, unpredictable and merciless.
Kaelen's eyes narrowed, every muscle tensed. It was as if the warrior in him arose. This didn't just seem like a test of strength, it was a test of will.
The Trial Master's voice echoed again, this time fading to the ears of Kaelen.
"Navigate the Infernal Labyrinth. The flame will consume the weak. Only the resolute will pass."
Without hesitation, Kael stepped into the swirling fire.
The audience watched.
***
The flames roared, twisting into nightmarish shapes. From them burst forth six colossal dragons, their bodies formed of molten rock and shadowed flame. Their eyes glowed like ember, and with every roar came a wave of heat and sound that shattered the atmosphere itself.
Kaelen didn't flinch one bit.
He sprinted forward at an insanely fast speed, robes aflame at the edges, a trail of smoke marking every step he took. One of the dragons circled overhead, wings of smoke trailing ember-streaked fire, then dived with its jaw open wide enough to swallow him whole.
Kaelen slid beneath the first strike, rolling through the ash. Rising up as quickly as he had slid, he flung both his arms out, summoning part of the flame circling the labyrinth to bend around him, forming a half-sphere of flickering defense. The dragon crashed against it, snarling in fury as it rebounded back toward the sky.
"Impossible…" a voice whispered from the audience.
"He's… he's shaping the Trial's fire!"
Gasps rippled across the arena, disbelief spreading like wildfire. No one could believe what they were watching.
Another dragon lunged, this one faster, its claws raking the stone floor. Kaelen leapt into a backflip, dodging the sharp claws. He was unable to dodge the dragon fire attack at his rear, in a moment of quick decision making and resolve, he took the brunt of the attack on his back while conjuring jagged spires of obsidian from the ground that pierced through the beast's chest. It burst into smoke and fire, dissipating in a loud wail of rage.
But three more took its place almost instantaneously.
Kaelen's body jerked from the effort, his veins pulsing with raw untamed energy. Blood was beginning to streak down from his nose, but it evaporated before it even hit the ground.
The labyrinth walls twisted violently, reacting to his will. Pathways reformed. Pillars moved to block dragon fire.
"He's controlling* the Trial!"
"Has anyone ever done that before?!"
"The Progenitor's heir… this is beyond anything we've seen!"
Darien stood in the shadows of the high dais, fists clenched.
"Kaelen… stop. You're going too far."
He could see the strain the act Kaelen was taking was beginning to have on his body.
But Kaelen pressed on. This time, making a full body transformation into a colossal dragon as well, one whose scales shimmered in tandem with the flickering light from the flames, a dark color with hints of red.
On seeing this, the three dragons swooped in to catch him off guard. Kaelen, lashed out in fury, flames engulfing the platform along with the three assailants. Three more of his problems had been eliminated.
With the morale high, Kaelen roared, voice torn from his throat, and sent a stream of flames directed towards the dragon hovering above him. The beast screamed and detonated, hurling chunks of molten stone in every direction.
Kael dropped to one knee. His skin blistered. His breaths came in ragged gasps. He was back in his humanoid form.
The crowd watched in awe. They could all deduce that this was as long as he could keep the transformation up for.
"No other young dragon can keep up the transformation for as long as this." A voice full of admiration seemed to be muttering to his friend deep in the audience.
The final dragon landed before Kaelen towering, wings folding like curtains of hellfire, its eyes staring down at him like judgment itself.
"Crush beneath your own ambition," it hissed.
Kael looked up at the smug dragon.
"Not today," he whispered. In an instant, Kaelen rose to his feet. With a scream, Kaelen thrust both arms into the air, pulling on the Trial's core. The ground shook. Flames rose. They coiled around him.
Then he struck.
He became fire.
Kaelen drove through the dragon in front of him bursting through its chest in a wave of light and heat, scattering it into dying embers.
Silence.
The flames stilled. The labyrinth walls quieted along with the seated rows in the arena.
Kael stood alone, body steaming, skin cracked and bleeding, eyes still burning with unspent fury.
Deafening silence. Then, thunderous applause followed.
A wave of awe, disbelief, and raw exhilaration swept through the crowd.
"He did it, by the gods, he did it!"
"He fought the Trial itself and won!"
"Not just Progenitor's blood… he might be something more."
Darien's jaw tightened, both proud and afraid. At what Kael had become. And what it might cost him next time.
***
The Trial of Fire finally ended with a deafening roar as the flames died, leaving the arena scorched but Kaelen standing, battered yet unbroken.
The Trial Master stepped forward, voice grim.
"You have passed the Trial of Fire. But your true challenge awaits." He continued "the Trial of Shadows."
With this said, he initiated certain odd runes and walked off to the side, leaving Kaelen in the center once again.
Darkness swallowed the arena. The torches flickered out. Only Kael's faintly glowing aura remained.
The audience could however see it unfolding clear as day. An eerie atmosphere filled up the vast arena almost instantly.
From the void, shadowy figures were beginning to emerge making distorted echoes. This trial was no longer about physical endurance nor was it about strength. It was a battle of perception, trust, and inner truth.