The Messenge (Iva and Nick) novel Chapter 430

First Trial II

His voice sounded strange in the room, swallowed almost immediately by the oppressive quiet.

A little boy flinched.

The movement was small/barely noticeable, but Caleb saw it, and something inside him twisted painfully.

He had a son.

Youssef.

The image of his little boy appeared in his mind so vividly that, for a moment, he could almost feel the familiar weight of him in his arms, could almost hear his laughter and see the way his tiny fingers curled around Caleb’s thumb.

He imagined Youssef sitting among these children, frightened and searching the faces around him for someone who could promise that everything would be all right.

His jaw tightened.

“No,” he murmured, though he did not yet know what he was refusing.

Then the air changed.

A soft chime rang above his head.

Caleb looked up.

A golden light appeared in the centre of the room, gathering into a spinning cloud of luminous particles. The particles moved faster and faster until they formed a long, ancient scroll suspended in midair.

Its edges were decorated with intricate symbols, and a golden seal glowed at its centre.

Caleb instinctively moved between the scroll and the children.

The parchment unfurled by itself.

Letters began to appear across its surface, one by one, written in a language he did not recognize. As he watched, the symbols shifted, rearranged themselves, and transformed into words he could understand.

THE FIRST CIRCLE: SACRIFICE.

Caleb’s stomach tightened.

More words appeared beneath the heading.

He who seeks the Stone must prove that his desire is greater than the weight of his conscience.

The parchment shimmered.

The Velinthra does not yield to those who cling to weakness. To claim the path, the seeker must demonstrate the power of sacrifice.

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First Trial

A final line appeared.

+25 Points>

Offer the lives of those within this chamber. Let their blood become the price of your passage. Complete the sacrifice, and the first sircle shall open.

For several seconds, Caleb did not move.

He read the words again, certain that his mind had somehow twisted their meaning, that there had to be another interpretation hidden beneath the ancient language.

But the message remained unchanged.

Sacrifice the children.

Every single one of them.

In exchange for a chance to obtain the Velinthra.

In exchange for a chance to restore Iva’s memories, free Avalon from the magical prison, and bring his mate back to him.

Chaos erupted inside his mind.

“NO!”

The roar slammed through Caleb’s consciousness with such force that his vision blurred.

“They cannot be serious! Those are children! Innocent children! What kind of sick, twisted creatures demand their deaths as the price of a bloody stone?”

Caleb’s hands curled into fists.

The answer came to him with terrifying clarity.

The same kind of creatures who had trapped Iva inside her own mind. The same kind who treated lives as bargaining chips and suffering as entertainment. The same kind who believed that because they possessed extraordinary power, they had the right to decide what everyone else was worth.

He looked at the children again.

The little girl holding the ragged fabric had stopped rocking. She was watching him with wide, tear-filled eyes, her small mouth trembling as though she wanted to ask him something but was too frightened to speak.

An older boy stepped in front of her.

He could not have been more than fifteen.

His chin lifted, though his hands were shaking.

“Please,” the boy whispered.

One word.

That was all.

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<First Trial te

Galcb felt something crack inside his chest.

Suddenly, he remembered Iva.

+25 Points>

Not the frightened woman who recoiled whenever he approached her, nor the mate whose memories had been stolen and returned like a cruel game, but the Iva who had laughed with him beneath the moonlight, who had challenged him when everyone else bowed, who had looked at him as though the title of Lycan prince meant nothing compared with the man standing before her.

He remembered the warmth of her hand in his.

Her smile.

The way she had leaned against him when exhaustion finally defeated her stubbornness.

He remembered Youssef.

That future was waiting for him.

Or what remained of it.

He could almost hear the genie inside Iva’s seal, reminding him that time was running out. Two days. That was all he had left before the promise of restoring his mate might vanish forever.

If he failed this trial, he could lose her.

He could return to the castle with nothing but another broken promise and watch the woman he loved look through him as though he were a stranger.

The thought nearly brought him to his knees.

Then he looked at the children.

And the disgust that rose inside him was stronger than fear.

Stronger than desperation.

Stronger even than the unbearable thought of losing Iva.

Caleb lifted his head toward the hovering scroll.

“To hell with you!”

His voice thundered through the chamber, the first sound to escape him without being swallowed by the strange magic. The children recoiled, but Caleb did not look away from the parchment.

“I don’t care what you call this circle, and I don’t care what you think you can take from me. I will never sacrifice innocent lives to satisfy your twisted games!”

The scroll glowed brighter.

For one heartbeat, nothing happened.

Then the golden letters dissolved and reappeared.

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First Thal L

Are you certain, Caleb Adama?

His name burned across the parchment.

Refusal will close the path before you. You will lose your only hope of reclaiming Velinthra.

Caleb went utterly still.

+25 Points>

The words seemed to pierce the space between his ribs, finding the one weakness he had spent every waking moment trying to protect.

His mate.

Caleb stared at the scroll, his heart pounding as the golden letters pulsed like a living wound.

Then, slowly, he raised his eyes.

Another sentence appeared.

Choose, Caleb Adama.

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