The Messenge (Iva and Nick) novel Chapter 435

Third Trial II

Caleb began examining the stones.

At first, he moved methodically, studying their shapes, colours, and auras, searching for a pattern that might distinguish the Velinthra from the others. Some stones seemed to radiate warmth, while others made the air around them unnaturally cold. A few pulsed in time with his heartbeat, and others produced faint whispers whenever he came close.

One gem made him feel inexplicably peaceful.

Another filled him with an overwhelming urge to turn around and run.

He avoided both.

If this place had taught him anything, it was that nothing should be trusted simply because it

appeared welcoming.

He examined a large sapphire with a brilliant white core, then a black diamond that seemed to

swallow the light around it. He passed a cluster of emeralds whose surfaces displayed shifting symbols, and a translucent crystal that reminded him of the colour in Iva’s eyes.

His stomach tightened at the memory.

He forced himself to keep moving.

Minutes passed.

Then more minutes.

The room appeared to have no end.

Every time Caleb thought he had reached its farthest wall, the shimmering haze parted to reveal

another section filled with more pedestals and more stones. Their auras overlapped, creating a dizzying mixture of magical sensations that made it increasingly difficult to distinguish one from

another.

He stopped beside a low pedestal and braced one hand against it.

Suddenly he felt that something was wrong.

His legs felt strangely heavy, and his breathing had become shallow. His fingers trembled slightly when he lifted them, while an unfamiliar fog crept through his thoughts, dulling his concentration.

He straightened.

The room tilted.

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Caleb grabbed the edge of the pedestal before he could lose his balance.

“What is happening to me?”

“Caleb?”

Chaos sounded more alert now, but the effort of speaking seemed to cost him something.

“I feel it too. Something is draining us.”

Caleb looked around.

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The stones continued to glow, their beautiful colours almost hypnotic, and for the first time, he noticed that the light surrounding them seemed to draw toward him in delicate threads. The threads brushed against his skin and vanished, leaving him weaker each time they touched him.

He stepped away.

The sensation diminished, but only slightly.

“How long have we been here?”

“I don’t know.”

Chaos growled, frustration sharpening his voice.

“And that’s the problem. We have lost track of time, we have no idea which stone is the right one, and every second we spend looking makes us weaker. We cannot stay here much longer.”

Caleb swallowed.

His Lycan was right.

He could feel his own strength slipping away, his thoughts becoming slower, his instincts struggling against a magical fog that seemed designed to prevent him from thinking clearly.

The Hall of Lost Hopes.

The name suddenly made horrible sense.

This place did not simply contain stones. It contained possibilities, promises, and the seductive belief that somewhere among the endless choices was the one thing capable of fixing everything.

It encouraged the seeker to keep looking.

To keep hoping.

To keep believing that another minute, another pedestal, another beautiful gem might reveal the

answer.

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Thad Trial II

And while the seeker searched, the hall quietly consumed whatever remained of them.

Galeb stared at the endless rows.

“We’re running out of time.”

“We ran out of time the moment we stepped through that archway. We just didn’t know it yet.”

He continued moving, although every step required more effort than the last.

Then something caught his eye.

An amber stone.

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It sat on a pedestal near the edge of a narrow aisle, partially hidden behind a cluster of pale crystals. Unlike the others, it did not radiate a powerful aura or shimmer with an impossible array of colours. It looked almost ordinary, its surface a warm amber shade streaked with thin lines of deep red that resembled veins of ruby.

Caleb stopped.

His heartbeat quickened.

He knew that stone.

Or, at least, he had seen its image before.

A memory stirred through the fog in his mind, taking him back to the royal library, where ancient books and artefacts were kept behind protective enchantments. He remembered a discussion among scholars, an illustration in a damaged manuscript, and a peculiar amber gem said to possess the ability to turn back time.

He had dismissed the story as a legend.

A piece of supernatural folklore invented by someone who had mistaken an ordinary magical relic for something far more powerful.

But the image had stayed with him.

“Chaos,” he whispered. “Do you remember this?”

His Lycan was silent for several seconds.

Then came a faint rumble.

“Vaguely.”

Caleb moved closer, studying the amber stone without touching it.

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“I remember something about a gem with ruby streaks. It was rumoured to reverse time, allowing its bearer to return time that had already passed. I thought it was pure fiction.”

“Me too.”

Caleb stared at the stone.

A dangerous idea began to form in his mind.

If the legend was true, the amber stone could be more valuable to him than the Velinthra. Imagine

being able to return to the moment before Iva’s memories had been stolen, to stop the magic from

taking hold, or to prevent the chain of events that had brought her to this terrible point.

He could undo the nightmare.

He could give them their life back.

But the ancient voice had said the trial was about identifying the true Velinthra.

Caleb looked away and forced himself to continue searching.

He examined more stones, hoping to discover something that would confirm or disprove his

suspicions. He studied a silver crystal that seemed to absorb the light around it, a golden sphere containing a tiny moving constellation, and a dark red gem that made his heart beat faster

whenever he approached.

Nothing felt right.

Nothing stood out.

The longer he searched, the more difficult it became to think. His knees trembled, and he had to stop twice to catch his breath. Even Chaos had grown quiet, his presence flickering like a dying

flame.

At last, Caleb returned to the amber stone.

It was still there.

Unassuming.

Beautiful.

And completely irrelevant to the question he had been asked.

“We cannot stay here anymore,” Chaos roared suddenly. “This place is draining us, Caleb! If we keep searching, we will lose our ability to choose anything at all.”

Caleb leaned against the pedestal beside the amber stone.

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