Chapter 9
Rynlee’s POV
The Trifecta and the Fourfold Rite were only a day away now, the weight of it pressing heavy against my chest. Hot water beat down on my back as I stood beneath the spray, forehead resting against the cool tile wall.
My fingers traced the thin lines between the tiles, grounding myself as voices echoed through my mind.
Alaric’s. Firebeard’s. And unfortunately, Aiden’s.
Use your fucking head, Ruin. Maybe you just need a little boost. If anyone can make it up that devil’s back, it’s you.
I wish I had an answer. Running and jumping clearly weren’t cutting it, no amount of speed or effort was going to change my height, that much was obvious.
So, what options did I have? And even if I somehow made it by some miracle, more doubt crept in.
What if I reached the top of the Trifecta…
and nothing happened? What if all this struggle led to nothing at all?
I could die tomorrow. If the jump didn’t kill me, another first-year might.
The ceremony was chaos, everyone fighting for themselves, desperate to claim whatever power they could.
Training had made one truth painfully clear: hesitation equaled death.
If only my father had let me go to the Healing Academy.
I would’ve been learning about potions and poultices, how to save lives, rather than bracing for battle.
Instead, I stood here, in the steam-filled showers of a War College, preparing for something that potentially might kill me.
I exhaled slowly and turned off the shower.
Wrapping a towel around myself, I stepped out of the space, the echo of those voices still clinging to me like mist. I walked out and straight into a wall of muscle.
“Whoa, sorry,” I muttered, stepping away.
Aiden stood there, droplets of water trailing down his bare chest, slipping over sculpted muscle before disappearing beneath the towel slung low on his hips, dangerously low.
His dark hair was slicked back, sharpening the severe angles of his face; his jaw was clean shaven and carved from shadow and moonlight.
My gaze dipped before I could stop it. Faint scars cut across his chest, thin pale lines against bronzed skin.
Not the kind you got from simple sparring.
These were older. Rougher. One curved beneath his ribs like a memory that refused to fade.
And there, half-hidden along his side, dark markings traced downward, runes etched into his flesh, subtle but unmistakable.
They seemed to shift slightly as steam curled around him, blending with the shadows that pooled naturally at his feet.
He felt dangerous. And not just because of the towel.
“Are you going to stand there and stare all night?” he asked, voice a low rumble. My heart gave an embarrassingly sharp leap. I tilted my head back to meet his gaze, because if I didn’t, my gaze would land somewhere around his collarbone… or lower.
“I wasn’t staring,” I snapped, shoving the nerves down.
Aiden smirked. “Sure, Ruin.”
I rolled my eyes. “Will you stop calling me that?”
“Why? It suits you.”
“Well, I don’t think so.”
“And I don’t care.”
“Gods, you’re annoying.”
“Says the girl who can’t keep her nose out of restricted intel,” he replied, crossing his arms lazily. “Heard about your little question in Strategic Decisions.”
“So what?” I shrugged.
“So what?” His jaw tightened. “That was classified, Ruin.”
“Didn’t seem classified when you and Jasmine were whispering about it in the garden the other night,” I shot back.
The muscle along his jaw twitched. “You weren’t supposed to be out of your room.”
“Fair point,” I allowed. “But I didn’t say the wards were failing. I kept it hypothetical.” He stepped closer, invading my space. The air between us thickened, charged.
“Wicken isn’t stupid,” he murmured. “She knew exactly what you were implying. That’s why I know you asked.”
I lifted my chin. “Well, sorry. I’ll try not to be so curious next time.” I paused, then added, “Besides, I’m more concerned about the fact no one’s talking about it. Why does it seem as though you’re hiding something?”
“I’m not hiding anything,” he said, tone suddenly heavier. “I just don’t have enough intel to go off on yet.”
“Well, Jasmine made it sound as if the wards are failing straight from the source,” I countered, crossing my arms. “That sounds like pretty solid information to me.”
Aiden sighed, clearly annoyed. “It doesn’t matter, Ruin. You shouldn’t be worrying about that when a damn incline is kicking your ass.”
“Okay, ouch, but—”
“There are no buts.” His brow arched. “You should be figuring out how you’re going to survive tomorrow. Otherwise, the Eastern Encampment won’t exactly be your problem, will it?”
I exhaled heavily. “I guess you’re right.”
“I know.” He turned to leave.
“Wait.” I didn’t mean to reach out, but my fingers brushed his arm before I could stop myself. He froze. His eyes flicked to my hand, then back to my face. “What can I expect at the top of the mountain?” I asked quietly.
“If you make it past the fourth tier,” he said, “there’s fog. Thick. Blinding. Walk into it and you enter another realm. That’s where it happens, where your power comes, if it comes. You have to reach the purple light.”
“Sounds creepy.”
“It is.” He paused. “You’ll hear screams. People are dying out there, and first years get desperate when they’re scared. Careless. So watch your back.” I swallowed.
“Did it hurt?” My gaze drifted to the faint glow of the runes along his forearm.
A crescent-shaped moon burned into his palm.
Above it, a snowflake, sharp and delicate.
And farther up, the outline of a shadowed figure, half-formed, as if it were still trying to pull itself free of his skin.
They weren’t just markings. They looked alive.
“Did what hurt?” he asked.
“The runes,” I said quietly. “Getting your power.”
He hesitated.
“Yes,” he replied at last, voice low and blunt. “It was excruciating. Like being burned alive from the inside out. When the power hit, it felt as though my body was tearing itself apart.” His jaw tightened. “The runes came with it. Like being rewritten.” My heart pounded. Just as Quinnell had said.
“And… did you see him?” I asked. “The Moon God?”
His gaze darkened. Slowly, he nodded.
“Yes.”
“What did he look like?”
Another pause.
Then, flatly, “me.” He turned and walked away, the towel shifting at his hips as he disappeared around the corner, leaving me frozen in place. Me. What the hell did that even mean?
That night, his words wouldn’t leave me alone. Aiden looked like the Moon God? How was that even possible? Was it a sign that he’d been destined for those powers all along? I shook the thought away before it had a chance to settle. No. That didn’t make sense.
Maybe it was a coincidence. Maybe the gods liked mirrors and madness.
Either way, it didn’t matter. I had bigger problems. Tomorrow was the Fourfold Rite, and an incline still stood between me and survival.
If I was going to make it, I needed a plan, something smarter than brute force, something that didn’t rely on speed or height.
Lying there in the dark, staring at the ceiling, I focused my thoughts on where they belonged. It was time to start thinking.
The Fourfold Rite had arrived. I walked alongside my unit toward the Trifecta, the crisp night breeze biting into my skin.
I still hadn’t come up with a plan. I had fallen asleep sometime after midnight, my mind tangled and unfinished.
If I was honest with myself, I was heading into this blind.
So, I would have to improvise. Torches lined the winding path ahead, their flames flickering orange against the dark.
The scent of smoke, sweat, and anticipation clung to the air like a warning.
Before the maze entrance, two forest trolls flanked the way, their massive arms pounding a steady rhythm against giant drums.
The sound rolled through the valley, deep and primordial. Grounding. Terrifying. Every beat seemed to echo one truth through my bones. There was no turning back now. “Forest trolls?” I murmured, more to myself than to anyone else.
“Yeah,” Luna replied, leaning in close. “Apparently they’re only used for this one night.”
“Pretty cool,” I breathed, gaze still fixed on the creatures.
I’d never seen one in person before. Their mossy skin shimmered under torchlight, their eyes glowing like polished amber.
Beautiful and horrifying. But my gaze quickly shifted to the looming mountain ahead.
Magelight flickered faintly along certain stretches of the path, brief flickers of warmth in the oppressive darkness.
At the summit, the fog was dense, rolling as if it were a living thing, but even through the haze, the purple beam burned bright, unyielding.
A beacon. Or a warning. Screams tore through the air.
My stomach lurched as I realized the Athena unit was already inside the course.
I craned my neck upward just in time to see a boy lose his grip on one of the higher ledges.
His arms flailed once before he plummeted, the sound of his body striking the ground cracking across the field like thunder.
I flinched hard, bile rising at the back of my throat.
Beside me, Ryan cursed under his breath, the usual grin wiped clean from his face.
“Gods…” he whispered, his stare locked on the mountain. His knuckles tightened around the hilt at his hip, but for once he didn’t joke. Didn’t even try. The silence from him was worse than the scream.
Luna’s face had gone pale; her olive eyes fixed on the jagged slope. “If that was us…” she started, but her voice faded, as if finishing the thought would make it real. She hugged her arms tight across her chest, shoulders drawn.