Soulburned: The School of Souls
Chapter 8: Trials
Lyra was alone, surrounded by an oppressive darkness.
Seconds passed, then minutes. She couldn't see anything.
Her panic, temporarily restrained from her increased senses, returned suddenly and in force. Her face began to flush and prickle, and her palms grew sweaty. She was suddenly uncomfortably aware of her heart rate, the fabric touching her skin, and the oppressive silence.
She started tapping each of her fingers against her thumb in an alternating pattern, doing her best to maintain a steady rhythm.
Pointer, Middle, Ring, Pinky.
Pointer, Middle, Skip, Pinky.
Pointer, Middle, Ring, Skip.
Skip, Middle, Ring, Pinky.
Pointer, Skip, Ring, Pinky.
Her breathing slowed and deepened as she performed the exercise, another gift from Declan. Her panic waned.
That was... interesting. A feminine voice chimed in Lyra's head.
Lyra jumped.
"What the fuck!?" she shouted.
Sorry! Sorry... I've just never seen that before. You were really freaking out there. Most 1st Tiers do... but most don't have that level of emotional control!
"Get out of my fucking head," Lyra demanded.
She'd lost it. She'd absolutely lost it.
The voice laughed. The sound reverberated around Lyra's head like windchimes in a thunderstorm. Chaotic, but not entirely unpleasant.
I would, but I... can't. Sorry. But no, you haven't lost it.
A sphere of silver light materialized in front of Lyra, momentarily blinding her before it illuminated the small space.
She stood in a completely bare, completely white room. There were no seams to indicate that the walls were tile, and no cracks to indicate that they were stone. The most upsetting feature of the room was the door that she had just come in through.
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It was gone.
Are you ready for the first Trial? The glowing sphere asked, rippling and shifting as it spoke into Lyra's mind.
Lyra screamed, then promptly passed out.
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A short time later, Lyra blinked awake.
She was lying on her back, half submerged in the shallow creek that ran through the Mornstag Estate. The sky above her was a beautiful shade of blue and dotted with the most picturesque cumulus clouds she'd ever seen. The water was refreshing. It had been a long morning.
I must have nodded off... she thought.
"Do you think she's coming back?" Declan asked softly.
"Would you?" Lyra scoffed.
"No..." Declan said, "I suppose not."
"Void, Dec. Grow up. She had to leave."
The pair lay in silence for several more minutes, watching the clouds go by.
"Should we leave too?"
Lyra stood, shaking as much water from her clothes as she could.
"I'm going back to the house," she said.
"But we could leave, Lyra," Declan said, sitting up.
"We can't."
"We can. I've been enrolled into the Iris."
"You took the exam?"
"Mailed it in last week... right after," Declan replied smugly. "Apparently, I had an 'exceptional' result. I've been summoned to take the Mark."
"So you're just going to fucking leave me here?! With him?!"
"You can come too, Lyra. You'll have to pass the exam too but-"
"You know how he gets Dec, if we leave, he dies."
"Good. He deserves to die."
"Void! You don't get it, do you?!"
"No, Lyra, I don't!" Declan stood, "That man gives us nothing. Not his time, not his money, not his love. Not even the void-forsaken house. Tell me what he's done to deserve us, to deserve our love."
"He's our father."
"He's a drunk piece of shit."
"I know... but what am I supposed to do Dec."
"Void. The way that I see it, you have two options. Cling to this doomed facade of a family, and let that scum drag you down, or come with me and start over. "
"It's not that simple, Dec."
"Choose."
Lyra blinked.
What? This is wrong.
She remembered this day, but not this. Her vision swam. The sky darkened. Once light whisps of cloud turned into now violent thunderheads.
"Choose."
She hadn't left with Declan. She stayed for another three years... and regretted every moment.
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Lyra opened her eyes, back in the white room. The silver sphere flashed.
Not particularly wise to stay, was it Lyra?
"I had a responsibility."
Did that help?
"No."
What happened next?
"Declan left. Dad got worse." Lyra said, swallowing the lump in her throat.
The doorway reappeared in the room.
You can leave now. If you'd like.
"Is the Trial over?"
No.
"So I'd... die?"
Yes.
Lyra stared incredulously at the sphere.
"I'll stay."
Quite wise.
The doorway vanished again.
Are you ready for the next Trial?
"No."
Also quite wise.
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