Chapter Four - C
538 Words
CHAPTER 4 – C: Ritual Trial + Forced Separation**
The drums started again.
Slow. Heavy.
Each beat felt like a warning.
Maya’s heart kicked fast in her chest.
She stood in the stone courtyard, surrounded by torches.
Shadows moved like monsters on the walls.
The elders formed a circle around her.
Their white masks glowed in the firelight.
Their voices whispered in a strange, ancient tongue.
Maya swallowed hard.
She didn’t understand the words.
But she understood the danger.
This was the Ritual Trial.
And she had no choice.
A cold wind rushed over her skin.
It felt like the night itself was watching her.
Lucian stepped beside her, jaw tight.
He looked angry.
He looked afraid.
Not for himself.
For her.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he whispered.
“I have to be,” she said, even though her voice shook.
One of the masked elders raised a staff.
The drums stopped.
Silence crashed down.
“You will walk the Path of Blood,” the elder said.
His voice was old and sharp.
“Your spirit will be tested.
Your bond will be measured.
Your fate will be decided.”
Maya’s stomach twisted.
Lucian grabbed her hand.
His grip was strong, like he didn’t want to let go.
But the elder slammed the staff on the ground.
“Release her.”
Guards stepped forward.
Big.
Silent.
Unmoving.
Lucian didn’t let go.
“Maya belongs with me,” he growled.
The guards moved closer.
Maya shook her head.
“No. Lucian. It’s okay. I’ll be fine.”
But she wasn’t fine.
She was terrified.
One guard pulled her away.
Another held Lucian back.
He fought against them hard.
Too hard.
“Don’t touch her!” he shouted.
The torches flickered.
The wind howled.
The ground seemed to tremble under their feet.
The elder stepped toward Maya.
“It is time.”
A silver blade flashed in his hand.
Thin as moonlight.
Cold as fear.
Maya’s breath caught.
“What are you going to do?” she whispered.
“To see your truth,” the elder said.
“And the truth of your bond.”
Lucian roared.
His voice shook the courtyard.
He tried to break free again.
But three guards held him down.
“Maya! Don’t let them—!”
His voice cut off as a guard struck him.
Hard.
Maya screamed.
“Stop! Leave him alone!”
The elder grabbed her wrist.
His fingers felt like ice.
“Begin,” he said.
The drums exploded again.
The blade touched her skin.
She gasped.
Fire rushed through her arm—
sharp, bright, blinding.
The world spun.
The torches blurred.
Voices echoed all around her.
Then—
A c***k.
A ripping sound.
The air tore open behind her.
A dark portal began to form.
Black smoke curled out like claws.
Wind whipped the courtyard into chaos.
The elders shouted.
The guards panicked.
Lucian’s eyes widened.
“Maya— NO!”
A force yanked her backward.
Her feet lifted off the ground.
She tried to grab something—
someone—
anything—
But the darkness swallowed her whole.
The last thing she heard was Lucian’s voice:
“I’m coming for you!”
And then—
Everything went black.
- Writer
