The world contracted.
The ring of living roots tightened around the clearing, rising like ribs of a great beast. The air thickened until every breath felt deliberate. Even the insects fell silent, as if fear had stolen their wings.
The Verdant Judge towered above Kael and Dare, its eyes burning river-green.
"THE EARTH SEES. THE WATER REMEMBERS. THE FOREST DECIDES."
Dare flexed his cage-hand, golden light threading through its joints.
Kael tightened his grip on Abyssfang, the sword humming with a tense, eager hunger.
Nia and Taye stood outside the root-ring, unable to intervene even if they tried.
The serpent spirit coiled behind Kael, a towering green shadow.
The kapok spirit bowed its head, signaling the ancient gravity of the trial.
Dare broke the silence first.
"No weapons but your cursed one," he said, nodding to Abyssfang. "Seems fair."
Kael raised one eyebrow. "Fair? You have a demon contract strapped to your arm."
Dare grinned. "Yeah. And you've got a jungle god cosplaying your face behind you."
Kael almost smiled—almost.
Then Dare said something that sliced through the moment.
"Don't hold back."
Kael's heart tightened. "Dare—"
Dare's expression sharpened. "If you pull your swing, Kael, this trial will kill you."
The Judge raised its hand.
"BEGIN."
They collided like storms.
Kael moved first—surprising even himself.
Abyssfang swept outward in a wide arc, the blade leaving a faint trail of shadow. Dare sidestepped the first strike, pivoting with flawless precision, his metal hand absorbing the blow like a shield.
Kael slid under Dare's counterstrike—
Dare's heel grazed Kael's cheek—
Kael used the momentum to spin, blade slicing upward—
—Dare blocked with his forearm, the impact reverberating through his entire frame.
"Still fast," Dare grunted.
"You too," Kael said through clenched teeth.
They exchanged blows, each one carrying layers of history—
years of shared meals, training, childhood fights, whispered dreams of leaving Verdant together.
Every strike was a memory turned sharp.
Dare lunged, cage-hand snapping open.
Kael twisted aside, slicing a shallow line along Dare's ribs.
Dare laughed—sharp, wild, a sound Kael remembered from nights by the river.
"I missed this," Dare said. "You being honest through violence."
Kael swallowed hard.
"Violence was never our honesty."
"Speak for yourself!"
Dare slammed his cage-hand down.
Chains burst from the soil.
Kael rolled aside as they crashed into the earth where he'd stood, splitting a root the size of a tree trunk. The serpent behind Kael hissed in defense, its body glowing brighter.
The Judge watched without emotion.
"BALANCE. RIVER AND ROOT."
Kael surged forward, eyes burning.
"You want honesty? Fine!"
He feinted left—
Abyssfang darted right—
Dare parried—
Kael stepped in close, forehead almost touching Dare's.
"I didn't ask you to come with me…
Because I was scared you'd say yes."
Dare froze.
Just for a heartbeat.
Kael struck.
A heavy blow crashed into Dare's shoulder, sending him stumbling back. He regained his balance with supernatural speed, fury and something more fragile twisting across his face.
"You think I wouldn't have followed you anywhere?"
"That's what I was afraid of."
Dare's expression cracked—
Raw pain spilled through the mask he wore.
"You idiot," he whispered. "You think protecting me meant leaving me behind?"
Kael opened his mouth—
But Dare didn't let him speak.
His face hardened. "Too late now."
Chains erupted again, this time aiming not for Kael's legs—but for his heart.
"DARE!" Nia yelled from the edge of the ring. "DON'T YOU DARE—!"
Kael brought Abyssfang up—
The blade screamed with laughter—
YES! A HEART SHOT! DO NOT DISAPPOINT ME!
Kael met the chains head-on.
The impact shook the entire clearing.
The brand on Kael's chest burned, flaring with a violent green-gold light.
The serpent behind him roared—
The Judge leaned in, watching intently.
Kael pushed the chains back—
Barely—
But he held.
Dare stared, stunned.
"You're… stronger," he breathed.
Kael gritted his teeth. "I've had to be."
Dare launched forward, fury renewed.
The duel grew faster—
Blows became blurs.
Strikes became afterimages.
The serpent weaved around Kael's movements.
Dare's chains wove around his own.
It became a dance they had once practiced as boys—
But now, deadly.
Kael's breath burned.
His muscles trembled.
The brand flared hot enough to numb him.
And Dare—
Dare was slowing.
Kael noticed the tremor in his cage-hand.
The flicker in the law-script along his wrist.
The exhaustion he tried to mask under bravado.
"Dare… you're hurting."
Dare snarled. "Don't pity me."
Kael stepped back, lowering his blade.
"This doesn't have to be a death fight."
Dare lunged anyway—
Desperation in every step.
Kael blocked—
Barely—
Abyssfang shrieked in delight.
HE LOVES YOU AND WANTS TO KILL YOU. BEAUTIFUL.
Kael shoved Dare back.
"STOP!" Kael shouted. "Before you—"
Dare's knee buckled.
He staggered.
The glow in his cage-hand flickered, then sputtered.
Kael rushed forward—
But Dare raised his good hand, palm out.
A signal.
"Don't," Dare said, breathing ragged. "If you touch me now… the trial decides I lost."
"Dare—"
"I'm not done."
He forced himself upright.
Every tremor of his limbs screamed agony.
"I am NOT losing you a second time."
Kael's chest split open with grief.
"Dare… this isn't losing."
"It is," Dare whispered. "Everything with you always is."
The Judge lifted its enormous hand.
"FINAL EXCHANGE."
Kael swallowed. His vision blurred at the edges. His legs trembled.
Dare's eyes shone, wet and furious.
They both stepped forward.
One last strike.
One last truth.
Root and river.
Law and burden.
Brothers divided by choice, united by pain.
Abyssfang pulsed in Kael's grip.
The cage-hand crackled.
The serpent roared.
The Judge watched.
The forest breathed in.
Kael saw Dare move—
And dared to hope—
But what happened in the next heartbeat
was neither Kael's strike
nor Dare's.
It was the forest's.
Something massive moved in the canopy—
A shadow fell—
A roar unlike anything from before tore the sky—
Before either Kael or Dare could land the final blow…
Something crashed into the clearing.
Something that made the Judge step back.
Something no spirit had summoned.
Something that smelled of blood, metal, and corruption.
Nia screamed Kael's name.
Taye's shadow recoiled in terror.
The serpent bowed its head as if recognizing an old enemy.
Kael and Dare both turned—
Both pale—
Both forgetting their fight—
Because standing at the edge of the clearing was:
A towering figure of black iron and rotting vine.
A mockery of Verdant's guardians.
A being with chains hanging from its ribs
and a glass eye glowing with the Chancellor's sigil.
"Ah," the new arrival rasped.
"At last… the lost sons of Verdant.
And the broken chain I've come to collect."
Kael whispered:
"No… not here. Not NOW."
Dare whispered:
"Chancellor… what have you done?"
The Judge thundered:
"THIS ONE IS NOT OF THE FOREST."
The intruder lifted a dripping, corrupted spear.
"No," it said.
"But he belongs to ME."