Anya is led deep beneath the Trial Hall to the ancestral chambers of the Hearth Elders—a place of terrifying, ancient magic, starkly contrasting with the modern Lycan world. The chamber is circular, dominated by a massive, smoking stone altar and walls etched with arcane Lycan symbols that hum with potent energy.
The Hearth Elders, a small, cloaked group, greet her with chilling indifference, treating her as a political contamination they must cleanse.
They detail the three stages of the Rite: The Spirit Binding (magical submission), The Memory Scrutiny (a forced review of her deepest hatreds and secrets), and The Will Test (a confrontation with her deepest fear). Anya is stripped of all possessions and forced onto the stone altar.
The Elders begin the first phase, invoking powerful Lycan binding spells. As the magic hits her, Anya is consumed by agonizing, fiery pain—the Lycan Law attempting to overwrite her human spirit. She desperately focuses on Kaelan's confession and the strategic necessity of survival, using her sheer willpower as a shield against the magical coercion.
In a sudden, violent surge of energy, the Rite backfires slightly, reacting to the unyielding core of her defiance. The Elders realize this human is far stronger and more volatile than any before. They pause the Rite, momentarily stunned by the magical feedback. Anya, though screaming internally, manages to maintain a face of cold resolution, terrifying the Elders with her unexpected magical resilience.