They trekked forward for several minutes, causing Auren to grow increasingly worried and suspicious about the lone coffin they'd found. Eventually, they reached the area where the rest of the coffins lay scattered.
It was exactly as Jasper had described. Every coffin stood open, strewn across the black sand. Auren moved from one to another with a pale expression, unable to find a single body.
All of them had somehow, miraculously, escaped—or perhaps their corpses had been taken away to be burned or something. Auren couldn't be certain.
Meredith and Jasper searched the area too. They found nothing. The place was stripped of everything except the empty coffins.
Even more disturbing was that none of these coffins bore the symbol. Auren examined lid after lid, finding not a single one marked with the same strange design.
This confirmed his suspicion about the isolated coffin they'd found earlier. It was different.
'That was it.'
He was sure of it.
That was the coffin that Dawn had been trapped in.
Jasper and Meredith finally returned to him. Their expressions were grim—even Meredith's usually impassive face showed concern.
"There's not a single corpse here."
Jasper's voice, unlike Meredith's steady tone, quavered.
"I saw them before—I saw quite a few actually before running away. Something's wrong."
Auren looked at him with calm eyes. He lifted one lid to completely close a nearby coffin and sat down on it.
Jasper followed Auren's actions with bewildered eyes. When Auren finally settled, he looked puzzled.
"You're... sitting?"
Auren looked up at him.
"Yes, I am. Got a problem with that?"
"No, no, I don't. It's just that..."
He stopped mid-sentence and exhaled.
"Never mind."
Auren studied his face for a few seconds with a stern expression.
"We have little time to rest. Our mysterious lurer will likely appear soon. When that happens, until this Trial ends, there's no telling what might happen. So I suggest you sit down and rest your legs after all that walking."
Without hesitation, Meredith found a lid and did the same, sitting comfortably and crossing her legs.
Auren smiled as he watched her, then shifted his gaze to Jasper and shrugged.
"I don't understand either of you. Something seems off about how you both think. Are you two even sixteen?"
Auren leaned back on his coffin with a grin.
"I prefer to say I'm not bound by those nonsensical age classifications. I believe I've lived three lives before this one. I even know what a cat is."
Jasper tilted his head slightly.
"What is a... cat?"
"A creature from before the Archons' time. They say it could die and live nine times before eventually perishing. Isn't that amusing?"
He paused, counting on his fingers. He stopped at three.
"Ah, I have six more to go."
Jasper exhaled and slumped down onto the cold sand.
"Oh my days, you are so weird."
Auren looked at him, a coy smile playing on his lips before he turned away, subtly surveying the area.
He wasn't just looking around. He was taking advantage of his strange connection with the night—or was it darkness itself? He couldn't yet tell. But he was carefully trying to sharpen it, to understand how it worked.
And that was how he felt it.
...
Auren's expression darkened. At that same moment, Meredith's eyes snapped open.
Their sudden alertness caught Jasper's attention.
"What? Is it time?"
Auren grimaced and looked up. His frown deepened and with sudden urgency, he shouted at Jasper.
"Get out of the way!"
As he yelled, he threw himself aside. Meredith had already launched herself from her position. Jasper belatedly scrambled away on all fours.
A thin beam of red light whistled downward and struck the ground, unleashing a devastating shockwave that rolled outward, consuming everything in its path. Coffins scattered and tumbled in its wake.
Jasper was caught in the blast. The force lifted him, spinning his body before hurling him away. He crashed into a raised heap of black sand that resembled a small plateau.
Meredith and Auren managed to land steadily, though still shaken by the impact. Their faces were pale with intense focus, beads of sweat forming on their skin.
From the center of destruction, as the cloud of black dust cleared, something—no, someone—rose from a kneeling position.
What they first saw was a red light that glinted in the dark embrace of the dust cloud. Then it moved, flowing like luminous insects through the air.
Before Meredith or Auren could track its movement, something slammed into them.
Auren was hit first. He was still staring forward, trying to follow the path of the light when he felt a terrible, electrifying pain crush through his side. A blast of force exploded outward as the attacker rammed him with armored shoulders, sending Auren flying at supersonic speed. Meredith couldn't react before Auren collided with her, their bodies intertwining as they tumbled across the black sand.
The assailant stood and raised his head, combing back his black bangs with his fingers.
A look of disdain crossed his face as he snorted and spat out blood.
"What was that hardness...? Felt like I hit a metal wall."
There were grazes on the shoulder pauldron of his pristine white and red armor.
Auren was so stricken by pain that he felt paralyzed. He lay there, unable to move, until he heard a voice beneath him.
"Move."
He was lying on... Meredith... in an awkward position. Not face to face—rather, he was sprawled across her back.
"I can't fight if you don't force yourself to move."
Auren, with slightly flustered eyes, managed to summon his strength. He rolled to the side and fell onto his back beside her. With that movement, his body began to respond, though the impact still reverberated through his bones.
Meredith was already standing. Despite the awkward entanglement moments ago, neither seemed concerned about it now.
With determined focus, she clenched her fist and scanned the area, searching for where her spear had fallen during their tumble.
The Knight who'd attacked them stood just meters from it. He noticed her gaze and followed it to the weapon. Bending down, he picked it up, examining it with an irritated expression.
"What is this nonsense?"
He gripped the shaft of the spear with both hands and effortlessly snapped it in two, tossing the pieces aside with contempt, as if they were useless trash.
Then he shifted his gaze to Auren.
"And you, maggot. I've been waiting for you for hours. Heretic! Where is my sword?!"
Auren's eyes widened with sudden realization.
'...oh shit...'
Of course, he had always wanted to confront the Knight who had caused him so much suffering. But he never expected it to happen so soon!
'What is this rotten luck!'
"You broke... my spear..."
Cutting through the tension, a cold and dangerously quiet voice entered the air.
Auren, finally regaining enough strength to attempt standing, turned toward the sound. He could clearly see Meredith's face.
She was...
Burning.