At the same time, Lysandra was finishing her battle, her daggers crossing in an X formation as she disarmed Boreas and pressed the blades to his throat. "Yield," she commanded, her tone leaving no room for argument. Boreas, with a cold glare, slowly lowered his weapon, acknowledging his defeat.
Orion had just felled Aella with a precise strike to her wing, incapacitating her without taking her life. He turned to face her as she struggled to rise, her predatory gaze now softened with the realization of her defeat. "Your fight is over," Orion said, his voice steady. Aella, seeing the futility of continuing, folded her wings and nodded, accepting her loss.
Caelum, with one opponent disarmed and the other barely holding onto his sword, delivered a final, crushing blow that knocked the weapon from his foe's hand. "Enough," Caelum growled, his eyes burning with intensity. His opponents, bruised and battered, fell back, their spirits broken.
Back at the center of the clearing, feeling the threat, Zephyr unleashed a desperate gust of wind, pushing Kairos back into the arms of his cousins. At the same time, Zephyr was blown into the waiting arms of his own family. Both warriors were battered and bloodied, their bodies marked by the intensity of their battle.
Kairos's armor was splattered with his own blood, mingled with Zephyr's, while Zephyr himself bore the scars of their encounter—feathers torn, a deep gash running along the side of his neck.
"Kairos, are you okay?" Lyra asked, her voice tinged with concern as she caught him.
"I'm fine," Kairos grunted, pulling himself free from her grip. He reached into the pocket dimension, producing a health potion seemingly out of thin air. His cousins watched in amazement as he uncorked the vial and downed its contents, the healing magic already beginning to mend his wounds.
As Kairos approached the Icarus family, his sword still in hand, he was met with an unexpected sight. Aella, her wings folded and her eyes filled with tears, threw herself at Kairos's feet, her voice trembling with fear and desperation. "Please, spare my brother! We... We can't lose him. He's our strength, our protector... Please!"
Kairos stood over her, his face a mask of cold determination, his grip tightening on his sword. The words of Eclipse echoed in his mind, urging him to end the fight decisively, to eliminate any future threats.
"This is your chance, Kairos," Eclipse whispered, his voice dark and commanding in the back of Kairos's mind. "Finish him. A single stroke, and you'll rid yourself of a potential enemy. Do it. Kill him."
Kairos hesitated, his heart pounding in his chest. "But... he's already down. There's no need to—"
"You're being weak!" Eclipse snarled, his tone dripping with disdain. "Do you want to survive this trial or not? If you can't even kill when the opportunity presents itself, then you're nothing but a coward. A pathetic, sentimental fool. You think sparing him will make you noble? It makes you a target!"
Kairos's hand trembled as he raised his sword, his gaze locked on Zephyr's vulnerable form. He could feel the pressure from Eclipse, the dark god's influence seeping into his thoughts, urging him to act. It would be so easy—just one quick motion, and Zephyr would be no more.
But then, as his sword rose, Kairos hesitated. He looked around and saw the terror in the eyes of Zephyr's family, the way they clung to each other in fear. This wasn't just a fight; this was the life and death of a family, a family that had never known war, had never seen the brutality of battle up close.
Kairos's stance relaxed, and he lowered his sword. He placed a hand gently on Aella's head, her tears soaking into his glove. "I won't be the one to strike him down," he said softly, his voice no longer filled with the cold calculation of a warrior, but with the compassion of someone who had once been in her place.
"You Fool!" Eclipse's voice thundered in his mind, filled with rage. "You'll regret this, Kairos, this mercy will come back for you."
Kairos ignored the seething voice, focusing instead on the here and now. He pulled another health potion from the pocket dimension and handed it to Aella. "Take this," he instructed. "Pour it on his wounds. He'll recover."
Zephyr's family, overwhelmed with relief, lowered their heads in gratitude, pledging their loyalty to Kairos for sparing their beloved brother. "Thank you," they murmured in unison, their voices choked with emotion.
Kairos, feeling the weight of their gratitude, blushed slightly, unused to such reverence. He had acted on instinct, on what he believed to be right. But now, seeing the impact of his decision, he felt a warmth in his chest, a sense of pride that he hadn't expected.
Even Caelum, who had been watching with a critical eye, found it difficult to suppress his admiration. "You did well, Kairos," he said quietly.
Leaving the ambush behind them, Kairos and his cousins moved forward, their hearts still racing from the encounter. The forest around them was thick and oppressive, with towering trees that stretched their gnarled branches overhead, intertwining to form a natural canopy. The undergrowth was dense, with roots and vines snaking across the ground, making every step a cautious one. The air was heavy with the scent of damp earth and moss, and the distant calls of unseen creatures echoed through the trees, adding to the sense of foreboding.
As they ventured deeper into the forest, the oppressive greenery began to thin out, the trees growing further apart. Shafts of sunlight pierced through the thinning canopy, casting dappled patterns on the forest floor. The group slowed their pace, senses heightened as they approached what they instinctively knew was the first trial's location.
Finally, the dense forest gave way to a wide clearing, and as they stepped into the open, they were met with an unexpected and unsettling sight: a campsite, but not just any campsite.