NOVEL NEXT Chapter 13: Trial of Shadows and Secrets
🌑 Scene 1: Entering the Temple of Threads
[Bridging Scene — Yura & Mira Connection]
Jemil walked a step ahead of the others, the soft rhythm of boots on stone the only sound in the dim corridor.
His gaze drifted sideways — to Mira. Her silver hair caught the torchlight, and for an instant, her eyes glimmered gold instead of deep ocean-blue. His breath caught.
Yura…?
The sensation was faint but undeniable. That pulse in his soul — warm, teasing, and familiar — was hers. It hadn't left him since the soul merge in the battle. Mira's presence carried it now, like a vessel cradling another flame.
She noticed his stare and tilted her head. "Something wrong?"
Jemil shook his head slowly. "No… not wrong. Just—" His words trailed as Mira's lips curved in a small, knowing smile, but her tone carried a different cadence.
"Still watching over you, summoner," she whispered — and for that heartbeat, it wasn't Mira's voice, but Yura's.
A shiver ran down his spine. The others didn't notice, but Jemil knew: Yura hadn't vanished. She was here, within Mira, her essence woven into the Leviathan princess's very being.
Somehow, they were both her… and both his.
A narrow staircase wound upward through dense violet fog.
Jemil climbed, each step feeling heavier than the last.
The Temple of Threads wasn't made of stone or steel — it was made of memory.
Every wall shimmered with webbing that pulsed softly, threads shifting between past and present.
Behind him, his wives followed — Flare, Mira (bearing Yura's soul within her), Lyra, Saphira, Naia. Each was tense.
"This place is alive," Mira said, scanning the walls. "It's watching us."
"She said this trial is psychological," Lyra muttered. "Then why do I feel like we're walking into a funeral?"
"Because part of you already lost," came a whisper from the walls.
The temperature dropped. The threads rustled. The lights dimmed.
And then Vel'Zara's voice echoed all around them.
🕷️ Scene 2: The Trial Begins – Webbed Realities
[Trial 3: The Forbidden Thread — Initiated]
Trial Type: Emotional Truth & Fractured Memory
Objective: Survive the Web of Secrets. One truth must be spoken aloud.
Penalty for failure: Loss of a core bond.
The group was instantly separated.
Each person trapped in a different room — one built from threads of their own forgotten memories.
🔥 Scene 3A: Flare's Trial – The Broken Vow
Flare stood in a burning field.
At the center, a phantom version of Jemil knelt before another woman — not her — and offered her a ring.
"You were just second choice," the memory-Jemil said. "She was the one I really loved."
Flare's flames surged in anger — but then she realized:
"This isn't his memory. It's mine. This is my fear."
Vel'Zara's voice echoed through the fire:
"Admit it. You're afraid he'll stop choosing you."
"No!" Flare roared. "He already did choose me. Every damn day. That's why I burn brighter."
The illusion shattered.
🌊 Scene 3B: Mira's Trial – The Soul Contract
Mira stood in a dark ocean.
Jemil floated in front of her, chained, lifeless.
A contract scroll burned beside him — the very soul merge they once shared.
"He used you," the water whispered. "He took your power. Left your heart."
Vel'Zara appeared behind her.
"You saved him. But did he ever really save you?"
Mira gritted her teeth.
"He didn't know how. But he tries now. And that's enough."
The chains shattered.
🕸️ Scene 4: Jemil's Trial – The Forgotten Summon
Jemil stood in a mirror maze of silk.
Each reflection showed a different version of himself: younger, afraid, furious, lonely.
"This is the night you summoned me," Vel'Zara's voice said.
The walls changed — now showing a war-torn battlefield, Jemil collapsed in a crater.
His body trembled. His hand stretched toward the sky.
A broken summoning circle glowed beneath him.
He whispered:
"I don't care if I die. Just… just make it all stop."
Vel'Zara appeared beside him.
"You didn't summon me for strength. You summoned me to erase your fear."
"That was a different me," Jemil whispered.
"But I still answered," she said. "I bore the curse. And the system sealed me because you meant it. You meant to forget everything."
🧵 Scene 5: Trial Resolution
The threads turned gold.
Each room merged.
The group reappeared together, blinking, breathless.
Vel'Zara hovered above the temple steps — no longer just an echo.
She was real. Physical. Radiating void elegance.
"You passed," she said. "You all did."
"Then why do I feel like I failed something?" Jemil asked, voice low.
Vel'Zara stepped forward. She didn't look angry. She looked… mournful.
"Because you did fail once. You asked me to erase your fear. And I obeyed."
"But now…" she lifted a black silken ring from a thread on her finger.
"Now I ask. Will you face your fear — with me beside you?"
💍 Trial Result:
Bond: Vel'Zara (Shadow Bride)
Type: Voidbound
Status: Restored
Claim: Official
Harem Status: Integrated
💬 End of Chapter 13
📌 Call to Action:
💎 Vote if Vel'Zara deserves her place in the harem
🔖 Add to Library to keep up with Trial 4 — it's coming fast
📣 Comment below: What secret from Jemil's past do YOU think he's still hiding?