Page 20 of Her Guardian Demon

I flinch slightly at his tone, but I refuse to back down. "I won't fail," I declare, feeling a fire burning within me.

"Go," Kieran tells me, his voice cold. "Get your gear, prepare yourself and enter within the hour. The Gauntlet awaits."

After retrieving our gear, we stand before the writhing archway, and I’m the first to enter.

The eldritch symbols pulse with an otherworldly light, beckoning me forward.

With one final look at Kieran, I step through the threshold my, my heart pounding in my chest. For a moment, everything goes dark. Then, as if someone's slowly turning up a dimmer switch, the world around me comes into focus.

I'm standing at the edge of a forest, but I’m still very much underground, the atmosphere damp and stale. The trees are pale, almost white, their bark smooth as polished stone. No leaves adorn their branches. Instead, delicate chains of tiny bones dangle, creating a soft, eerie chime as they sway in a breeze I can't feel.

The ground beneath my feet is soft, yielding. I look down and recoil. I'm standing on a carpet of what looks like... hair? Dark, fine strands stretch as far as I can see, rippling like grass in the wind.

The air is thick with an odd, sweet scent. It reminds me of decay, but not unpleasant - more like overripe fruit on the verge of fermentation. As I breathe it in, I feel a slight buzz, as if the very atmosphere is trying to intoxicate me.

I force myself to focus. I need to move forward, to face whatever challenges this twisted place has in store for me. But which way is forward in a place like this?

As if in answer to my unspoken question, a path appears before me. The hair-like ground parts, revealing a trail of bleached bones. Skull, spine, ribs, laid out in a macabre connect-the-dots.

With no better option, I follow the bone path. As I walk, I notice movement in the corner of my eye. I turn my head quickly, but there's nothing there. Just the pale trees and theirchiming bone-leaf chains. But I can't shake the feeling of being watched.

13

KIERAN

Istand in my private chambers, surrounded by an array of scrying mirrors. Each one shows a different part of the Abyssal Gauntlet, but my eyes are fixed on the largest mirror, tracking Aria's progress. The room is dark save for the ethereal glow of the mirrors, casting shifting shadows across my face.

As I watch Aria navigate a particularly treacherous corridor, fond memories of my own trial in the Gauntlet flood back. The fear, the exhilaration, the sweet moments of despair. But where I had stumbled, Aria seems to dance. Her movements are fluid, her decisions quick and decisive.

She approaches a chamber I remember all too well. The Floor of Falling Stars, we called it. Pressure-sensitive tiles that, when stepped on, would shoot searing bolts of magical energy upward. I had crossed it through sheer determination and no small amount of pain.

Aria pauses at the entrance, her eyes scanning the room. I lean closer to the mirror, breath caught in my throat.What will she do?

To my amazement, she begins to sing. A haunting melody that causes the tiles to vibrate. As they shake, their patterns become visible. With a grace that borders on precognition, Aria picks her way across the chamber, never once triggering a tile.

I can't help the laugh that escapes me. Brilliant. Simply brilliant.

My elation is short-lived. In the next chamber, Aria encounters a soul-draining specter, a being of pure malevolence that had nearly ended my own journey. She doesn't see it materializing behind her, its ghostly tendrils reaching for her essence.

"Behind you!" I shout, forgetting for a moment that she can't hear me. My hand reaches out, as if I could pull her to safety through the mirror.

At the last second, Aria spins, narrowly avoiding the specter's grasp. The battle that ensues is fierce, pushing her to her limits. I watch, my entire body tense, as she finally banishes the entity with a complex spell I don't remember teaching her.

Relief floods through me, followed immediately by a wave of confusion.Why am I so invested in her survival? She's just another student, a potential asset to the Winter Court. Isn't she?

I force myself to step back, to observe more clinically. Aria is using the artifacts I gifted her with surprising skill. The nightmare essence, in particular, seems to have become an extension of her will. She wields it not just as a weapon, but as a tool for manipulation and misdirection.

What really catches my attention, however, is her innovative use of spells. She combines techniques in ways I've never seen, creating effects that shouldn't be possible for a witch of her experience. It's... impressive.

And somewhat unsettling.

… I think I may be … in love?

As she faces a particularly challenging puzzle, I find myself holding my breath, silently urging her on. When she solves it with a flash of insight, I feel a surge of pride so strong it startles me.

For a moment, my carefully constructed facade cracks. I see in Aria not just a student or a pawn, but something more.

Someone I genuinely care for.

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