Chapter 82: Beyond the Gates

The academy transports pulled up at the edge of the trial territory after hours on winding mountain roads, and the mood inside the vehicles had turned excited rather than grim somewhere around the second hour.

Roxanne sat with Isla and Tessa while the Moonstones rode in the vehicle ahead, and students up and down the aisle traded predictions about which packs would dominate the trials this year.

Tessa nudged her with an elbow. "Think you can survive three days without Moonstone assistance?" she asked. Roxanne glanced toward the vehicle ahead and smiled. "I’ve survived eighteen years without it," she said. "Fair," Tessa said, laughing.

When the transports finally stopped, everyone spilled out onto a wide gravel clearing, and Roxanne stood there completely still for a moment.

The Lunar Trial grounds weren’t simply a forest. Enormous ancient trees towered over training clearings, streams cut silver lines through the grass, and old stone structures stood scattered among the trees like something out of another century.

Distant mountains ringed the whole territory, their peaks catching the last of the afternoon light. It felt like a secret world hidden just beyond the academy gates.

Students from several elite packs had already arrived, and the atmosphere shifted the moment Roxanne noticed them. Unfamiliar uniforms moved in clusters across the camp, each pack carrying its own traditions and its own unmistakable confidence.

Older students sized up the newcomers with open curiosity, and a few looked ready to prove something before the trial had even begun. Elias recognized a handful of faces from previous competitions and pointed them out under his breath.

Tessa muttered, "We’re definitely not in Kansas anymore," and Roxanne laughed despite the nerves gathering in her stomach. Nobody here cared that she was close to the Moonstones. If she wanted respect in this place, she would have to earn it all over again, and the thought excited her more than it frightened her.

The students were led through the temporary camp, and it felt less like a competition ground and more like a festival built for the supernatural. Banners snapped in the wind above cabin rows, food stalls sent smoke curling into the evening air, and bonfire pits sat ready beside archery ranges and marked combat circles.

In one clearing a group of students practiced controlled shifting under the watch of an instructor from another pack.

Liam took one look at the food stalls and announced that an investigation was required immediately. "We’re here to prepare," Kai said.

Liam pointed toward a table stacked with roasted meat and bread. "Preparation requires nutrition," he said, already walking. Roxanne followed him, and Kai gave her a look. "Seriously?" he asked.

She grinned over her shoulder. "Nutrition," she said.

Later, after she lost track of Isla somewhere between the cabins, Roxanne found herself standing before an enormous trial map pinned to a board near the central tent.

Roshan appeared beside her without a word, studying the map along with her for a moment before he spoke. "Looking for something?" he asked. "Trying to understand where they’ll send us," she said.

He pointed out the major regions one by one, the river, the mountain, the forest, the canyon, and the open field, and he explained which areas usually tested which skills, drawing on memories of trials from years before she had ever arrived at the academy.

Roxanne realized he had memorized far more than she expected. "You really do remember everything," she said.

Roshan looked at her. "Not everything," he said, and he paused before finishing the thought. "Just things that matter." It was subtle, but she understood exactly what he meant, and something warm settled over her chest.

She noticed then that he was carrying the bookmark she had given him, tucked into the edge of a small notebook in his jacket pocket.

She touched it lightly. "You still have it," she said.

"You gave it to me," he said, as though that explained everything.

"That doesn’t mean you have to keep it," she said.

Roshan looked genuinely confused by the idea.

"Why wouldn’t I?" he asked. The question caught her off guard, quiet and unguarded, and she realized that the small things she gave him actually mattered to him in a way she hadn’t fully understood until now.

Before the moment could deepen, Liam’s voice cut across the camp. "Are you two planning to memorize the entire map or are you coming to eat?" he shouted.

Roshan sighed. "He has terrible timing," he said, and Roxanne laughed as they turned toward the dining tent.

At sunset, every participating pack gathered around the enormous central arena, and the officials explained the format of the trials. The first day would involve individual assessment, the second day team challenges, and the third day a final endurance trial, with the specific challenges revealed only as each day began.

Then the ancient trial gates opened with a low groan of old wood and metal, and the crowd fell completely silent. For a moment even Roxanne felt the shift in the air, and it wasn’t fear she felt but anticipation.

Everyone expected the first challenge to be combat. Instead, the announcer’s voice carried across the arena. "Tomorrow morning, you will enter the Moonwood," he said, and a cheer rose through the crowd, since the Moonwood was known as one of the hardest tracking territories in existence.

The goal was simple to state and difficult to achieve: find three marked silver tokens before sunset, with no weapons, no partners, and no outside assistance. Roxanne looked toward the dark line of trees beyond the arena, and something about them felt strangely familiar, though she couldn’t explain why. Kai noticed her expression. "You okay?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yeah," she said, and then she smiled. "I think I might actually enjoy this." The corner of his mouth curved. "I thought you would," he said.

That night, the students settled into their cabins, and Roxanne lay awake listening to the unfamiliar sounds of the trial grounds settling into darkness. Then she heard it again, that distant howl, much farther away this time than it had been at the academy gates.

She sat up in bed just as someone knocked softly on her door. It was Isla. "You awake?" she asked.

Roxanne glanced toward the window, where the forest beyond the camp sat completely still.

"Yeah," she said, and she got up, leaving the strange sound behind without chasing it. Tomorrow, the Lunar Trials would begin.