Chapter Ten – Trial of Water and Wisdom

Thalia’s POV

It was a new day when I woke up. My hands still ached a little from the trial of stone even after resting for a whole day. My heart felt a bit heavy from all I had faced but today, I knew it would be harder. Water, they said, was the calm that soothed the flames. But what happens when your fire burns too wildly to be calmed?

Azure returned just as the sun kissed the treetops. She wore a cloak of silver and blue, the wave tattoo on her shoulder glowing faintly like moonlit ripples. "Come," she said simply.

We walked through the quiet woods until we reached a river so clear it reflected the sky like a mirror. The surroundings around it were covered in thick mist. A wolf stood at the edge waiting, she was the color of the sky and her eyes like still water. Around the river, the trees swayed silently, as though holding their breath.

“Welcome, child of fire. I am Naia, the spirit of the sea. You have come to be tried by water but do you understand clarity?”

“The Water Wolves,” I whispered, bowing instinctively.

She nodded. “We are wisdom and Insight. The still in the storm. Tell us Fiamma. Can you know the truth without drowning in it?”

I hesitated. “I… I want to try.”

“Then you must prove it. You must prove that you choose wisdom. You must go through the mist. Only when you choose wisely will you be able to carry out the test for water.”

The mist cleared, revealing three seats on top of the water. On it sat three identical figures, each one a version of me.

One blazed with confidence. Regal. Her head held high, flames dancing along her shoulders, a crown of golden fire on her head

Another hunched low, eyes downcast, arms cradling invisible wounds. She wore no armor just pain.

The third stood calmly. Hands open, face steady, her aura a gentle glow. No flames. No shadows. Just presence.

Naia stepped beside me.

“One is ambition. One is pain. One is truth. Choose wisely. The waters remember everything including the lies we tell ourselves.”

I took a step toward the proud one. “I’ve earned my power,” I muttered. “Haven’t I?”

But as I reached for her, I saw the flames flicker. It was erratic and needy. The crown she wore wasn’t forged from strength, but from fear of being seen as weak.

I turned to the broken one. I recognized the pain in her eyes. Her bruises mirrored mine. I saw every scar, every insult, every moment of being called less. But she was stuck in that pain, unable to rise.

And then… the calm one.

She didn’t reach out. She didn’t beg. But she watched. And in her eyes, I saw something I hadn’t expected.

Acceptance and balance. She knew pain. But she carried it. She knew power. But she didn’t need to flaunt it.

She knew herself. I stepped toward her. And when I did, the other two vanished like mist at sunrise.

The river glowed.

“Wisdom is knowing who you are,” the water wolf said. “Even when the world offers easier illusions.”

"You are born of fire," Naia said. "It is now time to be tried by the fire. You carry rage, fury, and warmth within you. But you must learn to love water rather than to hate it. For it is not the enemy. It is what calms the flames that burn inside you. It is peace."

"today," she continued. "The fire within you will be released. And you'll be able to feel the anger and resentment you've held in for years. You must be careful that it doesn't consume you."

"Enter the water to start your trial," Naia commanded.

I stepped into the river. The moment the water touched my skin, I gasped. It wasn’t cold, it was still. Too still. Too quiet. I was sinking. I wasn't drowning, yet I could not breathe. I wasn’t floating, yet I wasn’t sinking either.

Then the fire came.

It started from within. Rage I had buried, grief I had silenced. My entire body burned from the inside. The water around me began to ripple violently. Steam hissed upward, turning the pool into a foggy swirl of fire. I clenched my fists as memories began to flood me.

My whole life came back to me. How one minute I was the beloved daughter of the Luna and another minute I was a cursed omega.

"Let it go," a voice whispered beneath the waves. "Calm the fire."

"I can’t!" I screamed. “They broke me. They turned me into this. I didn't kill my mother. I would never do that.”

"You are not fire alone. You are what you choose to be."

The water suddenly turned black and surged upward, rising like a tidal wave. In its reflection, I saw myself. Eyes ablaze, hair like flame, my face twisted in fury.

“You will burn everything. Even what seeks to love you.”

My flame flared higher. I could feel it. Scorching, furious. The water around me began to boil.

"Stop!" I shouted.

The vision of myself rose out of the water, towering and terrifying. A creature of rage. But she wasn’t just a monster.

She was me.

And then I remembered something Naia had said: If you let it overcome you, you'll burn everything around you, including the water that was meant to soothe your burning rage.

I took a breath, stepped forward and embraced the reflection of my fire. I wrapped my arms around her. Around me.

"I forgive them" I said

"I forgive you"

The storm stilled. The boiling ceased. The water cooled. When I surfaced, the pool was calm once more.

“You have passed the first,” Naia said gently. “You embraced peace when rage called your name.”

But she wasn’t smiling. Her eyes dimmed, and I knew something was coming. She stepped forward. Her face looked more serious than I had ever seen it. “The second test lies in truth,” she said. “You must face knowledge. You must respond not with rage, but with wisdom.”

Before I could respond, the world changed again.

I was no longer in the forest, i was back in the Greenwood Pack. In the packhouse. But everything was cold, gray, and distorted. Like a memory filtered through grief.

My mother appeared in front of me. She was holding a baby.

Not me.

The child had hair like winter ash and eyes like mine, yet it wasn't mine. It was seraphina. My sister. I heard my father talking to her.

"She is my child." he started.

"If you really love me you must love her the same way And swear an oath to me that no one would ever find out that she is my blood.

I frowned. I nearly laughed but I frowned.

"That's not true" I replied turning to face Naia.

"Seraphina is not my half sister. She is adopted. My mother saved her from her dying mother at birth. She had no one."

“That's what they'll have you believe,” the voice said. “She is adopted yet more loved and powerful than you who carries the direct blood of the Alpha. Don't you see how your father loves her? Don't you see how respected and powerful she is?” The voice taunted.

I blinked. I tried to explain to them but now it began to make sense. Why she was praised and favored… while I, the oldest daughter was kicked, mocked, and cast aside after my mother's death.

“She’s your half-sister,” the voice confirmed. “It was a secret hidden from you. But as we speak she is being crowned the Luna in your absence and her real identity is being revealed.”

I choked on my breath. This was the highest form of betrayal I had ever received in my life. So it was all a lie. My mother took my father's child in and cared for her as her own only to be killed and for the bastard child to be crowned Luna.

“You carry fire,” the voice said. “Will you burn this truth? Or will you carry it like a river, steady and wise?”

My wolf howled inside me.

They took everything from me. Even my mother’s love. They lied to me, stole from me. They took my place as the Luna of Greenwood pack.

“I should hate her,” I whispered.

"But do you?" the voice asked softly.

I closed my eyes. No. I didn’t hate Seraphina. I couldn't. My mother taught me to love and care for her as my blood. And now that I've learned that she is my blood it doesn't change anything.

"I won’t burn for someone else's sins, Not anymore.” I said finally. “I can't go back there now to reclaim my place as the luna. I have to wait and grow. And become more powerful than my father.”

"And what would you use for power for fiamma?" The voice asked.

"To take what is rightfully mine" I replied with determination.

The vision faded. I was back in the forest again.

"You have passed the second test," Naia said. "You have chosen wisdom over fury."

I was sad. My heart was aching. The past few days have taken a toll on my feelings, and emotions. But it wasn't over yet.

Naia stepped forward again. This time her hands were glowing with pale blue light.

“The final test is that of warmth,” she said. “Can your fire offer comfort? Or is it only meant to destroy?”

The river became frozen. It sparkled with sharp blue light and icicles that shimmered like daggers. At the edge of the bank, a young girl sat. Naked. Shivering. Her lips were blue and her skin was pale. She was crying softly. When I stepped closer, I realized it was me.

She was a younger version of myself. Not the pup from the mountains. This one was older. I remembered it. It was the day my mother died. I was covered in bruises. Her eyes dull with pain. She didn’t even notice me until I knelt beside her.

“Go away,” she whispered. “I only want to see my mother.”

Her teeth chattered. Her fingers curled like claws. I tried to reach out, but she flinched.

“I’m not here to hurt you,” I said gently. “I’m here to warm you.”

“There’s no warmth left,” she sobbed. “She's gone. All that's left is anger and bitterness.”

I sat beside her and summoned my inner fire. Not to burn, not to fight but to soothe.

I wrapped my arms around her and let the warmth seep into her frozen skin. My fire danced softly, tenderly. It didn’t scorch. It cradled.

She blinked and looked up at me.

“I didn't kill her. Nobody believes me. They think I let it happen” she said sobbing

“I believe you,” I whispered. “You are the reason I fight. The reason I love. I will make sure they know it.”

The frost melted. The river thawed. The girl faded into light and disappeared.

I stood with tears in my eyes. But for the first time, they weren’t tears of pain. They were tears of healing.

Naia and Azure stood before me again. The water behind them rippled with a soft glow.

“You have passed,” Naia said. “You who are born of flame have embraced peace. You have chosen wisdom, received truth and offered warmth. The water names you worthy.”

She reached into the river and pulled out a small, blue crystal vial. Inside it shimmered a glowing liquid that swirled like a galaxy.

“This is your gift,” she said, placing it into my hand. “Use it to see, to know. To feel. Let it balance your fire.”

The vial pulsed in my hand. Cool and powerful.

I bowed my head, overwhelmed.

"Thank you,” I whispered.

Azure smiled and hugged me. “I knew you would do well. Come, a ceremony would be held in your honor .”

I turned to face the horizon, the knife of stone at my side, the vial of water in my hand.

I smiled as I walked with her. Hand in hand. I didn't know what would come next. But I was ready. Now that I've passed the trials, I was ready to be trained. To learn to control my powers. I was hopeful. They made a big mistake trying to burn me.