Trial of Truth

Silence stretched across the desert. Then everything stopped.

The glowing symbols faded. The ground went still, and they were all freed from the circle, standing on their feet now. Only the hourglass remained, its blood-red sand still falling.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

"Are you okay?" Zeerah asked, helping the woman in a business suit who had stumbled when the ground shook.

"I'm fine. Thank you," the woman said with a shaky voice.

"Of course." Zeerah smiled brightly despite everything.

Natzy ignored them. Her mind raced as she tried to understand what was happening.

Her stomach twisted, but that was the least of her worries. She hadn't eaten since morning. Just a spoonful of porridge before she'd left to hunt Marcus. She'd planned to celebrate her tenth kill tonight with a feast she'd already ordered. Then visit her mother's and brother's graves. Today was their death anniversary, which she'd never missed before.

But now she was here. Trapped. And the clock was ticking.

'An hourglass. Seventy-two hours. A trial...' Her jaw clenched. 'What are we supposed to do?'

"I didn't do anything wrong!" Naro's voice cut through her thoughts, trembling but louder than before. "Why am I here?"

Natzy's gaze shifted to him. She studied his face for a moment, her brows pulling together.

'He looks like him,' she thought, something tightening in her chest.

"We're going to find a way out, don't worry," Zeerah said, walking over to Naro with that same calm voice. Too calm, like she wasn't scared at all.

Natzy's eyes narrowed. 'I know her type.'

"Hey, come over here," Zeerah called, waving at Natzy with a smile.

Natzy didn't move.

Zeerah walked over instead. "Come on. He needs us." She reached for Natzy's hand.

Natzy pulled away sharply.

Zeerah's smile didn't waver. "Look around. He's the youngest here. If adults are scared, imagine how he feels. Don't you pity him?"

Natzy said nothing.

"You still haven't told me your name," Zeerah said, her tone still light and friendly.

Their eyes locked.

"Natzy," she said flatly.

"Now move."

Zeerah didn't step aside. Instead, she leaned in close, her mouth near Natzy's ear.

"Listen, Natzy," she whispered, her voice completely different now.

"Don't act all tough. It won't get you anywhere here." She said coldly.

Natzy's expression didn't change, but her stare turned icy.

"So behave yourself next time," Zeerah continued. "Don't disrespect me again. I hate that."

Natzy looked her up and down slowly. "Are you done?"

She pushed past Zeerah without waiting for an answer.

'Just like I thought. Fake.'

Her eyes drifted to the hourglass, then to the others. Everyone looked panicked, whispering frantically as they tried to figure out what to do before the time ran out.

Then she felt it. That familiar sensation when someone's watching her.

She turned her head and saw the man from earlier. The one who'd been sharpening his blade. He was staring directly at her.

Unlike everyone else, he looked relaxed.

'What's his deal?' Natzy thought, her suspicion sharpening. 'He knows something.'

She started walking toward him.

Before she could reach him, Naro's voice rang out again, stronger this time.

"This is a game! We're trapped in a game!"

Everyone turned to look at him.

Natzy glanced back briefly, then kept walking toward the man with the blade.

"Who are you?" she demanded, stopping in front of him. "What do you know?"

The man was examining his blade, running his thumb along the edge.

He looked up slowly.

"I'm Kyle," he said with a steady voice.

"What do you know about this place?" Natzy pressed.

"Or are you the one behind it?" Her hand moved to her dagger.

Kyle scoffed. "If I were behind it, I wouldn't be stuck here with you."

"It's a game!" Naro shouted again in the background, his voice carrying across the sand.

Natzy ignored him, her focus locked on Kyle. "You look different from everyone else. You are calm like you've been through this before."

"Though I am too, but it's normal, for me."

Kyle raised an eyebrow.

"And you think you look calm?"

"I don't panic," Natzy said coldly.

"No," Kyle said, studying her. "You look desperate."

Natzy's jaw tightened, but she didn't deny it. She needed to get out of here today for the memorial.

"So what do you know?" she demanded.

Kyle was silent for a moment, then sighed. "I was here before you."

Natzy's eyes narrowed. "What does that mean?"

"It means," Kyle said slowly, "I'm the only survivor from my group. You're the new set."

Her pulse quickened. "If you survived, then why are you still here? Why didn't you leave?"

"I didn't choose to stay," Kyle said, his voice hard. His hand tightened around the blade.

Natzy's eyes widened slightly. "You mean..."

"I couldn't leave," he said. "Even after I survived."

A chill ran down her spine.

"What is this place?" she asked with a quieter voice.

Kyle looked past her, scanning the group. "We're all guilty. Every single one of us."

Natzy's hands curled into fists, but her face remained cold.

She knew she wasn't innocent. But the others? An old woman. A decent woman in a suit. And Naro, just a kid.

"What could he have done?" she asked, nodding toward Naro.

"He's no exception," Kyle said flatly. "He either killed someone or caused their death. Same as everyone here."

"How do you know?"

"Because that's how this place works." Kyle's eyes were dark, and serious.

"VEDRAH is a supernatural prison. The most evil humans are sent here. There are no walls, no guards, no laws. Nature itself is the punishment."

Natzy stared at him, her mind racing.

"And we're hunted," Kyle continued. "By our own crimes."

"What does that mean?" Natzy demanded.

"You'll see soon enough."

Before she could press further, the woman in the business suit called out to Naro.

"How do you know this is a game?" she asked, her voice trembling with hope.

Naro straightened, trying to look confident. "I'm a game developer. I recognize the structure. The timer, the trials, the rules. It's all designed like a survival game."

"Shut up, kid!" the aggressive man barked, pushing Naro hard. He stumbled and nearly fell.

"You think we're here to listen to some teenager's fantasy?"

Natzy's hand moved toward her dagger, but she stopped herself.

'Not yet.'

"Please, let me finish," Naro said with a shaking but firm voice.

The man sneered. "Fine. At least you know how to sound respectful. But next time, call me sir."

Murmurs rippled through the group.

"He's telling the truth," Kyle said quietly beside Natzy.

She turned to him. "What?"

"He's a genius," Kyle said, his gaze fixed on Naro.

"He sees patterns most people don't."

"A game?" Natzy repeated, skeptical.

"VEDRAH is a trial ground," Kyle said.

"We're judged here. Hunted by what we've done. The worst of what we are."

Natzy's chest tightened.

'Hunted by my crimes.' The words echoed in her mind.

She thought of the men she'd killed. The branding. The screams.

Would they come for her here?

Suddenly, a deafening sound split the air.

Boom!

Everyone looked up.

A massive rock descended from the sky, glowing with strange symbols. It crashed into the sand a few feet away, shaking the ground.

People screamed and scattered. Some fell. Others ran blindly.

Natzy and Kyle remained standing, watching.

The rock settled, and the symbols on its surface began to glow brighter.

Words appeared, carved into the stone:

"You are in the Western Desert (Relic of Truth – The Desert of Lies)."

Natzy's breath caught.

"Relic of Truth?" she whispered. "In the Desert of Lies?"

Kyle's expression darkened. "It's starting."

"What is?"

"The first trial," he said grimly. "In this desert, the truth is a weapon. And lies will kill you."

Natzy stared at the glowing words, her pulse pounding in her ears.

Around them, the whispers grew louder. Panic spread like wildfire.

And in the distance, something moved.

A shadow. Shifting across the sand.

Natzy's hand tightened around her dagger.

'Whatever's coming,' she thought, her eyes were cold and sharp, 'I'll be ready.'

The hourglass continued to fall.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

* * *