Who Dies In 'The Iron Trial' That Shocks Readers?

"The gods are dead. The bloodlines remain. And she's about to bring it all down." Rowyn Vale grew up on the wrong side of the realm - poor, half-starved, and pissed off at the world. Her fae parents ran relics, sold shadows, and tried to sell her. She's used to surviving. Not exploding with ancient light and accidentally blinding a rich fae girl in the middle of high school. Now she's sentenced to death for a power she didn't ask for. But when a winged, arrogant disaster of a boy crashes through her prison ceiling and drags her into the sky, Rowyn learns the truth: she's not just some broken street fae. She's godblooded. Welcome to Eidolon Academy - a sentient university hidden in a pocket realm where every student is descended from a god, and each year ends in a deadly Trial that can kill you... or awaken something worse. Survive the Trials, and ascend. Fail, and vanish forever. And if the rumors are true? Rowyn isn't just another godblood. She might be the heir of the Godkiller - the one being powerful enough to raise the Pantheon. Let the Trials begin. Let the realm burn Eidolon Academy Book 1

Her father went missing when she was still young, and her mother eventually remarried. She lived in the countryside with her grandmother, where she was skilled in the art of truancy, fighting, and drinking. In others’ eyes, she was a mere ruffian.When she turned nineteen, her mother returned and took her to her stepfather’s home.“Eden, being able to marry Alain on behalf of your half-sister is a blessing to you, so you better seize this opportunity.”In her mother’s eyes, she was disposable in the name of wealth. She was nothing but a sacrificial lamb.It was already well-known that after having survived a serious illness, not only did his personality change, but he was also disfigured, with only two years left to live.But after they got married, he suddenly recovered from his illness, and great changes took the world by storm. It was not until someone started investigating a case from a few years ago that they accidentally revealed who his sorry excuse of a wife really was…Everyone was so shocked that they couldn’t keep their gaping mouths shut.She was an iron lady.

Led by my ex-boyfriend, the police raid the base of the major crime syndicate. The antagonist takes his own life, and the only person who could prove my identity as a top-secret undercover operative died two weeks ago. My ex-boyfriend drags me into court. He wants my memories extracted so I can face public judgment and sentencing. Nevertheless, I have no intention of explaining myself. "I plead guilty. Grant me a swift death." The masses are outraged, despising me with every fiber of their being. "Ha! You despicable traitor! You monster! You're a rat who exposes undercover journalists, yet you dare ask for a swift death? "This is the world of a novel. The maximum penalty for a guilty plea is euthanasia, but if judgment is passed by the court, you will suffer endless torment until your last breath!" "You don't deserve euthanasia. You belong in hell!" Rotten eggs and stones pelt me mercilessly. Even with my face now covered in blood, I make no effort to avoid the assaults. I only longed for death. My ex-boyfriend glares at me coldly. "You betrayed me. What right do you have to ask for a swift death? Your memories must be extracted and judged in court. Death will come only after your torment!" They are the ones who demand my memories be extracted and judged, yet after seeing them, why are they also the ones who go mad with regret?

I died on the day I was supposed to form a mate bond with Alpha Ragnar. Since I did not show up, he went ahead and performed the ceremony with his childhood sweetheart, Nina. “Selena has already been marked by me, yet she still threw caution to the wind and cheated with a rogue. Her betrayal has brought shame upon us. She’s not worthy of being the pack’s Luna!” With just one careless sentence, Ragnar made my family a disgrace of the pack. My father was once a great warrior of the pack. He lost his wolf saving Ragnar, only to be drowned in a river as punishment for supposedly failing to discipline his own daughter. Our blood bond allowed me to feel his pain. However, I had been locked in a sealed, abandoned interrogation room—a silver cage. The mechanism inside was accidentally triggered, and thick poisonous gas filled the space. It killed me slowly and painfully. After my soul left my body, I appeared beside Ragnar and heard him say to Nina, “Thanks for your help today. If Selena hadn’t acted so foolishly, you wouldn’t have had to take her place in the ceremony. Ever since I marked her, she’s been getting bolder, thinking my affection gives her a free pass. How dare she skip such an important ceremony?!” However, the noble Alpha Ragnar seemed to have forgotten something. Just seven days ago, he threw me into a silver cage meant only for the most dangerous criminals to appease Nina. “You hurt Nina, so you must face the consequences. Take these three days to reflect. If you still won't admit your mistake, then don’t even think about ever leaving this place for the rest of your life.” I waited three days and then three more. The poisonous gas and silver ate away at my body, corroding me from the outside in. I endured seven days of unbearable pain before I finally died. When my body was found, it had been so ravaged by the poison that I was unrecognizable. As for the arrogant Alpha? He had completely lost his mind.

My best friend Seraphine had not one drop of blood left in her body when they found her. Her skin was translucent. There were two dried trails of blood from the corners of her mouth, like she had wept herself empty long before the end. She left one note. One sentence: "Vera saw his face." From that day forward, I became the Covenant's greatest sinner. Because I knew who did it. But I said nothing. For ten years, I said nothing. Then Lucian came back. He was the one who had turned us, raised us, given us the only home we had ever known. He set the Soul Prism in front of me. "Tonight," he said, "you give me the killer." His eyes hadn't changed. That was the worst part. After ten years of exile, of stones and fire and nights that never got warmer, I looked at him and he was still exactly who he had always been to me. "Or you disappear from this world along with him." He didn't know. The reason I had chosen exile and starvation and a Blood Oath that had been eating my soul core alive for a decade — was him. All of it, always, had been for him.

In the is novel you will see how the ultimate betrayal of the ones closest to you can either shape your existence or break your spirit and self resolve.