The Alpha’s Fated Outcast: Rise Of The Moonsinger

Chapter 343: Trials of echoes - past lives...

Lyla

The clearing facing the Northern Forest shone brightly under the Moonlight.

I'd gone to bed early after telling Ramsey I was tired and needed to rest. When I arrived, not just Circe but Nanny, Terra, and three priestesses I recognised from the Moon Temple were waiting.

They were all dressed in ceremonial gowns and formed a circle around a pattern of intricate symbols drawn in what looked like crushed rocks and herbs.

"You came," Nanny said with a frown. I know she wished I were anywhere but here. "I thought you might change your mind or couldn't convince Ramsey that you needed time alone tonight."

"Nanny," I sighed. "I need to do this, hmm? I'll be fine." I replied, approaching the circle cautiously.

Terra stepped forward, handing me a simple white shift. "Change into this. The trial requires you to be free of modern attachments."

I nodded, slipping behind a nearby tree to change. When I returned, Circe was arguing with Nanny in hushed tones.

"—perfectly safe if she maintains focus," Circe insisted.

"Nothing about this is safe," Nanny countered. "You know as well as I do that some people never return from the echoes."

They fell silent when they noticed me. Circe's expression shifted to something more ceremonial as she gestured for me to approach.

"Before you enter the circle," she said formally, "you should understand what awaits. The Trial of Echoes will show you the lives of previous Moonsingers, from the most recent back to Neriah herself. You'll experience their triumphs, failures, and most importantly, how they used their powers. Remember the death of a Moonsinger is also a rebirth of another Moonsinger, but 10,000 years passed before you were reborn."

"Will I just be watching?" I asked.

Terra shook her head. "You'll experience their lives as if they were your own. Their emotions, pain, and joy will all feel real to you."

"And the danger?" I pressed.

"Some people become lost in the echoes," one of the priestesses explained. They forget who they are and where they come from. They remain trapped in the past, and their bodies will become empty shells in the present."

swallowed hard. "How do I prevent

Nanny said firmly. "No matter what you see or feel, remember that you are Lyla, daughter of Miriam and Logan Woodland, mate of Ramsey Kincaid,

in agreement. "Your

anchor," I nodded.

but Circe

around the circle and began a low, haunting chant in a language I

Moonlight await the wakening touch. The wisdom of ancestors flows through the vessel. Time becomes nothing; space

chanting grew louder as Circe stepped forward with a small earthen bowl. "Your blood will connect you to the bloodline of Moonsingers," she explained, offering me a

drops to enter the bowl. Circe mixed it with the iridescent liquid I'd seen earlier and added crushed herbs

its peak, you will enter the circle, drink the mixture, and lie down in the centre," she instructed. "Your spirit will begin the journey while

about the babies?" Nanny asked from beside me. "What will happen to

babies?" I turned to Circe. "Is there

Circe sighed, "in the Veilwalk, you should only focus on yourself, and if you don't do

my stomach immediately. "You're asking me

your wolf came back to protect the children. I hope she shows up in time

killed her myself, but she came to me at the last fight and taught me how

feed on souls. If they think you're trying to protect someone other than yourself, they might notice the baby, but if you

nodded, inhaling deeply and pushing the worrying thoughts that had crept

Nanny sighed

Miriam," Terra murmured. "Stop trying

sighed again but didn't say anything as they

intensified, the priestesses' voices blending with the night sounds of the forest around us. A strange wind picked up, though the

you are," Nanny whispered one last

seemed to shift beneath my feet, glowing faintly in the Moonlight. I accepted the bowl from Circe, the mixture

Circe instructed. "We will watch

across my tongue and burned down my throat. I managed to lie down in the centre of the circle before the world began

to come from inside

everything dissolved into