Chapter 137: Chapter 137
Hayley’s POV
I walked away from mom, not ready to continue the conversation.
Leo looked around.
“That's it?”
Kai gave him a look. “What were you expecting?”
“I don't know. Something impressive.”
“We nearly died getting here.”
“Exactly.”
I shook my head.
“You two have a strange way of appreciating survival.”
Damon chuckled.
Ariel didn't.
She was standing beside the desk, staring at the box.
Zyran stepped towards the box.
“Let’s just open it.”
Ariel lifted the lid.
Inside was a collection of old papers tied together with a thin piece of leather.
Beneath them was something rolled tightly.
Damon picked it up.
“It looks like a map.”
Ariel immediately took it from him.
She carefully untied the leather and the parchment unfolded across the desk.
Everyone gathered around.
It was drawn by hand.
There were mountains, rivers and several unfamiliar territories marked with symbols. A dark line crossed the centre of the map, beginning at the Order's territory and winding through a forest before ending at a circular symbol.
Kai leaned closer.
“That looks like a location.”
Leo pointed.
“What's that?”
“Probably a mountain.”
“No. That one.”
Kai moved his finger.
A tiny symbol had been drawn beside the circular mark.
It looked like an eye surrounded by five small points.
Ariel stared at it.
“What does this actually mean?.”
Damon leaned over the parchment.
“There are coordinates.”
Kai immediately reached for another piece of paper.
“Maybe they're written here.”
He unfolded it and nothing.
Leo picked up another.
“Nothing here either.”
“Wait,” Kai said.
He turned the map over.
There was writing on the back.
Only a few words.
Follow the path beneath the moonless mountain.
Damon frowned.
“Moonless Mountain?”
Ariel nodded.
“There is a place called that beyond the northern forest.”
Zyran looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“Drake mentioned it once.”
“Did he ever say what was there?”
“No.”
Leo grinned.
“So we're going.”
Hayley looked at him.
“You're not…”
She stopped herself.
Twelve years had passed since they first arrived at the Order.
The boys were no longer little children.
Still, Leo's enthusiasm hadn't changed much.
He pointed at the map.
“We've been training for years. We can help.”
Kai nodded.
“He's right.”
Damon looked between them.
“You're both coming with us only if Ariel agrees.”
Ariel gave him a stern look.
“They're Seal Bearers. Whether we like it or not, they're involved.”
Leo smiled.
“I knew Grandma would agree.”
Ariel sighed.
“I didn't say that.”
Leo's smile disappeared.
“Oh.”
Kai quietly folded the corner of the map back into place.
“We should decide who stays behind.”
Zyran nodded.
“Agreed.”
Ares had remained silent near the doorway.
“There's something you should know.”
Damon stepped towards him.
“You've been hiding information since we got here.”
“And you're only noticing now?”
Zyran gave a quiet laugh.
“At least he's honest about being difficult.”
Ares ignored him.
His gaze remained on the map.
“I've searched for that mountain.”
“And?”
“I couldn't reach it.”
Leo frowned.
“Why?”
“Because the path changes.”
Kai's eyes narrowed.
“A moving path?”
“Not exactly.”
Ares pointed at the route.
“Every time someone approaches the mountain, the forest rearranges itself.”
Damon looked at Zyran.
“That sounds like fun.”
“It doesn't.”
“I wasn't being serious.”
“I know.”
I looked at the map again and something about it bothered me.
The route seemed strangely familiar.
I traced the first section with my finger.
“This forest.”
Ariel looked at me.
“What?”
“I've seen this shape before.”
“Where?”
I shook my head.
“I can't remember.”
Damon reached for my hand.
“Don't force it.”
I nodded.
Ariel looked at me for a moment before turning back to the map.
Then the door opened and everyone turned.
The atmosphere changed immediately.
A man stood in the doorway.
Alpha Wales.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
His eyes travelled across the room before settling on the parchment.
Then on Ariel.
Ariel went completely still.
Wales' expression barely changed.
“You found it.”
Damon stepped in front of Hayley.
“How did you get here?”
Wales smiled.
“You should be asking how long I've known about this place.”
Zyran's voice was cold.
“Start talking.”
Wales walked into the room.
Ares immediately straightened.
“Father.”
Wales glanced at him.
“Ares.”
There was no warmth in the greeting and Hayley noticed.
Neither of them looked like father and son.
More like two people who had been forced to share the same history.
Wales approached the table and his eyes settled on the map.
“You shouldn't have opened that box.”
Ariel's face hardened.
“You're still giving orders.”
Wales looked at her.
“Some things never change.”
Damon glanced between them.
There was something in the way they looked at each other.
Recognition.
Old anger.
Something else he couldn't identify.
Hayley noticed it too.
“I know you're my uncle Wales. But I hate the way you stare at my mom.”
Wales' gaze moved to her.
For the briefest moment, his expression softened.
Then it disappeared.
“I knew her long before I knew you.”
Ariel stepped forward.
“That's enough.”
Wales looked at her.
“You still haven't told them, have you?”
Damon frowned.
“Told us what?”
Ariel didn't answer.
Wales smiled.
“That you're the only person alive who knows exactly where the Seal is.”
Ariel's eyes widened.
“That isn't true.”
“It is.”
He reached for the map
.
Ariel grabbed it first.
Wales looked at her hand.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
His gaze hardened.
“You don't understand what you've found.”
Ariel held the parchment tightly.
“I understand enough and I would never let you have it.”
Wales stepped closer.
“Then you understand why I need it.”
Hayley moved beside her mother.
“You're not taking it.”
Wales looked at her.
“Still stubborn.”
Wales' turned to Ariel.
“Then tell them.”
His attention shifted towards the map.
“Tell your daughter why her father was never supposed to find that mountain.”
The parchment suddenly slipped from Ariel's hand.
It landed on the desk.
And beneath the map, another sheet of paper was revealed.
There was only one sentence written across it.
The Seal does not belong to the strongest bearer. It belongs to the one who reaches it first.
Wales smiled.
“Now you understand why I came.”