Chapter 144 Chapter 144
Chapter 144 Chapter 144
Hayley’s POV
Nobody spoke after Ariel said the name.
Stanley.
My father.
Dylan’s father too.
I looked at the pendant again. It was small, blackened around the edges, with a silver symbol carved into its centre. I had seen that symbol before, but not on a person.
Damon picked up the map.
“Show me.”
Ariel placed the pendant beside it.
The symbol on the pendant matched the one hidden near the mountain route.
Zyran leaned over the table.
“So this isn't just another piece of evidence.”
“No,” Ariel said. “It's connected to the map.”
Dylan remained near the doorway, arms folded.
“You said Celine gave you this?”
He nodded.
“She told me it belonged to Stanley.”
Damon looked at him.
“Did she tell you anything else?”
“That he betrayed her.”
I glanced at Dylan.
“She told you that?”
“She told me plenty.”
His voice was flat.
I knew there were questions behind those words, but this wasn't the moment to force them out.
Ariel turned the pendant over.
There was another tiny engraving beneath Stanley’s name.
She frowned.
“What?”
She brought it closer to the lamp.
“There's a number.”
Damon took the pendant carefully.
“Three.”
Zyran looked at the map.
“Three what?”
Ariel shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Dylan finally left the doorway.
“Maybe it's an entrance.”
Everyone looked at him.
He pointed at the map.
“There are three routes around the mountain. Wales mentioned them when I was younger.”
Ariel's eyes met his.
“You remember that?”
“Some of it.”
She studied him.
“Dylan…”
He looked away.
“Don't.”
She stopped.
I understood why. There were too many years between them to fix with one conversation.
Damon spread the map across the table.
“Let's forget the guesses for now. We need facts.”
He pointed at the first route.
“This one ends at the northern ridge.”
Zyran tapped the second.
“This passes through the valley.”
I traced the third line.
“And this one?”
Ariel answered.
“That route was never used.”
“Why?”
“Because Drake considered it unstable.”
Damon looked at her.
“Unstable how?”
“The terrain shifts.”
Leo, who had been listening from the sofa, sat upright.
“Terrain shifts? The one you mentioned earlier?”
Kai glanced at him.
“That sounds useful.”
“Useful?”
“If people are chasing us, they can't follow easily.”
Damon looked over.
“You two aren't choosing the route.”
Leo sank back.
“I was only contributing.”
“And you did.”
Kai smiled.
Leo looked pleased.
I turned back to the map.
“What does the pendant have to do with the third route?”
Ariel examined the symbol.
“Maybe the pendant is a key.”
Dylan shook his head.
“No.”
We all looked at him.
“You're certain?”
“Celine gave it to me after she found the old map.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
Damon's eyes narrowed.
“Why would she give it to you?”
“I don't know.”
Dylan rubbed his thumb against the edge of the pendant.
“But she told me never to lose it.”
Ariel's expression changed.
“Then she knew what it was.”
“Apparently.”
The room became quiet again.
I looked at my mother.
“You said Celine planned your death with Wales.”
“Yes.”
“And Wales hid you after she failed.”
“Yes.”
“Then Celine found Dylan.”
Ariel nodded.
“She did.”
“And she gave him something connected to Dad.”
Dylan looked at me.
“She wanted me to believe our father abandoned me.”
My chest tightened.
“She lied.”
“I know that now.”
His answer was simple.
Not bitter but not forgiving either.
Just certain.
Damon closed the map.
“We need to prepare.”
Zyran nodded.
“We don't know what is waiting at the mountain.”
Ariel stood.
“Then we need people who can protect the Order while we're gone.”
Damon looked at her.
“You're coming.”
“Of course.”
Zyran smiled.
“I wasn't going to leave you behind.”
Ariel gave him a pointed look.
“I can protect myself.”
“I know.”
Damon chuckled.
“That sounded dangerous.”
Ariel ignored him.
I looked at Dylan.
“You're coming too?”
His gaze met mine.
“If you're going after the Seal, I'm going.”
“You don't have to.”
“I know.”
He paused.
“But I want answers.”
I nodded.
“Then you're coming.”
Dylan picked up the pendant.
“Keep this.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
“Because if it opens something, you should be the one holding it.”
Ariel watched him.
“You trust her?”
Dylan looked at her.
“She’s my sister.”
It was the first time he'd called me that without anger.
Something inside me softened.
Damon cleared his throat.
“Tomorrow morning, we gather supplies.”
Kai immediately asked, “How long?”
“Several days at least.”
Leo groaned.
“How many?”
“Enough that you should stop complaining now.”
“I wasn't complaining.”
“You were.”
“I was asking.”
Zyran laughed.
“Same thing with him.”
Leo pointed at him.
“You understand me.”
“Unfortunately.”
I smiled.
The room slowly shifted from uncertainty into preparation.
Not certainty tho.
We still didn't know where the Seal was.
We didn't know who else was looking for it.
But for once, we weren't waiting for someone to decide our next move.
We were choosing it ourselves.
That night, I returned to my room and placed the pendant on my desk.
I stared at it for several minutes.
Then I noticed something I hadn't seen earlier.
A thin line ran around the symbol.
I touched it.
The pendant clicked and I froze.
A tiny compartment opened beneath the engraving.
Inside was a folded strip of paper and I pulled it out.
There were only four words.
Your father knew the way.
> > > > >
Before we left, Ariel pulled Hayley aside.
“I need you to listen to me.”
Hayley nodded.
“If we reach the mountain, nobody touches anything until we understand what we're looking at.”
“That sounds directed at Leo.”
Leo called from across the room, “I heard that!”
Ariel smiled.
“It was.”
Hayley glanced at Dylan.
“What about him?”
“He knows enough to be useful.”
Dylan walked over.
“I can hear you too.”
Ariel looked at him.
“Good. Then you heard me.”
Dylan almost smiled.
Almost.
Hayley lowered her voice.
“You're really doing this?”
“Yes.”
“You could stay here.”
“I could.”
“But you're still coming.”
Dylan looked towards the portal. The one who brought us here years ago.
“I spent too long being told where I belonged. I'm choosing this.”
Hayley nodded.
“Then we choose together.”
Dylan looked at her for a moment.
“Don't make it sentimental.”
She laughed.
“I wasn't.”
“Good.”
Damon called from the doorway.
“If you two are finished pretending you don't like each other, we're leaving.”
Hayley turned.
“We're coming.”
Dylan shook his head.
“He's going to be unbearable.”
“Now you're getting to know him.”
Ariel watched them and smiled quietly.
For once, she didn't interfere with us.