Chapter 60
Dre P.O.V
The northern woods had always been quiet. Peaceful.
Tonight, they were neither.
Michael, three elite warriors, and I pushed through the underbrush where the scout’s last signal came through. His name was Cato. Young. Eager. Loyal.
Now he was gone.
“There,” one of the warriors whispered, pointing to a torn scrap of fabric caught on a low-hanging branch.
I moved to examine it. My stomach twisted—Cato’s scent was still fresh, but underneath it… something else. Something ancient.
“What is that?” Michael asked.
I stood slowly. “Magic,” I said. “But not fairy. Not wolf. Something darker.”
The warrior beside me let out a soft growl. “Do you think it’s Ravana?”
“No,” I muttered. “This feels different.”
A sharp whistle cut through the air—then silence.
Another scout had just vanished.
I spun, growling low in my throat. “Circle up!”
The warriors obeyed instantly, weapons drawn. We waited… and waited…
Until the trees themselves began to move.
Twisting. Creaking. Like they were… alive.
“No,” I whispered. “They’re not trees.”
They were sentinels.
Constructs. Ancient ones. Covered in bark, enchanted with dark runes. Unnatural. Forgotten by time.
And now… they were waking up.
“We need to fall back!” Michael shouted.
“No,” I said, stepping forward. “We hold the line. If they’re testing us now, it means they know we’re getting stronger. They’re scared.”
Michael’s eyes were sharp. “Then let’s give them something to fear.”
We attacked in unison.
The sentinels hit hard, their limbs crashing like hammers, but we were faster. Smarter. I felt Skyrim wake inside me, guiding my strikes. I moved like a storm, claws slashing through bark and spellwork alike.
One by one, the constructs fell.
But they weren’t here to kill us.
They were a message.
As the last one collapsed, its shattered body bled black smoke—and from that smoke, a symbol burned into the ground.
A circle of nine flames, each one shaped like a claw.
My blood ran cold.
Michael stepped beside me. “What does it mean?”
“It’s the mark of the Nine,” I said. “The inner circle of Ravana’s original army.”
Michael looked at me sharply. “You’re saying they’re back?”
“I think they never left,” I said grimly. “And now they know we’re not ready.”
Luna P.O.V
I woke in a sweat.
Jaymie stirred beneath my skin.
“He’s in danger.”
“Dre?” I asked.
“The woods,” she replied. “He’s being watched.”
I stood, throwing on my cloak. Adrian stirred in the chair by the door.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“Something’s happened,” I said, tightening the clasp. “The northern woods near Dre’s old pack. I can’t explain how I know. I just do.”
Adrian was up in a flash. “Then we go together.”
We stepped out into the starlit courtyard just as Queen Aeloria appeared from the mist.
“Going somewhere?” she asked calmly.
“There’s trouble in the north. I have to check on Dre.”
She studied me for a long moment.
“Very well,” she said. “But take this.”
She handed me a crystal pendant glowing softly in her palm.
“It’s a bloodstone,” she said. “It will tether your life to the Kingdom. If you’re in danger, we’ll know. If you die…”
“It shatters?” I guessed.
She nodded.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I muttered, slipping it over my head.
Adrian looked at her. “We won’t be long.”
“You better not be,” Aeloria said. “Because if Ravana is waking his inner circle, we’re out of time.”
Meanwhile…
Kinsey P.O.V
The library of the Fairy Kingdom was the size of a mountain—and just as endless.
I’d been digging for hours, pouring through every scroll and codex tied to Ravana, dark magic, ancient curses—anything I could use to help Luna.
And then I found it.
A page. Torn. Burnt on the edges. Written in the language of the gods.
It spoke of a ritual.
A severance.
A way to remove ancient souls trapped within living hosts.
But it came at a price.
“Only blood from the same line may sever the binding. And one must choose to burn while the other chooses to bleed.”
I stared at the words.
This was the answer.
This was how we could save Diondre.
But it would cost something.
Maybe even everything.