Chapter 338: Eyes Behind Stone

The shrine was quiet, almost reverent, but alive beneath the frozen air. Sunlight filtered through the opening just above the altar, casting light on it, the writings reflecting the glow.

Sophia took her position next to the altar, where she had been before, and Eldric took his own position at a distance—not too far, but not too close either.

He placed the box on the floor and opened it, then handed Sophia a book to write her findings in. There were also some herbs in the box in case she cut her hand like before.

"Here," Eldric said, his voice hushed. "You’ll need these." He handed the book and quill to Sophia, his green-feathered earring swaying with the motion.

Sophia’s hands hovered above the altar first, reverently, letting the vibrations beneath her fingertips seep into her bones before even touching the book. She exhaled slowly, the hum of the altar pulsing beneath her, calling her in a rhythm she could feel but not yet understand.

She lifted the quill, placing the book gently on the altar’s edge, and began where she had stopped before, tracing the symbols etched vertically into the stone. The carvings were intricate, jagged yet flowing, chaotic yet deliberate, forming lines that stretched from the top of the altar down to its base. Her fingers moved along them instinctively, each touch sending a faint shiver up her arm.

ᚺᛖᚱ ᚷᚱᚨᚲᛖ ☾ᚲᚱᚣ ᛏᛟ ᚺᛖᚱ ᛗᛖᚱᚲᚤ ᛁᚾ ᛞᚨᚱᚲ ☽

ᛚᚢᚾᚨ’ᛗᛖᚱᚨ ᚱᛖᛏᚢᚱᚾ ᛟᚢᚱ ᛚᛟᛋᛏ ᛚᛁᚷᚺᛏ ☾

ᛋᚺᚨᛞᛟᚹ ᚱᛁᛋᛖᛋ ᚹᛖ ᛚᚨᛗᛖᚾᛏ ☽

ᚺᛖᚱ ᚹᚱᚨᚦ ᚨᚹᚨᚲᛖᚾᛋ ᛋᛟᛟᚾ ☾

ᛒᛖᚷ ᚺᛖᚱ ᛋᛈᚨᚱᛖ ᛟᚢᚱ ᛒᛚᛟᛟᛞ.

The first line slid from her lips in the ancient tongue, melodic and abrupt, punctuated by sharp clicks and hums that resonated in the air:

Vyn’thor shal’kyr esh luna’mera drae zha.

Kyra’thal vyn esh, zha’kyr velis thoran?

The next line followed, effortless and unbroken:

Sul’esh vyn drae thal’breth kor esh?

Osh’kyn vyn bone, esh’kyr stone thalor?

Velis’esh kyr—one sin thoran,

zha’vyn many shal’sul?

Vyn’kyr zha.

Vyn’kyr zha.

Velis’esh taken thoran.

She could feel the language vibrating beneath her fingertips as if alive, urging her forward. The words rolled off her tongue in a cadence that was alien yet intimately familiar:

Kor’esh na salva.

Kor’esh na salva.

Kor’esh na salva.

Kor’esh na salva.

Zha’luna witness thalor.

Sul’vyn others drae’esh remains.

The vertical script seemed to twist and pulse as she spoke, each symbol responding to her touch. Lines of jagged angles and curling loops spiraled like faint glyphs that weren’t just carved—they breathed.

Shal’kyr...

shal’kyr.

Vyn’hour broken esh.

Zha’signs bend.

Vyn’wind remember esh luna’mera kyr’name.

Shal’kyr zha’called.

Luna’mera drae thor, vyn’shad esh zha...

Kyr’weep thal sul, shal’fal drae vyn...

Her voice carried through the shrine, each syllable resonating against the stone walls. She continued reading, seeming unable to stop. She was absorbed by the words written on the altar.

She didn’t notice—or even hear—Eldric calling out to her as she read. It was as if everything washed away, and she could hear nothing except the sound of her own voice, until she saw eyes staring back at her.

The eyes had a feral gleam, and they seemed to glow. They looked like they belonged to a beast. It reminded her of the Trihydra eyes she had stared into the first time she had come to the pack.

Sophia was filled with dread, but she was frozen. The words were lost on her tongue. The beast’s face was shrouded in shadows; she couldn’t make out any of its features. But Sophia knew, with a creeping sensation, that it smiled at her.

And at that point, she wished she had never come to the shrine at all.

She willed herself to move. She willed her body to move—but it was rooted in fear.

Suddenly, she felt someone push her, and the trance broke. Eldric stared at her with wide eyes, and she stared back at him, her heartbeat heavy.

Sophia turned to Eldric, then back to the altar. She immediately put space between herself and Eldric.

Eldric stared at her with a frown. He suspected he knew what she had seen, but he had to be sure.

"What did you see?" Eldric asked.

Sophia gave him a look. "I never told you I saw anything," she said.

Eldric shook his head. "No, but I know you did. Your eyes are wide, and you were staring into space. What did you see, Sophia?"

"Eyes," she told him. "I saw eyes, Eldric, and I can’t even make sense of what I saw. It seemed... fuck."

"Just eyes?" Eldric asked, frowning.

Sophia nodded. She didn’t tell him that she felt whatever she had seen was smiling at her.

Eldric nodded. "The words... what did they mean?"

"It’s..." Sophia picked up the book from where it had fallen and read aloud:

"To what debt must we answer

that she may turn her face to us once more?

Must our final breath be the offering,

our bones the toll upon the stone?"

She had gone far this time, with nothing to stop her—not even dizziness.

"For the sin of one, should the many be cast into silence? 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

We look to you.

We look to you,

for enough has been taken.

He cannot be saved.

His fate is sealed in shadow.

He cannot be saved.

His blood is bound to the night.

He cannot be saved.

Let the moon bear witness.

He cannot be saved.

Save the others.

Save what remains."

She took a deep breath before continuing.

"She comes.

She comes upon the broken hour.

The signs bend.

The wind knows her name.

She comes, called forth.

O Luna’mera, keeper of the wolf’s breath,

hear us again.

Hear the cries carved into stone.

Do you turn from your children?

Do you forsake the blood you shaped?

The land shifts beneath our feet.

The magic no longer answers as it once did.

The magic is dangerous.

Our knees bleed upon sacred ground,

yet still we kneel.

For in the place where you first blessed us, hopi..."

Sophia stopped. She swallowed.

"That’s... that’s all I got."

Eldric stared at Sophia as she stared back. The only sound, the distant noise coming from the pack.