Chapter 346: Perhaps The Shrine Holds Answers...

Chapter 345: Perhaps The Shrine Holds Answers...

Sophia stared at the last word she had written—The Shrine—as though it might rearrange itself if she looked long enough. The ink was still dark, the page faintly rough beneath her fingertips.

"I don’t know if the shrine is linked to everything," she said quietly at last, breaking the silence that had settled between them. "But... I suspect it is."

Orion didn’t interrupt. He only nodded once, a small, deliberate motion, his attention fixed entirely on her. "Okay?"

She drew in a breath, steadying herself. "You said you found me in the shrine," she said.

Orion nodded.

"And that wasn’t just it. Someone led you there. A woman led you to the shrine where you found me bleeding. And also, you said you found me in my wolf form, but ever since then, I’ve been unable to shift or even communicate with my wolf. Not even as much as a hello," she told him.

His expression didn’t change, but his shoulders tightened slightly. "Yes."

Orion’s jaw tightened, but he said nothing, only nodded.

"And then, it was while I was translating that I saw those eyes again," she said softly.

"Also, by some miracle I don’t understand, I’m the only one who can interpret what’s written on the altar. Eldric tried before I came here, and I also know he wasn’t the only one who tried. Others did, but no one has been able to translate or even remotely understand what’s written on the altar except me," she told him.

Orion blinked, absorbing her words.

"You know... perhaps everything is linked to the shrine. Remember how you all—Brynhild, Lysander, Eldric, and you—decided that maybe me going to the shrine would help me?" she asked him.

"Yes?"

"I’m thinking that perhaps you guys were not far from the truth," she told him.

Orion had to agree with her. Coincidences didn’t just happen, and when it came to everything she had just pointed out, he hardly believed it was a coincidence.

It was like everything had been perfectly orchestrated, like it was all planned.

"Did you get anything from the shrine when you visited with Eldric?" Orion asked her.

Sophia nodded.

She turned the page of the book, the soft sound loud in the quiet room, and dipped the quill into the ink again. Her brow furrowed as she began to write carefully and deliberately, putting down the words exactly as she had seen and translated them—line by line, breath by breath.

When she was done, she pushed the book toward Orion. "That’s everything," she said. "Word for word. As much as I remember."

Orion took the book, his fingers brushing briefly against hers. He stood and moved a few steps away, leaning back against the desk as he read. His eyes tracked slowly over the page, his brow drawing tighter with every line.

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?

For the sin of one, should the many be cast into silence?

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 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...

Orion lowered the book slowly, his frown deep and unmistakable.

"I’m going to be honest with you," he said at last. "I don’t understand what I just read."

Sophia blinked, then let out a soft, surprised laugh. "I am not surprised at all."

He shot her a look. "It’s not my fault, shorty. You’re the smarter one between us."

She scoffed lightly. "That’s debatable."

Orion rolled his eyes. "Debatable my ass. I’m very certain of this fact. I didn’t lie. You are smarter than me. I mean, I understand a bit—or I think I do—but then every time I think I’ve grasped the meaning, it twists and throws me into confusion. And I’m not one to ponder over words trying to decipher meaning. Poetry isn’t my strong suit," he told her.

Sophia’s lips twitched at his words. "I’m not one for poetry either, but given the situation, we’re going to have to deal with it."

Sophia reached for the book, taking it back from him. "You’re not wrong, though," she said, flipping through the pages as if the answers might be hiding between the lines. "Even when I was translating it... it felt disjointed. Like several voices speaking at once."

She pointed to the first section. "Here, it sounds like a plea. Like they’re calling out to someone. Begging, even. Asking what price must be paid."

Then she pointed to the middle. "And then suddenly, this. He cannot be saved. Over and over again." Her fingers lingered on the repeated line. "When I was translating this part, I could feel it. The panic. The desperation. It’s like whoever wrote this was trying to convince someone. Or themselves."

Orion frowned. "Convince them of what?"

"That this person—this he—was beyond saving," Sophia said quietly. "But the question is... who were they trying to convince?"

She moved her finger down to the final section. "And then this. This feels different. Like a foretelling. Someone is coming. A woman, most likely. At first, I thought this was entirely about Luna’mera—the moon goddess. A prayer, maybe. But..." She shook her head. "If they’re calling out to her, then who is the ’she’ who is coming? And who are they even writing to? Are they praying? Is it something being foretold? Is it a warning? I don’t know."

Orion’s silence stretched as he absorbed her words, his expression growing more troubled by the second. "Did Eldric help at all?" he asked finally. "Did he have any insight?"

Sophia winced. "I didn’t even give him the chance," she admitted. "I panicked. I left before I could speak to him properly about what we got from the shrine."

Orion nodded once. "Fair enough."

With the way he had seen her shaken up when he walked into her house, he wasn’t the least bit surprised that she had left without even trying to decipher what she had gotten from the altar.

He straightened from the desk and crossed his arms. "This isn’t something you should be carrying alone," he said. "Or even something you and Eldric should be handling by yourselves."

Sophia looked up at him. "Is something on your mind?" she asked him.

Orion nodded.

"I’m thinking that perhaps it’s high time I informed the council of elders. Besides, eleven heads are better than two," he told her.