Chapter 462: Echoes Beneath the Snow

The Day Before Sophia Regained Consciousness

Sam looked at him.

Her answer did not come immediately.

Instead, Orion continued.

"Honestly, apart from the fact that Tobias is persistent, don’t you think it’s time to stop pushing him away? Not everyone is lucky enough to have a fated mate, you know," he told her.

Sam opened her mouth to reply when Brynhild cut in immediately.

"Not now. This is not the time for that conversation."

She straightened slightly.

"We need to get to the council hall. Helios and Jeffrey are likely already waiting."

Sam closed her mouth slowly.

She nodded.

"...Alright."

Then, as if something else suddenly occurred to her, she looked at Orion again.

"I thought Jeffrey already told you everything."

Orion shook his head once.

"No."

Sam’s gaze dimmed in understanding.

She turned back toward her door, locked it, and they began the walk to the council hall.

---

The amount of times Orion would have meetings with the rest of the elders before everything would be resolved... he didn’t know.

By the time he, Sam, and Brynhild got to the council hall, the others who were available were already there.

Daniel and Caspian were already seated in their usual seats during meetings.

Mary leaned against a chair, her eyes sharp and attentive.

Garrett stood closer to the wall with Helios and Jeffrey. All three stood waiting.

Madam Tyler and Lysander were the only elders missing.

Orion paused just long enough to take in the arrangement before stepping fully into the room.

Brynhild moved with him, unbothered by the tension that thickened the space. Sam slowed slightly at the threshold, then followed.

Garrett straightened the moment he saw Orion. He immediately gave the elders space and moved outside the hall.

Orion gestured at the vacant chairs and told Sam, Jeffrey, and Helios to go sit.

Sam was the first to sit, followed by Jeffrey and Helios, all sitting close to each other.

Orion remained standing.

Brynhild stood next to him, hands folded across her chest.

For a few seconds, no one spoke.

Orion finally exhaled.

"This probably looks like you’re in trouble," he said evenly to Jeffrey, Helios, and Sam.

Jeffrey didn’t say anything. He looked lost, even—like he was deep in thought. Orion understood that was likely because of the issue with Eldric.

Helios lifted his head slightly.

"You’re not," Orion added.

"We just want information," Orion continued. "Before Ronan and the others return. It will be days before they do."

His eyes shifted briefly toward Sam.

"The Heart of Nirvana is not close to this pack. Which means it’ll take days, especially given that it’s a group. So while they are on their way, we’d appreciate it if you guys told us what you saw and noticed."

They nodded.

Helios was the first to speak.

He leaned forward, forearms resting on his knees, fingers loosely clasped.

"Honestly," he said quietly, "we saw things in the Heart of Nirvana that I never expected to see in my lifetime. There’s a reason why no one has ever wandered there."

The room stilled.

Daniel’s eyes sharpened.

Caspian’s posture straightened.

Helios drew in a slow breath.

"Some of them—strange beasts. And I’m not even talking about the beasts we already know."

Orion’s gaze fixed on him.

"Not the Skylur. Not the Trihydra. Not the ones we’ve been documenting for years."

A faint, uneasy smile tugged at Helios’ mouth.

"There are... others."

Mary’s expression darkened.

"New ones," Helios added.

Caspian’s fingers curled against his sleeve.

Orion nodded slowly.

A flicker of memory surfaced uninvited—he remembered Sophia had called the beast disgusting.

"The bug-like one," Orion said quietly.

Helios’ head snapped up.

"Yes. Something like that, but honestly, we found that one when we were all fighting at the front of the cave. But like we always suspected, there are more beasts," Helios told them.

"We documented everything we could about them," Helios continued. "Sketches. Notes. Movement patterns. Habitat guesses. All of it."

Daniel leaned forward.

"Where are those records?"

Helios hesitated.

"With Ronan. Sam and I had to move fast to get Jarek to the pack. We left everything with the main group so we could move faster," Helios told them.

Orion nodded once.

"That makes sense."

Sam cleared her throat.

"But it wasn’t just the beasts," she said quietly.

Every head turned toward her.

She shifted in her seat, fingers lacing together.

"We found ruins too."

Mary straightened, no longer leaning on the chair.

"Ruins? Like ruins of buildings?" she asked Sam.

Sam nodded.

"I’m certain of it."

Jeffrey exhaled softly through his nose and nodded along with her.

"People lived in Nirvana before we did," Jeffrey finally spoke. "The ruins are deep in the Heart of Nirvana—which, yes, was our destination. The snow there is different from how it is around here. It’s very heavy and clouds one’s vision. It’s filled with jagged rocks and uneven ground, and in some parts, the sun doesn’t even reach it."

His voice was low as he spoke.

"Most of the ruins are buried beneath layers of old snow. Thick enough that you wouldn’t know what you were standing on."

Daniel frowned.

"How did you even realize it was there?"

Jeffrey’s jaw tightened slightly.

"Because of a well."

The word made something shift uncomfortably in the room.

"There was no water in it," he continued. "But the structure was unmistakable. Stone-lined. It wasn’t in working condition, but unlike all the other ruins, it still stood."

Sam nodded quickly.

"That’s how we knew," she added.

Jeffrey went on.

"We found bones too."

Mary’s mouth pressed into a thin line.

"Buried beneath the snow. Some half-exposed. Some crushed beneath collapsed stone."

Caspian’s eyes darkened.

"What kind of bones?"

Jeffrey shook his head slowly.

"Human bones."

Everyone had a different reaction. Orion’s brows raised faintly, Brynhild just stared, while Caspian, Mary, and Daniel frowned as they all battled to come to terms with what they had just heard.

Human bones in Nirvana?