Page 81

Hagan was pacing, teeth gritted, eyes wild with fury barely held in check.

"She should've been back by now!" he growled. "Dain is not responding to the link. We are supposed to keep her safe!"

He turned sharply on Veyr, who stood at the head of the longhouse with arms crossed, jaw tight. "You let her go!"

Veyr's voice was troubled "I didn't know."

"That's not an excuse!" Hagan slammed his fist into the nearest beam, the wood groaning under the force. "We should've followed. We should've—"

Hagan swallowed, "What am I going to do? Where could she be?...Seren..."

The heavy door creaked open behind them.

Renna staggered into the longhouse, pale and drawn. Her lips were bloodless, her eyes unfocused. Kastor held her upright, one arm braced around her waist, the other gripping her wrist tightly.

"Renna?" Hagan's voice cracked.

She didn't answer. Her knees buckled.

Hagan was there before she hit the floor, catching her with both arms. As her head lolled forward, her long dark hair spilt over his forearm—and there it was. A glimmer of red beneath the strands at the back of her neck.

Kastor's eyes sharpened. "Wait—what's that?"

They gently parted her hair. A strange, jagged red mark bloomed across her nape. At first, they thought it was blood.

The oracle stepped forward, her attention intent as she focused closely on Rena's nape. "She has been marked. This is Demonink."

Across the room, Lia paused in the act of laying out plates on the table.

Her movements slowed, attention captured by the oracle's grim tone.

Something passed behind her eyes as she hesitantly put down the last plate and moved cautiously toward the group.

Her gaze fell upon Renna, settling immediately on the faint red line now visible on the girl's skin.

"Marked?" Lia's voice was quiet, uncertain at first, but quickly became shrill with alarm. "No. No, it can't—cut it out!" Panic sharpened her tone, and she stepped urgently forward, nearly pushing past the oracle. "CUT IT OUT NOW!"

Almost immediately, a trickle of blood escaped from Lia's nose, staining her upper lip. Her face drained of colour as she pressed her fingers to her forehead, swaying slightly on her feet.

Blood dripped to the floor. Vir caught her before she hit the floor and gently eased her down .

The oracle didn't wait. She reached for her belt and drew a narrow blade. "Hold her," she ordered. "Now."

Hagan lowered Renna gently onto a low bench. Kastor knelt beside her, cradling her shoulders. The oracle leaned over, murmuring an incantation before drawing the blade in a smooth arc just beneath the glowing mark.

The moment metal met flesh, a putrid stench filled the air—sour, metallic, unnatural, as the blade sawed a jagged strip of skin off.

Renna screamed, body arching, eyes wide.

The mark sizzled under the blade.

Then, it was done. The oracle dropped the sliver of removed flesh into a clay bowl. Blood welled up from the wound, but it started healing before their eyes. Renna's face—her presence—cleared.

Stronger. She sat up, leaning on her brother.

Veyr stepped forward quickly with a clean cloth, pressing it to the wound as Renna's breathing began to even out. Kastor kept one hand on her shoulder, grounding her.

"She's alright," the oracle murmured.

Renna blinked slowly. Her voice was hoarse, trembling. "They... the Lunara and Highclaw of Starnheim... they came to our fostering village. I was assigned to show them the outer fields. "

Everyone listened, still.

"She pinned me down—just like that. I remember a burning pain... and then I was back here. In Vargrheim."

She gripped the cloth tighter. "They told me to call Dad through the tribelink. And I couldn't stop myself. I watched as the Forsaken waited... eyes like glass. They'd hidden outside the boundary. When Dad came..."

She swallowed hard.

"There were too many. He didn't stand a chance. I watched them take his neck...I saw everything.” her eyes closed as tears began to trickle down.

Silence fell.

"I don't remember what happened next. I was back in my bed. I thought it was a dream. But Kastor came running in...and I knew. I couldn't tell anyone—if I tried, my head felt like it would split open from the inside. My tongue felt heavy and my mouth sewn shut."

Hagan stood frozen. He couldn't speak. His knuckles were white.

The oracle turned toward Lia. Her hair was pulled back slowly, revealing a faint, almost faded symbol near the same spot on her neck. Not fresh like Renna's—older, duller.

Kastor spoke first. "Can it be cut out? "

The oracle studied it for a long moment.

"No. This... is ancient. Strengthened by spells beyond my ability to break.

With spells this strong, it had to come from a blood relation.

Probably her mother. I sense old magic here.

Poor child, she has carried this for a long time.

She'll be free when the one who did it is gone.

It's a binding. Likely since childhood."

She ran a tender hand over Lia's head, her eyes full of sympathy.

Lia lay unconscious, her pulse slow, the bleeding had stopped.

There was a long, haunted pause.

Then—movement. A distant thump. A crash.

The longhouse doors flew open with a bang, and a massive bear staggered inside, dragging something limp in its maw.

It was Dain.

Veyr gasped and rushed forward as the bear collapsed heavily onto the floor, blood smeared across its fur. Dain's body lay half-curled, unconscious but breathing.

Veyr dropped to his knees feeling for a pulse. "Thank the Goddess," he whispered. "He's alive."

All around them, people were moving—calling for water, bandages, arms. But Hagan remained still, his gaze locked on the bear.

His throat tightened .

It was Threk. Even before he shifted back, he knew.

"They have Seren".