The Throne of Thorns and the Whisper of Bones

Chapter 1: Silver Rose in the Blood Mist 1290, Autumn. The fog in Stranglethorn Vale is alive. When Elena's horseshoes stepped into the Valley of Thorns, the twilight was dyeing the whole forest dark red. The air was filled with the smell of damp rotten leaves, mixed with a trace of bloody smell, like some kind of ominous omen. The crooked-necked tree at the mouth of the valley swayed in the wind, and its branches twisted like ghost claws. At this moment, a stiff corpse was hanging on the thickest branch. "It's Tom," the old farmer who drove the car spit on the ground with a trembling voice. "Three days before the mountain to collect traps, he didn't come out. Eighty-eight people were dragged away by the wild wolves in the valley. It's not peaceful these days. Elena held the reins and her eyes fell on the twisted neck of the corpse. That was not a trace of a beast bite - the cervical spine folded backwards at an angle contrary to physiological normality. The flesh of the broken skin turned out, but the edge was unusually neat, as if it was instantly twisted by some delicate torture tool. What's more bizarre is the right hand of the deceased, with five fingers curled up into claws, and half a yellowed parchment paper was exposed between the fingers. A broken silver rose was painted with vermilion on the paper. The flower stem was wrapped around thorns, and the ink was as dark as dried blood. She turned over and got off her horse, and the hem of her black robe swept the weeds covered with dew. As a trainee monk of St. Edmund's Monastery, she should have transcribed the scriptures under the candlelight instead of facing a strange corpse in this wilderness. However, before the disappearance of the tutor, Grandma Agnes, the last message pointed to this. The notch of the crescent-shaped jade pendant can only be found in the Valley of Thorns. "Don't get too close to the girl's house, it's bad luck." The old farmer tried to stop him, but was thwarted by the firmness in Elena's eyes. She carefully broke the stiff fingers of the deceased. The edge of the parchment paper was embroidered with a very thin silver thread, which glowed coldly in the twilight - exactly like the silver thread on Grandma Agnes's silver bracelet. At this moment, there was a small sound of footsteps behind him. A medicine boy in a coarse cloth shirt held a cloth bag and stood timidly not far away: "Are you... Miss Elena? Grandma Agnes came last week and asked me to give this to you. The moment the cloth bag was untied, Elena's breathing stagnated. Inside is half a jade pendant. The blue-white jade is warm, and the crescent-shaped notch fits perfectly with the outline of the red agate pendant between her neck. On the back of the jade pendant, there is a sharp line of small words: "The tavern in the Valley of Thorns hides the shadow of silver roses." When the last ray of sunlight sank into the horizon, Elena pushed open the wooden door of the only pub in the valley. The halo of the kerosene lamp scattered in the humid air, dyeing the fox skins and hunting knives hanging on the wall yellow. The hunters in leather armor hugged the wine glass, and the rough laughter and scolding hit the stone wall, and bounced back and hit people's faces. In the corner, there were three black-robed men sitting, with their hoods pressed extremely low. On the exposed half of their wrists, the silver-chained crow-headed pendants shone in the light - that was the mark of the Dark Crow Society, a heretic organization wanted by the Holy See, which was famous for its cruel hunting of "remnants of the pagan religion". "Newcome?" The bartender wiped the cup with a rag, and his eyes turned to her monk's robe. "It's not peaceful at night in this valley. The girl's family is single outside, and you have to know the rules." "I'm looking for Grandma Agnes." Elena hid the parchment paper in her sleeve, and her fingertips touched the coldness of the jade pendant, "St. Edmund's Monastery." The bartender's movements paused, and the rag left a dark mark on the mouth of the cup: "I've never seen it." He turned around and walked to the back kitchen, but the hand under the apron quietly pressed the dagger around his waist. Elena raised the barley wine, and Yu Guang caught a glimpse of the black-robed man in the corner and put down the glass at the same time. One of them lifted the hood, revealing a scalded face. The scar extended from the brow bone to the lower jaw, like a twisted centipede. The little baby of the silver rose came earlier than expected. His voice was hoarse, and his fingertips knocked out three short and one long rhythms on the table - the gathering code of the Dark Crow Club. When the cold light of the dagger out of the sheath pierced the dim yellow light, Elena had overturned the table. Wheat wine splashed on the ground, mixed with wood chips to form a slippery barrier. She took the opportunity to rush to the back door, but was blocked by two black-robed men. The leading scarface approached with a smiling, and the tip of the dagger reflected the red agate pendant between her neck: "Hand over the parchment paper and sacred objects, and I'll give you a pleasure." At the moment when the dagger was about to pierce the chest, a shadow fell from the beam. The loud noise of the chain armor hitting the slate made people's tinnitus. A knight with a scar on his face blocked her in the spark of the long sword and the dagger. His blade was cold, and the scar on his left forehead was particularly ferocious in the light, but he could not hide the anger in his eyes - like a wolf trapped in a cage, finally waiting for the opportunity to bite. "The bastards of the Dark Crow Club, who dares to move silver roses on the border of Yorkshire?" The knight's voice was as low as muffled thunder. He picked up Scarface's dagger with his backhand, and the tip of the sword was against his throat. "Say, who sent you here?" Scarface suddenly convulsed violently, and the corners of his mouth overflowed with black blood. Elena recognized that it was the dead man of the Dark Crow Club, with poisonous porcelain pieces hidden in her mouth. The knight kicked away the corpse. When he turned around, the blooddrops on the sword dripped on her black robe, like a sudden blooming red plum. "Yorkshire, Gareth." He put his sword into the sheath, and half of the velvet embroidered with an eagle fell out of the gap of the chain armor. The edge and the parchment paper in her sleeve could spell out a complete silver rose. "I'm looking for the murderer who killed my father. He died like the fool on the tree, and his neck was screwed into a hemp flower. Chapter 2: Fragments of Eagles and Roses The bonfire in the backyard of the tavern crackled, casting their shadows on the stone wall, bright and dark, like two beasts testing each other. Gareth used a dagger to pry open a tin box, which was covered with dark red velvet, half a piece of velvet embroidered with an eagle. The needles were fine, but there were dark traces on the eagle's claws - blood. "My father is a sheriff in Yorkshire," his fingers stroked the blood on the velvet, and his knuckles turned white because of the force. "Three months ago, he found that the lord had an affair with the secret crow club, wrote a report letter overnight, and was hung on the flagpole of the castle the next day. The old doctor of the autopsy said that his cervical spine was twisted off by a special winch, which was exactly the same as the way of death of the hunter in Thorn Valley. Elena put two half velvet together, and the complete silver rose emerged in the fire, and a tiny "silver" character was embroidered with silver thread at the flower core. She suddenly remembered that when Grandma Agnes taught her how to identify herbs, she said, "The dark crow will use the juice of the weeping blood grass to make poison. The veins of the middle one are broken, and it looks like a beast gnawing. In fact, it is man-made murder." "This jade pendant," she untied the red agate pendant between her neck and put it together with half a piece of jade given by the medicine boy. The blue and white jade and red agate formed a strange echo. A line of miniature words were revealed at the crescent-shaped notch. It took time to get close to the fire to see it clearly: "The root of the silver rose is in the black stone castle." "Armand's feudal land." Gareth's dagger was suddenly inserted into firewood, and Mars splashed half a foot high. "The Cardinal appointed by the Holy See in England is the mastermind behind the scenes of the Dark Crow Society. I have been tracking for three months, and all the clues point to the Blackstone Castle. The fence in the backyard suddenly made a scackling sound, and a thin figure crawled in, holding a burnt cloth bag in his arms. It's Toby, the apprentice of the owner of the tavern. He is thirteen or fourteen years old, and his trouser legs are still stained with mold spots from the cellar. They... they are looking for this!" The teenager opened the cloth bag, and inside was a charred diary. The edges of the pages were as curled as charcoal, but he could still recognize Juanxiu's handwriting - it was Agnes' handwriting. "...On the third day of July, the Dark Crow will hide three keys in the Valley of Thorns, the sun, the moon, the stars... Gather together to open the secret of the silver rose..." "...On the seventh day of July, Tom, the hunter, found their warehouse and was extinguished... The clue of the key was on him..." "...On July 15th, I have to go to the Blackstone Castle for the sacrifice of the Holy Candle Night. They have to gather seven old silver roses..." The last page is a scribbled map. The location of the Valley of Thorns is circled by red ink, and next to it is pointed to the crooked-necked tree at the mouth of the valley with an arrow, and it is written: "The first sacrifice, the key is in the boots." Gareth immediately walked to the tree with the hanging corpse, and Elena held the torch to illuminate it. There was indeed something stuffed in the barrel of the deceased's leather boots. He picked it out with a dagger. It was a bronze key with a sun pattern cast on the handle, and the teeth were stained with dark green powder - it was the residue of the crying blood grass. "The key to the sun!" Toby suddenly shouted with excitement on his little face, "I've seen a similar pattern under the slate of the cellar of the pub!" Suddenly, there was the sound of horses' hooves in front of the tavern, and the silhouettes of three black horses appeared in the moonlight. The black-robed man on the saddle was the symbol of the Dark Crow Club. Gareth stuffed the key into Elena's hand and pushed Toby into the woodshed: "Go to the hazelnut forest through the secret passage of the cellar and follow the stream. I'll lead them away." His long sword drew a cold light in the moonlight. "Remember, don't look back." Chapter 3: The Silver Arrow of Hazelnut Forest The secret passage was filled with the smell of old mold. Toby held a torch to lead the way in front of him. The firelight pulled his shadow long, like a shaking ghost. This was dug by my father," the teenager's voice echoed in the narrow passage. "He used to be a stonemason. When he repaired the tavern, he secretly left a back road, saying that if the dark crow came, he could escape." Crooked names were engraved on the wall, most of which were blurred by the moisture. Toby pointed to one of them and said, "This is my mother's name. She was captured by the Dark Crow Association last year, saying that she 'privately stored pagan herbs'." Elena's fingertips stroked those names and suddenly touched a bulge. When the torch came closer, it was found that it was a silver rose carved in the stone crevice. The petals were rubbed smoothly, which was obviously touched by countless people. She pressed hard, and the slate loosened, revealing a palm-sized dark grid. Inside was a half-embroidered silk scarf with silver roses, which had the same texture as Gareth's eagle velvet. "The family emblem of the Silver Rose Family!" Toby exclaimed, "I have seen it in the Lord's album. It is said that the nobles who were exterminated twenty years ago are in the Valley of Thorns!" The glimmer at the end of the secret passage became brighter and brighter, pushing open the exit disguised as a pile of firewood, and the morning mist of the hazelnut forest came to the face, with the fragrance of pine needles. Gareth leaned under the old oak tree, with new blood stains on the chain, but holding a bunch of dew-stained wild roses in his arms, and the water drops on the petals were shining in the morning light. "The people of the Dark Raven Society were led to the swamp in the west by me," he handed the flower to Elena, and his fingertips inadvertently brushed the back of her hand, with the coolness of metal. "But they will definitely turn back. We have to find the other two keys as soon as possible." Before the words were over, a feather arrow flew past Gareth's ear and nailed to the oak tree. The tail of the arrow was wrapped in a black cloth and embroidered with a crow's head - the mark of the dark crow. Three black-robed men jumped out from behind the tree, led by Scarface holding spears, who were the dead men who were forced to die by Gareth in the tavern last night. "Hind over the sun key!" Scarface approached with a feroce smile, "Lord Armand said that the remnants of the silver rose are not enough to die!" Gareth's long sword burst out of a hole like a poisonous snake, bursting out of Mars at the moment of collision with the spear. Elena took the opportunity to take the stone on the ground and smashed it on Scarface's knee, but saw a metallic luster swaying through his waist - a crescent-shaped key! "Gareth! The key to the moon!" The knight's sword suddenly changed his move and hit the Scarface's wrist fiercely with the sword ridge. The key "thummed" to the ground. Elena rushed over and grabbed it, but was grabbed by the ankle by another man in a black robe. Just when she thought she was going to die, a silver-headed arrow penetrated the black-robed man's throat, and a tiny star pattern was engraved on the shaft. A girl in hunting clothes jumped down from the hazelnut tree, the bowstring was still shaking, and the suede wrist guard was stained with grass. Her eyes were as bright as a falcon, staring at the corpse on the ground: "I've been looking for you for a long time." "Fen!" Toby suddenly rushed over and hugged the girl's leg, "You're not dead! Dad said that you were captured by the Dark Crow!" The girl - Fen, Toby's sister - tore off the collar of the hunting suit, revealing the mark on the collarbone: a vague crow's head. They caught my father," her voice trembled, and the silver arrow was put on the bow again. "My father is a silversmith. The dark crow will force him to make a silver cover for the key. He refused, so he was locked in the dungeon of the Blackstone Castle, saying that he would be a sacrifice on the night of the holy candle." Chapter 4: The Silversmith's Secret Fen's wooden house is hidden deep in the hazelnut forest. The roof is covered with thick pine needles, and the medicinal fragrance of absinth and mint mixed with absint floats from the chimney. She cut open the newly peeled hare with a silver knife, and the star pattern on the blade loomed in the firelight - it was her father's craft. "My father's name is Eric," Fen skewered the rabbit meat on a branch and roasted it on the fire. The grease dripped in the fire. "He is the best silversmith in the Valley of Thorns. The Dark Crows found him three years ago and asked him to reproduce the badge of the Silver Rose family. My father said it was a 'blood-stained shame' and drove them out." Toby suddenly pointed to the silver arrow in his sister's arrow bag: "Sister, there are stars at the end of your arrow! It's the same as the pattern on the key!" Elena came closer and looked closely. Sure enough, the tail of each silver arrow was engraved with a tiny star pattern, which formed a wonderful echo with the patterns of the sun and moon keys. According to Grandma Agnes's diary, the three keys are engraved with the sun, the moon and the star," she rubbed the edge of the moon key, "Is the star key in your father's hand?" Fen's hand turned over the rabbit meat suddenly, and the silver knife almost poked into the charcoal fire. The sacrifice of the Holy Candle Night requires seven sacrifices," her voice was low. "I overheard outside the camp of the Dark Crows. The first is Tom the hunter, the second is the charcoal burner, and the third is the weaver... My father is the fourth. They say, 'The blood of the silversmith can make the star key appear.'" Gareth took out a yellowed parchment from his bag, which he found from his father's relics. There was a section of the Blackstone Castle on it, and circled the area below the banquet hall with a red pen: "There is a secret cellar here, and the offerings of the Dark Crow Society should be kept there." When dusk fell, they met an old woman with a rose crutch on the edge of the forest, and her silver hair glowed in the sunset. She saw the red agate pendant between Elena's neck, suddenly grabbed her wrist and opened her palm - there was a pale red birthmark shaped like a budd rose. "The blood of the silver rose..." The old woman's voice trembled, and the crutch fell to the ground, revealing half of the silk scarf embroidered with silver roses in the crack, which just fit together with the half found by Elena. "On the night of the holy candle, the blood moon is empty, the three keys return to the throne, and the secret promise of the present world... Child, your pendant is 'God's eye', It can break the seal of the secret contract. Elena still wanted to ask, but the old woman dissipated like smoke in the twilight, leaving only the rose crutch. Gareth picked up the crutch and found that the head of the crutch was empty, and there was a note hidden in it, which was the handwriting of Agnes: "The seven sacrifices are all old parts of the Silver Rose family. What the dark crows are looking for is not treasure, but their secret contract with the King of England to divide Scotland, which is hidden in the Bible of Blackstone Castle." Toby suddenly pointed to the mark at the bottom of the crutch: "This is my grandfather's craft! He is also a silversmith. He said that the secret contract of the Silver Rose family can only be seen by the 'eye of God'!" Chapter 5: The Omen of the Blood Moon The road to the Blackstone Castle was dyed dark red by the blood moon. Gareth's warhorse scraped its hooves uneasily, and white gas spewed out of its nostrils, as if it smelled a dangerous breath. Toby suddenly grabbed Elena's sleeve and pointed to the gallows in the distance - there was a sixth corpse hanging there, wearing a monk's robe, a paper rose on his chest, and "six" written on the petals with charcoal pens. "It's the vice president of St. Edmund's Monastery!" Elena's breathing was stagnant, and she was very familiar with the gray robe. "He was responsible for keeping the ancient books of the monastery. Three months ago, he said that he would go to the Valley of Thorns to find the 'Lost Sacred Objects', but there has been no news since then." Gareth Zema approached the gallows and found that the vice dean's right hand was clenched tightly. After breaking it, half a silver rose petal fell out, and the edge was engraved with a very small "six" character. "The dark crow will kill people in order," his voice was solemn. "There is still one left, which is the seventh sacrifice." Elena suddenly remembered the old woman's words and looked down at her palm - the pale red rose birthmark glowed strangely under the blood moon, which was exactly the same shape as the paper rose on the vice dean's chest. It's me," her voice was so calm that even she was surprised. "The direct descendants of the Silver Rose family are the seventh sacrifice they want." Fen suddenly strangled the reins of the horse and pointed to the moat in front of him: "In front of us is the periphery of the Blackstone Castle. The guards of the Dark Crow Society are very strict, but I know that there is a waterway that can enter. It was my father who walked when he sent silverware to the castle before." The waterway is narrow and damp, and the stone walls on both sides are engraved with names, most of which are blurred by water erosion. Toby held up the torch to illuminate and suddenly stopped in front of a name: "This is my grandfather's name! He is also engraved here!" There is a star pattern engraved below the name, and a line of words is drawn next to it with a sharp object: "Star key, in the cellar of the silversmith's shop, when the moon rises, rotate the third brick in the direction of the Big Dipper." At the end of the waterway, there was the sound of chain mopping. Gareth signaled everyone to put out the torch, and he probed against the stone wall - the light of the banquet hall shone in through the iron fence. More than a dozen black-robed men surrounded seven prisoners. Cardinal Armand was wearing scarlet robes, and the obsidian on the scepter was shining in the fire. The seventh prisoner was wearing a gray robe, and it was the missing Grandma Agnes! "Mentor!" Elena almost shouted, but was covered by Gareth. Armand's scepter pointed at Agnes, and the black-robed man immediately pushed her to the central pit. The old woman suddenly raised her head, her eyes penetrated the iron fence, and accurately fell in the direction of Elena's hiding body. She raised a faint smile at the corner of her mouth, and slowly raised her hand to make a "three" gesture. Chapter 6: Fire marks in the abandoned manor When it withdrew from the waterway, the blood moon had climbed to the middle of the sky. Gareth picked up a beast skin map with his sword and pointed to the location of the hinterland of the Thorn Valley: "The 'three' hinted by the old woman may refer to the abandoned manor of the Silver Rose family, where there are three secret passages leading to the Blackstone Castle." The iron door of the manor had long been rusted, and the silver rose badge on the lintel was split in half, half hanging on the wall and half in the knee-high weeds. Elena picked up half of the badge on the ground, with the word "1483" engraved on the back - the year when the Silver Rose family was destroyed. "The fire twenty years ago burned for three days and three nights," Fen's father once told her about this history. "The dark crow will lie that the manor hides pagan sacred objects and brings the Holy See to 'purify', in fact, it is to steal the mineral map of the Silver Rose family. My grandmother said that the whole Valley of Thorns could see fire that night, like a burning dragon. On the stone wall of the main building, the charred black marks are like solidified blood, and the fragments of the mural can be vaguely identified - a man wearing a crown gave three keys to the lord wearing a silver rose emblem, with a Scottish castle in the background. Gareth scraped off the wall ash with a dagger, revealing more handwriting: "The covenant between the Scottish royal family and the silver rose is evidenced by the three keys." "It turns out that the key was given by the King of Scotland," Elena suddenly realized. "The dark crow will exterminate the clan, just to stop the silver rose from helping Scotland against England." There is a loose wooden board on the floor of the study, which reveals the stairs leading to the basement when lifted. The basement is filled with a strong musty smell, and there is a black stone tablet in the center, which is engraved with "The night of the holy candle, the blood moon is empty, the three keys return to the throne, and the secret appointment appears in the world" - the handwriting has been scratched by sharp weapons, but the deep engravings can still be recognized. There are three grooves on the base of the stone tablet, and the shape is exactly the same as the sun, moon and star key. Gareth embedded the sun key in it, and the stone tablet suddenly shook, and a dark grid popped up on the side. Inside was a sheepskin map, marking three secret passages from the manor to the Blackstone Castle: waterways, secret passages, and abandoned mines. "This is what the old woman means!" Toby clapped his hands and said, "Three roads, let's choose!" Suddenly, there was the sound of horses' hooves outside. Fen quickly blew out the torch, and everyone hid behind the stone tablet. Three knights wearing iron masks came in, holding portraits of the Silver Rose family in their hands and discussing with the portraits: "Lord Armand said that the girl's pendant is the 'eye of God', which can break the seal of the secret contract." "She must be found before the Holy Candle Night, otherwise the Scottish reinforcements will arrive." "The Knights of the Crows have blocked all exits, and she can't run away." The crow's head is engraved on the nose of the iron mask, which is consistent with the mark of the Dark Crow Association. Elena covered her mouth so that she didn't exclaim - the portrait in the hands of the knights was no different from her appearance in the mirror, and even the rose birthmark on her palm was clearly drawn.