RONAN
The deeper I descended, the colder the air grew, every step echoing like a warning against the stone walls of the underground passage. The map had led me here, a labyrinth beneath Lupine Academy, one no official record marked. Only that ancient map had known of it.
My breath fogged against the black scarf wrapped around my face, hiding everything but my eyes, as the passage widened into a cavernous chamber. My boots slowed, instinct tightening in my chest. The silence here was heavy. Watching.
That was when I saw it.
The door.
An ancient monolith of wood, taller than any man, its surface carved with symbols older than memory. Wolves raised their heads toward a silver-etched moon, their howls frozen in the grain. Between them, stranger things writhed, creatures neither beast nor
