Alpha Ryder brought the map at dawn.
The Ancient Blood Seal was in the Blackridge Mountains. Three days' travel through hostile territory. Magnus's forces were already moving — scouts had been spotted at the borders. Every route they considered had been walked over.
"The intel says the seal is in a cave complex near the summit," Ryder said. "Guarded, but not heavily. Magnus never expected anyone to get this far."
"Has he tried to activate it before?"
"Once. Fifty years ago." Ryder's face was grim. "It didn't work. He didn't have the right blood."
"And now?"
"Now he has you. Or your daughter."
Sera looked at the map. The Blackridge peaks looked like broken teeth against a gray sky.
"Then we get there first."
---
They left at noon. Sera, Dax, Lumi, Ryder, and a small company of Iro
