Chapter 7:The Traitor's Mask
675 Words
The castle bell echoed through every corridor.
Dong!
Dong!
Dong!
Every Blackthorn warrior immediately drew their weapons.
Panic spread among the servants as they rushed to lock the castle gates.
Kael's voice thundered across the courtyard.
"Nobody leaves the castle!"
"If the enemy is inside these walls, we'll find them."
The warriors scattered in different directions.
Aria watched the chaos unfold, her heart racing.
Whoever had stolen the Moon Stone had planned everything.
The attacks...
The murders...
The distraction...
It had all been carefully orchestrated.
Rowan hurried toward Kael.
"My Alpha, we've searched the east and west wings."
"Nothing."
Kael frowned.
"They couldn't have disappeared."
"Unless..."
His eyes narrowed.
"They're hiding in plain sight."
At that moment, a frightened maid came running toward them.
"My Alpha!"
"The royal archives!"
"The door is open!"
Kael's expression darkened.
"No one enters the archives without my permission."
He sprinted toward the castle tower with Rowan and Aria close behind.
The massive wooden doors stood wide open.
Ancient scrolls littered the floor.
Shelves had been overturned.
Someone had searched the room in a hurry.
Rowan picked up a torn scroll.
"They were looking for something."
Kael walked to the center of the room.
His sharp eyes landed on an old book lying open on a stone table.
Dust still floated in the air.
Whoever had been here had left only moments ago.
Aria slowly approached.
The page was filled with drawings of an ancient symbol.
It looked exactly like the silver mark on her shoulder.
Her breath caught.
"I've seen this before..."
Kael looked at her.
"Where?"
She hesitated.
"In my dreams."
Before anyone could speak, a weak voice echoed from behind one of the bookshelves.
"H...help..."
They rushed toward it.
An elderly librarian lay on the floor, badly wounded.
Kael knelt beside him.
"Who did this?"
The old man struggled to breathe.
"He... he wasn't a stranger..."
"He was..."
The librarian's eyes shifted toward the doorway.
Everyone turned.
One of Blackthorn's own captains stood there.
Captain Darius.
Blood stained his uniform.
He slowly smiled.
"You should've stayed out of this, old man."
The warriors raised their swords.
Rowan looked stunned.
"Darius?"
"You betrayed us?"
Darius laughed.
"I served Blackthorn for twenty years."
"But loyalty doesn't compare to power."
He pulled a black crystal from his pocket.
"The Blood Fang Order promised me everything."
Kael's eyes turned icy.
"You murdered your own brothers."
"They were weak."
"They deserved to die."
With a roar, Rowan charged.
The two captains clashed, their swords sending sparks flying across the room.
Kael stepped forward to help—
—but Darius suddenly threw the black crystal to the ground.
It exploded into thick black smoke.
The room shook violently.
From within the smoke, dark wolves began to emerge.
Their glowing red eyes fixed on Aria.
"Protect the girl!" Kael shouted.
The creatures attacked.
Kael shifted into his massive black wolf, tearing through the shadow beasts one after another.
Rowan finally disarmed Darius and knocked him to the ground.
"You've lost!"
Darius only laughed.
"No..."
"You have."
He looked straight at Aria.
"The Master already has what he wanted."
Kael's heart skipped.
"What do you mean?"
Darius smiled one last time.
"The Moon Stone..."
"...was never the real target."
He pointed at Aria.
"She is."
Before anyone could stop him, Darius bit down on a hidden poison capsule.
His body went limp.
Dead.
Silence filled the archives.
Then...
The ancient book lying on the table suddenly began to glow.
Its pages turned by themselves.
A map appeared.
One location pulsed with silver light.
At the top of the page, ancient words slowly revealed themselves:
"The Tomb of the Moon Queen."
Aria reached toward the glowing page.
The moment her fingers touched it, a blinding light filled the room.
A woman's voice whispered into her ear.
"Come to me, my daughter..."
Aria gasped and stumbled backward.
Kael caught her before she fell.
"What happened?"
Her face had gone completely pale.
She looked up at him with trembling eyes.
"I... I think..."
"...I just heard my mother."
- Writer
