31. THIRTY ONE
THIRTY ONE
THE RETURN
W e made our way down to the basement. We walked through a door I hadn't noticed before; it was tucked behind a tapestry. This door led to dark tunnels, which made me feel uneasy, but I refused to give Seraphina the satisfaction of seeing my discomfort.
The stone was darker and felt older than the rest of Sternwacht. The walls curved oddly, with angles that didn’t align with the manor above.
I took a breath, but these walls felt suffocating, with their thick air, which had a musty smell of candle smoke and age.
Seraphina said nothing as she led me forward, moving like someone who had walked these corridors many times and knew exactly which turns to take.
I watched her from behind, noticing how her pale white hair caught the low torchlight on the walls and the steady rhythm of her footsteps as she walked ahead.
I was counting my steps: one step, two steps, three steps, four. Then I began mapping every step and every bend along the way.
I was already formulating an escape plan.
"Why are we down here?" I asked, starting to feel the gravity of the situation.
"You will know soon enough," she replied, continuing without revealing our destination.
I refrained from asking any more questions. I didn’t want to give Seraphina the satisfaction of knowing I cared.
But I did care. I felt uneasy. I had spent weeks exploring this place, mapping every hallway and dead end. I thought I had seen it all, but now I was being led deep beneath the Manor.
The ceilings here were low, the turns narrow, and the stone was cold. The further down we went, the heavier the air became.
My eyes darted to the walls, where carved symbols ran along the stone. They were half-faded, but distinct enough to capture my attention. I slowed down unintentionally as I examined the symbols and the ancient letters.
Just for a moment, a flashback flickered in my mind. The symbols and their shapes, the way the grooves curled and dipped. I had seen this before in the Chamber of bones and marked souls. The symbolism wasn't my imagination, they were real.
I kept walking, continuing to hum. Nervously, my fingers found the necklace at my throat, and I couldn’t help fidget with the gold disc as the memory surfaced.
Where was she leading me to?
Before I had the chance to say anything, we came to a door taller than any I'd seen in the Manor.
It was old, brown, and arched,carved with symbols and words that made it look sacred. A cold, dark energy tingled in my bones as I approached.
Seraphinaplaced her hand against the door and pushed it open with an echoing creak.
** *
I breathed in the damp air and followed her, taking one echoing, scruffy bootstep at a time. All I could think about was the room of bones. Why had I seen it? What was it trying to tell me?
"It's real," came a whisper.
"It wasn't an illusion?" came another voice.
It’s like my brain is split in two, one side spiralling into madness, while the other is building an escape.
Route. I scanned the chamber and noticed that the sameancient style of doors surrounded us.
I quickly counted them, one, two, all the way up to thirteen.
That’s right, unlucky thirteen. Seraphina lingered near the largest door to the leftas if she were waiting forsomethingto arrive behind those doors.
***
This chamber was unlike the grand halls above. There was no elegance or beauty. Instead, it was a vast, ancient room hidden deep below for a reason. My paranoia began to rise, and I couldn't contain it.
My eyes darted to the wallsandthe ceiling. The stone curved in strange, uneven angles. The walls stretched upward, disappearing into shadow.
I stepped forward, but the floor made me pause. At first, I thought it was wear in the stone, but when I moved my boot, the lines continued across the chamber floor in long, intentional paths. They were too straight and precise to be cracks. I followed one of them with my eyes.
Only then did the pattern reveal itself.
There was a massive circle, etched deeply into the stone. The outer edge was marked witholdarcane
Symbols. Some I recognised as constellationsand patterns Cillian had shown me within the Orb.
My stomach tightened.
In thecentre of the circle, a triangle had been carved cleanly into stone.The same symbols the brothers wore on their belts, likearmour.It was evident
that this place was made for some type of ritual, and I was standing right inside it.
***
"This is a trap," I said aloud, perhaps to myself, or maybe to the walls.It didn't matter.
I scanned every door and its symbols. I needed to move and figure out how to escape.
As I looked around, I felt like aneedle lost in a vast haystack.I stepped to the side, just enough to feel the stone shift under my boot.That was weird. Somethingelse was here.
I continued to hum, the sound calming my paranoia.
Then I stepped onto one of the triangle’s points. I wondered what it meant.
Three points, each with a step, as if they weremeant tobe stoodupon.Each point left a grooveinthe stone, looking remarkably precise as if someone had meticulously measured them to be exact.They weren't just grooves. They resembled thin veins, designed to carryliquidto thecentre circle.
The torches flickered, drawing my attention. Could I use them? Could I ripone offthe wall, swing itaround, and set this place ablaze? Perhaps I could fight Seraphina with it and then make a run for it.Probably not, but the idea lingered.
And then I heard a whisper.
"Tilly, it's a trap."
Her voice was low, but the warning was clear.
"You were always going to end up here. "
Seraphina stepped forward, slow and confidently.
"The madness inside you, it’s loud, isn’t it? I can see it clawing at your mind."
Both she and the voices were speaking to me. I didn't want to listen to either, but I wanted answers.
"This is whatthe madnessdoes. Plays twisted games and turnsyoutoward the darkness. It's caused by theprophecy of Vareth"
“In the Varethym Kharos…The old teachings. There’s a warning about what the Mark does. It strips the mind layer by layer until only the soul remains.
“I’m not mad! These are your twisted lies, Seraphina, it’s you who has turned to the darkness. You are the mad one, and I see through you.”
She looked at me, ignoring my plea. “It’s keeping you from the one thing that matters,” Seraphina said firmly.
“What is that?” I asked.
“Child, it confuses you and prevents you from making the correct choice.” Your mortal perspective is a hindrance.”
“That’s not true,” I insisted.
“She thinks you are mad,” came the voices.
“ You are right. She is the mad one, and she must pay with her life .”
"We wanted you to have time to choose.That would have been easier forusall. ”
Herrobe draggedalongthe stone, and her shadow stretched longacross the floor and up the wall.
"But you were stubbornandclung to the noise.We now see how deeply the darkness has shaped you. Your mindisno longer your own andcan'tbe trusted."
She paused just long enough for me to think.
"Today, that stops.” She said with a glimmer in her eye. “We offered you the mercy of a choice, but the stars do not wait for the stubborn."
I stepped back, toward the door, toward escape. I didn't care where it led.I justneededout.Icould run andlock her in,just likeIdid in the cellar. I glanced at the torches. I'd burn the whole frickin' place if I had to.I had to go. Now.
I edged closer to the door.
"Tilly, there's nowhere to run”, she said without looking at me, without even flinching, like she knewwhat I was planning.
My boots scraped thestone, and the soundechoed off the walls.I sensed a shiftbehind the doors. That's when they began to open, one by one.
I stepped back, watching each one carefully. Each door was twice my height.
So here I was, trapped in a circle with a powerful bitch who had brought me here to say I was too mad to make the right choices? Surrounding me was a room full of Ecliptuari masked freaks who wouldn't stop this.
Lovely, I thought as my hands clenched. My eyes darted to her as she nodded slightly at the white masked freaks.
Two of the Ecliptuari moved slowly toward me in synchronisation. I stepped back. If I moved now, I could reach the door behind me and escape.
No. Not now. came the whispers.
"Why not?" I Said, asthe Ecliptuari moved closer .
I hated that I'd walked in here like a lambto the slaughter.I should have known better. I should have left them all in that room with the Elorium to rot when I had the chance.
The Ecliptuari clasped my wrists, guiding me forward.
Their gloved hands felt like dead weight against my skin, cold and I was pretty sure I couldn’t detect a pulse.
It was as if I were being handled by mannequins rather than men.
I let them lead me because fighting alone wouldn't work here, not with so many Ecliptuari and Seraphina watching.
I began to hum again. This time, I wasn’t trying to block out the voices, instead, I welcomed them. It helped me think.
You are not strong enough to make the correct choice. That's what they say to all of us.
I was guided to the centre of the chamber.The torches dimmed, and Seraphina finally spoke.
“By the light of the Blood Moon and the silence of the Elora sky. The centre is chosen, and before you stands the marked. Accept this offering today and make the curse break for a decade.”
As my attention turned to her, a blade cut across my palms, sharp and merciless. I jerked back, a cry escapingbefore I could stop it. Bloodspilleddown my fingers, hot and slick, dripping onto the stone.
The stone didn’t just absorb the blood. The ancient runes flared with a celestial light. My voice shook with anger. “That’s it cut me when I can’t fight back—cowards,” I spat bitterly.