Chapter 60 Scrolls And Scars
SERAPHINA
My heart gave a violent lurch.
For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. I stared at Finn, still crouched under his shadow, but my thoughts had already spiraled far from this bloody clearing.
Blind. Finn was blind.
Ronan stilled too. Even amidst the chaos, he listened.
“No…” I whispered, as if denial alone could reverse what I’d just heard. “How could you go blind? That’s impossible.” Panic flared in my chest as I slid closer, needing to see his pale, unfocused eyes for myself.
Before Finn could answer, a guttural growl sliced through the air. I snapped my head toward the noise, just in time to see Ronan’s black wolf form leap over us. His massive body collided mid–air with a charging flesh–eater. The crack of breaking. bones rang out as blood splattered across the dry ground.
They saw me freeing Finn.
Ronan landed with a thunderous growl, snarling like a beast awakened from Hell. His blood–soaked fur gleamed, and for a fleeting heartbeat, our eyes met his glowing violet gaze locking onto mine.
We’re running out of time.
I spun back to Finn. “How? How did this happen?”
His expression was disturbingly calm, but his clenched jaw betrayed the tension simmering beneath the surface.
“I don’t know,” he said, voice low and rough. “I think I was unconscious. When I woke up, I was being dragged here. My whole body hurt. I could hear them laughing. Then, one of them lunged at me.”
He paused, his hands curling into tight fists at the memory. “I killed it. Tore out its throat before it could take mine. I tried to escape. But then I stepped on something on the ground, it felt like a wooden scroll or… maybe a relic. A second later. everything went black. I opened my eyes, and the world was gone.”
My breath caught. “A scroll?
My gaze darted across the battlefield, scanning the wolves snarling and circling Ronan. “That scroll, it must’ve caused your blindness! We need to find it!” I hissed urgently, my eyes frantically searching every corner of the clearing.
They must’ve kept it close,” Finn said, urgency in his tone.
And then
My eyes locked onto a grey wolf at the edge of the fight, a thick wooden scroll tied around its neck with a blackened leather cord
I jolted upright. “That’s att
Esnan, mid–battle, caught my gaze across the chaos. His fur was streaked with blood, but his eyes never wavered. They burned into mine as if asking. “Tell me.
I didn’t hesitate
THERE Treamed, pointing straight at the woll 11E ONE WITH THE SCROLL AROUND ITS NECK! THAT’S WHAT CAUSED FINN’S BLINDNESS
Kuna granded and crouched to luge
TW&FI? I douted my voor sharja “Don’t touch the scroll! You might go blind tout”
Busan da’t hesitate if any dong, be surged forward with even more deadly intel
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11:51 AM
Chapter 60 Scrolls And Scars
+8 Pearls
With terrifying grace, he launched himself into the air. The scroll–wearing wolf tried to dodge, but Ronan was faster. He twisted mid–air, clamped his jaws around the wolf’s spine, and snapped it clean in half. The crack echoed like thunder.
The wolf’s corpse collapsed, twitching in the dirt.
Without missing a beat, Ronan kicked the dead body toward us with a powerful swipe of his paw. It landed heavily beside me, blood oozing from its throat.
Finn flinched beside me, instinctively reaching out. “What happened?”
“The scroll,” I breathed, grabbing a large leaf to shield my hand as I unwrapped it. I didn’t know if this would work–or if I might go blind too–but someone had to take the risk.
Nothing happened when I touched it. No flash of pain. No loss of vision. There was only a bone–deep cold that settled over my skin.
An unnatural energy pulsed from the scroll as I opened it. It felt ancient. Alive, Hungry.
What was this?
Seth, what’s going on? Finn asked again, his voice tight with anxiety. “You’re not doing something stupid, are you?”
“I’m fine,” I murmured, eyes locked on the symbols. “Just reading the scroll.”
“What does it say?‘
As I read, my eyes widened. “This scroll is cursed.”
“Cursed?”
“Yes.” I confirmed. “It says… if someone not of this land touches it, the scroll curses them with blindness.”
Finn cursed under his breath, voice seething with rage. “Those fucking disgusting wolves cursed me!”
I looked at him–his blank, unfocused eyes brimming with fury. He was losing control.
Suddenly, a distant howl shattered the air.
My stomach twisted. “More are coming,” I whispered.
I turned to Ronan–still locked in battle, his claws and fangs slashing through enemy after enemy. Alone.
A strange ache bloomed in my chest, and I gripped the scroll tighter.
“What else does it say!” Finn asked quickly.
“There’s nothing else,” I replied, frustrated. If this scroll turned out to be useless then how could we defeat those wolves and break Fina’s curse? That’s when the other wolves finally arrived and circled Ronan. But Aslier jumped into the fight catching them off guard as he started killing them alongside Ronan just like we had planned
“That’s strange,” Finn muttered, attracting my attention “I heard them say to roll it carefully so the letters on the back
immediately turned the scroll over–and sure enough, faint etchings appeared, nearly invisible.
There is something else.” I said, narrowing my eyes. “Faut letters, almost lost.”
“Really Fann gasped “What does it say?”
read carefully “The blind curse may only be broken in two ways. First, the cursed one must die
My hands clenched the scroll and I glanced at Fun He went utterly still
“And second. “I continued: “The cursed que must place the drops of their blood on the cursed object buried beneath the
11:51 AM p p.
Chapter 60 Scrolls And Scars
I stood abruptly, my eyes scanning the forest. “What cursed trees it is referring to? I don’t even know the names
these!
Behind me. the w
wolves howled louder. More were arriving. We were running out of time.
“I’ve been smelling something sweet and creamy since I was tied here,” Finn suddenly said..
My nose twitched, and I caught it too.
My eyes shot to the two large trees where Finn sat. “Fig trees.
er fir trees–under you.
My blood ran cold. “Fig trees are cursed. The scroll was buried under fig tr
Finn gasped and scrambled back. “Shit! Seth–dig it out, now!”
48 Pearls
of half of
I looked around and spotted a rusty rod lying nearby. My gaze flicked back to him. “I’ll kill those disgusting wolves myself once this curse is broken,” he muttered.
I studied him silently. “Really?”
Yest Hurry up, we’re running out of time!” he urged.
“Okay.” I nodded, grabbing the rod and slamming it into the earth beside him.
Finn’s ears twitched. “What are you doing, Seth? I don’t hear digging! Move faster or
r or we’ll all be killed!”
“I am tired,” I let out a long sigh, staring at Asher and Ronan continued fighting like machines.
“Tired?” Finn was taken aback. “It’s not time to joke around. Seth…”
“Do you think…” I cut him off in a low voice, “if they died here, both Ronan and Asher… that would eliminate the competition for the throne, wouldn’t it?”
Ronan caught my words mid–fight and threw me a blank glance.
Finn tensed. “Y–yeah, that would be convenient. But my eyes-
“And Dante,” I added softly. “It’d be even better if he died somewhere too. Don’t you think?” I murmured.
Finn frowned. “Yeah, it would be better if they all died. But this isn’t the time to talk about that, Seth! We’re in danger! Dig quickly.
I titled my head to him and bit my lips softly. “You’re not blind, are you?”
A dead silence fell between us. His shaking stopped. His unfocused eyes sharpened, and locked onto mine.
His expression shifted. The innocence fell away like a mask.
A slow smile crept across my lips as I asked, “Who are you?”
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