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 red 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 bair/bb. /bI snapped my head toward the noise, just in time to see Ronan’s ck 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 sttered across the dry ground.

They saw me freeing Finn.

bRonan /bnded with a thunderous growl, snarling like a beast awakened from Hell. His blood–soaked fur gleamed, and for ba /bfleeting heartbeat, our eyes met his bglowing /bviolet gaze locking onto mine.

We’re running out of time.

I spun back to Finn. “How? How did bthis /bhappen?”

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 bwas /bunconscious. When I woke up, I was being dragged here. My whole body hurt. I could hear themughing. Then, one of them lunged at me.”

He paused, bhis /bbhands /bcurling into tight fists at the memory. “I bkilled /bit. Tore out its throat before it could take mine. I tried to escape. But then I stepped on something bon /bthe ground, it felt like ba /bbwooden /bscroll or… maybe a relic. A secondter. everything went ck. I opened my eyes, and the world was bgone/bb./b”

My breath bcaught/b. “A scroll?

My gaze darted across the battlefield, scanning the bwolves /bsnarling and circling Ronan. “That scroll, it must’ve bcaused /byour blindness! We need to find it!” I hissed burgently/b, my eyes frantically searching every corner of the bclearing/b.

They must’ve kept it close,” Finn bsaid/b, burgency /bin bhis /bbtone/bb. /b

And then

My eyes locked onto a grey wolf at the edge bof /bthe bfight/b, a thick bwooden /bscroll tied around its neck with a ckened leather cord

I jolted upright. “That’s att

Esnan, mid–battle, caught my gaze across the chaos. His fur was bstreaked /bwith 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 bmy /bvoor bsharja /b“bDon’t /btouch the scroll! bYou /bmight go blind tout”

Busan da’t hesitate if any dong, be surged forward with even more deadly intel

b?c

b11:51 /bAM

Chapter 60 Scrolls And Scars

+8 Pearls

With terrifying grace, heunched himself into the air. The scroll–wearing wolf tried to dodge, but Ronan was faster. He twisted mid–air, mped his bjaws /bbaround /bthe wolf’s spine, and snapped it clean in half. The bcrack /bechoed like thunder.

The wolf’s corpse copsed, twitching in the dirt.

Without missing a beat, bRonan /bkicked the dead body toward us with a powerful swipe of his paw. Itnded heavily beside me, blood oozing from its throat.

Finn bflinched /bbeside me, binstinctively /breaching bout/b. “What happened?”

“The scroll,” I bbreathed/bb, /bgrabbing arge 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 sh of pain. No loss of vision. There was only a bone–deep cold that settled over my skin.

bAn /bunnatural 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 bnd /btouches 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 nk, unfocused eyes brimming with fury. He was losing control.

Suddenly, ba /bdistant howl shattered the air.

My stomach twisted. “bMore /bareing,” I whispered.

I turned to Ronan–still locked in battle, bhis /bws and fangs shing through enemy after benemy/b. Alone.

bA /bstrange ache bloomed in my chest, and I gripped the scroll tighter.

“What else does it say!” Finn asked bquickly/b.

“There’s bnothing /bbelse/b,” I replied, frustrated. If bthis /bscroll turned out to be useless then how could we defeat those wolves and break Fina’s curse? That’s when the other bwolves /bfinally barrived /band circled Ronan. bBut /bAslier jumped into the fight catching them off guard as he started bkilling /bthem balongside /bbRonan /bbjust /bblike /bbwe /bbhad /bnned

“That’s strange,” bFinn /bmuttered, attracting my attention “I heard them bsay /bto broll /bit carefully so the letters bon /bbthe back /b

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 blost/bb./b”

“Really Fann gasped “What does it say?”

read carefully “The blind curse may bonly /bbe broken in two ways. First, the cursed one must die

My hands clenched the scroll and I nced at bFun /bHe went utterly still

“And second. “I continued: “The cursed que must ce 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 tworge trees where Finn sat. “Fig trees.

er fir trees–under you.

My blood ran cold. “Fig trees are cursed. The scroll bwas /bburied 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 bthis /bbcurse /bis broken,” he muttered.

I studied him silently. “Really?”

Yest Hurry up, we’re running out of time!” he urged.

“bOkay/bb./b” bI /bbnodded/b, bgrabbing /bbthe /brod band /bmming it into the earth beside him.

Finn’s ears twitchedb. /b“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 baback/b. “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 thepetition for the throne, wouldn’t it?”

Ronan caught my bwords /bmid–fight and threw me a nk nce.

Finn tensed. “Y–yeah, that bwould /bbe convenient. But my eyes-

“And Dante,” I added softly. “It’d be even better if he bdied /bsomewhere too. Don’t you think?” I murmured.

Finn frowned. “bYeah/b, it would be better if they all died. But this isn’t the time bto /bbtalk /babout that, Seth! We’re in danger! Dig quickly.

I titled my head to him and bit bmy /blips softly. “You’re not blindb, /bbare /bbyou/b?”

A dead silence fell between us. His bshaking /bstopped. His unfocused beyes /bsharpened, and locked onto mine.

His expression shifted. The innocence fell away like a bmask/b.

A slow smile crept across bmy /bblips /bbas /bI asked, “Who bare /bbyou/b?”

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