After the explosions and the drone's humming had completely faded away, silence returned to the Ancient Trees area of the Grey Mist Mountains. Rory and Milo hid in the natural cavern formed by the roots of the Ancient Trees, analyzing the message Selene had left behind.
'Returning the shard...unlocking the spell...' Rory mused, his red pupils looking deeper into the ancient tree. It turned out that the shard was not a power, but the key to unlock Pandora's Box. And these ancient trees were probably the key to sealing the curse.
Milo leaned against the roots of the tree, his gaze deep in thought. 'Selene...the rebel leader of the Wolf Clan.' He had heard of her before but had never seen her. Her appearance, and the information she brought with her, gave him a deeper knowledge of the internal strife within the Wolf Clan and the truth of the curse.
Just then, a figure with black hair and green pupils silently appeared at the edge of the ancient forest. It was Selene. She wore the characteristic leather armor of the rebels with wolf paw prints engraved on it, and her stance was as wild and agile as if she had blended into the woods themselves. She did not approach, but simply stood at a distance, her gaze sweeping sharply in the direction of the ruins before looking towards them.
'The shard is the key.' Selene's voice was clear and crisp, delivered directly with an undeniable power. 'It was used to awaken the being that slumbered beneath the ancient tree...that was the source of the curse.'
Rory's heart skipped a beat. The existence of sleeping under the ancient tree? The source of the curse? It was all much more ancient and dangerous than she had imagined.
'The way to lift the curse...find the 'core' of the shard...and return it to the place where it was first sealed.' Selene continued, her green pupils glowing with intelligence through the grey mist. 'Kieran has been taken over by the Shard, and he is using Anna's bloodline...to forcibly awaken the being.'
Anna's bloodline... Rory remembered the eerie glowing blood on Anna's wrists, remembered her whispering 'Blood Moon Summoning' Kieran was using her bloodline not just to activate the Shard, but to awaken something under the ancient tree.
'Anna...' Milo couldn't help but pronounce the familiar and now unfamiliar name, worry and a hint of pain flickering in her eyes.
Selene's gaze lingers on Milo for a brief moment, as if assessing whether he is in danger or not before she looks to Rory again. 'Kieran has turned his back on us. He has gone mad. Our goal as rebels is to abolish the old rules, stop the madness, and find a way to undo the spell.' She looked to Rory with an inviting and expectant look in her eyes. 'You need to make a choice.'
After saying that, Selene's figure disappeared as quietly as if it had never appeared, as if it had merged into a grey mist.
Rory looked at the direction Selene disappeared in, his heart complex, not knowing how to react for a moment. The rebels...the lifting of the spell...this seemed to be another path, one that led to new life rather than the destruction that Kieran had led. The possibility of unspell sparked a faint flame of hope within her.
Milo gazed up at Rory. 'Is what she said...true? Unraveling the spell...'
'I don't know.' Rory replied honestly, but her red pupils glittered with thought. 'But if the curse of the tattoo can be lifted...if the berserking can be stopped...' She didn't finish, but Milo knew the longing in her heart.
Just then, there was another obnoxious buzzing in the sky, and red lights flashed more frequently through the grey mist. This time, the drones seemed to have picked up their trail, and there were more of them.
'Damn it!' Milo cursed.
With piercing beeps and locking beams, the drones closed in on the area of ancient trees where they were hiding. Silver bullets could pour down at any moment.
'Duck!' Rory yelled as she and Milo dashed together deeper into the ancient woods, trying to use the dense trees and intricate root systems to avoid tracking.
However, in the midst of their panicked dodging, the ground suddenly collapsed. Rory and Milo couldn't react in time, and with a yelp of surprise, they lost their footing and fell into a deep pit.
They plummeted downwards, their bodies tumbling through the darkness, crashing into damp earth and twisted tree roots. Rory let out a low growl of pain, feeling his entire body falling apart.
Eventually, they fell into a small space. It was a natural tree cave formed by the roots of a huge ancient tree, filled with mud and the decaying scent of ancient trees. The space was so narrow that it could barely fit the two of them huddled closely together.
Milo pressed on top of Rory, his body muscles tightened and he let out a deep groan of pain. Rory's arm was braced on his chest and he could clearly feel his strong muscles and rapid heartbeat. Their faces were very close together, so close that they could feel each other's warm breath.
'Don't move.' Milo's voice held a hint of huskiness and tension. His hand took hold of Rory's wrist quickly and forcefully, stopping her from trying to push away or struggle.
'Let go!' Rory commanded, she didn't like the feeling of being confined, especially by a hunter. Instead, her body shivered uncontrollably from the fall she had just taken and the closeness of the moment.
Instead of letting go, Milo's grip tightened. His amber eyes glittered with complex emotions, nervousness, worry, and something deeper that she didn't understand.
'I don't want you to get hurt.' He whispered, his tone carrying an undeniable firmness as if Rory's safety was above all else in his world.
The small hole in the tree, the darkness, the close fit of bodies, the intertwining of each other's scents... this confined intimacy made Rory's heart beat faster than ever, so fast that she could barely catch her breath. Her cheeks burned, not only because of the fall but also because of Milo's proximity and his words 'I don't want you to get hurt'. The protection, the intense possessiveness, felt foreign to her, yet carried a tinge that she resisted and loved.
She could smell the mixture of smoke and pine on his body, and in this enclosed space, the smell became so strong that it almost consumed her.
It was at this tension-filled moment that an unusual reddish glow came from deep within the hole in the tree. The light was faint but carried a haunting sense of foreboding. Rory sniffed carefully, and the ancient aura of blood became even stronger there, with a hint of the eerie flavor peculiar to Anna's blood.
Anna's voice sounded again, as if it were deep within the tree hole, and as if it was echoing directly in Rory's mind.
'You can't escape...' Her voice carried a hint of morbid satisfaction and eerie mockery. 'The Blood Moon...it's waking up...'
Red light flickers from deep within the hole in the tree, like a sleeping eye that is slowly opening. Rory and Milo are trapped in this confined space, surrounded by twisted roots and ancient dirt, with a distant cave entrance and pursuing drones overhead. Rory and Milo are trapped in this confined space, surrounded by twisted roots and ancient dirt, with a distant cave entrance and pursuing drones overhead. The red light and Anna's whispers from the depths of the tree hole seem to signal that they've stumbled into more than just a hole in the tree, but the deeper secrets of the curse.