Chapter 229: The Horns of Warning

She knelt before the altar, fingers hovering over the ancient markings. Her hand trembled slightly as she continued from where she had stopped before, her fingertips grazing the grooves carved deep into the slab.

The rushed engraving on the altar seemed to pulse as she moved her hands through it, matching her heartbeat.

| 𐌕𐌋𐌄𐌔𐌕𐌋𐌄𐌔𐌕 |...

Sophia’s lips parted, ready to read it aloud when suddenly, a horn blared.

She froze mid-breath, eyes wide as the sound echoed through the shrine walls, rolling down the stone corridors like a wounded beast’s cry.

Then silence.

It blared again.

Stopped.

And again.

The sound was rhythmic, purposeful—like a warning. The vibrations seemed to hum through the very stones beneath her feet. It was coming from the pack compound.

This wasn’t like the horn she heard when the Skylur attacked or like the one during the festival. This was different.

Sophia turned sharply toward Eldric, heart thudding. "What’s happening?" she asked, her voice breaking slightly against the fading sound.

Unlike Sophia, Eldric was composed, as though it wasn’t the first time he had heard something like that.

"It’s the storm signal," he said. "A storm’s coming."

Sophia blinked. "A storm?"

He gave a short nod and sighed. "We’ll have to pack up. Come, we need to return to the compound—this is the signal to prepare for the storm."

She watched as he moved quickly, gathering the parchments placed near the altar. His hands shook only slightly as he tucked the ink pot and compass into his satchel, muttering something under his breath in a tongue she couldn’t quite catch.

"What do you mean by a storm?" she asked, still rooted in place. "Like a blizzard or something?"

Eldric paused, straightening with the faintest groan. His expression was one of thinly veiled annoyance.

"Of course that’s what I mean. But it could also be anything. Sometimes it’s rain, sometimes a blizzard, sometimes winds that can take down trees. It could be anything," he told her.

She shivered, though the air hadn’t grown colder.

"Up," he said, gesturing for her to stand. "We’ll continue this later—once the storm passes."

Sophia rose reluctantly, brushing dust off her palms. Her gaze lingered on the altar.

"Did you get anything from what you read?" Eldric asked suddenly, adjusting his satchel over one shoulder.

Sophia nodded, stepping closer to the stone again. "Yes, but not enough. It connects with what we read before, but it’s... incomplete." She squinted at the writing, her brow furrowed in thought. "It’s like a sentence cut in half. I can read it, but it doesn’t make sense yet. We’ll need more time—maybe more context from the rest of the writings."

Eldric paused, his lips tightening. "We’ve spent over a minute here and you couldn’t get anything?"

"Do you want to be the one translating?" Sophia asked sharply.

Eldric adjusted his glasses. "I apologize. I’m just having difficulty accepting that you didn’t get anything from what you read."

"This language isn’t like the one we speak, Eldric. Just because I can translate it doesn’t mean I’m perfectly fluent. Sometimes you need to read the full sentence before you can understand it," she told him.

"Again," Eldric said with a sigh, "I apologize. I’m just having difficulty with this language—it’s something I’ve never seen before."

She gave him a small nod.

"Well, maybe next time we won’t be interrupted. We must get going now," he said.

Sophia’s fingers hovered once more over the script. "I can read a little more now, just—"

Her words died as footsteps echoed at the entrance. A guard appeared. He seemed to have run down from the gates, his hair damp with melting snow and his voice edged with urgency.

"You need to return to the pack compound. There’s a storm coming," the guard said to them.

Sophia turned to him, startled. "Now? It’s coming now?"

The guard shook his head. "Not yet, but from what’s being said, it may come in the next three days. Everyone’s being called back. We need to start preparations immediately."

She hesitated. "Just a minute," she said, her eyes darting toward the altar. "Let me read this last part. I might find something important."

Eldric closed his eyes briefly, as though weighing patience against duty. Then, with a weary sigh, he muttered, almost to himself, "The stars must align... the stars have to align..."

Sophia blinked, frowning. "What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. We must go back to prepare."

Her gaze drifted back to the altar. Funny how she hadn’t wanted to come here earlier, yet now that she was here, she wanted to stay and gather more information.

"But..." she started.

Eldric turned to her and spoke as if reciting something he had told himself many times before.

"We have to go, Sophia. The storm waits for no one, and if you’re ill-prepared, it will take you. It’s not merciful. And besides, the altar isn’t going anywhere. We will come back. We have to come back..." He paused, then added quietly, "We must come back."

The way he said it made her pause. There was something about his tone—it sounded less like intention and more like destiny. And thinking about it, he was right. They needed to find out what the writings on the altar meant and what the altar itself signified.

"Alright," she said finally, her voice small but steady. "We’ll come back."

The guard gave a sharp nod. "It’s protocol. Once the horn sounds, everyone starts preparing. Sorry to disturb your work."

Sophia took one last look at the altar and nodded slowly.

"Alright then, let’s go."

Eldric gestured for her to follow as he slung his satchel across his back. The guard stepped aside to lead the way. Their footsteps echoed against the shrine’s stone floor as they moved toward the open archway.

Eldric watched Sophia as she lingered, reluctant to turn away. He was right, after all. Perhaps there was a reason he had been in the shrine from the beginning—maybe it wasn’t curiosity alone, but something more. The stars aligning, perhaps.

And they must align for Sophia, because she was the one who would likely save their people. And he was certain of this, because she was already mated to the one person who would be her greatest strength.