Author: [Writers hub]
Mina Song collapsed at their feet, a frantic, sobbing mess. Her glamorous facade was gone, replaced by a terrified, desperate woman. The whispers of the sonic pillars hummed around them, but the threat from the disoriented Keepers paled in comparison to the new, chilling horror in Mina's words.
"What are you talking about?" Ragnar demanded, his voice hard, his eyes scanning the forest around them, now searching for an unseen, greater threat. "The Ledger is the core of the family's power."
Mina choked on a sob, her words tumbling out in a broken rush. "It's not… it's not about power. Not the way you think. She doesn't want to restore it... she wants to purify it. Grand-aunt Mae-Yeon's journal... it wasn't just a map. It was a prophecy." She looked up at Zara, her eyes wide with a manic terror. "The Ledger was a diversion. She knew you would come for it. She wants to be a living saint, an avenging angel, by destroying the source of the family's sin. But she needed a sacrifice."
Ragnar's face, usually so composed, contorted in a rare display of confusion. "A sacrifice?"
"Not the Ledger itself," Mina stammered, her body trembling. "A symbolic sacrifice. The purest soul... the last heir of the original line... a purification in blood... she wanted to use... she wanted to use..." Her eyes darted away from Ragnar, settling on Zara with a horrified dread. "She wanted to use Hana!" she shrieked, the name tearing from her throat in a ragged cry. "Your sister! The journals... they were all about finding her! The Ledger was just to get you to race here so she could make a clean sweep! She's been looking for the last pure soul! She wants to sacrifice Hana at the altar of the First Ancestor, at the True Altar of Botermet!"
The words hit Zara with the force of a physical blow, a wave of cold, heart-stopping terror that made the sonic hum of the forest fade into a distant whisper. Hana. It had always been about Hana. Her sister wasn't a pawn; she was the ultimate target, the final ritual sacrifice to purge the Botermet line and elevate Mae-Yeon to a state of living sainthood in the eyes of her fanatic cult.
Ragnar's face, a mask of grim determination only moments before, contorted into a terrifying portrait of pure, unbridled rage. His hands clenched into fists, his knuckles turning white. His sister's name, once a secret, now a weapon in his enemy's hands.
He had been played. The entire time. Mae-Yeon hadn't just used the Ledger as a distraction; she had used Ragnar's own protective instincts against him. She had calculated his every move, his every fear, all to draw him into a chase while she went for her real prize.
"The True Altar of Botermet," Ragnar snarled, his voice a low, murderous growl. "It's not at the shrine. It's in the heart of the forest. Where no one but the Bloodline can enter." He looked at Zara, his gaze conveying a silent, desperate plea. "Mina, where is Hana now? Where did Mae-Yeon take her?"
"A-a hidden cave near the waterfall… the Ritual Cave!" Mina stammered, her eyes wide with fear as she saw the furious, terrifying storm that had just been unleashed in Ragnar's expression. "She said she would be waiting. She knew you would fall for the diversion..."
Zara, ignoring the terror that was still gripping her, acted on pure instinct. She grabbed the comms device from the young Shadow Wolf. "Director Ahn! Forget Mae-Yeon! Forget the elders! We have a new priority! The Ritual Cave! I'm sending you the coordinates now!" She didn't wait for a reply, simply transmitting a quick, coded command.
Ragnar didn't wait for the Shadow Wolf. He seized Zara's hand, his grip firm and desperate. "We're going now," he said, his voice flat with lethal intent. "We're not waiting."
They plunged into the forest, leaving Mina behind in the eerie glow of the Whispering Pillars, her desperate warnings echoing in the trees. Ragnar's strides were long and powerful, his fury a fire in the darkness. Zara struggled to keep up, her feet flying over the roots and damp earth, her mind now a relentless torrent of fear and purpose. They were running not to stop a coup, but to save her sister. As they raced towards the sound of a rushing waterfall in the distance, a hauntingly beautiful, but out of place, ceremonial chant began to drift through the silent woods. Mae-Yeon was already there, the ritual had already begun, and Ragnar and Zara, in their desperate race to save Hana, were about to face not a simple battle, but an act of unholy cleansing, a terrifying climax to a conflict steeped in tradition, betrayal, and blood.