She stared at the magic circle as it slowly dimmed again. The blood traces still glistened, and the carved lines of the wood faintly pulsed, as if breathing.
"It… reacted," she whispered. "That means something was truly sealed here."
He wiped the blood from his fingers, eyes still fixed on the circle without blinking.
"Yes, but it didn't fully open. It only reflected that there's a question—or a condition—that we must solve."
She stepped closer, placing her hand on the carvings. Ancient whispers echoed in her mind: "Blood seals truth, but truth demands its price…"
She looked at him. "It's asking for… an answer, not just an oath."
He furrowed his brow. "An answer to what?"
"The riddle it set," she took a deep breath. "I think if we solve it, the circle will fully reveal itself—and the secrets hidden within will come to light."
The shadows on the floor trembled, and the carvings glowed once more, this time forming ancient letters—words etched as if in fire:
> "What is it that binds life and death, yet cannot be severed by time?"
She froze for a moment, meeting his intense gaze.
"This is the first riddle…"
What is it that binds life and death, yet cannot be severed by time?"
The words reverberated through the dim clearing, heavy like a tolling bell.
She froze, the night air pressing against her skin, and met his intense gaze.
Her throat tightened. This… this is the first riddle.
The crimson-eyed wolf did not lunge. Instead, its shape flickered, shadows shifting as though it was less beast and more spirit. The question had not come from its maw, but from the space between worlds—an echo lodged directly in her mind.
"What binds life and death…" she whispered, trembling fingers clutching the old knife her father had given her. "What endures beyond time itself…?"
Her heart pounded. In the silence, she thought of her family, of her parents' faces, of the warmth she was afraid to lose. She thought of the voice that had called to her under the moonlight, telling her she was chosen.
A sudden calm washed over her. The answer was not hidden in logic—it was born from the very essence of what she carried.
She lifted her chin, meeting the phantom wolf's burning gaze.
"It's love," she said, voice steady now. "Love binds life and death, and even time cannot sever it."
The air shifted. The forest whispered. The wolf's form began to dissolve into drifting motes of silver light, swirling around her like falling stars. A warmth surged in her chest, radiant, awakening.
Behind her, Sister Serena's lips curved into the faintest smile.
"You have passed the first trial, child. And the path ahead…" her eyes glimmered like the moon's reflection on still water, "…will only grow darker."