Page 97 of The Onyx Covenant

“Hello?” Selene’s voice calls out, closer now. “Is someone there?”

We freeze, exchanging glances.

Kieran raises his eyebrows in silent question. Theron shakes his head fractionally—a command to remain quiet that Kieran accepts with a slight nod. The wordless communication between them speaks of years fighting side by side, trusting each other with their lives.

“I could’ve sworn I heard voices,” Selene says, her words clear enough now that she must be just on the other side of the wall.

“Your imagination again,” Erebus replies dismissively. “Come on, this passage loops around. I think I see a chamber entrance ahead.”

The urgency crystallizes my focus. I turn back to the runes, pushing all else from my mind.

“The markings are a celestial map,” I say quietly, tracing the flowing script. “It references our two moons and their alignment during what it calls… the Blood Harmony.”

“The Bloodstone Moons,” Theron translates, his eyes lighting with recognition. “That’s what my people call them when both moons take on the reddish hue during harvest season.”

Kieran runs a hand through his hair. “How does that help us get the shiny rock without becoming thorn decorations?”

I continue studying the runes, translating fragments. “There’s something here aboutfive pointsand acrown of night.”

“The Hunter’s Crown,” Theron says immediately. “It’s a constellation visible only during the Blood Moon alignment—five stars that form a crescent. My people use it for navigation during the hunts.”

I look up at him, surprised by the connection between our packs’ astronomical systems.

“We call it the Reaper’s Sickle in Elios,” I say. “But yes, the same formation.”

“Touching cultural exchange,” Kieran interjects, “but those two assholes out there might be finding the Moonstone any moment now, and I’d rather not share our prize.”

He’s right. The sounds of footsteps and voices have faded slightly as Selene and Erebus moved around the curve of the maze, but they’ll find their way to us soon enough.

I refocus on the pedestal and notice something I missed before—five small indentations arranged in a crescent pattern among the runes, each one the size of a fingertip.

“Look,” I say, pointing them out. “These match the pattern of the Hunter’s Crown—the Reaper’s Sickle.”

Theron kneels beside me, examining them closely. “Pressure points,” he suggests.

Kieran leans over from the other side. “So, we press them, and the cage opens? Seems too simple.”

“No,” I say, continuing to translate. “There’s more here.When crowns of night align, five points of power must awaken...” I pause, struggling with the next symbols. “In the order of their birth.”

“The order of their birth?” Kieran echoes. “What does that even mean?”

Theron’s eyes meet mine, and I see the same realization dawning in their gray depths. “The stars appear in sequence when the constellation rises,” he says.

I nod. “The first star appears in the east, then the next, until all five form the crown—or sickle. They’re born in sequence across the night sky.”

“So, we press them in the same order they appear in the sky,” Kieran surmises, looking between us. “East to west.”

“That’s my interpretation,” I agree.

Kieran raises his hand to the sun and quickly says, “Northeast. The energy flow begins there.”

Theron nods. “So, the sequence starts with this one.” He indicates the indentation closest to the northeast corner.

“I think so,” I explain, but doubt niggles at the edges of my mind. If we’re wrong, who knows what might happen? The thorns could be venomous, the entire apparatus could collapse, or—worse—we could damage the Moonstone itself.

“Wait,” Kieran says, frowning. “How do we know the indentations correspond exactly to the stars? What if this one—” he points to the smallest indentation, “—is actually the first star?”

It’s a good question. I reexamine the runes, searching for more clues. “There’s something here about size…The smallest light first breaks the darkness.”

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