Page 35 of Wolf Queen Ruin
“The Cartography of Convergence,” she announced, her fingers hovering over the box’s intricate lock mechanism.“Created during the First Peace between the ancient wolf and vampire bloodlines, which I’m sure you both know didn’t last long.”
The lock responded to her touch, mechanisms shifting with soft clicks.The lid opened, revealing what at first appeared to be a piece of aged parchment.But as Selene lifted it from its container, I realized it was indeed a form of skin, pale and thin, with a pearlescent quality that caught the light.
“Is that…?”I began, my curiosity overriding my disgust.
“Human?No,” Selene replied with a smile.“This is the shed skin of a being no longer found in any realm, a shapeshifter who could assume any form, not merely one predetermined by bloodline.”
My eyes widened.“A shapeshifter?I thought those were myths.”
“Many things relegated to myth once walked freely,” Selene said.“Before the great divisions, before species became so categorical.”
She spread the skin map on the liquid moonlight surface, where it seemed to activate.Lines of silver and gold illuminated across its surface, forming topographical features and symbols that shifted as we watched.The effect took my breath away.It was like watching a living map draw itself in precious metals.
Damien leaned forward, his blue eyes reflecting the golden light of the map.“The preservation is extraordinary,” he said, his voice deepening with genuine appreciation.“Most binding spells this ancient would have deteriorated, yet these maintain their original potency.”
“You have a trained eye,” Selene noted with approval.“Most merely see the obvious value without appreciating the craftsmanship.”
I leaned closer, studying the intricate details now taking shape on the map’s surface.Damien moved beside me, his shoulder brushing mine as we both examined the map.The contact sent another small spark of awareness through me.
“These symbols,” I said, pointing to a series of glyphs near what appeared to be a mountain range, “they’re proto-Lycan, but with elements I’ve never seen before.”
“Very good,” Selene said.“They combine the earliest shifter language with vampire blood-script.A true linguistic convergence, much like the artifact it describes.”
Damien’s expression sharpened with focus as his finger hovered above a central symbol—a curved fang-like shape surrounded by a pentagram.
“The Shadow Fang,” he said.
Selene nodded, studying him with renewed interest.“I suspected that’s what you were after when I learned of your engagement.A vampire seeking a cure for the Wasting partners with a shifter desperate to save her family from a magical coma.Quite the alliance of convenience.”
My breath caught.She knew everything.The question was whether she planned to use this knowledge against us or just enjoyed demonstrating her informational superiority.
“Since we’re dispensing with pretense,” Damien said, “may I ask if you have an interest in the Shadow Fang yourself?”
Selene laughed.“Direct, aren’t you?Refreshing, from one of the Cross House.”She traced a pattern on the map’s edge, causing new lines to illuminate.“My interest is in knowledge.Always.The Shadow Fang is a nexus of historical significance, the first successful melding of vampire and shifter magic, created to heal the wounds of ancient conflicts.Its story intersects with many others I’ve collected over the centuries.”
Her fingers danced across the map, activating different sections that glowed with increasing brightness.Five distinct locations illuminated more prominently than the rest, each marked with a symbol similar to the central fang but with unique variations.
“The Wolf Queen separated the artifact into five pieces,” she explained.“Each hidden where opposing forces meet—boundaries between realms, species, or natural elements.”
I studied the locations intently, committing them to memory as best I could with the moonpeach’s enhancement still heightening my senses.The first location was unmistakable—a dense jungle region with a distinctive river pattern.
“The Darién Gap,” I murmured.“The Wolf Queen’s Crypt.”
“Yes,” Selene said.“Where the first shifter queen was laid to rest after negotiating the First Peace with the vampire lords.A fitting location for the first piece of the Shadow Fang.”
“And the other locations?”Damien asked.
Selene gestured to the remaining illuminated points.“The catacombs beneath Paris, where the living meet the dead.The obsidian caves of Iceland, where fire and ice coexist.The submerged temples of Yamatai, where land yields to sea.”
“And the fifth…” Her finger hovered over the fifth point, which glowed more dimly over a vague area of the map.“The fifth location reveals itself only when the other four pieces have been reunited.”
I committed each location to memory.Each site was marked with additional symbols—warnings, perhaps, or instructions for accessing the hidden chambers where the fragments waited.
“I’m sure you’ve considered the cost of reuniting such powerful artifacts,” Selene said.“The Shadow Fang was deliberately separated for a reason.”
Damien’s eyes darkened.“Historical accounts differ on the reason for its separation,” he said, and something in his tone made me wonder just how much he hadn’t shared with me.“Some accounts suggest political motivations rather than magical necessity.The truth often lies buried beneath centuries of deliberate obfuscation.”
Selene’s gaze shifted to me, her eyes changing from violet to a brown that mirrored my own.“And what do you think, Luna Rookwood?Why would an artifact of such healing power be separated?”
