Rise of the Warrior Queen (Kaia and Silver) novel Chapter 24

CHAPTER TWENTY FOURL

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

KAIA’S POV.

The old pack library

sat on the far edge of the territory, hidden behind tangled trees and moss–covered stone walls it looked more like an abandoned temple than a library, with its cracked stained–glass windows and heavy oak doors that creaked like ghosts when pushed open.

This place had been abandoned for years, with half the pack forgetting its existence. Practically no one ever came here anymore. No one except me. I came here often when I needed space to think–especially these days when I barely even knew what to do with myself. It helped take my mind off things a little bit. Just for a little while.

Silver stood in the doorway, squinting inside as I pushed the door open with both hands.

“This,” he said flatly, is the mysterious place?”

I gave him a side glance. “What, this not mysterious enough for you? Were you expecting a portal to another dimension?”

Silver shrugged.

“Well, considering the way you made it sound,” he said, stepping inside with exaggerated caution, “I thought we were headed into a haunted battlefield or some hidden dungeon. I must confess, I’m quite disappointed.”

Well, he had a point. I did make the whole thing sound some type of way didn’t I?

But then whoever said I was wrong? If only Silver knew the history of this library. If only he knew half the things it contained. But he doesn’t. He doesn’t know it like I do, so yeah, I guess I can’t blame him for saying

that.

If he did, he would know that some of the things here were even far worse than the haunted battlefield and hidden dungeon he just spoke of

I smirked, letting the door close behind us with a thud. “Don’t underestimate the library, Silver. Legends say knowledge is the most dangerous weapon, remember?”

He looked around at the towering shelves of old, dust–covered books and parchment scrolls. “Looks more like

a dust museum to me.”

“Ah,” I said with mock seriousness, “dust museum, you say? But within these pages are things most people aren’t supposed to know. Forgotten names. Forbidden runes. Creatures that haven’t walked this world in

centuries. The kind of stuff that keeps even alphas up at night. You don’t know the half of you, Silver, you do not want to know.”

I’m telling

Silver snorted, brushing cobwebs from a nearby bookshelf. “Right. Because dusty paper is way scarier than fangs and claws. Got it. That doesn’t sound ridiculous at all.”

I moved toward a carved stone table in the center of the room, pulling out Mia’s drawing and laying it out carefully. “Oh, well, keep talking then. But remember, don’t say I didn’t warn you when something hisses at you from between the pages. You have no idea what kind of legends lie in those books.”

Silver rolled his eyes but followed, sitting across from me. “Okay, storyteller. You’ve got me curious now. Hit

me with one of these legends.”

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

“Gladly,” I said with a grin, scanning the nearest stack of leather bound volumes. “Let’s see… how about the Grievers of Gormath? Ever heard of them?”

Silver raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t know. But they sound cheerful,”

I nodded solemnly. “Oh, they weren’t. Centuries ago, a village was wiped out overnight. No screams, no signs of struggle. Just silence–and markings left on the ground. The villagers who came to investigate from the neighboring village said they heard crying in the woods, weeping so heavy it made the ground shake. They called the entities the Grievers. Legend says they were once priests cursed for opening a forbidden gate. But you want to know the strangest part about all of this?”

“What?” Silver asked, his voice barely a whisper.

My lips pulled into a smirk as I leaned forward on my elbows. “The strangest and scariest part is that there were supposedly no screams that night. The village was wiped out in complete silence. So legend asks–how come the neighboring villagers claimed they heard cries that night? A cry so loud it woke the entire village. causing the women and children to lock themselves up in their rooms while the men grabbed their weapons and ran into the woods to see what was happening. Whose cries did they hear? Who exactly was crying in the woods that night? That question remains unanswered.”

Silver frowned. “And these villagers, the ones who went to investigate–what did they find in the woods when they got there?”

“No one knows,” I answered truthfully as I flipped another page..

I only know as much as legend told us about the unthinkable that happened on that night and nothing more.

Silver leaned in, his brows furrowing. “So then why exactly are we here? You think the people who attacked Mia were connected to that?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted, flipping open an old scroll, “But for some reason that symbol seems to spark some memories for you too, even though you’re not even from this part. At least I don’t think you are. So wherever it was you saw it before, it can’t be the same place Mia did. Or on the same men, for that matter. So if the symbol has appeared more than once–different times, different places–it definitely means something, Silver. It has to. And I don’t believe in coincidence. Not in cases like this, anyway.”

as he listen

As I spoke, I couldn’t help but notice something wired. Silver’s fingers kept rubbing at his neck as

-even while he spoke.

“Hmm. Perhaps you’re right. But then what if-”

“Are you hurt?” I asked when I couldn’t hold in my curiosity any longer.

Silver frowned, looking confused. “What?”

I

“Your neck,” I said. “You keep rubbing at it. I thought maybe you got hurt. Perhaps a sting or something.”

Silver sighed, nodding. “Yeah, I… I’ve kind of been doing that a lot since I woke up. I have no idea why, though.”

I frowned in confusion, still not really understanding what he meant.

“So… you’re not hurt?” I asked, and he shook his head.

“No. I’m not hurt.”

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

He hesitated for a moment, then sighed. “At first, it only happened whenever I’m in the shower,” he started. “T find my hands going to my neck and rubbing without being aware of it. And then there’s also my left middle finger. I keep rubbing it too.”

My frown deepened. “And you have no idea why it happens?” I asked, and he shook his head.

“Oh,” I said simply, for lack of better words. Because what more could I possibly say? Surely there’s a reason he does it he just can’t remember.

We were quiet for a moment, then Silver spoke. “Okay, so. I’ll admit, your creepy priest story earned a point. Come on, princess. Give me another,”

It was obvious he was trying to stir the discussion away from the topic, and even though I wasn’t sure why, I figured I’d just let it go. For now, at least.

I chuckled, nodding my head. “Alright then. Ever hear of the Crimson Binder?”

He gave me a skeptical look. “Should I have?”

“It’s obscure,” I said. “Even in our pack’s oldest records, only whispers about him remain. They say he was a warlock who specialized in blood seals–binding people, creatures, even souls, using runes carved into flesh. Guess what his mark was?”

Silver shifted to get comfortable. “The same symbol from the first story?”

I blinked. Once. Twice.

I had no idea how he was able to do that, but he actually got it right. It was, in fact, the same symbol from the Grievers of Gormath. At least that was what legend says. If it’s a lie then it’s totally on the people who wrote the books. Not me.

“Exactly,” I said finally, giving him a thumbs–up. “And now I have reasons to believe that the exact same symbol might be making an appearance once more. Only this time, it has another thing coming, because it’s going to get a hell of an ass–kicking from me if I so happen to find out that this pack is truly being targeted

by it.”

“Damn,” Silver muttered, sitting back. “So you’re telling me that it’s actually possible this isn’t just a random

tattoo Mia saw?”

“Nope,” I said. “I don’t think it’s a random tattoo. I think it might be the symbol. You heard her say earlier that she couldn’t shift when they were around, didn’t you? Those people clearly did something to her wolf to keep

her from coming out. It’s either some kind of spell or dark magic. That symbol has been around for a long

time. And every time it shows up, something bad follows. For all we know, this could be ar or attack. It

could be coming alive again after all these years, Silver. And unless I can find something the proves me

wrong, I’m choosing to work with what I have. And what I have is that this is simply too serious to be keeping

quiet about. Which is exactly why I’m here. To dig.”

Silver was quiet for a moment before he nodded, standing up. “Let’s get to work then.”

We searched in silence for a while after that, with nothing but the sounds of turning pages breaking the

quiet. The deeper we went into the collection, the weirder the titles became. Chronicles of the Hollowed Veil,

Ashes of the First Pact, The Thirteen Who Vanished.

It was getting creepier by the minute.

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

Silver eventually broke the silence again. “Okay, no question. Why are you so familiar with this place, anyway? You said earlier it’s somewhere you’re ‘well acquainted with: What’s up with that?”

I hesitated for a moment, then gave him a wry smile. “When I was a kid, I wasn’t that great at fitting in. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t like I was bullied or disliked by the pack. That wasn’t it. Far from it, in fact. I think I was quite friendly with everyone in the pack–just like now. But the problemn was, I was a little… what do they call it again?… socially awkward, so to speak. I was okay having friends. But I mostly preferred to be on my own. I liked my own company better than anyone else’s. I used to sneak out here to get away from everyone No one came out this far. I’d read the strangest stories, protend I was hunting ghosts or cursed relics. You

know, stuff like that.”

Silver nodded slowly. “Let me guess–you were the scary kid who knew all the old horror stories and kept

other pups awake during sleepovers?”

“Guilty,” I said with a laugh. “You’re looking at the unofficial queen of campfire scares. You do not want to challenge me on that one.”

He gave me an amused smile. “Well, your royal darkness, I have to admit–this place is cooler than I expected.

Told you,” I said. “Now keep flipping.”

Minutes passed. We both worked through book after book, scanning for any sign of the symbol. Just as I was about to call it a dead end, I felt Lilac stirring inside me.

At first, I ignored her, not thinking too much of it. But then she continued to stir, and I could feel her pushing against the walls of my mind.

Having had enough of the discomfort, I sighed, reaching out to her in my head. “What?” I asked, feeling annoyed at the disturbance from her while I was already locked in an impossible mission here trying to figure out what the hell was–or might be–coming for our pack.

“I don’t know, I just feel kind of odd,” Lilac muttered, causing me to frown.

“Odd?” I asked in confusion, and she hummed.

“I just have this really weird feeling, Kaia. I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s there. I don’t know what it is.”

y eyes and sighed. “Well, go figure it out and stop bothering me, would you? You’re distracting me,

I rolled my

Lilac.

“No, Kaia, you don’t understand. I think-”

“Kaia, Silver called, pulling my attention to him. “Come take a look at this for a minute.”

I completely forgot whatever Lilac had been about to say and moved to his side instantly, peering over his shoulder to see what he had in his hands.

The book was brittle, the writing nearly faded. But there it was. The exact symbol. The circle. The triangle. The s***h. And next to it, there was a name:

“The Mark of the Hollow Binding.” I read in a low whisper.

Underneath the name was a single line of faded text, handwritten in red ink:

“Used to bind the soul to a pact of silence and blood. Borne only by the ones who serve the Hollow King in

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

truth and in loyalty.”

I stared at it, feeling a cold chill creep down my spine.

“Hollow King?” Silver whispered. “You ever heard of that?”

“No,” I said quietly. “But I think we just found our first real lead.”

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