With a small company of reliable fighters—Jace, Cassian, and Rowan—I headed toward the old tree from where I had seen the enigmatic engravings. The path across the grove was tight; every step seemed to go toward a truth that may break everything. The moon was high, creating spooky shadows dancing over the woodland floor, and the night air carried faint echoes of our predecessors.
I bent before the sculptures at the oak. Their eyes shining with otherworldly brightness, they showed a circle of wolves joined in a covenant of blood and sorcery. A symbol just like my Crescent Mark was twisted into a deeper, more ominous pattern right in the middle of the circle. My heart hammered as I understood that the power in my veins had a dark side, a balance that may either save us or bring about our doom. It was not only pure goodness.
