Chapter 503: The Trine of Ash and Vein

Madam Tyler turned slowly toward Eldric.

Her eyes did not leave his as she spoke.

"It’s the seal, isn’t it?" she asked him.

Eldric nodded.

Madam Tyler exhaled, then turned to the others. "The seal in front of us is referred to as the Trine of Ash and Vein," she told them softly, as if scared the words would come back to bite her.

Eldric nodded in agreement.

"This seal," he continued, voice steady, "as Madam Tyler said... it has been lost to time. And though it is powerful, it is forbidden."

"Why?" Sophia asked, a frown on her face.

"Because of what it takes," he told her.

Mary shifted slightly in her seat.

"First things first," he said. "For the Trine of Ash and Vein to take effect, there must be someone standing in each of the three locations where the rocks were found, and also at the same time."

His gaze moved briefly to the triangle on the table.

"The seal does not activate unless all three points are occupied."

Madam Tyler nodded.

"And the seal is done with blood," Eldric added.

The silence thickened.

Madam Tyler spoke before anyone else could.

"And that doesn’t just mean blood like a simple bleeding," she said softly. "A life must be taken... three lives, and sometimes more, must be taken."

Sophia’s eyes widened as she leaned further in, as if distance would make her hear and understand better what Madam Tyler and Eldric were talking about.

"Anyone who stands at the location of the stones," she continued calmly, "sacrifices themselves at that point and at the exact same time too. One second late and the seal will not take effect."

Eldric closed his eyes for half a second.

"Yes," he said.

He opened his eyes then.

"That is the price of anchoring the seal. The Trine of Ash and Vein is not a binding seal meant to imprison alone. It is meant to curtail too."

He looked around the table.

"And not only that, but to suppress, to starve one of their power as it is sucked out slowly," he told them. "The issue we have, though, is that as much as I’d like to tell you guys more, that is all we have about it because there is very little record of it."

"The only way I was able to get information was through a book Tobias brought back from the black market. And according to him, he had encountered the book by chance," Eldric told them.

"That book was never meant to leave its vault," Madam Tyler said. "Or to exist in the first place."

Eldric shook his head. "I disagree. I feel everything, both forbidden and even those not forbidden, should be written down. We should have records of them. Perhaps if we did, then we would have been able to get more regarding this seal."

"I disagree with that," Madam Tyler told him. "If records are kept, then someone may gain it and use it, and who knows what they will unleash on the land? Every priest and priestess knows that the Trine of Ash and Vein is forbidden to be performed. One mistake and we could all be heading to our doom."

"When it fails, it does not simply collapse but reverses," Madam Tyler told them. "But how it reverses..."

"...we have no idea," Eldric completed.

Madam Tyler nodded at that.

"Only that what is meant to be restrained becomes unbound," she said. "And I can only imagine what is to be restrained using something so powerful and scary."

Brynhild leaned forward slightly, a frown on her face as she spoke quietly, almost as if muttering to herself.

"Why would something like this be placed in the heart of Nirvana?" she asked.

No one answered at first.

Eldric and Madam Tyler exchanged a glance and then shook their heads.

"We do not know," Eldric said.

Orion was quiet throughout, his face scrunched up in a frown. There was just something about this that signaled he should be prepared.

’Noctis,’ Orion called out to his wolf. ’Do you know about this seal?’

*I do,* Noctis replied. *But I had no idea it was placed in Nirvana. I missed that detail.*

’Will you tell me about it?’ Orion asked politely.

He knew Noctis had a lot of information regarding what was happening in Nirvana.

*Perhaps after the meeting. But I can only tell you as much as Eldric and Madam Tyler told you, but I do know who the seal was for.*

Orion sighed. ’I think I know who it was for too.’

Orion turned his attention back to the elders.

"I think I know why the seal was placed here."

Every head turned to him then.

Orion exhaled slowly.

"And I think... all of you know as well."

"But first," Orion said, his gaze shifting to Sophia, "you should read what is written on the other stones."

He nodded toward the parchment on the eastern side of the triangle.

Sophia frowned, then nodded as she reached for the parchment placed east.

She lifted it carefully and studied the script.

ᚲᚱᛖᚾᛁᛏ ᛒᛚᚢᛞ ᚨᛋᚺ

ᛞᚱᛖᛖᛗ ᚲᛟᚱᚢᛋ ᚠᛖᛚ

ᚹᚨᚱ ᛞᚨᚱᚲ ᚠᛚᛖᛖᛋ

ᛗᚨᚱᚨ ᚷᚨᚱᛖ ᛋᚲᚨᚱ

Her lips parted, and then she began reading aloud.

"Vraen’thal kor’esh..."

"...Skul’ver drae’kin..."

"Zhaen’ru al’vesh..."

"Ya’rae gaeryn’ash..."

Her voice echoed faintly against the stone walls.

She stopped and then frowned. Her eyes traced the lines, making sure that she had just read what was written. And then she read again, slower this time.

"Vraen’thal kor’esh..."

"...Skul’ver drae’kin..."

"Zhaen’ru al’vesh..." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Ya’rae gaeryn’ash..."

Her frown only deepened. She turned the parchment sideways as if trying to make sense of what she read, but there was still no difference. It was the same thing.

Sophia’s fingers tightened on the parchment.

The others turned to each other, unsettled.

Orion leaned in and touched her softly.

"Shorty," he called out softly. "Is something wrong?"

Sophia nodded. "This is different from the last one. It’s more... harsh?" She shook her head.

"I’ll just interpret it so you guys can decide for yourselves," she told them.