<h4>Chapter 625: The Severance Rune</h4>


    <strong>Evaline:</strong>


    The younger witch didn’t even try to hide her displeasure this time.


    She scoffed openly, the sound sharp against the steady crackle of the fire.


    "Even if witches were involved in the matter of that chamber," she said, leaning forward with open challenge in her eyes, "we are not obligated to solve it for you."


    Her gaze slid to River briefly before snapping back to me.


    "The chamber was created by our ancestors... if your assumptions are even correct. Not by us. Not by this circle."


    Her lips curled faintly before she continued, "And the only reason you and your Alpha are pressing this matter is because you want our help with the soul death cases."


    There it was.


    Laid bare.


    "You should simply admit your inability to handle it," she continued coolly, "instead of pushing me toward us."


    Her words were pointed.


    Harsh.


    Deliberately so.


    I felt the shift in River instantly through the bond - the faint tightening of his control, the subtle surge of restrained dominance. Kieran’s irritation red too, quieter but just as protective.


    They did not like her tone. They did not like the way she spoke to me. But before either of them could respond, I smiled.


    It was a small, almost amused curve of my lips.


    "You prefer directness?" I asked lightly.


    The witch blinked, thrown off by my calm.


    "I can do direct."


    That seemed to confuse them more than if I had argued.


    Several of them exchanged nces.


    Before anyone could question me further, I reached into the leather folder I had brought with me. The sound of paper sliding free felt almost too loud in the tense silence.


    I handed some to River beside me and then stood just enough to lean forward and hand the rest across the firepit to Morwen.


    Her fingers brushed the edges carefully before she began scanning the first page.


    "While going through the council’s library," I began evenly, "I came across an old book cataloguing ancient rune structures. Mostly obsolete. Some even forbidden."


    The younger witch folded her arms but did not interrupt this time.


    "In one of those texts," I continued, "I saw something familiar."


    I withdrew a second set of items from the folder - photographs - and handed them to River and Morwen as well.


    "These," I said calmly, "are images taken from the chamber beneath the West Tower."


    Morwen passed several of the photos around the circle.


    I watched their faces carefully.


    Most of them remained indifferent.


    Unimpressed.


    Until Morwen reached one particr photograph.


    It was photo of one of the runes, carved into a massive rock positioned directly before the dead tree at the chamber’s center.


    Even across the firelight, I saw it... that subtle shift, the tightening around her eyes. There was a fractional pause before she resumed her neutral expression.


    It was small.


    Almost invisible.


    But I saw it.


    And that told me everything I needed to know.


    I leaned forward slightly and pointed to that photo.


    "This one," I said quietly.


    Then I gestured toward the printed pages she still held.


    "And this."


    The younger witch rolled her eyes.


    "We are familiar with runes," she said dismissively.


    "I’m sure you are," I replied calmly. "But are you familiar with that rune’s true function? Can you tell me what it was used for?"


    That silenced her.


    River’s gaze shifted to me, curious but steady.


    "We initially believed," I continued, "that every rune within that chamber existed to seal the entity behind the soul deaths."


    That had been the most logical assumption at that time. So even when none of us knew exactly what each rune in that chamber was ced there for, we believed the collective purpose of all the runes and spells was to keep the Great Evil sealed there.


    How foolish we were.


    "But that particr rune," I said, tapping lightly against the photo, "is not a containment rune."


    The air felt heavier now.


    More focused.


    "It’s not used to keep something trapped inside a space," I continued. "It is used for something far more invasive."


    Morwen’s fingers tightened ever so slightly around the paper.


    River’s voice cut through the tension, calm but alert.


    "If not to seal the Great Evil," he asked evenly, "then what is it for?"


    At the exact same moment, the younger witch spoke sharply, "What are you implying?"


    I met both their gazes as my heart thudded heavily in my chest.


    The memory of the day I had discovered the truth shed vividly in my mind. And the more I dug into the matter, the more shocked I got.


    "It’s a severance rune," I said slowly.


    No one reacted immediately, because they didn’t understand... at least most of them.


    "It is used," I rified carefully, "to forcibly separate a soul from its original anchor."


    The silence this time was absolute.


    The younger witch’s scoff died before it fully formed.


    River didn’t move.


    Didn’t blink.


    I could feel his focus sharpen like a de beside me.


    Morwen’s gaze locked onto the image again.


    "That rune," I continued, my voice steady despite the tremor that threatened beneath it, "is not designed to trap an entity inside that chamber."


    I swallowed once.


    "It is designed to extract."


    The fire red suddenly, sparks snapping upward into the darkening sky.


    No one spoke.


    So I did.


    "It is used to forcefully separate and control a soul."


    Kieran’s stunned voice was the first thing that broke the silence.


    "What?"


    His reaction was exactly what I expected.


    Honestly, it was the same reaction I had when I first learned the truth.


    I let out a quiet sigh and nodded, meeting his gaze across River.


    "I was shocked too," I admitted softly. "It didn’t make any sense why such a forbidden rune would appear in the secret chamber that was supposed to keep the Great Evil sealed."


    Kieran leaned back slightly in his chair, dragging his hand through his hair as he processed what I had just said.


    And I had just started.