The corridor to Celeste's sanctum was rarely walked. Magnolia had passed it before, always told never to enter, never to question what lay behind the iron-laced door carved with ancient glyphs. But today, something pulled at her. A whisper in her blood. A tug deep within her marrow. She didn't knock.
The door creaked open, revealing a chamber cloaked in dust and moonlight. The air was thick with the scent of herbs, smoke, and time. Scrolls lined the curved walls, not parchment, but old wolfhide, tanned and inked in silver and black. Moonstones pulsed softly from the floor. A brazier burned silently at the far end, casting restless shadows.
Magnolia stepped in slowly, her fingers brushing a carved obsidian table. She knew instinctively this was not a place for the uninvited. Yet she moved forward.
"You shouldn't be here."
