Sacrificed To The Triplet Alpha Kings novel Chapter 387

Chapter 387: The Swamp

The swamp was worse than Victoria had imagined.

The portal deposited her on what might have been solid ground once but was now mostly mud and stagnant water. The moment her boots touched down, she sank three inches into muck that smelled like rot and death and things that should have stayed buried.

Victoria pulled her feet free with a wet sucking sound and looked around.

The swamp stretched in every direction, twisted trees growing out of dark water, vines hanging like curtains, fog so thick she could barely see twenty feet ahead. The air was heavy and humid, pressing against her skin like a wet blanket.

And it was loud.

Not silent like the quarry. The swamp was alive with sound. Insects buzzing. Frogs croaking. Birds calling. And underneath it all, something else. Something that might have been breathing or might have been the swamp itself expanding and contracting.

Victoria activated her tracking compass.

The silver wire glowed. The hair twisted. Pointed deeper into the swamp.

Northwest.

Victoria started walking, careful to test each step before putting her full weight down. The last thing she needed was to sink into quicksand or step on something venomous.

The fog grew thicker as she moved deeper into the swamp. Within minutes, Victoria could barely see the trees around her. Could only follow the compass needle and hope it was leading her to Thalia and not to her death.

Something splashed in the water to her left.

Victoria spun, magic flaring defensively in her hands.

Nothing.

Just ripples spreading across the dark water. Whatever had made the splash was already gone.

She forced herself to keep moving.

The compass pulled her toward what looked like higher ground, a small island of solid earth rising out of the swamp. Trees grew thick here, their roots creating natural walls and barriers.

And in the center...

A structure.

Not a building exactly. More like a shelter woven from living vines and branches. The kind of thing swamp witches made when they wanted to stay hidden from civilization.

The compass pointed directly at it.

Victoria approached carefully, every sense on high alert. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

The shelter was small, maybe ten feet across. The entrance was a gap in the woven vines barely wide enough for a person to squeeze through.

She called up light and sent it floating inside.

The interior was cramped but functional. A sleeping mat made of moss and leaves. A small fire pit with cold ashes. Jars containing what looked like collected swamp water and preserved plants.

And on the far wall, carved into the living wood...

Morvaine family sigils.

Victoria’s breath caught, She’d recognize it anywhere.

She moved closer and examined the carvings. They were recent, the wood still fresh, sap still oozing from the cuts. The symbols were protection wards and concealment spells. The kind Thalia would use to hide her presence.

But the shelter was empty.

No Thalia. No evidence of recent occupation except the carvings.

Victoria searched every inch of the small space. Found a few possessions....a cloak that smelled faintly of dark magic, a journal written in the same code as the one in the quarry, a small carved bone that radiated corrupt energy.

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