“Here,” he announces.
We all stare at the ground. There’s nothing visible—no marker, no unusual formation, nothing to indicate this spot is special in any way.
“Now what?” Kane asks, voicing what we’re all thinking.
Declan kneels, running his hands over the grass. “There must be something...”
I scan our surroundings, suddenly aware that we’re attracting curious glances from the few other tourists visiting the site. We must look strange—six adults intensely examining an unremarkable patch of grass.
“Maybe we’re being too literal,” I suggest. “Seven steps east could be seven meters, or seven stones, or—”
“Wait,” Wren interrupts, pointing to a slight depression in the ground near where Rory is standing. “What’s that?”
We all crowd around to look. At first, I don’t see anything special, but then I notice it—a small circle etched into the soil, barely visible unless you’re looking for it.
Declan carefully brushes away the dirt, revealing what appears to be a metal disk about the size of a coaster, set flush with the ground.
“Is that a coin?” Kat asks, leaning closer.
“No,” Kane says, his voice strangely tight. “It’s a seal.”
He kneels beside Declan, brushing more dirt away from the edges of the disk. I can now see that it’s embossed with some design—a Celtic knot pattern surrounding what looks like a family crest.
“The MacGallan seal,” Rory confirms, his expression grim.
“What does it mean?” I ask, feeling increasinglyout of my depth.
“It means we’re in the right place,” Declan says, examining the disk more closely. “But I don’t see how this helps us. There’s no way to open it.”
Kane runs his fingers around the edge of the seal, his brow furrowed in concentration. Then, without warning, he presses his thumb firmly in the center of the design.
Nothing happens for a moment, and I’m about to suggest we try something else when Kane hisses in pain, jerking his hand back.
“What the hell?” he exclaims, staring at his thumb where a drop of blood wells up.
“It pricked you?” Declan asks, looking alarmed.
Before Kane can answer, a low rumbling sound comes from beneath our feet. The disk begins to glow faintly blue, and the ground around it shifts slightly.
“Back up,” Rory warns, pulling Kat away from the disk.
We all take several steps back, watching in astonishment as the patch of earth around the seal sinks downward, revealing a small compartment beneath.
“‘Only by the blood that flows within,’” Wren quotes softly. “It needed MacGallan blood to open.”
Kane stares at his bleeding thumb, then at theopen compartment. “That’s... medieval.”
“Effective, though,” Rory points out.
Declan kneels again and carefully reaches into the compartment, pulling out a small metal container about the size of a cigarette case. It’s made of tarnished silver, engraved with the same crest as the seal.
“Should you open that?” I ask, suddenly nervous. “What if it’s booby-trapped too?”
“One way to find out,” Declan says, though he handles the case with obvious caution.
He slides his thumbnail under the clasp and slowly lifts the lid. We all lean forward, holding our breath.
Inside lies a folded piece of paper and what appears to be an old-fashioned key.
