We gave them space, leaving Sofia and Laura to adjust to their magic in peace. Meanwhile, the rest of us found our own ways to prepare for what lay ahead. With both women newly awakened to their magical abilities, there was no time to waste idling.
Leonardo went to track down Dante, who had spent the morning reinforcing the borders and searching for signs of rogue activity. Noemi and Graziana accompanied him, their bond with their older half-brother strengthening with every passing day. I often wondered if they stood by him because he was now their High Lord or because he was a tether to something familiar in an otherwise alien world.
Enrico and Emiliano, on the other hand, set out to contact Attilio and Lavinia. Both carried a high probability of having developed magic as well. Despite their opposing elemental natures, Enrico and Emiliano had developed an easy camaraderie that Leonardo and Carlo could only dream of achieving.
For our part, Chiara, Sofia, and I had our own mission. With Leonardo’s cautious approval-because even I wasn’t reckless enough to go behind his back-we decided to explore the mountainous borders of his territory. If the rogues were using hidden tunnels to infiltrate, we needed to find and block those pathways.
“We’ll be fine,” I assured Leonardo through our mental link. “I can handle all elements, and Sofia’s getting scarily good at incinerating things.”
He had already read my intentions, as had Sofia and Chiara. Aside from Laura, we were the only ones capable of wielding earth magic. If there were hidden passages, Chiara and I could sense them, while Sofia’s fire would be our trump card. Leaving her behind had never been an option-she wouldn’t have allowed it.
The three of us darted through the forest, our wolves weaving through trees, splashing through streams, and playfully nipping at one another’s heels. Even in the midst of our light-hearted movements, our ears twitched at the faintest sound, alert to the hidden dangers lurking in the shadows.
The earth vibrated beneath my paws, alive with power and secrets. It hummed in tune with the rustling leaves and chittering wildlife, a symphony of life and energy. I felt Chiara tap into that rhythm as well, her eyes closed and a soft hum vibrating from her snout.
As we climbed, the forest thinned and the terrain grew steeper. The light above dimmed, filtered through the dense canopy of trees, making it difficult to see what lay ahead. We reached a plateau, and all three of us froze, the same faint scent catching our attention.
The scent was faint, but it carried a metallic tang-blood, old but unmistakable. It was scattered and fractured, the kind of trail left behind by rogues who knew how to mask their tracks.
We shifted back, quickly untying the oversized shirts we’d secured to our ankles. They weren’t much, but they covered the essentials and could be discarded quickly if we needed to shift again.
“You look like you’ve got a plan,” Chiara remarked, adjusting her shirt as she joined me by the rocky incline.
“I do,” I replied, flashing a grin. “Think of it as training. Hands-on training.”
Chiara arched a brow, but Sofia just nodded sagely. “Nothing teaches better than the threat of death.”
“You seriously need help,” Chiara muttered, but she crouched beside me anyway.
I pressed my hands to the ground, feeling the pulse of the earth as I reached for its secrets. Chiara mimicked the action, though she clawed at the soil with her fingers, grinning when I shot her a curious glance.
“You said to do things our own way,” she shrugged. “This is mine. What are we looking for?”
“Tunnels,” I explained. “If we can map their system and identify their exits, we can flush them out.”
“Seems like a lot for just the two of us,” Chiara said, her worry evident.
“Two very powerful Fae,” I corrected her. “And time isn’t on our side.”
Closing my eyes, I let my magic seep into the soil. The sensation was overwhelming-roots twisting, insects burrowing, the dense layers of the earth folding over one another. Then, after what felt like an eternity, I found it. The hollow expanse of a tunnel stretched beneath us, its entrance hidden but now uncovered by my probing magic.
“Got it,” I said at the same time as Chiara.
We exchanged our findings-mine veered west, extending at least five miles, while hers was just three hundred feet east. The closer one worried her; she feared she might have missed something lurking within its depths.
Sofia, always the optimist, waved off her concerns. “If there’s anything down there, I’ll torch it.”
The eastern opening was exactly where Chiara had sensed it. A narrow chasm cut into the earth, its interior shrouded in impenetrable darkness. Sofia tested the depth with a rock, dropping it into the abyss. The faint clatter came half a second later, indicating a short drop.
“It’s shallow,” she said, but her words were drowned out by a low rumble.
I realized what was happening just as Sofia did. She unleashed a fiery blast from her palms, the crimson flames engulfing the ground before us. The earth erupted in response, throwing us back as the air filled with the scent of smoke and the thunderous roar of collapsing stone.