The next morning arrived with a restless sky and the scent of storm clouds thick in the air. Despite the overcast light, the palace was awake with motion—guards training, messengers rushing, and courtiers whispering about the growing tension beyond the capital walls. Something was changing. The kingdom was stirring in ways Lila couldn't yet name.
But she had her own mission today.
"Today, we journey beneath," Isolde said as Lila joined her in the western hall, dressed in light traveling leathers and a sapphire-blue cloak. "The Spirit of Earth awaits."
Lila's brows rose. "The Earth King? I thought he would come to me like the Wind King did."
Isolde shook her head. "He is different. Earth does not move unless called, and even then, it moves slowly, cautiously. If you want his blessing, you must go to him."
Cassian was waiting by the stables, already astride a dark, patient-looking horse. He didn't say much as Lila approached, but she noticed the faintest nod of greeting. After what had happened at the fountain, something between them had shifted.
Not quite friendship. Not quite trust. But no longer strangers either.
They rode out under a moody sky, down winding trails that led far from the glittering towers of the capital and into the dense, emerald heart of the kingdom's forgotten southern lands. The terrain became rougher, the path narrower, until trees towered over them, ancient and silent.
Eventually, the path ended at the mouth of a great cave—its entrance jagged like the teeth of a beast, and its depths swallowed all light.
"This is the Breathing Hollow," Isolde said, dismounting. "The Earth King waits deep below."
Cassian remained outside with the horses, his cursed eyes too vulnerable in the shifting light of the cave. Lila glanced back at him before stepping into the mouth of the hollow.
The descent was long and steep. Moss clung to damp walls, and the ground pulsed faintly with life under her feet. As she moved deeper, a warmth began to rise from below, like the heat of a sleeping giant. The air smelled of stone, roots, and something else—older than time.
Lila's footsteps echoed as she entered a massive subterranean chamber, the ceiling lost in darkness. Bioluminescent fungi glowed across the stone, casting the cave in hues of green and gold.
And at the center, seated upon a throne of vine-wrapped stone, was a massive figure.
He wasn't like the Wind King—elegant and weightless. No, the Earth King was made of the land itself: moss-covered muscles, bark for skin, eyes glowing amber like veins of gold running through stone.
"You have come," he rumbled, voice like boulders grinding together.
Lila bowed instinctively. "I want to learn. To awaken the part of me connected to your element."
He regarded her for a long moment, then stood—massive and slow-moving, but every step shook the ground. "Then you must endure the Trial of Root and Stone."
Before Lila could ask what that meant, the floor beneath her feet cracked. Vines erupted around her, pulling her down into the earth. She cried out, but the Earth King made no move to stop it.
Then—darkness.
Dirt. Pressure. Silence.
She was underground.
Panic clawed at her throat as the earth closed in. She couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.
"Help!" she cried, thrashing.
But there was no answer.
Then—softly—a whisper.
Be still.
It wasn't a voice she recognized, but it echoed inside her mind. You are not trapped. You are held.
The pressure didn't lessen, but Lila began to feel it differently. The soil wasn't smothering her—it was cradling her. Warm. Alive.
Her breathing slowed.
What does earth teach?
The voice returned, quieter this time.
"Strength," Lila whispered. "Endurance."
And patience.
She let herself sink into it—not just physically, but emotionally. She let go of the fear. The panic. She let herself trust.
And then, she saw it.
A vision, blooming like roots through her mind.
A kingdom buried beneath centuries. Trees uprooted by war. People starving while nobles built palaces of gold. Spirits of the land turning silent. And beneath it all—something cracked. Something angry. A force that twisted curses into men.
When she gasped awake, she was lying in the center of the cave again, mud and moss clinging to her clothes, but her hands were glowing faintly—veins of brown and green, like living stone.
The Earth King loomed above her, nodding slowly.
"You have passed."
Lila stood shakily. Her fingers curled, and she felt it—the steadiness of stone in her bones. Not a flashy power. Not a weapon. But a foundation. A promise.
"I understand," she said.
The Earth King's voice lowered. "Then you are ready to see what lies beneath this kingdom. Dig deeper, child. Truth is buried where no one dares to look."
When she returned to the surface, night had fallen.
Cassian looked up from where he sat near the fire, his expression unreadable. But he stood as she approached, eyes scanning her face.
"You're covered in dirt," he said.
She laughed, exhausted. "It's part of the trial."
His gaze dropped to her hands, still faintly glowing with the earthy magic she hadn't quite learned to contain.
"You did it."
Lila nodded. "The Earth King showed me things. Visions. Something is buried in the kingdom's past—something connected to the curses, to the spirits going silent."
Cassian's jaw tightened. "You're not the only one digging up old truths. I've been following threads too. I found letters… old reports. About my family. About the elemental pact."
He hesitated, then added, "Elira's name came up."
Lila's heart stuttered. "She's supposed to be me, isn't she? Everyone says I'm her reincarnation."
"I don't believe in destiny," he said. "But I believe something happened. Something no one's telling us."
She sat beside him, their shoulders close but not touching.
"There's more to this curse," she whispered. "It's not just magic. It's tied to the land… to the pain this kingdom has buried."
He nodded once. "Then we'll dig it up. Together."
End of Chapter 10