Dirt. Pressure. Silence.
Lila was underground.
Panic clawed at her throat. The earth held her tightly, impossibly dense. 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 it changed. The soil wasn't smothering, it was cradling her. Warm. Alive.
Her breathing slowed.
What does Earth teach?
The voice returned, quieter now.
"Strength," she whispered. "Endurance."
And patience.
She let herself sink—not just physically, but emotionally. She let go of fear. Let go of panic. She trusted.
Then, a vision bloomed like roots in her mind.
A kingdom buried beneath centuries. Trees razed by war. People were starving while nobles built palaces of gold. Spirits of the land are turning silent. And beneath it all, something cracked. Something angry. A force twisting curses into men.
When she gasped awake, she was lying again in the center of the cave. Mud and moss clung to her, but her hands glowed faintly, veins of brown and green, like living stone.
The Earth King loomed above, nodding slowly.
"You have passed."
Lila stood shakily. Her fingers curled. She felt it, the steadiness of stone in her bones. Not a weapon. A foundation. A promise.
"I understand," she said.
The Earth King's voice rumbled low. "Then you are ready to see what lies beneath this kingdom. Dig deeper, child. Truth is buried where no one dares to look."
Night had fallen when she returned to the surface. Cassian looked up from his place near the fire, expression unreadable.
He stood as she approached. "You're covered in dirt."
She laughed, exhausted. "Part of the trial."
His eyes dropped to her glowing hands. "You did it."
"I saw things," she said quietly, sitting beside him. "The curse, it's tied to the land. To everything that's been buried."
Cassian was silent for a long moment. Then: "You're not the only one digging up old truths. I've been following threads too. I found letters. Reports about my family. The elemental pact."
He hesitated. "Elira's name came up."
Lila's heart stilled. "They say I'm her."
"I don't believe in destiny," he said. "But I believe something happened. Something no one's telling us."
She looked at him, eyes steady. "There's more to this curse. More than magic. It's rooted in the kingdom's pain."
Cassian nodded. "Then we'll dig it up. Together."
End of Chapter 18