At dawn, Lila stood at the gates of the palace stables, cloak tied tight, firemark hidden beneath a leather glove. The second mark, pale blue, shimmered faintly just beneath her collarbone like a resting wave.
Isolde joined her with two guards, her eyes sharp. "You're certain?"
Lila nodded. "I need the Earth King's blessing. And I need training—real training. Before the next attack comes."
Isolde hesitated. "Earth is not like fire or water. It won't bend to will. It demands patience. Commitment."
"I'm ready."
Cassian approached from behind, staff in hand. "You're not going alone."
"You can't"
"I'm not staying behind," he said firmly. "I may be cursed, but I'm not helpless."
They rode hard through the forest roads. The Earth King's domain lay deep in the northern valleys, far from court, carved into the bones of old mountain temples. By dusk, the palace had vanished behind them. The land shifted from manicured beauty to raw stone and tangled woods.
That night, they camped near a ridge. Isolde kept watch while Cassian and Lila sat by the fire.
He turned his head slightly. "You're nervous."
"A little," Lila admitted. "What if I can't awaken Earth? What if I've already pushed too far?"
"Then we find another way."
She looked at him. "You don't think I'm foolish?"
"I think you're terrifying," he said softly. "In the best possible way."
She flushed.
The next day, the Earth Temple rose before them, a monolith of green-veined stone and moss-choked archways. No guards. No servants. Just stillness.
And a single figure was waiting at the entrance. A man built like a cliff face, with skin the color of clay and with silver eyes that shimmered faintly in the sun.
"You seek me," he said. "And yet you carry stormlight before your time."
Lila blinked. "I haven't touched Storm yet."
The Earth King tilted his head. "Then you're closer than you think."
Lila stood at the edge of the stone dais, her hands still trembling from the Earth King's trial. The cavern echoed with silence, but the silence felt different now, not empty, but patient, like the earth itself.
She was changed.
The roots of the world had touched her, and she'd touched them in return.
"You stood," the Earth King said. "Even when you could have fallen."
Lila looked up at him. "I'm not done standing."
He inclined his head. "Then you may survive what comes next."
Later, in her chambers, Lila pressed her palm against the stone wall. A faint hum met her fingers, Earth answering her. A third element awakened. And yet…
Her thoughts kept circling back to Cassian.
The curse was a coil in her chest, a knot she couldn't loosen. Not yet.
She found him in the library again, near the balcony where the breeze stirred papers and candlelight flickered low.
"I need to try again," she told him. "With water, and now with Earth."
He nodded. No questions.
When she placed her fingertips on his skin, the current inside her flowed smoother—deeper, combining sight with grounding.
And what she saw startled her.
Not just the corrupted tangle near his eyes, but a break in the threads. A seal. Not forged for him, but reshaped, mutilated, to fit. There was another name embedded inside the magic.
Not Cassian's.
A legacy stolen.
She staggered back, her breath caught. Cassian's hand closed gently on hers.
"What did you see?"
She swallowed. "The curse isn't original. It was twisted… stolen from another bloodline. It doesn't want you. It just feeds on you."
Cassian's jaw clenched. "Then it's been eating me alive this whole time."
"No," she said. "You've kept it at bay. That's why you're still here."
She didn't add, That's why Elira didn't survive hers.
Cassian was quiet, his grip firm.
"This magic," she whispered, "it's like a parasite pretending to be a chain. If I can find its source, its caster, I can unravel it."
Cassian leaned in, forehead close to hers. "Then we hunt its master."
His words steadied her more than the earth ever had.
She whispered, "The time for hiding is over."
End of chapter 10