The small opening in the cliff face led into a dark, rough-hewn tunnel. Flickering torchlight ahead gave us a flicker of hope, suggesting we were on the right path. But as we walked, the tunnel seemed to stretch endlessly, twisting and turning in a way that felt like we were just circling around. Jove constantly complained, his usual cheer fading with each step, which clearly annoyed Henry, whose tense silence only deepened. Gianna tried to maintain her warm smile, but even I could see the weariness in her eyes. Yor, however, remained steadfast, her emotionless face unchanged. This was her element, after all, a Kaynari navigating the deep earth.
Jove's frustration finally boiled over. "This is ridiculous!" he snapped, his voice echoing sharply in the confined space. "Don't do anything stupid, Winderaand!" Henry growled, his eyes narrowed in a tense warning. But Jove, ignoring him, unleashed a gust of wind down one of the branching tunnels, hoping to find an end to the labyrinth. Instead, a low, guttural growl answered him. Then, two piercing eyes glowed in the darkness, followed by a chilling howl that echoed through the stone, calling to its pack. It was a groundwolf. We hadn't expected monsters in the academy, let alone deep inside what was supposed to be our dorm.
A cold dread seized us as the howls echoed, magnified by the narrow confines of the tunnel. The flickering torchlight danced, making shadows lunge like the beasts themselves. We immediately turned to run, but the passage twisted, trapping us. "Oh, gods, oh gods, oh gods!" Jove stammered, his usual swagger completely gone, his eyes wide with terror. "This is all your fault, Winderaand!" Henry snarled, a furious, tense whisper as he glared at Jove, already drawing a small, unlit blade. Gianna stumbled with a choked cry, her face pale, and I quickly helped her to her feet, assuring her, "It's okay." Even Yor, usually so unreadable, took a sharp, almost imperceptible breath, her hand instinctively going to her side. We were cornered. My gaze swept over the five snarling groundwolves, their eyes gleaming in the torchlight, now closing in, their fangs bared.
My mind, despite the panic, snapped into focus. There was no time for fear. "Henry, I need a halberd," I commanded, my voice cutting through the rising tension, my gaze locking onto the Headmaster's son. He nodded once, already on it, a glint of fierce focus in his tense eyes.
"Jove!" I barked, turning to the Aetherian, who was still muttering "Oh gods, oh gods" and looking utterly terrified. Without a second thought, I delivered a sharp, open-palmed slap to his cheek. It wasn't hard enough to hurt, but it was enough to make his head snap. His eyes, wide with panic, blinked, then focused on me. I gave him a quick, reassuring smile. "Alright, buddy, you good? Need you to boost me, like, right now." A flash of his usual swagger returned, and he nodded enthusiastically, a faint red mark on his cheek. Gianna, despite her fear, also nodded, understanding. Yor, true to form, simply gave a silent nod.
As the wolves lunged, Yor acted first. With a fierce, almost imperceptible shift in her stoic expression, she slammed both hands onto the ground, her muscles coiling. Her eyes flared with a brief, intense glow as she unleashed her Metal Bind with a guttural roar. A shimmering, blinding wave of raw metallic force exploded outwards from her, rippling across the tunnel floor like a sudden, liquid mirror. The groundwolves, mid-leap, were instantly caught. The very stone beneath their paws writhed and hardened, transforming into a rigid, unyielding metal that locked their limbs in place, trapping them mid-snarl, their bodies frozen in grotesque, desperate poses.
The wolves, momentarily confused, barked ferociously, their snarls echoing in the sudden silence. One, however, with a surge of brute strength, managed to wrench a paw free of Yor's lock, shaking itself violently before rushing towards us. "Now!" I heard Gianna whisper, and with a graceful sweep of her arm, she unleashed her Mist Bind. A sudden, thick, swirling mist erupted around us, not just appearing, but coiling and billowing with an almost conscious speed, instantly swallowing us from sight. The charging wolf, disoriented, skidded to a halt, its movements frantic, sniffing the air with confused, desperate snorts.
This was my chance. With Jove's wind enchantment singing in my veins, a surge of exhilarating speed, I launched myself through the swirling mist, becoming little more than a phantom, a crimson blur of motion. I moved towards the first wolf, Henry's newly forged halberd, its blade humming with a faint, angry orange glow from his Fire Bind, a perfect extension of my will, already in my grip. I plunged it into the wolf's neck, a clean, swift stab. The second wolf, still disoriented by Yor's lingering lock, its struggles futile, met a clean cut to its head. The third and fourth followed suit, falling in rapid succession, a silent, deadly dance in the mist.
But the fifth wolf was different. It was a beast of cunning and raw power. It seemed to sense my approach despite the mist, its eyes, two glowing embers in the gloom, locking onto me. As I lunged, it blocked the halberd with surprising speed, a blur of fur and muscle, forcing a desperate parry that sent a jarring shock up my arm. Before I could recover, its fangs, dripping with saliva and reeking of stale blood, were already at my throat, point-blank. The vicious wolf was on top of me, its crushing weight pinning me down, its hot breath foul against my face. I couldn't hold it.
Then, a sudden, sharp stab. The wolf above me yelped, its body going limp, its weight abruptly lifting. I pushed it off, gasping, and looked up to see Jove and Henry standing over its corpse, a formidable pair, Henry with a smoking dagger still clutched in his hand.