I stand at the edge of a crevice, staring down into the still, black pool beneath, my stomach churning with butterflies.

  We’re here. It’s still night but dawn isn’t too far away. In total, I think it’s taken about sixteen hours to reach our destination. We had the pause with the raptorcats and then a shorter pause a couple of hours ago, so in total the actual flight was probably around thirteen hours long. Not bad considering everything. And at least we weren’t attacked again.

  The help the matriarch gave us definitely shaved at least an hour off our journey. She didn’t travel with us for long, but her wind current doubled Raven’s flight speed while she accompanied us. And even after she stopped, she was able to send her wind with us for a little longer before Windy needed to take over.

  I have to admit that the irritating Pathwalker impressed me a little on our journey. She set to her task with a determination that I’ve never seen in her. Well, apart from her determination to be a pain in my backside. No, that’s a little unfair – she hasn’t been that bad in the recent months. But she also hasn’t shown the kind of skill, perseverance, and willingness to help either me or the village that she has on this flight.

  Right now both she and Raven are recuperating while the rest of us start setting up the battle ground.

  “Remember, don’t touch the water whatever you do,” I remind the group. “Don’t even disrupt it with a rock falling. Not until we’re ready.” I really don’t want to reenact Lord of the Rings.

  They all send me tired or exasperated words or impressions of agreement – but I’d rather repeat myself ten times than risk all of this kicking off too early. For a Tier three, we need to be as prepared as possible.

  Bastet comes to join me at the edge, crouching to look downwards.

  I never wanted to come back here, she admits. It was terrifying. The cubs, the monster, then not knowing whether you were alive or dead.

  “It was touch and go for a while,” I admit in return. “And I was just as afraid for you and the cubs. But after today, we won’t have to consider this creature ever again.”

  She doesn’t respond, her eyes fixed on the mirror-like surface of the water below. Speaking of the cubs, Stormcloud and Ninja approach the edge too. Storm gives off the impression of thoughtful wariness where Ninja reacts with real fear, backing away from the crevice shortly after. I guess that they remember something about this place after all.

  I look back. Raven is resting curled up nose to tail, his head on the ground and eyes closed. Within the circle made by his head and tail are his hatchlings, though they look far less sleepy than he is. Leaning against him in the position she landed after dismounting is Windy, who conked out almost before she could undo her straps. I don’t begrudge her the rest.

  Not far away are the rest of my Bound, crouching around the fire that I made as soon as we arrived. The warmth is nice – it’s even colder now than it was when I left the crevice and I was cold enough then on the exposed mountainside.

  River is currently using the time to make a few more potions. Working with Tarra has apparently allowed her to learn some tricks which compensate for not having the same Skills as her mentor. Her potions aren’t quite as good as Tarra’s but they’re definitely getting better. Plus, she’s learning a few tricks of her own – I see her burning some of the ingredients before adding them to the brew. Interestingly, they aren’t necessarily blackened by the experience – sometimes new colours are revealed instead. Fire Herbalism at work, I have to guess.

  “Dusty, I’ll need you to join me soon, so rest now and make sure you’re full on mana. Joy, you know what to do. Sirocco, rest. Catch, Poison, Iandee, can you take it in turns to keep watch? Otherwise, the rest of you eat if you’re still hungry, and rest. We’ll aim to start the battle at dawn, but be prepared for it to start sooner if, despite our best efforts, we accidentally disturb the creature.”

  I receive a series of agreements so turn back to the crevice.

  “First, I’m going to make this bigger so be careful where you put your feet,” I tell the Bound around me. The raptorcats have apparently decided to be an audience despite my suggestion that they rest.

  Kneeling down, I press both palms to the ground. I don’t technically need to do this, but considering the difficulty of the task ahead, any mana I save is mana I can use later.

  Feeding my earth-aligned mana into the ground beneath my palms, I focus on connecting with the earth-magic already present. It happens faster than it used to and I’m a little surprised to realise that this earth is almost as willing to connect with me as the earth near the village or my den.

  Then again, I say to myself, isn’t that the point? That all the Earth is connected in the same way that all Fire is connected? Either way, I’ll happily accept that this is going to be easier than it might be.

  My magic acts almost like a dye in water – the earth-magic it touches becomes more open to my influence and in turn touches more earth-magic. At the same time, the further my awareness reaches, the more stretched I feel, like that dye is weakening even as it colours more water.

  When my influence covers the area I want to affect, I stop attempting to spread it any further. I did that once with my den – over-reached myself. It felt a bit like I remember feeling as a child on a climbing frame when I attempted to do something I wasn’t big enough to do. I remember overextending myself on the monkey bars, getting into a position where I couldn’t move forward because it was too hard, but I couldn’t go back because if I moved a single limb, I would fall. Fortunately, Kalanthia was there and showed me how to carefully withdraw my influence little by little so that I wasn’t overstretched any more. That takes time I’d rather not spend, though, so I’m careful not to reach that point here.

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  Slowly, working methodically – something the earth is happy to do anyway – I open the crevice. Pulling back the edges, I expand the space at the same time as strengthening the edges – I don’t want any of my Bound accidentally falling through the earth during the battle.

  As a result, I make sure that the new edges are well-supported, feeding more mana in than necessary. It had a good effect on the spider silk and bone structure of the carrying capsule – I don’t see why it wouldn’t have a positive effect here too.

  By the time the edges are done, I’ve created a hole about ten metres long and with a width varying between three and five metres. Instead of pulling in my influence completely again, I shift it downwards. Still moving carefully to ensure that the earth shifts like wet clay instead of dry dirt – I don’t want to risk rocks dropping off – I carve out lots of hand and foot-holds in the walls. I don’t want one of my Bound falling and then not being able to get out.

  Then I consider the raptorcats carefully – I’m not sure they’d be able to get out easily even with the handholds.

  A bit more time and mana later, and I’ve carved a steeply sloped walkway in one of the walls. It’s more vulnerable than the hand and foot-holds because it sticks out more, but I’ve tried to carve it mostly in areas that are hopefully not going to be as under-fire as the rest of it. Since they’ve decided to watch, I send Storm and Bastet to test the slope – Ninja still seems too afraid of the cave to want to get anywhere close.

  Joy has been making some ropes with raw silk strands that I pulled out of my Inventory for her. Together, we ensure that they are securely sunk into the rocks – either a backup way to save one of our own or another trap we can use against the tentacle monster.

  Using one of the ropes, I climb down into the cavern below. It’s a bit dark so I ask Aingeal to slowly increase its brightness. It happily complies, increasing its glow bit by bit until I ask it to stop. It waits expectantly until I grin and send a load of fire-mana through to it. Sometimes Aingeal really reminds me of a dog doing a trick and then expecting a treat.

  Now able to see everything, I’m able to observe just how much hasn’t changed. There are still the two connected caverns, one filled with stalactites, stalagmites, and salt, and the other almost entirely covered by a pool of dark mirror-like water. The damage caused by the creature’s rampage is still there, the broken edges barely blunted.

  I shiver slightly at the memory, then remind myself that much has changed since that time. I’ve changed and it won’t find me so easy a target this time.

  Alright, Dusty, come on down, I say to her mentally, not wanting to risk my voice alerting the creature in any way. Waiting for her to arrive, I send out my Inspect, prioritising secrecy and thoroughness over speed or depth of information. I want to know about anything in the environment which could be a threat or a benefit; I just as much want to ensure that my opponent knows nothing of my presence.

  The pulse I sent out takes a while to go and to return, understandably so. While I wait for it, I send more earth-magic into the ground below my feet, exploring the shape of the tunnel even though I cannot see it.

  Dusty manages to climb down awkwardly, choosing to use a combination of rope and rock climbing – lowering herself with her hands as she digs her feet into the prepared holes. Well, that’s another option, I guess.

  Do you wish me to test the water now, Tamer? she asks, keeping her grunts and clicks hushed.

  Yes, but be careful. Don’t risk being discovered, I warn.

  I won’t, she promises, then goes still, staring at the water. I sense a faint ripple of energy coming out of her, the very magic reminding me of the water it is connected to.

  Meanwhile, my Inspect returns and I close my eyes as I try to process what it and my earth-magic are telling me. My enemy is not within visible or detectable range, but I suspect that it will return quickly if we disturb this water. However, with my Inspect and my earth-magic, I’m able to get a better picture of what this area looks like.

  It seems to be part of a network of massive tunnels which open up into a much larger space below. I push my magical senses as far as I can, a shiver going through me as even at the furthest extent of them I’ve found no end to the underground water source. Underground lake or sea, I can’t tell; all I know is that it is absolutely vast.

  Still, ultimately, the massive body of water so far below us isn’t so important at the moment – the key point is that I’ve been able to determine that my vague plan should work. As long as we have the time for me to put it into place, that is.

  With that in mind, I start working on the other cavern as well, trying to turn it into a defensible position rather than the easily-attacked space it currently is. I even remove the boulders blocking the other tunnel just in case we need another exit route.

  The last of my Inspect returns to me whispering of possible treasures both above and below the water. The salt, of course, but also other items down below at the edge of its range. I’m intrigued by the impression my Inspect gives me, but I remind myself that we need to win the battle first.

  Dusty is still standing fixated at the edge of the pool, her gaze in a place far away.

  With nothing else I can think of doing right now, I decide to consider potential strategies based both on what I know of the creature and its environment. The water down below where the beast probably is now is very cold, and almost certainly pitch black, both of which give me ideas.

  It might not have eyes which would make it difficult to blind, but I highly doubt that the creature will be resistant to fire, and heat may make things difficult for it too.

  Of course, as a Tier three, it’s likely to have plenty of advantages too. Most likely something to do with water, considering its environment, but possibly some other abilities. How many is a different question.

  Raven has five different abilities – that I know from my first Inspect when we were fighting. Unfortunately, it seems like Alliance doesn’t let me access as much information about a creature as a normal Tame Bond.

  By happy accident, however, I’ve finally been able to see Kalanthia’s details – though I’m not sure whether she intended for me to be given access to them. She has fewer abilities than Raven – only four. But that doesn’t seem to make her any weaker. Her weakness mostly comes from how she’s sacrificed her own strength for Lathani’s benefit.

  Ultimately, the fewer abilities a creature has, the more practised they’re likely to be with each of them. More abilities, however, indicate a greater versatility. I’ll have to hope that my Inspect, higher level now and more comprehensive than when I faced Raven, will be able to tell us which our target favours.

  And as Dusty comes out of her trance and tells me what she’s discovered, I acknowledge with another flutter of butterflies in my stomach that it won’t be long until we find out.

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