His tent had a quality that was added before they departed from the great tree. While in the past, it had a sort of camouflage, causing it to merge with the environment in which he was, although not entirely, it also possessed a disruptive spell. Anyone who tried to listen to what they were talking about inside, whatever the way, would have it complicated. It was not an infallible remedy, and for that reason, they had a silent alarm to find out, without attracting attention, if something like that happened.

None of those abilities was activated that night, although that did not reassure their friends. They all thought the same thing, and it was that they should not be naive and fully trust the pack, especially when they had barely waited a day to suggest that it give them his power.

“Like it’s so simple just by asking for it,” Finnian snorted, rolling his eyes.

“Have you ever wondered why you are his partners?” Blanche said.

Chance? Why was Ark her partner? They ignored how that process happened or whether any higher force took care of it, even though it wasn’t going to solve the dilemma they had. How can we get rid of wolves who wanted to take control of the fight without getting hurt?

“At the moment, all we can do is follow them through the game,” Rune admitted.

“If they have so much conviction as to take our work away from us....” Leith continued.

“We must watch our backs. They are likely to do something to force us to act,” Aer said.

Too many possibilities to discover them at that moment. A vision that shed some light would have come in handy, but they did not have that or any other way to determine what the future was preparing them. Sleeping and recovering their forces was the minimum they could do, something none of them had any complaints about. The fatigue of the fight and the work done were there, even though their dream was never profound, not wholly.

Finnian woke up when he had not yet dawned, again without remembering what he had dreamed. He missed those days when he rubbed his eyes to try to write what he remembered, all before that fantasy ended up becoming his new reality.

“Are you ready?” Aer said.

“As much as you do,” Finnian said as he proceeded with his stretches.

Although there was hardly any light for them to be put into operation, it is not that they had gotten up early to prepare breakfast. They still had a little time to use it differently. After going outside, letting the group rest for a while, Finnian spread out his staff as Aer brought up one made with energy.

Perhaps his partner was not a master of weapons, but the extra training was not only focused on knowing how to use the power of evolution more deeply. Each of the eltheans had different abilities, and for that same reason, what served them did not work with others. Aer was the one with a more human aspect, so he could guide him on how to hold the staff or put his body to make movements.

Their practice took just half the time agreed upon when someone approached them. Nero, the same wolf of blue and white fur that he saw the night before, watched him with those remarkable eyes crimson. He was the only one from the pack nearby, although he said no word. Instead, he did a kind of reverence, putting his head on the ground without breaking eye contact.

Aer looked at Finnian, unbelieving in such behaviour. However, it was enough for him to continue in that position to understand him. He wanted to be emulated, whatever the reason. Holding his breath and then releasing it, Finnian left at his reach the staff to make a reverence, putting a hand on the ground.

“You should focus on more than just practising with what they’re preparing,” Nero warned.

His voice was clear, concise, neither very serious nor acute, offering a balance that many would like to achieve. The link that elthean had initiated went beyond what he possessed with the earth. His instinct told him that it was a friendly presence, someone he had to know, even though he was still to decide his role in all of it.

“What do you mean?” Finnian said.

“You talked to my mother. Deep down, you know, even if you’d rather ignore it.”

Their intentions were to turn him into a tool to strengthen the pack. He was not surprised or scared, although what others were trying to do could put the way forward at risk.

“Why do you tell us?” Aer said, joining the bond that the wolf had begun.

“Their intentions are good; I am the first to defend their nobility,” Nero said, “but the damage others have carried leaves wounds that do not heal quickly.”

Nero was not only talking about what the Lord of Calamity or the Eroder had caused. His herd had suffered losses, as had any, but the danger was increased since the appearance of both. Bandits, elthean enraged and consumed by chaos to the point of attacking anyone nearby. The wolves had to end many of these to prevent other lives from being lost, but that had increasingly brought them closer to a dangerous precipice.

“You are a Signer. You hardly know anything about Elthea, but that does not prevent you from affecting it with your actions,” Nero continued, without blinking. “Your power is yours. May your actions not condemn this pack.”

“They talk about you as if you were a loner,” Aer said, getting the wolf to focus on him for the first time since they began that conversation. “Anyone who will hear you could corroborate or doubt it.”

“What they say about me is indifferent to me. I know who I am,” Nero said.

While his words sounded sharp, he started to leave, finishing that talk. Aware of the danger they were exposing themselves if they made certain decisions, his pulse accelerated quickly. However, everything seemed secondary when he saw Nero turning to leave.

“I have seen you in a vision.”

The bond had not yet been severed, and although his first instinct was to step forward and approach the wolf, he maintained the position, thus preventing anyone else from drawing the wrong conclusions.

“I don’t know if it’s because you’re my partner if you’re destined to be part of our group,” said Finnian, “but I’m sure we should meet.”

“Do you dare you to separate a wolf from his pack? A child of his mothers?” Nero said in a neutral tone.

“Not at all, but you’re here because deep down, you know you should look for me,” said Finnian, approaching a hand to the heart. “Perhaps our lives had to cross because that is the only possibility we have.”

“What for?” Nero said.

“So that our fears don’t come true,” Aer said.

His partner looked at him quickly and nodded. Finnian did not need words or other gestures to understand what he was referring to. He then focused on Nero, transmitting the same vision he had when he arrived at Elthea, the dream that tormented him in his world. The one where destruction persecuted them until they were in a crossroads where fighting would be the only option.

“Destiny is forged by each of us,” Nero said.

“That’s why it will be our actions that dictate the future,” Finnian said.

It was not conviction nor faith that a higher force would give him the power necessary to fulfil that mission but in those around him. Together they had managed to conquer dangers and enemies and feats that seemed impossible. No matter how complicated everything would have been, they would find a way to overcome it. Because if they did not achieve, no one else would be able to do so.

After a few seconds of silence, Nero finally disappeared from there, leaving them both with a knot in their throat. Perhaps the encounter with the pack would not have been entirely accidental, although they no longer knew what to do to get out of it without anyone else being hurt.

“Come on, you’ve practised enough to eat breakfast,” Aer said.

“Have you tired yet?” Finnian said, uttering a slight smile.

“Not at all.”

But Aer did not want to waste energies, not if they would end up fighting enemies that overcome them once again. He perceived his concern because it was part of him and did not abandon him as far as they could move forward. Then, when they entered their tent and saw the rest begin to wake up, a question arose from Aer as clear as the sky that was starting to gain importance.

“Why didn’t Blanche appear in your vision?”

“I haven’t had any for quite some. Maybe it will change if it happens again,” Finnian admitted.

The future was possibilities, decisions, alternatives. What he saw in his time might not correspond to what would happen to them. That kind of magic was far from many because of all the interpretations they had. However, they were reaching a point on the way where the same thing they ignored could make the difference between getting into a trap or not.

Then they saw Rune get up and go outside, managing to pull a smile out of them.

“Why has she run out like that?” Blanche said, still asleep to understand what was happening.

“Rune is not as early-rising as she would have you believe,” Aer said, laughing.

Although that did not prevent her from waking up positive, they would also have to learn from her stubborn partner and go step by step. Trying to figure out what would happen tomorrow or the day after would only delay them, and they couldn’t allow that.