The decision was made the following morning.
They would not enter the Hollow.
Not yet.
Leo hated the idea.
After everything that had happened, after months of feeling as though something beneath the earth was hunting his family, doing nothing felt like surrender.
Marcus disagreed.
"We don't know what we're dealing with."
"We know it wants us."
"That's not enough."
Leo looked toward the forest.
"What if it comes here?"
"Then we defend the house."
"And if we can't?"
Marcus put a hand on his shoulder.
"Then we get stronger."
Those words stayed with Leo.
Get stronger.
It was simple.
Almost painfully so.
They had spent months learning how to survive.
Now they needed to learn how to thrive.
And if the Hollow truly contained something powerful enough to frighten Catherine's visions, then they needed to become powerful enough to face it.
Their training changed.
No longer was Leo satisfied with simply practicing his elements.
He needed mastery.
Marcus began constructing a proper training area behind the barn.
A stone platform.
Wooden dummies.
Targets.
A small pit for controlled elemental combat.
Celine designed much of it.
Although she couldn't move around the property as easily as everyone else, her mind remained as sharp as ever.
She drew plans for adjustable targets.
She designed mechanisms that could be triggered from different positions.
She even convinced Marcus to build a pulley system so she could practice lifting heavier objects from her chair.
"I can't fight the way I used to," she said.
"But I can still become stronger."
Leo never argued with her.
Neither did Marcus.
Catherine developed her own training methods.
Because she couldn't see, ordinary target practice was useless.
Instead, she trained her temporal affinity.
She stood in the center of the training yard while Leo moved around her.
She couldn't see him.
She couldn't hear him reliably.
But she could feel him.
Every movement created a tiny disturbance in the flow of time.
At first, she was slow.
Leo could touch her shoulder before she sensed him.
Then she began improving.
A week later, he could barely surprise her.
Two weeks later, she started anticipating him.
One morning, Leo appeared behind her.
Catherine immediately stepped aside.
His hand passed through empty air.
She smiled.
"Too slow."
Leo stared.
"How did you know?"
"I felt you."
"Even without hearing me?"
"Especially without hearing you."
Leo laughed.
Celine called from nearby.
"She's getting cocky."
"I earned it," Catherine replied.
"You walked into a fence yesterday."
"The fence cheated."
Leo laughed.
Catherine smiled.
But when the laughter faded, she quietly touched the scarred side of her ear.
She could joke about it.
She could adapt.
She could train.
But losing her hearing had never stopped being difficult.
Sometimes conversations became exhausting.
Sometimes she misunderstood words.
Sometimes she couldn't tell where a sound originated.
And sometimes she sat quietly while everyone else laughed because she had missed what had been said.
Leo had learned not to treat her as fragile.
But he had also learned when to slow down and repeat himself.
That mattered more to her than he knew.
Celine had her own victories.
Marcus built her a new chair.
It was heavier than her old one but far stronger.
The frame had been reinforced with light metal.
Small wheels allowed her to move over rough terrain.
The back could lock into different positions.
Leo even added thin channels through which she could channel her spatial affinity.
Celine tested it in the yard.
She pushed forward.
The chair crossed the uneven ground.
She stopped.
Turned.
Then accelerated.
Leo stared.
"You like it."
"I love it."
She opened a small spatial rift.
The chair passed through.
She emerged several yards away.
Marcus laughed.
"That's going to be a problem."
Celine grinned.
"For whom?"
"Everyone."
She laughed.
For the first time since the accident, she felt something she hadn't felt in a long time.
Freedom.
Not the freedom she had before.
Something different.
A freedom built around what she could do now.
The family's hunts became more dangerous as well.
The townspeople had begun trusting them with increasingly difficult contracts.
A dire boar.
A pack of frost wolves.
A venomous basilisk.
Then, eventually, a wyvern.
Leo and Marcus returned home exhausted but victorious.
The money from the hunts allowed them to buy better equipment.
Marcus purchased a new axe.
Leo commissioned a blacksmith to reinforce his weapons with conductive metal.
Celine received better armor designed to protect her legs and chair.
Catherine received lightweight armor with small bells woven into sections of the fabric.
The bells weren't for decoration.
They helped her track movement through sound.
The family was becoming a unit.
A strange one.
But a formidable one.
And then Tomas returned.
He arrived without warning.
Leo was practicing lightning when the old merchant walked into the training yard.
"Still throwing lightning around?"
Leo spun.
"Tomas."
The old man smiled.
"I see you've improved."
Leo lowered his hands.
"How did you get here?"
"Road."
Marcus came from the barn.
His expression immediately hardened.
"You again."
Tomas laughed.
"Still suspicious."
"Yes."
"Good."
Marcus frowned.
Tomas looked at Leo.
"I need to speak with you."
"About what?"
"Your lightning."
Leo's eyes narrowed.
"What about it?"
"You're wasting most of it."
Leo looked offended.
"I'm not."
Tomas raised an eyebrow.
"You are."
Marcus chuckled.
Leo glared at him.
"Don't encourage him."
Tomas walked onto the training platform.
"Show me."
Leo raised his hand.
Lightning gathered around his fingers.
He launched it toward a target.
The bolt struck the center.
Tomas shook his head.
"Again."
Leo did it again.
"Again."
Again.
"Again."
After the fifth attempt, Leo lowered his hand.
"What am I doing wrong?"
Tomas pointed at the target.
"You're thinking about lightning as a weapon."
"It is a weapon."
"That's why you're wasting it."
Leo frowned.
Tomas turned toward him.
"Lightning is movement."
Leo stared.
"Movement?"
"Speed. Direction. Connection."
Tomas raised his hand.
A thin thread of lightning appeared.
It didn't explode.
It didn't roar.
It simply traveled across his fingers.
"The clan taught you how to throw lightning."
He looked at Leo.
"I'll teach you how to control it."
Tomas began training Leo every morning.
He was merciless.
Leo had never trained with anyone like him.
"Again."
Leo released a bolt.
"Too much."
Again.
"Too slow."
Again.
"You're forcing it."
Again.
"Stop thinking."
Leo stared at him.
"How am I supposed to stop thinking?"
Tomas smiled.
"That's your problem."
The training continued for hours.
Leo learned to compress lightning.
Then stretch it.
Then move it through his body.
Then guide it around obstacles.
Then use it without producing a visible flash.
Eventually, Tomas had him place his hand against a metal pole.
"Don't strike it."
"What?"
"Send the lightning through it."
Leo concentrated.
The lightning moved from his hand into the pole.
Then traveled upward.
Tomas nodded.
"Good."
Leo smiled.
"Finally."
"Don't celebrate."
Tomas stepped backward.
"Now do it while moving."
Leo groaned.
One evening, after training, Tomas sat with Marcus.
The older men watched Leo practicing.
Marcus finally asked:
"Who are you?"
Tomas didn't answer immediately.
Then he sighed.
"I suppose you deserve the truth."
He looked toward the house.
"I was an elder of the Vale clan."
Marcus froze.
"When?"
Tomas smiled sadly.
"Long before Lance."
Marcus stared at him.
"Lawrence's time."
"Yes."
Leo stopped training.
He turned.
Tomas continued.
"Your father was young when I served as an elder."
Leo walked closer.
"You knew my father?"
"I did."
"Well?"
Tomas smiled.
"Lawrence was a difficult child."
Leo laughed.
"Really?"
"Very."
Tomas looked toward the horizon.
"He was brilliant. Stubborn. Reckless."
"Sounds familiar."
Marcus laughed.
Tomas nodded.
"He was also kind."
His expression became serious.
"That kindness made him dangerous."
Leo frowned.
"How?"
"Because he refused to accept the old ways simply because they were old."
Tomas looked at him.
"Lawrence believed strength existed to protect people."
Leo went quiet.
"That's what my mother said."
Tomas smiled.
"Corrine agreed with him."
For a moment, the old man looked haunted.
"I should have protected them."
Leo's expression changed.
"You knew something was going to happen?"
"No."
Tomas shook his head.
"But I knew there were people who resented Lawrence."
"Who?"
Tomas didn't answer.
Instead, he looked toward the mountains.
"That is a story for another day."
Leo wanted to press him.
But something in Tomas's expression stopped him.
Later that night, Tomas examined the well.
He ran his hand over the stone.
"Lawrence taught you the blessing?"
Leo nodded.
"In a dream."
Tomas closed his eyes.
"Of course."
"You knew?"
"I knew he intended to."
Leo stepped closer.
"What else did he leave me?"
Tomas looked at him.
"Enough to get you killed."
Leo frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"The techniques your father taught you are old."
Tomas tapped the well.
"Older than the current clan."
He looked toward the forest.
"And the Hollow is older still."
Catherine appeared in the doorway.
"What do you know about it?"
Tomas turned toward her.
"Enough."
Catherine's expression hardened.
"Tell us."
Tomas looked at all of them.
Then he sighed.
"You're not ready."
Leo's jaw tightened.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"Because it's true."
Tomas walked toward the edge of the property.
"The Hollow isn't simply a dungeon."
He looked back.
"It's a prison."
The family went silent.
"Something was sealed inside it long ago."
Catherine whispered:
"What?"
Tomas shook his head.
"I don't know."
"Then how do you know it's a prison?"
"Because I was there the last time the seal was opened."
Leo stared.
"What happened?"
Tomas's face became grim.
"People died."
That night, Tomas made his decision.
He would seal the entrance again.
Not permanently.
Not because the Hollow had been defeated.
Because the family wasn't ready.
The next morning, they gathered around the well.
Tomas drew a circle around it.
Ancient symbols appeared in the dirt.
Leo watched carefully.
"What are you doing?"
"Closing the door."
Catherine frowned.
"But we need to understand what's inside."
"You will."
Tomas looked at her.
"But not today."
He looked at Leo.
"And not tomorrow."
Then Marcus.
"Your family has grown stronger."
Then Celine.
"But strength isn't the same as preparation."
Tomas placed both hands on the earth.
Energy spread through the ground.
The well began to tremble.
Black energy rose from beneath it.
The family stepped back.
Catherine covered her ears.
A voice echoed through the valley.
"BLOOD."
Leo's hands ignited.
Tomas shouted:
"Don't answer it!"
Leo stopped.
The voice came again.
"BROTHER."
Leo felt something pulling at him.
He stepped forward.
Celine grabbed his arm.
"Leo!"
He stopped.
Tomas slammed his hands into the ground.
A brilliant barrier formed.
The black energy collapsed.
The well went silent.
The ancient symbol beneath the water vanished.
Tomas remained kneeling for several seconds.
Then he stood.
"It is sealed."
Leo stared at the well.
"For how long?"
Tomas looked at him.
"As long as the seal holds."
"How long is that?"
"Years."
Leo frowned.
"Years?"
"Perhaps decades."
Tomas's expression became serious.
"Or perhaps only months."
Nobody spoke.
Tomas looked toward the mountains.
"The Hollow is reacting to your bloodline."
Leo swallowed.
"Why?"
"Because you're becoming powerful enough for whatever is inside to notice you."
Catherine's face went pale.
"Then what do we do?"
Tomas smiled faintly.
"Everything."
He looked at the training yard.
"You hunt stronger beasts."
He looked at the forge.
"You make better weapons."
He looked toward the house.
"You strengthen your home."
Then he looked directly at Leo.
"And you master your body."
Leo nodded.
"And my lightning."
Tomas smiled.
"Especially your lightning."
That afternoon, Tomas began teaching all of them.
The body-strengthening technique wasn't simply about forcing more energy into their muscles.
It required balance.
Breathing.
Circulation.
Control.
The energy had to travel through specific pathways.
Too quickly, and it damaged the body.
Too slowly, and it accomplished nothing.
Leo learned first.
Then Marcus and Elara.
Then Celine.
Then Catherine.
Celine discovered that her spatial affinity could actually assist the technique.
She couldn't strengthen her paralyzed legs.
But she could redistribute strain through the rest of her body.
Her arms became stronger.
Her shoulders more durable.
Her reflexes faster.
Her spatial barriers became more stable.
Catherine's temporal affinity produced another effect.
She could slow her perception of individual movements.
The world didn't actually become slower.
Her awareness simply became sharper.
She could anticipate attacks fractions of a second earlier.
Tomas watched carefully.
"Interesting."
Catherine smiled.
"What?"
"Your injuries changed the way your powers developed."
Her smile faded.
"Changed?"
"Not weakened."
Tomas nodded.
"Changed."
Catherine looked toward Leo.
For the first time, she seemed to accept the distinction.
She hadn't become the person she was before.
Neither had Celine.
Neither had Leo.
Their old lives were gone.
But that didn't mean their lives had ended.
They were becoming something new.
Something none of them yet understood.
Several weeks later, Leo stood on the training platform.
Lightning covered his arms.
But it no longer exploded uncontrollably.
It moved.
Smoothly.
Quietly.
Precisely.
Tomas stood across from him.
"Now."
Leo disappeared.
A flash of lightning crossed the yard.
He reappeared behind Tomas.
The old man smiled.
"Better."
Leo grinned.
"Better?"
"Much."
Tomas turned.
"Now you're finally learning."
Leo looked toward the sealed well.
"And when we're ready?"
Tomas's smile disappeared.
"When you're ready..."
He looked toward the mountains.
"We'll open it."
Leo nodded.
Until then, the family would train.
They would hunt.
They would build.
They would grow.
And somewhere beneath the earth, something ancient waited behind a sealed door.
It had searched for them.
It had called Leo brother.
It had reached through their dreams.
But now there was a barrier between them.
For the first time since the Hollow awakened, the family had something they hadn't possessed before.
Time.
They intended to use every moment of it.