Then she closed her eyes. It wasn’t dramatic or rude, but it was unmistakably a dismissal. The conversation was over.
Brontaios cleared his throat quietly. “Well then.”
The group exchanged a few polite thanks before leaving the house. The door shut softly behind them, and the cool mountain air rushed back in around them.
“There’s another clan nearby.” Brontaios turned and gestured down the ridge path. “Not far.”
Elian walked beside Liora, his brow furrowed. “I don’t know what to make of that,” he admitted.
“It’s okay.” Zara nudged him lightly. “At least she confirmed something.”
Elian glanced at her.
“That others are coming after Zeus’s kids,” Zara continued. “And that there are more of them.
“That’s something,” she shrugged.
“No one said this would be easy,” Liora grumbled.
Beside her, Maldenis squeezed her hand. The simple gesture made her glance at him. It was strange. Not long ago, they had barely tolerated each other. Now they were walking through minotaur territory together, hunting for demigods, and navigating prophecies and ancient grudges. And somehow, he was the one comforting her. Things had changed very fast.
The path curved down into a wide clearing that had been turned into a park.
Liora slowed when she saw it.
Flat stone benches lined the edges of the space, and a large sandpit sat in the middle where several minotaur children were playing. Their laughter carried easily in the mountain air asthey ran between carved wooden climbing structures shaped like little mazes.
For a moment, the scene felt almost peaceful.
Liora and Zara noticed immediately when Elian stopped walking. The siblings had spent their whole lives reading each other’s smallest cues, and she saw the slight tilt of his head, the way his eyes focused somewhere in the park.
“So…” Liora said quietly. “Should we?”
Elian nodded once.
They moved without needing to discuss it. Zara drifted toward the opposite side of the park while Hektor stood close to her. Liora stayed a few steps back, watching the space between them carefully as they settled into position.
Then they began.
It was subtle at first—a faint shimmer of energy as their powers aligned, each of them forming one point of the invisible triangle they used to locate divine bloodline.
Liora scanned the park.
Youngsters ran past them, laughing, kicking sand, and climbing over each other. Then a symbol flickered into view above the sandpit. It hovered faintly in the air, glowing just long enough for the triplets to see. Above a small female minotaur child sitting near Elian. She was quietly building a little sand mound with a wooden shovel, completely unaware of what had just appeared over her head.
Elian took a small step closer, but before he could say anything, a massive shadow fell over him.
“What are you doing?” The voice was deep and sharp, belonging to a large male minotaur, his horns curved wide over his head as he loomed over Elian. His eyes narrowed. “Magic is not allowed here.”
Before Elian could respond, the minotaur grabbed him roughly by the arm.
Zara reacted instantly. “Hey!” she snapped. She rushed forward, grabbing Elian’s other arm and yanking him free.
Liora was already moving. “Get your hands off him,” she said sharply, stepping between them.
The minotaur’s nostrils flared as he looked down at them. “You’re outsiders,” he growled. “And you’re doing magic in a place where younglings play.” His gaze swept over the group with open hostility. “You are not welcome here.”
He pointed back toward the path. “You should leave. Now.”
