ere their ragged breaths and the soft, persistent drip-drip of water somewhere in the darkness. The a

n the space, then began clawing at his ornate coat as if it were suffocati

e water and food we have left." She began methodically unloading her pack, taking invento

t it through a jeweler's loupe. "Fascinating... chemiluminescence without apparent heat generation. The hyp

by the obsidian lake. His reflec

a kidney for the Range." Borin tapped the stone floor. "And this Pulse of yours, lad... I'm starting to

the water, in the light. The Scream had subsided into a deep, pained throb, like a massive beast licking a wound. And

.." She threw a small metal bolt into the black lake. It sank without a

urdling into anger. "Deeper into the bel

ay out. It wants something." He pointed to one of the cavern walls, where the fungal

tions in rock-fall patterns and wind-carved channels. This... is just

ts of the glowing fungus. As they walked, the air grew warmer, and a new sound

per. He began to perceive not just rhythm, but texture. The pain of the sealed valley was a sharp, jagged note. The flowing water ahe

tivity is negligible, but telluric conductivity is off th

rance, his eyes fixed on the glow, his imperial

el opened. They c

oor, each one sheathed in pulsating, multi-hued fungi-blues, soft greens, amethyst purples. Between them flowed rivers of the same milky-blue water from the valley, crisscrossed by fragile-looking natural bridge

of fused crystal and rock, pulsing with a slow, golden light from within. From it, strands of thicker, ro

nbidden, an understanding deposited in his mind by t

hispered, his voice filled with reverence. "The fungus isn't just

ramp, there." She pointed to a sloping path of scree and solidifie

ked like living rock and clustered fungi, moved between the pillars. They had no discernible heads, but clusters of crys

rough assemblage of shale plates held together by a rubbery, fungal mesh. Crystal "eyes" swiveled on short stalks. It

rds, but as concepts pushed into h

nd to the Pulse. He pushed back the memory-the beautiful Song, Jaspar's

n-washed back through the Pulse, so strong it made Kaelen flinch.

ack down the ramp. The m