The tall grass stood higher than even Titus, the tallest among the group. They traveled single file, with Eli in the lead, followed by Titus, Autumn, Iris and then Victoria. They each followed closely behind the person in front, keeping them in sight at all times. Pushing through the grass reminded Iris of the Weird Farmer's obtusely planted cornfields, and her mind traveled back and wandered through thoughts about her village and the events of that day. She felt the brim of her hat, hoping the Weird Farmer had survived. She wasn't in a hurry to give the hat back or anything, she was pretty fond of it, but she hoped one day she would be able to.

"Ooh!" Autumn shouted, abruptly crouching down in front of Iris, "berries!"

Iris had to peer closely at the matted, overlapping grass blades on the ground between the towering stalks before she could pick out the small, orange berries. Once she spotted them, she noticed them hiding everywhere just below the layer of fallen grass. Autumn was already stuffing a pouch with as many as she could grab.

"Keep moving," Eli said, "there's no time for foraging."

"What's the big deal, anyway?" Iris asked, "it's just grass."

"Can you see me right now?" Eli called back.

"Uh, no," Iris said, "I guess not."

"Then you can't see the predators either."

Iris looked around her, realizing that any number of things could be lurking in the grass just a few feet away from her while going completely unnoticed. She suddenly felt pressed in and surrounded by unknown threats, and tensed up as she imagined a scarecrow lurching out of the grass and grabbing her.

She nudged the crouching Autumn with her leg, "let's keep going."

"Uggh," Autumn groaned, "please don't start taking his side." Still, she rose to her feet, cramming berries into her pockets as she did, and kept walking.

The next few hours of travel were uneventful, until Victoria called out.

"There's a structure up ahead, looks like ruins."

Iris stood on her toes and tried to spot the structure, but saw only grass and sky. She turned to see Victoria gazing into nothing with glazed over eyes.

"We need a break," Titus said, "if we push through the whole day we'll be vulnerable when we stop for camp."

"We'll be more vulnerable if we're stuck out here in the dark," Eli said, then sighed, "but you're right. Vic, can you get us there?"

"Twelve degrees left, then straight."

Eli adjusted course, and the others followed suit. Soon the dense grass deposited them one by one onto stone steps that led up a small stone ziggurat. Moss and vines grew up and around the ancient brickwork, while the tall grass crowded around the base of the structure right up until the brick and stone blocked its path.

"I thought these lands were unsettled," Iris said.

"Unexplored," Victoria corrected, "by your people, at least."

"This world is old," Eli said, taking the first few steps up the ziggurat, "there's ruins of ancient civilizations in every corner of every continent. We're just the ones who are here now."

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"And not always the only ones," Victoria said eerily.

"Well, this place looks pretty abandoned," Autumn said, "lets make ourselves at home!"

She brought out a small pot and began dumping berries into it.

"No fires," Eli said," the last thing we need is the grass catching a stray spark."

Autumn seemed unbothered, instead she began smashing and grinding the berries in the pot with a pestle. She sprinkled in leaves, nuts and even some grass that she had harvested at some point as well. Victoria and Eli climbed to the top of the ziggurat, where a stone roof covered a small square platform large enough to make sitting room for everyone. Soon Titus, Iris, and Autumn -- still stirring her pot as she walked up the steps -- joined them on the platform. Steps like the ones they climbed were on all four sides. From here they could see out over the grasslands, the stone pillars they had encountered earlier were now shrunken in the distance. It shocked Iris to see how far they had traveled in only half a day. In the other direction, far across the grasslands, was the edge of a forest.

"We'll never make it before dark," Victoria observed.

"What do you mean?" Iris asked, "it doesn't look much further than we've already traveled."

"Those trees are a lot bigger and a lot further away than you're thinking," Eli said.

Looking again, Iris struggled to discern a sense of distance or scale, ultimately finding it impossible.

"What do we do?" Titus asked.

"Rest, for now. If nothing else you were right about that. We'll figure out what to do next before we move out."

Everyone settled in comfortably, assuming that the odds of them setting off back into the grass today were dwindling by the moment. Eli and Victoria discussed strategy, exploring ideas like Eli riding Glimmer to scout ahead for another stopping point in the grasslands, or waiting out the day here and setting out at first light to make the rest of the way tomorrow. More than once Iris glanced over to the maps that Eli looked over as they planned, growing increasingly certain that they had been ripped from an Abraham Brant magazine.

Soon Autumn was passing around a bowl of what she called Grassland Salad. The orange berries had been crushed into a paste, mixed with the other ingredients plus some spices, and stirred. Though it didn't look especially good, the taste was tart and pleasant and the small portions they each had were surprisingly filling when combined with the pieces of jerky she passed around as well. Titus took some time to see to Autumn's wound, casting another round of healing magic on it before bandaging it up again. Victoria offered to redress Titus's wounds, but he declined. Soon Titus and Autumn had nodded off into a nap, while Eli and Victoria kept a passive, restful watch over the grasslands around them. Left to her own devices, Iris started looking around.

There wasn't much to see at first, until she noticed the remnants of writing on the bricks. Weathered by untold years and grown over by moss and vines, it was easy to miss at first inspection. Looking closely, however, she could tell it wasn't any form of writing she had ever seen before. She ran her hand across it, marveling in the stories it must tell to those who can read it. She followed a particular trail of symbols up one of the corner pillars until one of the bricks gave way under the light pressure of her touch. It pushed inward, then continued sliding in as she withdrew her hand. Grinding stones began to rumble, far too loud to come from the single brick, and she started to panic.

"Uuuuhh, guys?"

Eli and Victoria were already inspecting the source of the noise, with Eli leveling his staff at a slab of stone in the center of the platform that was lowering into the floor.

"Secret passage!" Autumn exclaimed, leaping to her feet beside a confused and groggy Titus.

"Absolutely not," Eli said.

"Why not?" Autumn demanded, "aren't we here for adventure?"

"We do have some extra time," Victoria acknowledged.

"We don't even know if it's a--" Eli cut himself short as the slab split into sections, some coming to a stop while the others continued further down before settling into a staircase that lead to a dark, cramped opening. He sighed.

"Three of you, no more, no less," he massaged his temples with one hand as he spoke, "ten minutes, then report back."

"Titus, Iris, that means you two," Autumn said.

With a wide smile, Iris pulled her walking stick from her bottomless bag and lined up beside Autumn next to the stairs. Titus yawned, fell in beside them, and held out his hand to conjure a small sliver of shimmering light. He held the light out over Autumn's head as she lead the way down the stairs and into the ziggurat.

"You're really going to let them go?" Victoria said quietly.

"It's more about being too tired to argue," he admitted.