The walls gleamed.

Walking behind Herra’s cousin, a young girl who was as tall as me yet not old enough yet to be considered a woman, I was being led through the underground complex that made up their home.

And a mighty beautiful home it was. Most of the walls had been made of stone, or timber, but the section we were in now was more dirt and clay… yet these clay walls and floors were far more beautiful than the finely made stones we had just been in.

“That hallway leads to the mines. I can show them to you, if you like, but right now they’re dark. We’ll need to get torches,” Brianci said with a point down a large hallway. One that had metal strips in the middle of the floor, which looked like things I’d trip on.

“It’s fine,” I said to her. She sounded like she actually wanted to show the mine to me, but honestly I wasn’t too inclined to see it. The last mine I had been in… nothing bad had actually happened, but it had been disturbing. I had heard things I hadn’t wanted to.

“Then let’s go this way. The baths are over here,” Brianci said as she stepped farther down the hallway.

Following her, I smiled at the young girl. She looked eerily similar to Herra. Just… a little younger. I’d been told she was one of the youngest members of the family, yet it was hard to believe. She was as tall as me, and had long and thick hair. It flowed untied all the way down her back and to her thighs.

For someone who had been a baby last time Herra had been here, she sure didn’t appear to be so young. Herra had made it clear that the only humans in their family right now were the husband and child of her sister, but maybe they had human ancestors. It was hard to explain Brianci’s appearance otherwise. A non-human shouldn’t have grown as large as quickly, otherwise.

“Herra mentioned you had nice baths,” I made some light talk as we rounded a corner. One that had some pointy rocks in the walls all around it.

Shiny pointy rocks.

There were lanterns every so many feet all along the hallways… and thanks to the lantern-light, the rocks stuck in the walls and floors were gleaming. Shining brightly as if a source of light themselves.

Most were about the size of my closed fist… but there were some far bigger. There were also many smaller ones, littering the walls in a way that made the whole place glitter and shine brightly. The sight was only made more beautiful by the fact that they were all different colors. Reds, greens, blues and everything in-between. It was almost mystifying… and I wasn’t sure what to think about this place. I felt as if I had stepped into some weird world that shouldn’t, and didn’t, actually exist.

They were the very gems that the armadillo family produced for the Society. And the amount of them told me clearly as to why this place had been something of a hidden secret.

There was a village not far from here. Less than a day away… but if one didn’t know how to get here, you’d never find it. We had to not only circle around many cliffs and crevices, a section we had crossed had even required all of us to dismount the horses.

It was a massive building, not as big as the Animalia Guild building, but it was likely one of the biggest I’ve seen. It had to have been bigger than the depot, at least. Yet the main reason it was so hidden, despite being so big, was because most of it was underground. Only a small section of the house was above ground, and it was more of an empty cabin than anything else. They really didn’t use it.

This place was more hidden than the Owl’s Nest had been. Which was saying something.

“So what’s a cat?” Brianci asked me.

“What…” I hesitated a moment, thinking the girl’s question had been a joke… but she turned her head to smile at me in a way that told me it really wasn’t. “Well, most cats are small animals. To most they’re a domesticated animal, that’s seen as a pet. There are some that are seen as a nuisance I guess. Do you know what a dog is?” I asked her.

“Yea we have dogs here. Are they like that?” she asked.

“Well… kind of but no. They’re smaller. And in my experience more prideful, and solitary. Or lazy, depending on how you look at it,” I said.

Brianci chuckled at me. “Must be similar enough. Your ears and tail are kind of similar to a dog’s, now that you bring that up,” she said.

They were. Honestly if not for my family always making it very clear I was a cat and not a dog, I’d have believed anyone who would have said the same thing.

“I actually thought the same for a long time. Cats hate me. They hiss and run away from me, usually, so I actually thought I was a dog when younger. My parents hated that,” I said as I remembered the memories of them yelling me for suggesting such a thing.

“Oh? Cats and dogs don’t get along?” Brianci asked.

“Not usually. No.”

She hummed as we rounded another corner… and then entered a dazzling room.

I flinched at first, since the place was far brighter than it should have been. But once I blinked a few times, and my eyes adjusted… I found I couldn’t take my eyes away.

The room was large, with big pillars all around. Pillars made of stone, yet just as adorned as the clay and dirt walls we had been traversing. There were half a dozen large circular tubs of water, and the room had a high vaulted ceiling, with what looked like large vents recessed into sections above the pools of water.

“The baths,” Brianci said as she gestured at them.

I gulped as I watched the still water somehow… reflect a dance of movement.

The water was… very vibrant. Shapes danced all over the walls and ceiling, making me feel dizzy.

“Wow,” I whispered.

“Right? It’s the gems the bath’s made of. The baths are giant crystals that have been hollowed and cut,” Brianci explained. She stepped up to one of the bath’s edges and tapped her shoe against the tiny ridge right before the pool of water. The sound the action made told me she was telling the truth. Those weren’t metal baths, or wooden, but some kind of stone. A hard one.

“How’d… how were they cut?” I asked curiously.

“Water. If you force water through a small hole fast enough, it can cut stuff like this,” she said.

Water…?

Stepping up to the same bath, I bent down and ran my hand along the edge.

Cut? How? It felt smooth… yet was rounded. It felt the same as the stones one would find in a fast moving mountain river. Slick and polished.

There was a small distance between the edge of the bath and the water, so I didn’t need to worry about getting wet. Yet even if I did get wet, the water didn’t look bad. It was… clear, and still. “How do you warm it then?” I asked her. I could nearly see entirely through the water, and the bottom and edges of the bathtub sure did look like the same material the edges were made of. Some kind of polished stone.

“The next room. There’s a furnace, that heats up a series of pipes that run along the outer rims of the tubs. I… don’t know how that works exactly, I just know if I put some logs into the furnace and light it, not long after the water is hot and steamy,” Brianci said.

Pipes. Again with the pipes.

Probably Vim’s work. Again.

Standing back up, I nodded. “These are beautiful. Thank you for showing me,” I said. I didn’t care if Brianci understood how it worked or not, even though she looked worried as if I would… for some reason. Maybe because of her youth. Or maybe because she had never actually thought of it herself, and just realized she didn’t know either.

Brianci gave me a wide smile, and shuffled as she shrugged and nodded. “Of course! There’s one last place that’s pretty, if you’d like to see it.”

“Oh?”

She nodded again and pointed to one of the other hallways that came into the room. One that went the opposite way we had come from. “This way!”

The young girl hurried away, and I had to hurry to keep up with her. She seemed excited now.

It took a little longer to reach the new room… because we had to delve down deeper. I wasn’t sure just how far down we went, but I felt as if it was many levels. Yet the deeper we went, the darker and duller it became. The walls and ceiling stopped having gems and crystals. The lanterns went from finely crafted things to simple torches stuck into holes in the walls.

Brianci took me to a large door, and then smiled as she pointed at it.

She expected me to open it.

Smiling at her as she nodded and gestured for me to hurry, I decided to simple play along. Maybe whatever was behind this door was…

Before I even got the door all the way open, I had to remind myself to breathe.

The sight was impossible. So impossible, I felt the beginning of a flash of sweat all over my body.

“Isn’t it amazing?” Brianci asked excitedly, as we both stared at a giant crystal, glowing white.

I could only nod as I stepped into the room, and looked for the source of light. Surely there had to be some kind of lantern here too right? How else was the thing glowing so brightly and…

Yet there wasn’t. Within the large room was not a single lantern, or torch. Nor were there any windows or holes in the roof to let the sunlight in.

Sitting right in the middle of the room, emerging from the rocky ground the room was made around… was a giant rock. It was clear and I could see through it, almost, and was definitely bigger than most trees.

The glow within was a whitish color, but the thing itself had a purplish hue. It was stunning.

“Is it all one piece?” I asked softly as I rounded the thing. It looked like it split and branched out, just like trees did… yet at the same time surely it didn’t? Did rocks grow?

“It is. My family dug it out carefully, long ago. It’s precious after all,” Brianci said happily. And proudly.

Gulping as I nodded I stopped rounding it and stepped forward, to touch the thing… but hesitated. Glancing over at her, Brianci nodded and gestured for me to go ahead.

It was okay to touch it.

Stepping forward I placed my hands on an extended part of the rock, and the cool surface of the thing felt good on the skin.

It was as smooth as it looked. Yet it felt hard, and oddly cold.

“How’s it glowing?” I asked.

Within the rock, was a very obvious white gleam. It seemed to be coming from the center of the thing, yet it was definitely real. Not a trick of the eyes, or a play of the light. It was a solid glow, and didn’t change no matter where I looked in from.

“Not sure. Grandpa say’s it’s because it has a soul. But… I mean… it’s a rock. So who knows,” Brianci said.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

A soul…

Glancing over at her, I wondered why they’d use such a term. Herra had made it clear those here were more atheist than theists, yet maybe she had just spoken out of emotion. Maybe they did believe in something, just not what Herra did.

“It’s beautiful,” I said, deciding to let those thoughts fade away. And it was easy to do, standing before this giant thing.

“Isn’t it? It’s an amethyst. Likely one of the biggest to exist,” Brianci said.

Of that I had no doubt. This thing was…

Staring up at the top, I judged it to be nearly three Vim’s tall. At least. And there was no telling how deep it went, since it was embedded into the rock situated into the middle of the floor.

“Thank you for showing me this, Brianci. This is amazing,” I said as I stepped away, to take the whole thing into view.

“You’re welcome! I don’t get to show this stuff off, ever, so this is fun,” she said happily.

I nodded. Right. Secret. Only the Society was allowed here… and it was obvious no one really came here.

“Who visits, by the way? Other than Herra and Vim, of course,” I asked.

“And you?” she snickered at her joke, and then continued, “Oplar and Brandy, I’ve met. But I’ve been told there are a few others… but none I’ve ever met. Supposedly Vim comes sometimes with the Queen too,” Brianci said.

“Queen?” I asked.

She nodded. “Queen of Stone, don’t you know her? Figured you would being with Vim. She rules the land of stone to the east. I don’t know why she comes here sometimes, but I expect it’s to get some of our gems and stuff. I mean… what else would she come here for?” Brianci asked with a shrug, as if it was obvious.

Queen of Stone. A ruler. Of a whole land… of stone…?

“Honestly I wish we got more visitors… but I get it. All that’s out here are rocks,” Brianci said with a sigh.

Rocks…?

Glancing at the huge glowing gem, I doubted her statement.

These were more than just rocks.

“Other than this… I guess all that’s left are the farms, if you’d like to see them?” Brianci asked.

“Hm… actually mind taking me back to where Vim is? Although maybe I should see them… I didn’t see any farms outside, were they behind the huge boulders behind the house?” I asked as I followed her out of the room.

She giggled and as she shut the door behind me once I was out. The gleam of the gem disappeared, and I weirdly noticed… something odd. As if the air suddenly got colder somehow.

“No. We grow them indoors, or well underneath. We use gems in the roof to bring sunlight down onto the plants. We also grow worms,” Brianci said.

“Worms…?” I asked as I followed her down the hall.

“Yea. We eat mostly fruits and stuff, but we also eat a lot of eggs and worms. Don’t you eat worms?” Brianci asked, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

For a few moments I thought she was messing with me, but once again realized she was being serious.

“I uh… have never eaten a worm before, I don’t think, no,” I said carefully.

“Really? I’ll make sure we cook some for you then before you leave!” Brianci said happily.

About to tell her that wouldn’t be necessary, I hesitated as I noticed she started to have a skip in her step. She was excited. Happy. Cheerful.

Keeping myself from groaning, I realized I was going to have to try and eat some worms here soon. She obviously was in high spirits at the idea of feeding me what she seemed to think wasn’t just a normal meal, but something tasty and special.

Just great.

It didn’t take long for Brianci to lead me upstairs to the more normal sections of the building. Clay and dirt walls became wood and stone again. Rugs started to cover the floorboards, and the walls covered in gems and fancy rocks switched to ones with paintings and decorations.

Once back in the normal house sections, the world became a little noisier. The Armadillo family was a large one. There were more people here than in Lumen, or Telmik, and not all of them were old. Some were like Brianci, although she was one of the youngest.

The only one younger than her, as far as I was aware, was the young boy who had been the reason for Herra’s return. The son of her sister. The half-blood.

“Hey visitor!” an older man grinned at me as we passed one another. I waved back at him as we did, and I wondered what most of these people did most the day.

From how Herra, Vim and now Brianci had spoken… they all mined those gems beneath our feet, most of the time. Yet here they all were… seemingly wandering around and relaxing.

Maybe Vim’s visit was something of a holiday for them, or Herra’s.

“Brianci! Did you show her the baths!” Brianci’s mother, Herra’s aunt, shouted at us as we passed an open room. One with a recessed floor, that had large tables within it. She and a few others were sitting in the room, seemingly talking over tea or whatever was in their cups.

“I did!” Brianci happily answered.

“They were pretty,” I said, to let them know I found them so.

“Wait till we get em warm! We’ll start the fires after dinner!” she said as we walked past the room. Brianci didn’t seem interested in stopping to speak with them.

“Right!” another woman, who was in the room, agreed with her.

“What happens when they get warm?” I asked Brianci as we left the room, and thus her aunt, behind.

“They start glowing. Just like the big one,” Brianci explained.

Oh. My. That would be wonderful to see…

We rounded a corner and ran into Herra. Or well, Brianci did. I paused to watch as the two grumbled and stepped back from one another. They hadn’t hit each other hard enough to stumble, or cause issue, but Herra did have a strong look of annoyance on her face as she stared at her cousin.

“Brianci. I see Renn hasn’t eaten you yet,” Herra said.

“What…? Would she?” Brianci turned, and I felt horrible as she took Herra’s joke to heart.

“No... I’d not eat you,” I said calmly to her.

“Regrettably. Vim’s with my grandfather. Too bad he won’t eat him either,” Herra said with a huff as she stepped around Brianci, and then me.

She left us behind, and I realized Herra hadn’t been joking.

She really didn’t hide her hate for this family, did she?

“I don’t remember her being so… grumpy,” Brianci said quietly as we watched her go.

“She’s normally a little… abrasive. But not that bad. Maybe something happened,” I said carefully.

“Hm… who knows… Come on, if he’s with my grandpa he’s a floor above,” Brianci said.

I nodded and followed her to a stairwell. We ascended, and I found myself on a floor I recognized. It was the floor right under the house on top, the one that wasn’t hidden.

This floor only had a few rooms, and they were all large. The kind of large that would allow dozens of people to sit in comfortably, but most were dark and cluttered. Full of boxes, or crates. Used as storage instead of for people.

“She’s still a daughter. Even if she won’t ever admit it anymore,” a raspy voice said as we neared the only lit up room in the hallway.

“Ah, so you’re why Herra’s all grumpy. What’d you do grandpa?” Brianci asked as we entered the room.

Vim and the older man were sitting across from one another, before a small table. It looked ridiculous, since it was barely above the floor at all. It was so low, that Vim and Brianci’s grandfather had to sit on the floor to use it properly.

“This time I can admit it wasn’t me, but rather your uncle. How did you find our home Renn?” the elder of the armadillo family asked me.

I smiled gently at the older man and nodded. “It’s amazing. I like what you did with the lower floors, leaving those gems in the walls and ceiling. It’s pretty,” I said.

He chuckled and nodded. “Isn’t it? Brandy and the others who come complain about it. Saying we waste wealth, and whatnot,” he said.

Chuckling, I nodded. Yes. Brandy would definitely say such a thing. “I prefer your methods. And I’m sure the Society won’t miss a few little rocks,” I said.

“Ah, I’m glad to know you’re not a merchant. Brianci, would you go get us all some drinks?” the Grandfather asked.

“Sure grandpa,” Brainci happily obeyed, and hurried out of the room.

Hesitating, I wondered if I should have gone with her. After all, the two already had drinks. Vim’s cup was even still full.

“Please Renn, have a seat,” the grandfather gestured at the table, and I nodded as I walked over to Vim’s side of the table.

Sitting down next to Vim, I shuffled a little on the little padded… blanket? That I now sat on.

I tried to copy the way Vim sat, with his legs crossed underneath each other, but it was uncomfortable. Why’d we have to sit on the floor? It was so weird. There were tables and chairs around us…

“Thank you for escorting Herra here, Renn. I’m sure she… didn’t make it an easy trip, so thank you for putting up with her,” the grandfather said.

“It was fine? I enjoy spending time with Herra. Even when she’s… bothered,” I said, choosing the word carefully.

He smiled at me, and I noted the long eyebrows. He looked… oddly human, but his eyebrows were long and thick. Too long and thick. Unnaturally long and thick, to the point they almost looked fake. They even danced a little when he made any large facial expression. Like how he was smiling now.

I smiled back at him, and then glanced to my left at Vim. He looked tired.

The sight made me pause a moment… since it was very unusual for him.

He actually looked tired…! Were those bags under his eyes? Surely not… it had to just be the lighting.

The room had lanterns, but only three were lit. It wasn’t… necessarily dark, but it wasn’t bright either. Bright enough to have a casual conversation, but not much more.

“Did you see the mines?” Vim asked.

“Ah. No. They’re dark right now, Brianci said,” I said.

“Herra’s visits are special. No time for work,” the grandfather nodded, telling me the reason.

I agreed with him, even if Herra obviously didn’t.

“They have a huge gem, Vim. It’s bigger than you, and it glows,” I said to him.

He nodded. “The Brittle Flower. Yes,” he said.

“Oh? Is that its name?” I turned and asked the older man. Flower I understood, since the shape and color of it was similar… but brittle?

“It is indeed. It’s not brittle at all, but when it was being excavated everyone who was involved broke all their bones. Thus its namesake,” he explained.

I frowned at the information. “How’d that happen?” I asked.

“Vim woke up on the wrong side of the bed that day,” Brianci said as she stepped back into the room.

She carried a large pitcher, and in the other hand was a stack of cups. The small tower of cups tilted a little as she walked over to the table, kneeled down and began handing them out.

“What’d you do Vim?” I asked him, she sounded serious… even though she was smirking.

He nodded with a sigh. “The side of the bed I woke up on was just… wrong, that day,” he said simply.

Great. Another secret.

Brianci giggled as she went to filling up the cups.

As she poured the liquid, I noted the odd smell it gave off. “What’s that?” I asked.

“Worm juice,” Brianci said with a huge smirk.

My tail stiffened, which made me wince from pain.

The grandfather chuckled, likely mistaking my wince for something else. “She’s not lying, but it’s definitely not as bad as it sounds. Give it a taste, you’ll not regret it,” he said as he pointed to the cup Brianci was placing before me.

Staring into the cup at the light colored liquid… I worried for my future.

First meat that smelled rancid, and now juice made from worms.

“It’s not really made by worms, Renn. The tea is made from the leaves that the worms eat, not the worms themselves,” Vim explained as he reached over to grab the cup Brianci gave him.

He took a drink, as if to prove to me it was safe to drink… but he should know better than that.

If he thought him eating or drinking something was proof enough for me, it was far from it. After all he ate and drank weird things all the time, and now I knew even if something was toxic or bad it’d do nothing to him…

“Why spoil the fun, Vim?” Brianci asked with a sigh as she gave her grandfather a cup too.

“It’s the truth. We eat the worms, not drink them. This is just made by the leaves of the trees we feed and grow the worms upon, nothing more,” the grandfather said, as if to prove it even further.

Still…

Reaching out for the cup, I took a tiny sniff of the contents and was glad it didn’t smell… too bad. It was a unique smell, something I’d not smelled before, but it was not something I really found pleasant or appetizing.

Brianci sat down next to me, and smiled happily expectantly at me. She was waiting to see me take a drink.

Great.

Taking a tiny drink, I was glad to find the stuff slid down the throat easily. It didn’t burn, didn’t make me gag… and surprisingly, tasted fine. It tasted like a sweetened tea.

“Hm… it’s not bad,” I admitted.

Taking another drink, a bit longer this time, I had to admit it wasn’t bad at all. It was definitely not going to be my new favorite drink, and was far from that red berry juice I usually ordered… but it was leagues ahead of plain water or some of the cheaper teas I encountered in Lumen.

“Oh? You like it?” Vim asked.

I nodded.

“Good. Because I didn’t tell you the whole process,” Vim said.

Glancing at the man out of the corner of my eye, I did my best to not see Brianci and her grandfather’s smirks out of the other corner. It was obvious that something horrible was about to happen, and they were more than happy to watch it from the front row.

Vim didn’t have the same smirk on his face as they did… but he was swirling his cup playfully.

“Don’t,” I warned Vim. Not after I just took a long drink!

“It honestly isn’t made of worms, or bugs. But…” Vim started.

“Vim…!” I warned him again, and reached over to grab his arm. As if to beg and plead with him.

He took another drink, and nodded… then told me anyway.

“It’s made from the droppings of the worm. After they’ve eaten the leaf, not before,” Vim said.

Although I surprisingly wasn’t too bothered by the information, I still closed my eyes and had to collect myself. Brianci and her grandfather started to laugh, obviously at the expense of my discomfort.

No wonder Herra didn’t want to live here.