“These roots that we wander are, in their own right, a world unto themselves. Not that I mean it’s another plane like the Desolate Hells or the Fae Courts, but more in that it’s a…what’s the word? A-ha, an isolated ecology. That’s the word, right? Anyway, these under-roots, under-forest, or—as some call it—the Sleepless Hollow, stretches in every direction for untold leagues, even downwards. If it wasn’t for all the dangers lurking down here, I believe that the empire and other nations would expand into these dark caverns. Hells, I think the Manus do with their mines and deep-roads.”

Leshana murmured to Autumn as the group marched down a water-worn tunnel, the shadows scattering fearfully at the sight of their torch and lantern light. The Elf was a surprising fount of knowledge about the environment they’d found themselves in.

Not that Autumn had actually asked.

Shortly after Autumn had finished burning her mouth on the too hot soup, she’d taken Autumn under her wing as the camp was hurriedly, but methodically, packed away. And while it seemed like she was giving the—younger? It was hard to tell with Elves—girl advice, Autumn felt she was just bored and wanted to chat.

Autumn felt it was perhaps wise to take the opportunity to gather as much information as she could. Namely, about where they were and what obstacles awaited them.

“What made all these tunnels?”

Leshana hummed at Autumn’s question, her eyes cast skyward at the dark ceiling. Resting loosely across her shoulders, stretched her weapon. In defiance of everything that Autumn was led to believe about wood elves or their equivalents, Leshana did not wield a bow of any kind. Instead, the tall woman came equipped with a glaive, the blade of which was made of some kind of metal-looking wood.

Thankfully for Autumn’s expectations, Vuriac did indeed carry a rather powerful looking shortbow.

“That’s a hard question to answer.”

“Does nobody know?”

Leshana shook her head, almost taking Autumn out with her glaive’s haft. Looking only slightly contrite at Autumn’s glare, she answered.

“No. It’s not that. There’s just so many possibilities. For example, this tunnel here could have formed by natural water erosion or a water elemental or monster of some sort could have carved it out. It also could have formed because of an earthquake or an earthquake-like spell or magical event. Etc. You’d need a specialist to tell exactly what had happened, some kind of geo-wizard or something. Even then, it won’t be completely accurate.”

“So it’s useless to guess?”

Shaking her head—more carefully this time—she replied. “I didn’t say that. Take a look around and tell me what you see.”

Autumn raised an inquisitive eyebrow, but at Leshana’s continued insistence, she relented and did as the Elf asked. Raising a flaming torch high, Autumn gazed about the tunnel as the shadows drew back.

Immediately upon packing up the rather small camp, the group had picked one tunnel at random. Autumn had thought at the time it was just because they’d no idea where they were or where each could lead, but if Leshana’s words were to be believed, it might not have been so random as it looked.

Carefully, Autumn gazed at the walls.

Time-worn walls greeted her inquisitive gaze. The slick moisture-laden surface danced with the light of her burning torch, free of any signs of tool marks, either mortal or monster. Turning her gaze up, Autumn followed along the rivulets of water that slowly and steadily ran down the walls like columns, leaving behind a build-up of pale minerals.

The ground underfoot was just as slick as the walls; Autumn was already having troubles keeping her footing on such a treacherous surface. Of the others, only the young guardswoman Yuupis was having as much trouble as Autumn; she likely was more used to cobbled streets or dirt paths.

Leshana sidled up to Autumn. “Go on, taste it.”

Autumn gave the Elf a look of confusion mixed with disbelief.

“You want me to lick the wall?”

Leshana snorted. “Ha. As funny as that would be, you can use your finger instead. Go ahead; it’ll give you more information about the water’s composition.”

Dusiously, Autumn placed her finger to the wall and tasted the residue. Grimacing, she spat it out.

“...salty.”

Leshana grinned.

“And what does that mean?” She spoke like a school teacher guiding a student to an answer she already knew.

Autumn wanted to just quip that it was salty because there was salt in it, but under Leshana’s expectant gaze she stopped herself and thought about it properly.

“The Restless Mire was mostly a saltmarch, right? At least on its coasts. So either that or we are underneath a salt deposit or the ocean, but I don’t think we’ve traveled that far.”

“Very good! Well done!” Leshana beamed and clapped which drew the other’s attention much to Autumn’s embarrassment.

Hiding under her hat, she stuttered out a reply. “T-t-thanks.”

“Yes, it was good, but you forgot to take into account any salt-based monsters or elementals. However, they’d make either obvious tracks or be more universal in coverage; these stalagmites along the walls don’t happen with them, unless they stay still for a long time. And I mean a loooong time, like centuries.”

“Right. So why did we pick this tunnel then? Because it had salt in it?”

Leshana nodded. “Mostly. We had three options to choose from. One had a slightly acidic coating to the walls.” She held up a finger that was slightly redder than the others, “which means that it was frequented by some sort of acidic slime. They can be rather hard to spot; you won’t notice them until your skin starts burning away and gods help you if they get into your mouth.”

Leshana and Autumn both shuddered at the imagery.

She then continued. “The other sloped downwards after a while and it smelt…off to put it bluntly.”

“It smelt off?” Autumn asked.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Yeah, off.” Leshana shrugged. “After a while of adventuring, you get a sort of sense for these things. Sometimes you can't tell what’s wrong, only that it is. Learn to trust these instincts.” Leshana said with as much seriousness as she could muster. “It was likely the nest of some monster, or something similar. And while we could probably take it, why take the risk, eh?”

“Right.” Autumn responded absentmindedly, lost in her own thoughts.

Instinct. Subconscious vigilance in another word.

It was the hair-raising crawl on the back of your neck. That feeling of being watched in the dead of the night. A tool passed down from ancestors in a more dangerous time. A time of darkness where fire had yet to grace their eyes. Instinct alerted you to the monsters beneath the bed or the knife ready to plunge quick to the bone.

Autumn was intimately familiar.

Resting her hand upon her Tome, Autumn felt at the icy coldness of the metal that banded it, allowing the shock to aid her in concentrating. With her eyes closed, she did not see the way the shadows danced as she drew upon the well of fear that bound her to magic’s allure. She drew it in. Fed it with her anxiety. And from behind her eyes, darkness bloomed, unveiling a new world for her and her alone.

When Autumn opened her eyes, a kaleidoscope of color greeted her.

A tapestry of fear.

The veneer of calm was stripped away like scabs falling off an infected wound. An ugly truth revealed.

Autumn turned her blackened eyes away from their secrets and insecurities, casting her vision over the dark walls of the empty tunnel. Her mind listened as she searched, looking for signs of anything or anyone, friend or foe.

She sensed neither.

Nothing except for the private emotions of animals. Although that in truth caused quite the shock for Autumn, for she’d seen nothing of the sort with her mundane vision. Cave bats and their like hung like rocks above, camouflaged completely to the point of near invisibility. Even aware of their presence and location, Autumn could not differentiate them from the rocks they hid amongst.

It sent a chill down Autumn's spine.

What other creatures could lurk in the dark this way? They’d never see them until it was too late.

Leshana agreed when Autumn quietly pointed them out to her. The swirl of emotions painted a gloomier picture than her expressions conveyed.

Countless hours crept by the party like a rogue in the night, knife fresh with blood. It felt like they’d been walking forever, trekking slowly over salt-slick ground in search of an end to the tunnel that felt infinite. The journey was pale with quiet, only broken by Leshana’s lessons to Autumn, pointing out things the young witch had missed.

Autumn found the continued lessons as enlightening as they were distracting. It stopped her mind from wandering into the dark depths of her vivid imagination. Kept her from wondering too much about her friends. Of what fate had befallen them, or awaited herself.

However, their journey finally ground to a halt.

They’d come to a stop before a split in the path; a Y-junction that split their tunnel into two near identical ones. A deep darkness obscured the paths forwards, only held a bay by the flame and lantern light.

Vuriac stood still in the center, listening keenly in either direction, his face set in concentration.

“You see anything?” Leshana asked as she approached. The rest of the group followed in her wake, keeping an eye out for danger, ahead or behind.

Vuriac nodded towards the ground. “Footprints, leading from the right to the left.”

Autumn squinted in the direction he had gestured. It was hard for her to tell, but she thought that maybe a few of the loose gravel-like rocks were shifted around a foot-shaped pattern, but it could have just been her imagination or a trick of the flickering light.

Evidently, the Elves had no such trouble.

“I see them.” Leshana said. “Multiple sets. Large feet and long strides. Here, here, and here.”

“Another group?” Autumn asked.

“Not a group. See how they overlap each other, it means they were likely traveling individually. It could be a group, but I doubt it.”

“Do you think they were from the convoy?” Rarg asked as he stopped beside them to look down the dark tunnel. “Or do you think they're locals?”

“And the more pressing question is: should we follow them or not?” Valérie chimed in as she stared down the opposing tunnel.

“It’s hard to say.” Leshana chewed on her lip. “They are barefooted.”

“They could’ve just lost their boots. How much stuff did we lose?” Valérie shrugged as she replied. “Do we even know if this place has any sort of friendly local population?”

Leshana shrugged. “No idea. This is my first time down here. All I know about this place is from the few tidbits of information that the few adventurers that survived this place shared. And those could just be lies or exaggerated stories. Plus, none of those mentioned any sort of settlements or people down here.”

“Is there anything different about either tunnel?” Rarg asked.

Autumn turned her attention away from the conversation and cast a glance down each of the tunnels. Aside from the direction the footprints traveled in, there was little in the way of difference. Crouching down, she cast a gaze upon the ground's slope.

Perhaps the left one went slightly downwards? It was hard to tell.

“We should go that way.”

Autumn jumped, startled by a soft, emotionless voice.

Standing beside her was Yuupis, the young guardswoman. Somehow she’d silently approached Autumn, and it was only as she spoke that Autumn even realized she was there.

Hurriedly, Autumn stood and turned to take in the demoness as her heart pounded and her cheeks burned.

And what a strange sight she saw. Normally, when Autumn gazed upon someone with her mind open, she’d see their palette of emotions cast liberally upon the blank canvas of the world. With Yuupis, however, it was like there was some sort of film across her, a shroud to hide a puppet in a play. Whether or not the girl was her own puppeteer was not something Autumn could answer. All she knew was that the girl was rather hard to read.

“W-why do you say that?” Autumn eventually found the courage to ask.

Yuupis did not blink, her gaze firmly locked onto Autumn’s inky black orbs. Not afraid or disgusted by the sight. But, then again, Autumn was unable to tell.

It was a strange, and ultimately familiar feeling as she’d always felt like this before. Before she’d come to this world. Before she was stolen.

Before she’d seen him/infinity/madness-made-manifest.

Autumn blinked. Her mind felt fuzzy, like it was a jigsaw puzzle someone reset when she had but one piece left to place.

What was I thinking about again?

“It’s simple, really.” Yuupis said. “Whoever left these footprints only travels one way; left to right.” She pointed down the left-hand tunnel. “If they are not in a group but staggered, there is a high likelihood that more are heading this way as we speak. If they are hostile, we wouldn’t want to face them in the narrow confines of the tunnels, and if they are friendly, we’d want to convene with those that had left already.” She now pointed down the right-hand tunnel. “So that leaves us with the logical option of heading down this way. Don’t you think so too?”

Autumn just stared.

Thankfully, she was not the only one listening to Yuupis’ explanation.

“That’s as good an argument as any! Well thought out!” Leshana praised. “Any objections?”

“I have one.” Valérie spoke up, her eyes drilling into the side of Yuupis’ head. Not that the demoness noticed or even cared. “How do we know this doesn’t just lead into some sort of monster encampment? Would we really want to go where we know there are potential enemies?”

Leshana shook her head. “If it was a camp, the footprints would lead in both directions, not just one. And there’ll be enemies anywhere we go, while there won’t be friends. It’s best to take a chance on it now. Anything else to add?”

Valérie remained silent this time, as did everyone else.

“Good!” Leshana clapped her hands, the echo traveling far down all three tunnels. Sheepish under everyone’s glare, she cleared her throat and gestured down the right-hand tunnel. “Hehe. Shall we?”

Begrudgingly, everyone followed the Elf.

And just as Autumn began walking down the tunnel of flickering light and darkness, a whisper of a familiar voice caught her ear, emanating from her amulet, that hallowed soul cage.

“Hark, young Witch Autumn, we shouldst talk for I sense yond our foe, the hag, draws near breath."