The ringing meant something to the Coreless; it sent them into a flurry of motion that led us to the edge of the many-nest in hardly any time at all. Only the-female-who-was-not-Needle was left behind - or, rather, she had left all of us behind, running off in a different direction after making a few noises at the others.

Something about the edge of the Coreless’ many-nest made me deeply uncomfortable; an instinctual part of me wanted to shy away from the pitch black waters, screaming at me that it was dangerous. I listened to that voice, wrapping myself securely around Needle’s arm, high and away from the danger.

The Staring One pulled away from the rest, moving off to converse with a Coreless that seemed to be commanding many others. Meanwhile, my Coreless - with the exception of the-female-who-was-not-Needle - fiddled with their ore-flesh and quietly made noises at one another. They kept a careful eye on the large expanse of cavern that rested on the other side of the black-water. While they did that, I kept watch on the black-water itself.

Something about it made my scale-flesh tingle.

The Coreless kept away from it, too. Rather than swimming through its depths, they floated above its surface in strange not-sinks made of darkwood. Not all of them looked the same; some not-sinks (which I decided to call flat not-sinks) looked like large platforms, while other not-sinks were angled at the sides and smaller.

The stomping of feet, somehow making itself known past the noises of the surrounding Coreless moving about, pulled my attention back towards the many-nest. The-female-who-was-not-Needle pulled herself to a halt, causing the darkwood that covered the edge of the many-nest to groan in response. She raised an arm, wiping away at the faint sheen of sweat that had started to drip down her brow

“We’re still waiting on information, so you should have a minute or so to breathe. Did you get what you wanted, Valera?” Will jabbered. I caught the slight change in pitch at the end of the noise he made; from what I had been able to tell, he was looking for some sort of response - and in the next moment, he received it.

“Yup!” She reached towards a skin-mouth that had been held by a strip of thread across her back, flipping it around and emptying its stomach. The skin-mouth vomited its contents without a struggle, allowing a glowing something to fall into her other hand.

It clattered against itself as it landed, creating a gentle ringing that sounded like a weaker cousin of the ringing that was still filling the many-nest.

“I still can’t believe that you used the skin on something for the snake,” the Unrepentant One groaned. “Kal could’ve made something from it for one of us, instead.”

“Maybe, but which one of us would’ve been the one to get it? Besides, he’s probably more likely to warn us about danger if he likes us more. So - gift it is.” I slowly uncoiled myself from around Needle’s arm as not-Needle made noises at the Unrepentant One, drawn by the object in her hands.

“Did Kal say what it does?”

“There was no time to ask him, but I doubt he would have known anyway. I doubt he had any way to test snake armor on hand. We’ll just have to watch and find out. Look how curious he is - I think he likes it!”

It was something like a half-skin of ore-flesh. Shaped for me. The upper part of it was molded to match my own scale-flesh, formed of small, solid pieces of ore-flesh, with even smaller links between them that connected the various pieces and allowed it to turn and shift just as I would. I could see gaps in it, holes for my eyes and for the likeness of the Great Core that erupted from my head-scales.

Other parts of it were attached to thick threads that I quickly realized were meant to wrap around my under-scales and hold the ore-flesh fast.

It was an offering, one that made up for the frustrations of the last few days.

I coiled myself around the-female-who-was-not-Needle’s free hand, waiting to receive her gift.

Soon, mana-bright ore-flesh covered my scales; the threads bound me tight. For the first time in my life, that was a reassuring thing.

I could already feel something different. The ore-flesh offering was more than just a second skin, more than just protection.

It was power.

The moment that it fully wrapped itself around me, fastened tight, was the moment that something changed. A change that I recognized; it felt like a weaker version of the Great Core’s sacred fast-spots had wrapped itself tight against my scale-flesh, noticeably increasing the speed that I could move.

In a way, it felt like I was wrapped up in the Great Core’s light again.

Somehow, the-female-that-was-not-Needle had given me a wonderful offering. One deserving of reward.

I decided that I would give up on my plan to bite her once my jaws were freed from the thread that still bound them. She had earned a small amount of forgiveness.

I climbed upwards at nearly twice my normal speed, latching onto the-female-who-was-not-Needle’s shoulder as the Staring One returned. My Coreless turned towards him, giving him their attention. His face was set into a grim line, and his brows were tightly furrowed.

“Verdant Grove has fallen.”

There were a few sharp intakes of breath at that, and I was almost tempted to do one of my own. A second later, I decided that I might as well, and let a gust of air flow through my nostrils. They ignored it.

“How?” Needle asked, the noise ending with that same increase in pitch that I recognized was searching for a response. I was getting good at understanding the noises they made. It was only a matter of time before I had it down, I was sure. I’d certainly get it before they were able to make anything of my own hisses.

I didn’t entirely appreciate the extra work that came with being the most intelligent one of us all, but the Great Core had given me that burden. I knew that I would manage. I would have to.

“We’re not sure yet; the runner was just about dead on his feet by the time that he arrived and hardly got his words out before he fell unconscious. We’ll have to find out more later. The only thing we know for sure is that he ran in advance of a large group of refugees from Verdant Grove to provide warning of their arrival. According to him, they’ve been harried by monsters most of the way - and most likely still are.” He waved a hand towards the groups of Coreless that floated atop the black-water before continuing. “The Guard are setting up. Making sure that boats are available to take everyone across as quickly as possible, that the way is clear, and that they are in position to defend the refugees. Unfortunately, that’s the easy job.”

He gave everyone a hard look. “As Seekers, we’ll be saddled with the hard one. It’s our job to make sure that the refugees have time to get here in one piece. It’s time to move. There’s no telling how many monsters could be on their heels by now.”

“You’re coming with us, sir?” the Unrepentant One questioned, an oddly respectful tone to his voice.

The Staring One rolled his shoulders back in response, touching a hand to the fang of ore-flesh at his side. “‘Course I am. I may be a bit too old to run around searching for Cores and sleeping in musty caves, but I’m plenty young enough for something like this. Everything goes well, and we’ll be back in time to sleep in our own beds, Skies willing.”

His words seemed to set a fire in the other Coreless’ hearts, causing their faces to light with determination.

“Well, let’s get going then. Can’t let the old man lose out on his sleep,” Will said. The Coreless turned as one, stepping into one of the angled not-sinks and pushing off.

I moved along with them, perched on the-female-who-was-not-Needle’s shoulder as we cut across the black-water. She reached up, slicing through the thread that still bound my mouth closed with a careful cut of one of her fangs of ore-flesh.

“I’d say we’re not in Orken anymore. You ready, little guy?” she hissed softly.

I opened my mouth wide, stretching it eagerly.