My Coreless did not sleep comfortably that night; they shifted around in fits and spurts, a certain degree of [restlessness] in each nearby [Little Guardian’s Totem]. In a way, that was good. It meant that they understood the threat that Tiamat presented - or so I hoped. It was sometimes difficult to tell; for all I really knew, the [restlessness] that caused them to roll and roil in their sleep was just that. Restlessness.

The ground wasn’t exactly comfortable, after all.

I missed the warmth of bundled skins that I had back at the many-nest, but my Coreless had it much worse. I could at least coil myself on the softest places I could find, whether that was one of the Coreless themselves - though not this time, as their [restlessness] seemed to have prompted them to sleep covered in ore-flesh - or atop one of their larger skin-mouths.

In the end, I let the lull of sleep pull me away, only briefly waking every time the Coreless roused each other to change who kept watch.

When I awoke, it was to the verdant glow of the thought-light - a welcome reprieve from the general furor that had held fast during the night.

Lesser Core Skill: [Little Guardian’s Focus IV] Increased.

[Little Guardian’s Focus V] Acquired.

The days that followed managed to cut down on my Coreless’ ever-present [disquiet]. It was still there, but it was more muted, with other emotions beginning to force it away in moments of distraction.

My own distractions came as well, intermittent bursts of the thought-light that came without my conscious control as [Little Guardian’s Focus] continued to grow with the help of the many-nest’s numerous Coreless. I wasn’t sure what exactly caused it; maybe it was just the presence of Coreless around it, maybe it was a reflection of the faith my Coreless held in the Great Core, or maybe it was something else.

Whatever the reason, it was a welcome distraction.

Lesser Core Skill: [Little Guardian’s Focus V] Increased.

[Little Guardian’s Focus VI] Acquired.

Soon enough, the first of my Coreless found a distraction for themselves as well; I took a moment to skim across the connections to their Totems, luxuriating in the thought-taste of something different. It was an odd pleasure; similar to how my scale-flesh could feel as if it were being rubbed raw by a repetitive sensation, only to feel markedly better when something else took its place.

It was bracing, like falling into soothing mana-water to escape an overbearing heat.

[excitement]

We slipped into a new cavern. Our journey so far had brought us through a series of large-tunnels, my Coreless unable to travel through the small-tunnels that might have hastened us along. Many were dim and dark, the glow-caps that grew on their edges far from enough to provide proper illumination. Of course, it was never completely dark; each of us wore skins of ore-flesh, and each of us glowed with the mana that infused them.

It was enough to see by, for the most part.

Barely.

This new cavern nearly burned at the eyes with the amount of light it gave off. Just like with the cavern that was home to the accursed, defeated Aridae, it seemed to be almost a central hub. I could see a number of tunnels, both large and small, that split off at the edges and led elsewhere. Meanwhile, just like in the cavern of the Aridae, a vast expanse of glow-caps coated the ground.

They lit the air with a brilliant glow, clusters of light that drew the eye - but none drew the eye more than the pool of mana-water near its center. A vast assortment of vegetation grew at its edges, as if drinking from the pool’s depths.

They probably were.

“Oh, thank the Skies. I was starting to get worried that you had the route wrong, Rowan. My canteen ran out this morning,” the-female-who-was-not-Needle stated, turning her attention to the newest member of our party. As I was perched on her shoulder, I suppose that I turned as well. There was a light hint of [amusement] to her tone, almost...playful? Teasing.

The Unrepentant One turned towards us and quirked an eyebrow at that, giving off a faint hint of [annoyance] as his hand brushed lightly against his [Little Guardian’s Totem], still resting on the outside of his ore-flesh. “And mine, too. Don’t think I didn’t notice you switching them out earlier.”

The-female-who-was-not-Needle raised one of the more oddly shaped skin-mouths in her hand, holding it up for The Unrepentant One’s inspection before shaking it about slightly. It sloshed slightly, and I noticed the scent-taste of mana-water that spilled out.

“Nope, I’ve still got some of yours. Well, not yours. This one’s mine now,” she said with a playful baring of her teeth, raising the mana-water to her lips and taking a long draught.

He let out a long exhale before turning away. I caught a slight lifting at the corner of his lips, though. Without the touch of his [Little Guardian’s Totem], though, I couldn’t know what that meant with complete certainty.

For a little while, I worried about the potential for problems between my Coreless. I needed them to work together, if we were to face Tiamat.

I needn’t have worried. Another group of Tiamat’s creations came for us before we left the cavern, and were quickly defeated by the Great Core’s Coreless.

I only had to heal a few wounds before I sent another taunting thought-hiss towards Tiamat.

“So, there’s one thing that I’m confused about,” the-female-who-was-not-Needle said not long afterwards, as we traveled through yet another large-tunnel. “If these things that have been attacking us are connected to Tiamat, shouldn’t they be...more dangerous than they are? I mean, I’m not complaining or anything. I’m more than happy to keep living. I like living. It’s confusing, though.”

“Hm. I thought the same, honestly. The tale that I read mentioned monsters that could shatter stone and beat back armies. I’m sure that some of that could be an exaggeration for the sake of storytelling, but I would assume there’s a degree of truth involved. Still, both the Hexablades and the others - I suppose they’ll need a name, as well - look to be in pretty bad shape even before any fighting. Like they’re falling apart. Might be making them weaker, I suppose.”

There were a few responses to that, coming from each of them in turn, all sounding like some vague form of enthusiastic agreement.

Whatever it was that he said, it did something to put the rest of my Coreless more at ease. I felt the shifting of their emotions like it was a physical thing, lifting a weight from my scales. Most of the [restlessness] and [disquiet] faded, while [resolve] remained.

I was thankful to see a hint of [confidence] and [hope] when I dove a little deeper.

Lesser Core Skill: [Little Guardian’s Focus VI] Increased.

[Little Guardian’s Focus VII] Acquired.

Not long after [Little Guardian’s Focus] advanced itself again, we reached our destination. Though I couldn’t understand the Coreless’ jabbers, I could read the emotions that surged through the links between us - their growing [anticipation], their burgeoning [curiosity]. I could notice the slight hurry to their steps, the way their fingers occasionally found their way to the ore-flesh at their sides, brushing against them as if to make sure they were still there.

Most importantly, though, I had caught the scent-taste of a Core quite a while ago - and when I found that my Coreless were heading straight for it, I realized that they knew it was there as well.

It had an odd taste to it. It was darkwood and glow-caps. It was wall-roots and mana-water. At the same time, it was much more than that, an amalgamation of scent-tastes that were disparate and common all at once - different, in their wild variation, but similar in one simple way.

I felt my mouth-flesh salivate with each and every step of my Coreless, the scent-taste of nature itself heavy on my tongue.

Lively.

Powerful.

Tempting.