“Would you like to come with us?” asked Olivia.

Dustin looked at her surprised. They didn’t know the first thing about this kid. For all he knew it was a trap and she was about to jump at their throats. Though, when he paused to think about it, she was a crystal person. The crystal prince had said he traveled to the bottom of the ocean to acquire his crystal skin. Could that have been a lie? Could this have been where he actually got it from?

The little girl shook her head, “I can’t leave! Everyone would die if I did.”

They both stared at her in confusion.

“What do you mean?” asked Dustin.

“I’ll show you, if you promise not to hurt them,” she said, timidly. It was obvious she was dying to interact with someone. Maybe that was why she had been watching them. If everyone she knew had been killed by outsiders, that also explained why she had been so hesitant to get too close to them. But what did she mean by everyone would die?

They followed her as she danced ahead of them, so excited she couldn’t be still. They avoided all of the monster traps as she pointed them out on the way.

There were giant ants the size of foxes, who laid traps along the way. If you kicked any of the rocks, it would alert them to your presence and they would swarm out to attack.

Strange gelatinous growths grew near steam vents. She told them if you got too close, they would reach out and tag you with a paralyzing poison. It even went through the crystals.

The further they went the less dangerous the creatures. There were glowing bugs that crawled over the walls, eating the moss-like growth around the vents. These things wouldn’t bother you, unless you bothered them. Then they could get really hot and burn you.

When they finally reached their destination, Olivia and Dustin stopped short. In front of them, completely encased in stone, was a massive skeleton. The skull had its mouth open, with razor sharp teeth protruding from both the top and bottom. Six eye holes stared at them, daring them to step into its mouth. There was no nose hole, but a deep groove on the surface of the mouth could have served as one.

“Come, on. You can’t see them if you don’t come inside!” The little girl stepped through a gap in the teeth, made from two missing ones, and disappeared down a tunnel that looked suspiciously like a throat.

Dustin sighed. His stomach was full, he wanted to go back to the shuttle and get to work. But Olivia was already stepping into the mouth of the beast.

Making his way carefully, he saw that there were glowing plants or stones strategically placed along the way. Some were actually pretty detailed, with several different colored strains artistically twining around each other. Olivia paused several times to admire them, but Dustin could have cared less.

“This is the nursery,” the little girl beamed proudly. “As long as I can keep them safe, they will replace everyone I lost to the top-siders.”

In front of them, stretching for as far as they could see in all directions, were rows and rows of different crystals in the shapes of eggs. They were all different colors and patterns. The room was sweltering. The hottest they’d been since coming down into the caves.

“How long will that take?” asked Olivia, stunned by the sight.

Dustin crouched next to one, to get a closer look. If he stared hard enough, he could almost see through the shell.

“Only a little while longer! I’ve waited for a long time.”

Something moved under the shell, turning to look at him, and blinked. He watched as it moved some more, and suddenly he stood up. He was done here. Whatever was going to hatch from these eggs, he didn’t want to be here to see it.

“That’s great! As fun as it has been to see your new family, we really need to be going.” Dustin moved back towards the tunnel.

Olivia was frowning at him, but she had seen him looking closely at the egg before standing quickly. She knew something must be up.

“But you need to stay! How will I be able to feed and care for them all alone?” She pouted in such a way, that Dustin was immediately wary. Sniffing slightly, he realized she was releasing pheromones. Ones that probably instilled some form of protect me signal.

Olivia seemed to fall for it for a moment, “Oh, you poor dear! Of course, we will stay and help you! Let me talk to my friend for but a moment, and I will be right back, okay?”

The little girl was all smiles again, and let them walk a little way back down the tunnel, watching them the whole way. Dustin saw her little ears turning to catch any sound they made between them.

Reaching out, he gently touched the wall next to one of the glowing crystals, and knew immediately, that the walls were alive. He could feel the vibration of the blood pulsing slowly through the walls.

“Beautiful,” he murmured, to hide his revelation. “Don’t you think so?”

He took Olivia’s hand, and placed it against the wall, too. Her eyes widened as she came to the same conclusions he had.

“The one’s I really liked were over here,” she said, leading him closer to the mouth as if she wanted him to see another one. It was very simple though, and Dustin saw the little girl’s eyes narrow in suspicion; her smile wilting just a little.

“So, I was thinking, if we stuck around for a day or two, we could help her get going with all of the babies, before we had to leave,” Dustin said, wandering even closer to the mouth.

“I think that’s a wonderful idea. This place is so lovely and warm, and that poor child would have such a hard time dealing with so many by herself.”

She had started wandering towards them, just as they got to the mouth. Dustin darted through the row of teeth, just as Olivia jumped out, rolling across the floor. The missing teeth snapped up, out of the bottom jaw, and the mouth snapped shut. The cave all around them began to shake, and the little girl screamed inside.

Without pausing they both turned tail, and ran.