Smoky tendrils of night engulfed Rayne in a gigantic mass. Two yanked Felix off his feet as Rayne bolted for the hedge between Saga and Daniel.

“She’s got Felix!” Saga cried out. She and Daniel rushed to intercept. Transformed into an amorphous giant of gooey and tentacle, Rayne slid past them as nimbly as oil does through fingers.

Withering hedges and streetlamps blurred past Felix as Rayne took sharp turns, dashing onwards with the surety of an experienced delver. Redmoss changed to blue plants, which again gave way to a yellowish caverns of shrooms. Saga’s whistle distanced, but never faded.

“Phuuu...” Rayne released an exhale and let Felix go. Tendrils withdrew back into her, frantically writhing across her skin. She sucked in breath through her teeth. “Ay… Took a few wrong turns there. You any good at navigating?”

“Better than I used to be.”

“Ayayay, screwed as forks in the fridge.”

“Hey now, you haven’t seen me navigate yet. We can do this. What’s this place?” Felix crouched to look under a waist-high luminescent mushroom. “Reminds me of Crawling Abyss… but there are hints of the Moldering Abyss too. A transition zone?”

Rayne pointed at a low cavern. “This way to Hollow Conservatory.”

“Huh? I thought you didn’t know where it was.”

“Wouldn’t bounce around like a headless bunny if I didn’t. Just asked, ‘cos I was curious. You follow a map they made, or how’d a traitor knight made it down here.”

“Hey now. No need to point fingers. And yeah, the knights have a route.”

“Wasn’t pointing. Might not believe it, but I sympathize.” Rayne glanced at him, crouching to squeeze into the narrowing cave. “Which route?”

“Blackroot, redmoss—”

“Streetlamp, yada-yada. Gotcha. The Bridge Station route.”

“Yep.”

“Crappers. So we got one detour left.”

Despite his exhaustion, Felix crawled after Rayne.

***

“Crappers. So we got no detours left.”

“Perfect. I’m taking a nap.” Felix collapsed onto the ground, wiped to the point his eyes swam with lights. He was wet, out of breath, cold, and didn’t care about anything but a chance to shut his eyes.

“Right there?” Rayne hovered over him, hands on her hips. “Doesn’t look comfy.”

“It’s heaven.” Felix closed his eyes. “Mmmm… Yup. Heaven.”

“It’s rock.”

“Heavenly comfy rock.”

“Feels like regular Byssal rocks to me.”

Their escape had halted at what Rayne called a ‘little trouble’. The tunnel had expanded into an echoing cavern of towering mushroom pillars crowding the islets atop a reflective black lake. Next step was to dive under and stay under for an absolutely hilarious duration.

As much as his body resisted it, Felix rose once more to set up his tent. A night’s sleep on rocks makes for a morning of pain.

With a tent set up on the rocky mushroom isle, Felix shoved some food down his throat, and jolted hasty notes of today’s delve, knowing he’d otherwise forget everything but highlights.

Meanwhile, Rayne ripped some of the mushroom trees off their roots and built herself a makeshift bed. She ate bits of her bed and drank water straight from the Abyss, then laid her head down, seemingly unbothered by ambushes. She carried neither backpack nor satchel, nothing but her clothes.

“Do you keep delving logs?” Felix asked.

“Na-ah.” Rayne lifted her left arm, tapping her wrist. Surrounded by angrily flailing tendrils under her skin, was a purple eye. It kept twitching from point to point, observing its surroundings like a hyperactive kid on caffeine. Never in his life had Felix seen the like.

“Is that a relic?”

“Nope. More like the bitemark of a relic. Master’s gonna look over the details and transcribe my delve later. Doesn’t like second-hand accounts.”

“Very handy...” A spark jolted Felix’s drowsy thoughts.

Her off-hand comment of sympathizing with his betrayal, her whispered warning to stay away from Hollow Conservatory, and now the eye. Was she against doctor Havardi, or was the conclusion a figment of sleep deprivation. Felix wasn’t convinced he could get socks in the right feet in his current condition, nevermind figuring out whose was a piece in whose puzzle.

Rayne fell back on her bed. “No way around it. We have to try the Bridge Station route. Bet your friends will ambush us there.”

“How is it that we’ve only got one option? Paths of the Abyss are endless.”

“Don’t they teach anatomy of the Abyss at Scandies?”

“The basics, but seems like they kept a lot of secrets ‘for our own sake’.”

Rayne raised her brows. “Ayayay.”

“Ayayay,” Felix agreed.

“Didn’t you know the domains?”

“Yup.” Before she could start, Felix held up a hand. “Sleep first? I’ve been up two full days, maybe three. Anymore and my brain will start sliding out my ears.”

“Bah, fine,” was all Felix heard of her.

They heard not signs of Saga’s whistling in the morning, so Felix dared to take out the cooking supplies and try his hand at some good ole fashioned delver cuisine. In other words, he got creative with the preserved rations.

This was a teaching moment and an embarrassment, ending with a pair of grease drenched and oversalted Knight ration crackers. Though she snickered with schadenfreude, Rayne didn’t fare much better when challenged.

Yum yum. Soggy salty crackers. Felix forced them down.

Rayne picked up yesterday’s conversation. “‘Oke. You’ve got the seven domains for seven lords, Rustling, Crushing, Looming, Towering, Sprawling, Stretching, Yawning. And layers of depth: Safe-zone; that’s a couple turns deep at most, Stable; that’s three to four yonders, Wilds; go from safe to Edge for yonders and yonders; edge, that’s the edge; and Outer; that’s everything outside the human Abyss. Think of it as an apple. Surfaces are the seeds, Safe-zone the inedible bits, Stable’s the good bits, Wilds is the flesh, Edge’s the peel, and Outer’s not an apple anymore.”

Felix shook his head. “Hold up. Abyss has an edge?”

“Yeee, there’s a whole soulfire barrier Lords and silvers put up there. Keeps our Abyss safe from stuff that’s out there. Kept, I should say. Saw the hole that Sofie bitch ripped in it all the way from the Conservatory. Byss take her and her lot.

“Lords are to be blamed for it all. Safe-zones? That’s them stealing the safest bits of Abyss for themselves to coddle their lands. Stable zones are basically their ranches to make sure delvers find what they need. And places like Bridge Station? I’d bet my ass twice on it being a choke-point made for territorial scuffles at some point.”

Felix glanced at her shorts, but quickly returned to Rayne’s eyes. Luckily, she didn’t notice.

“Anyhow, you don’t have enough supplies to survive a longer route and my detour’s a bust. No choice but to go through Bridge Station. Lovely folks though. The old Blomqvists, even if they’re working for that hack of a Lord. They always have cookies.”

“What kind?”

“D’no the name. S-shaped. Cinnamon and sugar.”

“Cinnamon-s.” Felix smiled.

“Scandie special?”

“Yeah,” Felix licked his lips. “After Reclamation Day, when Lords drove back the Abyss, it became a sign of supporting the united Scandies. But, before that, in the old world, it was supposedly a secret code of allegiance used by nobles in one part of Scandies to show their resistance against another part of Scandies. One of the nations was Sweden, but I can’t remember which was which.”

“Daum. You a delving baker or something?”

“Hah! I wish. Naah, mom just loved baking.” Genuine mirth fled Felix’s smile. “Still loves, hopefully.”

“The Byss you grinning about?”

Felix blinked, gawking at Rayne’s accusatory glare. “What—”

“What’re you grinning about? That bitch ass Lord took your mom and home. Get that ugly ass fake grin off your face. Creepy as a facefaker.”

“What’s…” Felix leaned back, agitated. “No point for me to mope about it. Should I be bawling my eyes out? Vowing revenge? None of that will get me anywhere.”

“Maybe not. Maybe yes. Don’t need to pretend it’s all cool tho.” Rayne crossed her arms.

“That’s none of your...” Felix’s hands shook, strangling empty air. How in the Byss does she think it’s okay to poke someone’s sore spot day after meeting them? He took deep breaths. Focus.

“So tell me about doctor Havardi?” She wasn’t on Havardi’s side, that much was evident. But was she an ally?

“Not the best dodge, but oke.” Rayne shrugged.

Felix’s eye twitched. Even if she was an ally, she was infuriating!

“Doctor Havardi is one of those people who always grins.” Rayne’s voice gained a grim undertone. “Always. Afraid I can’t tell you much more than that.” She looked away, thumbing the mark on her wrist.

Heat melted from Felix’s veins. Though rested and outwardly calm, she had the twitchy air of a person tired of secrets, tired of hiding, and tired of being scared. Somehow, it reminded Felix of how Erik had been, but lacked the glee of greed. The jibe probably hadn’t come out of malice.

“Guess I’ll find out more once we meet.” Felix finished repacking his camp.

“Two smiley men. Ayayay...” No malice. She was just crass.

Felix flashed her a big passive-aggressive grin. “Mmm-mm! Nothing like a good smile to make you feel rested and ready for a day. Maybe you should give it a try, frownie?”

Rayne pressed her forehead in exasperation, muttering something. “Frownie my ass. Come on then. Let’s get going, smiley.”

“Oh nooo. Smiley. What a scathing nickname I’ve been bestowed.” Felix clutched his chest, grimacing. “My pride. I’m not sure it can take this.”

“Fuck off!” Rayne turned, a hint of a smile on her lips.

Felix grinned back, following after her.

A crumpled note dropped from her pocket, Felix picked it up, and was about to call out, when his eye caught the text.

Overly elaborate and artsy handwriting covered the thin sliver of delver’s-foil, which he covertly showed to Bii.

Boy-girl-dear whoever received the first note,

Rayne is with us.

Yours truly,

—S

His chest puffed with pride, Bii began to quietly ping and gesture, explaining how S must’ve convinced Rayne with his… charms? Hold up.

“How am I understanding you?” Felix whispered.

Bii pinged again, displaying its feelers.

Felix stared at the note, then at Rayne. She was in on this, whatever this conspiracy was that S had concocted against Sofie.

Future brightened and everything began to feel possible again. Only Bridge Station remained between him and the person who might help him get his home back. Whatever troubles awaited at Hollow Conservatory, Felix had Bii, S, and Rayne on his side. More allies than he’d ever had outside family.

Felix crumpled the piece of foil and threw it past Rayne, making sure she saw he’d read it. They shared an understanding look, agreeing not to talk about it under the watchful purple eye.