Soft steps echoed throughout the narrow cave path, accompanied by the whispered crackling of fire from a torch. Veira’s hand steadied her nerves as it brushed along the damp cavern walls, the other hand pushing her torch like a knife cutting through the darkness. With barely enough space to maneuver, and old eyes that couldn’t make out much past the point where the brightest light of her torch hit, the aged woman had little choice but to continue moving forward.

She did not know how to describe it, but she was being drawn in. Carried downwards, further into the shadows; like a friend long lost was holding her shoulders and gently nudging her along the path. In her many years, she had learned to trust this feeling. A feeling of certainty and assurance. A feeling that any amount of rational thought could not overpower. A feeling that persuaded her to let go of her judgement and light the fires of curiosity within her.

Thinking of what may lie ahead, Veira’s grayed eyes glistened in the torchlight. The cavern walls were rough, and Veira’s torchless hand felt every bump. Every crack in the wall, every cobweb. She did not need her hand for balance, nor for any sort of directional aid; dragging her hand along the bumpy walls was an act of comfort. Whenever her soft hand ran through a smooth, damp piece of rock, Veira paused a moment and pressed her hand, and occasionally the side of her wrinkled face against it. Not to find a secret button, as she did not expect to find any. Not to study the stone, as she had no interest in such things. She pressed against it simply because it was rejuvenating. The condensation on the old stone was both cool and warm. It was cool to the touch, but it left within Veira a warm sensation that further reassured her the feeling that impelled her through the tunnels was not one to be ignored.

Regardless of how energized Veira was mentally, her frail body did not share the same vigor. When she found the next opening in the cavern, shaky hands propped her torch in a crack in the rough stone wall. Veira tapped the chronorb hanging over her shoulder, and as she did so the liquids inside lit up with a dim mixture of blue-gray and orange. When they settled, it shone three fourths blue and one fourth orange, telling Veira it was nearly the end of her third day in the caves. She not-so-gracefully plopped down on the flat, damp stone and took note of her remaining ration. Three chiroroot wraps, and a handful of Elsavian dried drift-salt biscuits - about half of what she set out with. She sat and pondered for some time, and ran her finger athwart the odd amount of water on the stone surface of the cavern wall. Veira ate her fill and forced her body up with labored breath. She stretched her arms and visibly shuddered before continuing her journey through the deep caves.

Her eyes set forward, Veira pressed on. She may not have known where she was going, and as difficult as it may have been to see; within her heart, Veira did not feel she was lost. She was not going into the cavern blind. She was searching for something, something she knew lay within this murky cave. She sensed it - the raggedy old woman could feel it in her veins, and in the veins of the stone beneath her feet. In the stone there was a pulsing, like the passageway was alive. Each step Veira took in the direction of what she was looking for, the rhythmic pulsing became more prominent. Her thoughts were certain. There was little in her way now, save the cobwebs and an occasional drip of water on the nose.

Her path narrowed, and Veira inched forward at a pace that would put a turtle to shame. She was forced to flatten herself against the wall, and barely managed to squeeze through a few spots. Veira’s hand continued to guide her along the wall, until it felt something most peculiar. She paused, and examined what her guiding hand had discovered. Her eyes missed it while the torch light shone on it; but the feel was unmistakable - it was a plant. It had been almost three days since beginning her journey through the long and winding cavern, and it had been almost three days since she had seen any source of green life. She had heard rats, felt the occasional insect along her nearly-bare feet, and brushed her hand along terrified spiders. This was the first plant. It was no flower, but Veira’s decrepit, yet astoundingly calm-in-the-moment fingers plucked the stem from its abode. She managed to turn her head and lifted the small two-leafed sproutling to her nose, and inhaled. It was fresh, and it had an aroma that Veira, in her many years, had never smelled before.

“You’re a curious one, aren’t you?” Veira asked the tiny little plant as she examined it closer.

It did not respond, but instead revealed a color that danced along its leaves that Veira was not expecting. A beautiful, iridescent blue. A blue that was clearly there, but looked as though it was not. As Veira held the plant in her fingertips, she noticed that the blue hue was slowly diminishing. It was difficult for her to see to her full ability in the torchlight, but it was clear that whatever it was that was in this curious stem’s leaves was not going to last. Before long, the blue coloration on the leaves was nothing but a memory. Veira was now holding a normal plant. A regular plant that you’d no sooner look at, let alone pluck while wandering along forest trails. Determined to press on, Veira dropped the broken little plant, without bothering to watch it hit the ground. As it fluttered to and fro in the darkness, it came to rest in the tiniest of puddles. In that tiny puddle in the darkness, the broken plant shone blue again.

As Veira ventured further, the puddles became more frequent, and the moist but stale air was replaced with an air that coated her lungs like a drink of cool water. Looking down, she noticed the water carried the same shade of blue that bounced along the leaves of the plant she cast aside. Soft echoes traveled along the cavern walls as Veira’s steps created ripples in the shallow pools at her feet. The tiny waves she brought with her light strides shattered the blue pulsing lines in the water into what seemed like millions of tiny mesmerizing stars. The ocean of stars beneath her feet felt rejuvenating, much like the stone she pressed against. With every pulse coursing through the cave, she could feel it tingle in her soles. The pain from walking that once was, turned into a soreness, and the soreness eventually turned to nothing. For a long time Veira stood in the darkness, staring down and swishing her toes in the stars at her feet. A tranquil ensemble of fireflies in a night sky reflected in her dark pupils.

A sharp crackle from her torch snapped Veira back to her senses, and she knew she had to rid herself of distraction. As she looked up, she could tell there was more light than just what her torch provided. The same blue, radiating from a passage ahead. Adrenaline pumped through Veira’s old bones, and she quickly remembered why she was here. Her feet soared along the water, causing waves of blue light to crash against the walls of the passage. Closer and closer Veira came to her destination, the water getting deeper with each step. As she arrived at the bend from which the blue light was emanating, the water had reached her knees. She turned the corner and her eyes lit up with a powerful blue. A massive open room towered over her like a mountain. In the middle of the room was an island with a large mass of what looked like crystal in its center. Long, spiraling trunks of vine climbed out of the crystal that connected to the ceiling, and extended along it like tendrils. Covering the walls, ceiling, and central island of the room was a magnificent display of greenery. Plants of all sizes scattered along the water’s edge; remaining still but seemingly dancing in what looked like perfect synergy.

Veira stood in shock.

Her mouth wide open from her jaw going slack in awe of the beauty of the seemingly natural structure. She slowly began making her way through the water, carefully probing the ground beneath her with her feet as to not trip on an unseen rock. As she got closer to the island in the center she realized that the water was beginning to become clear, and she needn't be careful any longer. The bottom of the shallow lake became clearly visible, and she noticed that the same tendrils that were extending along the top of the cavern, also ran along the bottom. The island in the center was the source of the light. Her torch was no longer necessary, as the brightness coming from the crystal mass in the center was nearly blinding. The old woman's eyes adjusted, which took a considerable moment, and she made her way out of the water. She sat down to catch her breath. She didn't feel physically drained - but the sheer scope of what she was taking in, and the fact she had finally arrived at the pinnacle of years of research, left her weak in the knees; and it only felt natural to give in.

After a moment of absorbing her surroundings, Veira began to realize she had changed. Her body felt twenty again; and she hadn’t noticed it earlier, but her eyesight seemed better than ever. She did not feel any complaints from weathered bones or tight muscles as she sat. Looking to the middle of the island, the pulsing she experienced throughout her journey was now visible. It originated in the center of the crystal mass, and she could actually see waves of that distinguished blue light course through the tower and then out through the massive vines above and below her.

(unfinished)