“What in the world are Glowing Cragenbacks, anyway?” the Wanderer asks, holding a branch up for Shoja and Lahab to pass under. “Some kind of shiny rock?”

“No,” Lahab says, ignoring the loud scoff of disbelief from their guide. “A Glowing Cragenback is a type of mollusk. Its shell glows with a beautiful blue light, and it is often found in cave systems where there are pools of water.”

“I remember my father showing me an illustration of one once,” Prince Shoja adds with a smile. “I still remember it, faintly. Their shells, though rough, glow in patterns. It is said that when a Glowing Cragenback dies, the shell ceases to glow.”

“Yes,” their guide, none other than the woman who led the group of bandits that stole from them, says. “That is why you must capture them and deliver them to our King alive.”

Easier said than done, the Wanderer realizes. If the Bandit King does not have anyone else capable of this task, then it stands to reason that it is because the task is more dangerous or complex than it sounds.

“What awaits us as Starlight Cavern?” he wonders.

“You shall see for yourselves,” Gunya, the woman who leads them, replies. She does not slow down, moving through the forest with determination and familiarity, somehow seeing a path where all the others can see are bushes and brambles, trees and rocks. He almost feels as though they have been led in circles, walking in roundabout paths. “We are almost there.”

Though the Wanderer can follow behind easily enough, he senses that Shoja and Lahab are struggling, the former more than the latter. “And it only took us half the day,” he says sarcastically, holding yet another branch up for his companions to avoid. “We’ve made good time.”

“I thought you might like to see more of the forest, given that you are the first guests we have had in quite some time,” Gunya tells him. So, she has been taking them around in circles. He decides, then and there, that he does not like this Gunya person very much at all. First, she steals Lahab’s belongings. Then, she brandishes her dagger upon seeing them. And, to top it all off, she tires them out in the forest and refuses to tell them any more than they already know about the dangerous task ahead.

Perhaps the others feel the same, but they are too out of breath and focused on making sure they do not trip and fall for him to notice.

Finally, the four of them come upon the entrance of the cavern, so hidden is it by trees and bushes that they could have walked right past it without noticing it at all. It is also very, very dark within, and the group hesitates at the threshold.

A sense of anxiety has overcome your guide.

The Wanderer studies her closely, and it is true. Even though her hood is pulled low over her face, he can tell that she is nervous. Or frightened. She looks like she is ready to sprint into action, to fight, or run. “This is it,” Gunya breathes. “The three of you are on your own from here.”

“What are we to expect inside?” Lahab demands, also picking up on the woman’s sudden change of behaviour. “What lives in this cave?”

“A monster,” Gunya tells them curtly, then turns to leave. “Find out for yourselves. Get the Cragenbacks – alive – and then bring them back to the Bandit King.”

“Wait! How are we going to find our way back?” Shoja calls after her as she disappears in to the trees.

“I was only told to bring you here – not to wait around for you and escort you back!” she calls back, and then she is gone, lost to them in the trees.

“Not a very hospitable one, is she?” the Wanderer mutters, then turns back to the cavern, hands resting on his waist. “A monster, she said. Perhaps we should reconsider this.”

“What monster could there possibly be in the forest?” Lahab wonders. “A large animal? A bear, perhaps? Though it would be rather unexpected in these regions.”

Shoja unsheathes his sword, holding it with both hands. “Whatever it is, we can defeat it.”

This, the Wanderer is not so sure about. He imagines that were it so easy, someone would have already accomplished the task. No – there is something else at hand here.

“Are you certain we cannot simply return and… take your belongings with force?” he asks Lahab.

“The Bandit King is unfortunately right,” Lahab replies with a frown. “A battle with an enemy I know little about could damage Muna more. The destruction of my personal belongings is one thing, but the artifact cannot be destroyed. One crack shook the very earth beneath us. What would happen if…?” She trails off, shaking her head, and the Wanderer realizes that she is correct. They simply cannot risk such an event. “Besides,” she adds, “It is very bad form for one Guardian to battle another unless absolutely necessary, and the Bandit King… I want to know more about him.”

“And, so, into the cavern we go,” the Wanderer sighs. “At the very least, let us keep our wits about us. Whatever lies in wait, it probably does not take very well to strangers robbing it, either.”

* * *

The Starlight Cavern is dark – unnaturally so. It is as though a cloak, a veil of black, has been placed over their heads, and Lahab cannot see even her own arms and hands extended before her. She hears just fine, however, and every time one of them stumbles or trips over the uneven cavern ground, the sound echoes through the darkness, announcing them. She half-expects whatever monster lurks within to barrel straight into them. It could be following them now, at this very moment, and they would be none the wiser.

But the Wanderer, she feels, is not quite as burdened by the dark as they. His steps are more confident, and he does not stumble or fall, and he takes the lead without hesitation. Where she and Shoja wonder if there is a wall before them, he steps forward without concern, and where there is no inkling of direction where they might move next, he leads them to one side then the other.

Finally, after what seems like quite a while, she spots the faintest light, farther on down this cavernous maze, and even as weak as it is, it is enough to allow them to see at last. Her eyes, now trained to the dark, can make out the craggy rock floor and the stones that jut out here and there. She can avoid them, just as the Wanderer has been avoiding them, and even Shoja’s footfalls sound easier and more stable.

“We are almost there,” the Wanderer says. “That light – it is not sunlight. You said these things have glowing shells, did you not?”

He is right. The glow of light becomes stronger the closer they get to it, and it is most definitely a blue-white radiance, not at all like that of the sun. “They must be up ahead,” Lahab replies hopefully.

When they reach the source of the light, it is a breathtaking, awe-inspiring sight. The three of them pause at the threshold of the cavernous chamber, silent in their study of the vision before them.

Pools of still water, some barely visible in the ever-encroaching dark, glitter and gleam with the shine of a thousand stars beneath their glassy surface, blue and white light. The chamber extends a long way – so far that it seems there is a veritable sky before them, reaching out into some uncertain horizon where it meets the hidden walls of rock.

It is like nothing she has ever seen before.

With a deep breath, she takes the first step forward, walking carefully to the nearest pool of water. Within it are what must be hundreds of tiny galaxies, creatures that emit light, and there – in the middle of the pool, is a Glowing Cragenback, as beautiful and glorious as she has always read. Behind her, she hears the intake of breath as Shoja, too, looks into another pool of clear water. Each and every one of them holds a Glowing Cragenback, resting calmly in the middle, its light a dim, hypnotic glow.

Lahab reaches a finger to the surface of the water, barely touching it, and watches the muted ripples disturb the glass-like effect. “They attract to them hundreds of creatures, like beacons of light,” she murmurs as she moves her hand around, watching the waves distort the image of what lies within. “Each one of these Cragenbacks is a queen, and the hundreds of tiny subjects that surround them will follow them anywhere, even at the expense of their own lives.”

The Wanderer steps into another pool of water further along in the chamber, wading into the middle. He bends down and reaches into the water, and with a loud, wet pop!, pulls a Glowing Cragenback free of its rocky bed. “That’s one,” he says. “We must make haste. The longer we stay, the more likely danger will find us.”

As beautiful as the Glowing Cragenbacks and their little ecosystems are, Lahab knows the Wanderer is right. She steps into the pool before her and reaches in, pulling at the stubborn mollusk with all her might, until finally she gives up and stumbles backward, sitting at the edge of the pool. “This one is too strong for me,” she pants, stretching her back.

As Prince Shoja attempts to pull his own Glowing Cragenback out of a third pool of water, the Wanderer joins Lahab and hands her the surprisingly heavy one he holds in his hands. Then, in one easy movement, he reaches down and plucks the one that was so stubbornly set in its place moments ago, holding it up with a satisfied sigh.

“You loosened it up for me, I think,” he tells her, and she cannot help the chuckle that passes through her lips.

Then, just as he did with her, he assists Shoja in the same way. The third Glowing Cragenback is pulled free with another resounding pop!, and the Wanderer tucks it under his arm, holding it to him as he makes his way back to Lahab. “Do these creatures live long enough outside of water for us to deliver them?” he asks.

“Yes,” Lahab tells him, stroking the patterned shell of the one on her lap. “They should be fine for a day, perhaps.”

“Come, let us go,” Shoja says, joining them. “The sooner we leave, the better. This place has too many dark crevices, too many places to hide. What if the creature is right--”

A low growl rips through the chamber.

You have been caught trespassing into the home of a territorial beast.