It was Cross who spoke up first. “So we don’t know where we’re going other than “beyond,” we don’t know what we’re looking for, and we don’t know what to do with it if ever we did find it.” He scoffed and crossed his arms across his chest, a sneer on his face.

“Cross, please,” Red said softly to her twin. When Yunkef first saw them, they were almost indistinguishable. Now the contrast was stark; kind and caring versus hard and suspicious. “We could at least give it a try. For all our sakes.”

Cross inhaled sharply, looking between each of them in turn. Anre’s brow furrowed as he jerked his head to the side, listening to something. Cross grit his teeth and set his spear down in the dirt. “Fine.”

The guide’s smile was hidden, but Yunkef knew it was there. “Thank you, Cross. I understand this is a massive undertaking to ask of you all, but it is a relief to have you to turn to. If you are ready, I will take you to the edge of the darkness.”

“Wait, already?” Yunkef stammered. “I don’t have anything prepared! I don’t have supplies, or a weapon, or —“

“Don’t worry, Yunkef! I packed us lots of food and some water, we might have to find water on the way but what Cross and I have should be enough for a while.” Red beamed, looking through her pack.

“And I can hunt us something to eat with my beasts.” Anre offered, then got distracted. He set off at a jog towards the beast cave. “Hold on, I’ll go get a beast.”

While his new friends and teammates went through their provisions, Yunkef looked down at himself. He was still dressed in the bright white robe he was given at the Citadel, though it was now streaked with dark dirt stains. He only had thin, light sandals, and the thought of trekking through into territory unknown even by the guide of the darkness had him bitterly missing the worn boots he used to wear at the Settlement.

A snarling and huffing sound coming from the cave snapped Yunkef out of his thoughts. Turning towards the cave, he instinctively braced to run flat out, in any direction, as long as it was away from the beast. But when Anre emerged, the beast that followed at his heels was half the young man’s height and as long as he was tall. It loped along on six legs and had two rows of eyes going down the length of its back. Its main head was devoid of eyes, and the lower third of it was split into a gaping mouth that showed three rows of teeth when it yawned.

Anre reached out a hand towards the beast, and it quickly put its head into the young man’s palm. Both of its short tails began to thump the ground. “This is Ice, she’s my favorite. If I can only bring one beast with us, it’s gotta be her.”

“It’s, um… Ice is friendly, of course?” Yunkef drew in a shaking breath. Ice truly had a lot of teeth. Being able to see exactly how many teeth there were did nothing to settle Yunkef’s nerves. Maybe it was a small blessing that he couldn’t see when he was being chased by beasts.

“Of course!” Anre barked, laughing with his hands on his hips. “Get over here and give her a pat!”

Yunkef made a panicked high pitched noise.

With a wave of Anre’s hand, the beast stepped towards Yunkef. The twins balked and sought refuge behind Night, with Red pulling Cross closer to her and the latter holding his spear at the ready. Night simply looked on as Anre’s pet beast came within inches of the terrified Yunkef.

Holding out a shaking hand, Yunkef took a breath and held it, screwing his eyes shut. Ice lowered her head into the boy’s palm, just as she did with Anre, and stayed there.

After a few tense seconds, Yunkef tentatively opened his eyes. Ice's large, eyeless forehead was resting against his palm. The beast's hide felt smooth and surprisingly cold to the touch, quite different from the tough beast hide the hunters would bring back from their hunts to the Settlement. Mercifully, Ice's mouth stayed closed, hiding the rows of teeth and letting only a few sharp teeth poke out past the lips. Gently, Yunkef patted Ice's head and the beast sniffed appreciatively.

"See?" Anre laughed. "Wasn't so hard, right? Come on back, girl."

Ice loped off to sit beside Anre again, and the wild-man was grinning, pleased with having proven his beast's behavior.

"If you are all satisfied with Anre's choice of traveling companion, I suppose you can return to preparing for the journey?" Night lightly prodded, amusement clear in their void. The guide made a small gesture and encouraged the twins to come out of hiding.

"Hmph. I could take it if I have to." Cross muttered, clutching his spear. Anre, with his enhanced hearing, laughed.

Yunkef paused to watch his new friends and traveling companions banter and tease each other. Red quickly took charge of taking inventory of her's and Cross's supplies and volunteered to go through Anre's shack for anything else they might be able to use for the trip. With one severely unprepared and the other willingly unprepared, Red was quickly growing more frustrated by the lack of supplies.

"Yunkef, if you have a moment." Night said softly. The guide had moved to the side while the others busied themselves.

"Yes, Night?"

The hooded figure sighed, their shoulders slumping and letting the emerald light spill onto the ground. "Take care of yourself out there, Yunkef."

"Well, I mean I will try, of course," Yunkef replied softly. He went to stand beside Night and idly watch the others with the guide.

"I know you will, but you have a good heart. It would break mine if you were to squander it, or if worse would happen. And..." Night trailed off for a second before looking pointedly at Yunkef. "Take care of yourself. There are many hidden dangers in the darkness. Many that you would never expect."

"Huh?"

"Just be careful, Yunkef. I look forward to seeing you again after this is all over, so make sure you take care of yourself till then."

Yunkef found himself staring up at the guide, confusion and concern written all over his face.

Night simply turned away and said nothing more.

It took a little longer for the four of them to prepare and agree on a plan of attack, but Yunkef somehow managed to get Anre and Cross to settle down and not fight enough to get going. He turned to the guide, his eyes shining with determination in the emerald light of the lantern. "Night, we're ready."

The guide nodded once and approached them. They held the lantern in an outstretched hand. "Place your hand on the lantern. I wish you all well, and I hope to see you again." Night's voice quavered for a moment, and Yunkef could have sworn a tear fell from within the hood.

The four of them touched a different area of the lantern, each making sure their whole palm was touching the cold metal. Anre had his other hand firmly holding one of his beast's forelegs.

Night nodded, and the light of the lantern began to intensify. It grew so bright that the four had no choice but to shut their eyes tightly. As the light grew, Yunkef couldn't help but look toward Night's face.

For a brief moment, before the light blinded him, he saw the tired, drawn, pale face of the guide. Night was hardly more than a skeleton within the robes, heavily emaciated with skin stretched taut over their bones. But the guide's eyes, though sunken, were sharp and wet with tears. The dark eyes, which turned bright green from the light, stared back into Yunkef's curious gaze.

And Yunkef understood.

The light blinded the three and caused the beast to balk and whine. Then just as suddenly as it flared, it was gone. The darkness that enveloped them was slow to dissipate as their vision struggled to readjust to the absence of light. Anre was unaffected but had to calm Ice down from the shock.

Yunkef tried blinking the spots from his eyes several times to clear his vision and take quick stock of their surroundings. "Is everyone here?" he called.

"We're here! We're fine." Red answered, still rubbing her eyes. Beside her, Cross grumbled in protest.

"I'm fine, but Ice isn't having it," Anre replied. "I'm working on it, don't worry."

"She better not turn on us," Cross muttered, leaning on his spear, still struggling to see.

"Good, we're all here." Yunkef paused a beat. "Where's Night?"

"Night? Night!" Red called, whirling about and scanning the area as best as she could. "Night's not here!"

Yunkef took a breath to steel himself. There wasn't anything to do now but carry on. "So we're really somewhere Night can't follow. Let's get going."

Anre sniffed and patted Ice on the beast's eyeless head. "Alright, where to?"

"Forward from here is as good a heading as any," Yunkef replied. "Everyone stick together and be alert if you see anything!"

"Hah, won't need to do that," Anre replied with a quiet chuckle. All the same, the wild-man set off first to scout ahead for the group.

"Don't go too far just yet, Anre. We don't know what's out there."

"You worry too much Yunkef, I'll be fine! I didn't survive as long as I did all on my own surrounded by beasts if I wasn't!"

"All the same, Anre! We don't know what's out there, and Night can't come to rescue us." Yunkef looked to each of them in turn. His hands fidgeted as he wrung them with worry. "We've only got each other now. And I'll be the first to admit it, but I'm terrified."

Red smiled softly as she put her hand on Yunkef's shoulder. "I am too. But it'll be okay. Night didn't drop us off here just like that, remember? We were able to prepare, and we know what we're looking for."

"Do we though? Really?" Cross scoffed. He slammed the end of his spear into the ground to make his point. "Even Night has no idea what we're supposed to be looking for! It might even be a ploy by Lady Black to get rid of us."

"What?" Yunkef said, his voice wavering.

Just in front of them, Anre barked a laugh. "Who cares? Where's your sense of adventure? Did you lose it living in those cozy Settlements and little farms?" he beamed wide and threw an arm over the twins' shoulders. "Night picked us for a reason, and that guy doesn't do anything without a reason, so why worry? Let's just get this over with and go find what there is to see out here!" he let go of the twins and spun away with his arms outstretched, laughing and having a good time. "I know I'll have no idea even if I found it!"

Yunkef couldn’t help but crack a smile. Somehow, between Red's gentle reassurance and Anre's foolhardy positivity, he found himself feeling a little bit better. "I guess you're right, Anre. There's nothing to do but get it over with. Let's head straight out from where Night dropped us off, we might be able to find a landmark."

The four began their long trek through the darkness and found that the landscape itself was curving upwards ever so slightly. Everything from where they came from, the Settlements, the Citadel, and both the twins' and Anre's homesteads were all on flat land pocked with outcroppings of rocks and caves. They noticed the upward trend quickly but trudged on despite the unfamiliar terrain. Not long after noticing the change, Red held her hand out and called a halt.

"Hey, hold on!" She cried, a hand on her twin's shoulder stopping him in his tracks. "Don't move!"

Anre, who was a few feet ahead of Red, stopped in his tracks and whistled for his beast to stop as well. "What is it? Is there a trap? Did I step in it?" he whispered back at her with a quiver in his voice.

"I'm not sure, but stay still Anre." Red trailed off, and she took Cross's spear from him. Moving to the front of the group, past Anre and the nervously still Ice, Red approached what looked like a sheer rock face rising suddenly and sharply out of the ground. She jabbed at the rock with the tip of Cross's spear, moving aside smaller rocks and shriveled jagged woody vines. "There's a cave over here!"

"A cave?" Yunkef whispered. His blood ran cold as the memory of the light laughter sounding in his ear in the utter darkness came to the forefront of his mind. "I don't think we should go near any caves, Red."

"What's in it?" Cross said,

Red worked on clearing the way around the cave entrance a bit more and peered in. "I can't see much, it’s even darker than usual inside."

"Yes, let's not go in. Please." Yunkef swallowed the lump in his throat. "Red, please step away from the cave!"

"Hold on! I think I can see something. Glowing blue, kind of like our mushrooms!" Red's tone turned excited enough for Anre to break ran and come over.

"Let me take a look!" Anre said.

"Take a look?"

Anre positioned himself at the mouth of the cave, with one hand on a cave wall. He felt around, finding the cave entrance to be just wide enough for two people to walk through side by side. He leaned into the cave, keeping his feet still outside, and chirped. Letting out a series of quick, high-pitched chirps, Anre listened hard as the sound bounced around inside the cave and back to him.

"Seems safe." He said after he was satisfied with what he found. "There are small beasts in the ceilings of the cave but they're much farther in and not a threat. The cave is long and narrow, but it opens into a larger cavern. Uneven footing, but should be safe enough."

"That's amazing! How did you do that?" Yunkef remarked, coming over to the two by the cave entrance. If Anre, tamer of beasts, said this cave is safe, perhaps there really wasn't much to be worried about. "How did you know all that from making noises into it?"

Anre smiled and shyly scratched his head. "I don't know. I just listen, I guess. You think it’s amazing?"

"And what if he's lying?" Cross sighed and approached as well, snatching his spear from his sister's hand. "We can't verify his claims until we put our entire selves at risk checking it out."

"Cross! There's no need to be like that." Red admonished him. "We're all in this together, so stop it."

Anre sighed, his shoulders slumping. Beside him, Ice huffed derisively. "I'll go in first then to scout ahead. If I get ripped to shreds, then you can be happy that you were right and I was wrong. Is that enough?"

"It would be a start."

Without another word, Anre turned back to the cave and started to feel his way into the tunnel. His loyal beast followed him closely and slowly, the many eyes running down her back rolling to look in every direction at once as they walked.

Once Anre was far enough into the cave, Red rounded on her twin. "What is wrong with you? Stop picking fights with Anre!" she hissed.

"Don't tell me you trust him!" Cross snapped back. "He's friends with beasts! Evil, mindless, beasts! Don't you remember how it was beasts that wrecked our Settlement and killed everyone there? Our parents were torn apart and eaten by beasts!"

Red reeled back like she was slapped in the face.

Cross didn’t give ground. “Don’t think for a second that I’m going to side with him, Red. And if you’re smart, and I know you are, you wouldn’t either. He treats that thing like a pet, while not even Night can tame the beasts? That doesn’t worry you at all?”

“You’ve made your point, Cross,” Yunkef said gently, stepping between the twins. “I can’t ask you to get along with Anre, or to understand where he’s coming from. But please, we need to stick together. We’re alone out here and we need all the help we can get.”

“Please Cross, just tough it out,” Red said, but her words were halfhearted. “Think of it this way, he’s still useful for what we need right now.”

Cross still seethed, the grip on his spear turning his knuckles white. “If he sets that beast on you while you sleep, don’t be surprised.” He grunted and stormed into the tunnel, bumping Red purposefully with his shoulder as he went.

Yunkef held back for a moment with Red, watching Cross disappear into the darkness of the cave. After a while, she spoke.

"I don't know what's gotten into him," she said, her voice small. "He used to be so understanding and patient. Sure, he was very protective of me and the farm, but not like this."

"Not aggressive?" Yunkef's tone was soft.

Red shook her head. "Not at all. He only had the spear to defend the farm. Whenever beasts would wander close to the farm, he would chase them away. We fought a few, but they were small and not a threat at all. But even to those ones, little wild ones, he wasn't like this."

"He must really hate Anre for some reason."

"I wish I knew what that reason was!" Red cried. "We're usually of the same mind! I know what he's thinking and he knows my thoughts too, but now it’s as if he's a stranger."

Yunkef was silent for a moment. "He said that beasts attacked your village and left you..."

"Orphaned and homeless, yes." Red continued. "But he didn't harbor such a hatred of beasts like this before. And Anre having tamed some... It insults him so deeply."

"Hopefully Cross will calm down soon. We have to work as a team to get through this and get home."

"Yeah, we do. But what a team we make, right?" Red chuckled dryly and set off into the tunnel with Yunkef following at her heels.

The tunnel was relatively short, though rocky and uneven, but opened into a vast cavern with ceilings so high they disappeared from view entirely. All around them were luminescent plants of all shapes and sizes, some growing taller than a grown man, and more stretching up to the high walls far taller than that. They pulsed and glowed with a soft blue and violet light and lit the dark and dreary cavern with their color.

Yunkef and the twins couldn't help but gasp in awe at the sight.