"It's beautiful!" Red breathed, eyes wide with awe. She slowly approached a crystal clear lake surrounded by a soft blanket of short blue grass. "I've never seen anything like it!"

"Wow, me too!" Anre said with a laugh.

Cross followed his twin at a more cautious pace. He poked a softly glowing plant with the tip of its spear and breathed a sigh of relief when the plant did not spew a spray of poisonous pollen or suddenly sprout sharp teeth. "It's definitely new, and beautiful. But what is it doing here, in a cave at the edge of the darkness? Red, don't drink that!"

"It's fine, don't worry! The water is cool, clear..." Red scooped another handful of water and brought it to her mouth, drinking deeply. "It actually tastes nice?"

"That sounds great Red, but maybe we shouldn't touch it as much as possible," Yunkef said, preferring to err on the side of caution. "We don't know anything about this cave or these plants."

"Well, I'm going to fill my water container with it." Red sniffed and sat by the lakeside, rummaging through her backpack. No matter what Cross said, she wasn't to be dissuaded.

Anre split off from the group with his beast and explored the edges of the glowing forest. The many eyes along Ice's back squinted from the light of the glow as they swiveled and looked around. "Hey, Yunkef!" Anre called after a while. "I think I found something!"

"What is it, Anre?" Yunkef went around the largest of the plants but had to move aside large leaves with his hand. "Not trouble, I hope?"

"Nope, but another tunnel," Anre said, pointing to a narrow tunnel that branched off from the main cavern. "Can't hear beasts that way. But..." he trailed off.

"But what?" Yunkef craned his neck to peer down the tunnel. It seemed to curve at some point inside, and he couldn't see the other end. "If there aren't any beasts, that's great, right?"

"It would be, if it wasn't for that." Without looking, the wild-man pointed upwards.

It took Yunkef a little while to see what Anre was pointing at, but once he did, his heart sank. Peppered along the walls of the cavern were many other tunnels, all of them perfectly circular and uniform. "Anre..." Yunkef's voice quivered. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Tunnels made by large, round digging creatures?" The wild-man shrugged. "Yeah, I think so."

"That makes this cavern a nest, right?"

"Might be. Maybe not this exact cavern, but maybe the next ones over that we find."

Yunkef swallowed dryly. "Let's go back out."

Anre nodded and whistled for Ice to leave the narrow tunnel they found alone, and head back where they came. Before they could even cross the length of the cavern, a great rumbling shook the area. Glowing leaves fell, shaken free from their plants, and a cloud of small insects took flight in shock. Red almost fell into the lake from the strength of the tremors.

“What’s happening?” Red screamed.

The tremors increased in intensity till all four of them were thrown to the ground, bracing desperately against the rocks. Ice whined and lay as flat as a beast could against the ground, Anre flinging himself on top of her to shield her. Rocks began to shake loose from the ceiling and clatter all around them as they fell. Cross huddled with his twin, both of them clinging to the other for dear life.

“Yunkef!” Anre cried above the din of rocks crashing all around them. “They’re in the tunnels above us!”

Looking up, Yunkef’s eyes went wide in horror. A large, round, worm-like beast was making its way through the tunnels, popping out of one and slithering into another, over and over. The movement of its massive body was dislodging part of the cave structure.

“It’s going to bring the cavern down on us!” Yunkef yelled, looking around in desperation. “Get into the tunnel Anre found! Quickly!” He called to everyone as he scrambled back onto his feet. The ground continued to shake unsteadily, causing him to stagger across the cavern. Anre pulled Ice along and all but shoved the beast into the tunnel, following after her. The twins followed suit with Red slipping easily into the tunnel, but Cross stumbled.

“Cross!” Yunkef stopped and braced against the cave wall.

“I’m stuck!” Cross yelled back. His leg had fallen into a hole in the cavern floor. Pulling himself up and moving more only caused him to get stuck deeper into the hole. “Go on without me, hurry! Take care of Red!”

Yunkef did not hesitate. He ran the short distance from the wall to Cross, almost stumbling himself from the uneven, shaking ground. He reached down and grabbed Cross under the arms and pulled. "You're going to take care of Red yourself! Come on!"

Cracks appeared in the roof of the cavern, causing the cavern itself to begin to split. Larger and larger rocks well onto the gently glowing foliage, crushing the plants and mushrooms under their bulk and snuffing out their light. The cavern was growing darker quickly.

Cross struggled and pulled at his leg, even using his spear to dig into the rock and pull himself along. "Something's down there, Yunkef! Something's got my leg!" he screamed, panic rising as what he had thought was sand scraping against his skin began to wrap around his ankle.

Yunkef crouched down to let Cross grab onto him more, and took the spear himself. He stabbed the spear's beast-fang point into the hole beside Cross's leg, and something under the ground screamed. The pressure around Cross's leg eased, and with one last pull, he was freed.

Not bothering to pause for pleasantries, the two boys ran in a panicked sprint towards the narrow tunnel, turning their bodies to the side to slip through. Just behind them, the giant worm beast crawled into a tunnel above theirs and shook the cavern walls with the force of its movement. Boulders crashed behind them, blocking the tunnel entrance.

"Yunkef! Cross!" Red cried from somewhere up the tunnel. "Are you okay?"

"We're okay, keep going! Find where this leads to and hurry!" Yunkef called back. He only hoped his words sounded as brave as he needed them to be, and didn't betray the shuddering panic in his voice. Behind him, Cross was silent with none of his usual hostile quips. The only sound Yunkef heard from him was his rapid breathing and the shuffling he made as he pulled himself through the tunnel.

The tunnel complex itself was terribly cramped, but it was at least vertical and allowed them to stand and feel their way through. It was dark, too dark even with their enhanced vision, and as they continued shuffling along almost sideways through the tunnel, Yunkef began to worry that they might be trapped there forever.

Just as he was about to entertain that thought, much to his own growing horror, what sounded like a beast cheering sounded up ahead.

"We found another cavern!" Anre's voice echoed back down the tunnel. "This one doesn't have worm holes anymore, and I think there are more plants. Seems safe."

"That's what you said about the last cavern!" Cross shot back. Though there was venom in his voice, Yunkef breathed a sigh of relief that Cross was getting back to his old self after the earlier shock.

"Well, how was I supposed to know there was a nest? I couldn't exactly see it right away if you didn't notice! How much longer is it going to take for you two to come out?" Anre laughed.

"We're almost there, Anre! Is Red there?"

"Yes, I'm alright! There are even more plants here, and it's beautiful! It even smells lovely."

Yunkef pulled himself through the rest of the tunnel, followed closely by Cross. They emerged into a second cavern, this one far larger than the last, with its own ecosystem of brilliantly luminescent plants. Tall stalks with striped leaves swayed in a slight breeze, and bright blue moss grew around a pond with water so clear the rocks at the bottom and tiny silverfish were clearly visible. A crop of glowing mushrooms grew out of a patch of soft soil, and when Ice pounced onto a batch of short shrubs, she disturbed a nest of glowbirds that took flight in alarm.

"It is beautiful here." Yunkef breathed, looking around. "Look at all these plants, there are even more than in the other cavern! And mushrooms, and glowbirds! And these things, in the water!"

Red came up to Yunkef, softly laughing as he stared entranced into the pond. "Those are fish, Yunkef. You've never seen them before?"

"No, never! What are they? Are they like the glowbeasts we raise for meat?"

"Something like that I think. I remember our Settlement had a little pond, and Cross and I would through scraps of food at them and watch them jump above the water. The ones back then looked a lot different from these though."

"Do you think we can eat them?"

Red sat beside the pond and gently lowered her hand into the water, careful not to disturb its calm surface too much. "I don't see why not. They glow, just like all the other creatures that are safe to eat. And look, they're nibbling my fingers!"

"Are you sure that's alright? What if it eats you?"

"They're much too small for that, Yunkef. The biggest one I saw is as big as my palm, and they don't have mouths and spiked teeth like Ice does." Red smiled reassuringly back at Yunkef. "These are fine! Try putting your hand in too."

Red chuckled lightly as she took Yunkef's wrist and put it in the water. The boy gasped as his skin met the cool water, and watched, transfixed, as the fish swam up to his hand and through his fingers. Their silver finds brushed against his skin and he started in surprise.

"They're slippery. Is that normal?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the swiftly swimming creatures.

"Yes, that's what happens when they're underwater all the time," Red replied, lying on the soft moss. "I think they're funny little things. Breathing in water and all."

Cross loudly cleared his throat. "Are you two done over there?" he said but glared at Yunkef.

"Cross, come over! There's fish in the water! You remember the fish back then, right?" Red smiled and waved her twin over, but was met with a glower.

Cross tapped his spear impatiently against the ground. "We almost died in a cavern just like this one, not a few minutes ago, and you're talking about the fish? We need to get moving!"

Yunkef withdrew his hand from the pond. "I agree with you Cross, we need to keep moving. We need to find what Night wants us to find." he looked back at Cross. "And you're also right, we nearly died! But this place finally feels safe, so I think we should set up camp here first."

"What? You can't be serious."

"I am. There's food and water here, no signs of beasts nests." Yunkef stood and brushed off his white Citadel robe. "At the very least we can replenish any supplies we lost in the tunnel and get our bearings. We don't know how to get out of this cavern yet. Anre, do you have a lead?"

"Not yet, but there are a few tunnels that branch off from here. Ice and I can scout each of them." The wild-man answered back.

"And we need to find the safest one, or at least one that won't lead us to a dead-end," Yunkef explained, hands out in a calming gesture. "So let's just set up camp here and plan our next moves. We can't exactly just go back where we came from and start over from there."

Cross seethed for a moment. It was clear he did not want to stay, and yet he was reluctant to head into another dark tunnel so soon. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine. We'll make camp."

Red got up and clapped her twin on the shoulder. "Come on then, let's find a good spot for bedding."

The twins took their packs and headed off deeper into the cavern, leaving Yunkef by the pond. He took a moment to appreciate the quiet of the cavern, which was such a stark difference from the near-cave in they had earlier caused by the giant worm-beast. Here, there seemed to be no creatures at all, save for the friendly, more familiar beasts which all four of them seemed to know how to handle.

"Hey, Yunkef." Anre said, approaching him. Ice did not follow him.

"Yes, Anre? What's on your mind?" Yunkef patted a space of moss beside him, and Anre didn't move. Yunkef's cheeks burned in embarrassment as he realized, and was silently thankful that the moss made no noise.

"Don't you think this cavern is suspicious?" Anre said. He cocked his head to the side, listening. "It’s spacious, it has food and water, no elements to need shelter from. No beasts, even. And beasts always make nests in caves when they can find them.

Yunkef looked around, and Anre was right. Still, he didn't quite grasp why he should be worried. "It makes for a good place to rest, I think. What are you worried about?"

"The worm-beast."

"But it's back in the other cavern, and there are no nest holes here. Surely it won't have any need to follow us here, right?"

"That's true, and I don't think it will need to follow us. But why did it drive us out from the previous area, and right into a place we could make camp?"

"What are you not telling me, Anre?"

The wild-man paused for a moment. "I think the beast drove us here. On purpose. I think it caused the cave in, forcing us to run here. Didn't you notice, it was so big yet it kept moving in and out of its tunnels? If it was hungry and eats people, and beasts always eat people if they could, then it would have come straight out of the rock and we'd be dead."

"But it didn't do that, and instead wandered through the tunnels long enough to cause the cavern to collapse..." Yunkef said slowly. "Could it be?"

Anre nodded. "I think we were made to come here for a purpose. I don't know what it is, and I might be wrong, but that's what my gut's telling me."

Yunkef thought about it for a moment. Even if the worm-beast forced them deeper into the rock complex on purpose, what would that purpose be? "As it is, I don't think we can do anything about it now. Let's stick to the plan Anre, we rest and resupply, and scout out the possible routes. We don't know where we're going, but the least we can do is make sure we're prepared."

Anre shrugged and turned away from Yunkef, whistling to Ice who bounded up beside him. He went back to work silently, going down one tunnel with just his beast.

Yunkef suddenly felt alone and quite useless. Anre was scouting, and the twins were resupplying, what could he do? In fact, what could he actually contribute to the group? His survival skills were subpar, his leadership even more so. While he grappled with an imminent existential crisis, his gaze fell on a glowbird waddling by.

It took Yunkef a while, but once the others had finished their tasks and camp was set up, Yunkef greeted them with a three course meal. He had set up a campfire on a flat area of the cavern and fed the fire with dried twigs and glowing leaves from the plants. Beaming sheepishly, he presented his dishes of roasted glowbird, fern and mushroom salad, and grilled silverfish to the others.

"Yunkef!" Red said, surprised. "You made all of this yourself?"

"Yes. I thought that, since you all were working so hard, I could contribute in whatever way I could." Yunkef smiled. "I can't scout, but I can cook. I recognized a lot of edible things here, we had some back at the farm at my Settlement."

"Huh, smells good," Anre said, sniffing. "And you made a fire? Thanks, I was getting cold too!" The wild-man sat on the ground near the campfire, holding his hands out to the flame to warm them.

Cross didn't say anything, he merely glanced at the cooked food then at Yunkef with barely concealed disdain.

Red lightly slapped her twin on the shoulder as she sat at the campfire with the others. "Thank you for this, Yunkef. Seriously. The only food we have otherwise are some dried meat that I made back at our house, and I was worried about how we were supposed to get more."

"Yeah that's fair, we don't know how long this trip will take." Anre chimed in. He patted the ground near Yunkef searching for food, till Yunkef handed him one of the fried silverfishes. "I did say that Ice and I can hunt for more food, but not every kind of beast can be eaten. Might as well eat a lot here while we have some, right?"

"You might have let us starve if we didn't end up in this cave." Cross scoffed, but Anre ignored him.

"Well cooking for you all is how I can contribute to the team," Yunkef said patiently. He started handing out portions of the food on broad sections of glowing leaves. "So for now let's sit and rest, eat up."

The meal went on in with a tired silence, with only the crackling of the fire sounding between them. Anre let ice hunt the glowbirds for her own dinner, while the group finished up Yunkef's meal. Only now that the group had a chance to sit and rest, did they realize how big a task they had taken upon themselves. Cross glumly retired to his tent, while Yunkef took a while to clean up and spread more leaves and twigs on the fire.

"Yunkef, mind if I sit with you?" Red said, already sitting beside Yunkef without waiting for his answer.

"Uh yes, of course."

Red leaned back and looked up at the ceiling of the cavern, up so high it was out of reach of the plants' glow. "What do you think we'll find?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean out here, at the edge of the darkness where Night can't go." She glanced at him. "Aren't you curious?"

Yunkef furrowed his brow. "Of course I'm curious, but I don't know what it might be. I don't know what it couldn't be either..." he shrugged. "I guess I just don't know enough. The edge of the darkness is uncharted territory, and even Night doesn't know what's out here. Night doesn't know what we're looking for either."