She made it back to the scorpions in half an hour. Not needing to worry about Thokri, she could go all out. She filled up her pouch with rocks and grabbed the spears. She also yanked the stinger off the big one to give to the spider people. They would need more anti-venom and had trouble with the beasts.

“If I go back,” she thought. She wasn’t sure she even wanted too. She cared for Thokri and Barika. Elaine too even Voekeer was alright, but she didn’t care if she saw Lyreen again. Honestly, she didn’t know why she should keep going with any of them.

“I may go back to say goodbye to Thokri. Before I decide, I’ll spend some time out here,” she thought. She tossed the stinger back. It would rot before she came back this way.

She picked the path that led deeper underground and started to run. She could run hundreds of miles in a day. Deeper and deeper she went. Thokri had been right. Things down here were downright nasty.

“They all crunched and squished the same though,” Anna thought, chuckling at the memory.

After four days of running, she found an enormous opening leading straight down. Sending an eye down, she guessed it was around a mile deep. She could climb back up if she wanted.

“Should I go back?” she thought, looking at the hole. “Nope,” she said and jumped.

It didn’t take very long to hit the bottom. She used her legs to absorb the impact, ending up with one hand on the ground as well. She stood up and looked around.

“This place is huge,” she thought. It looked different than the caves above. The walls were nearly smooth, rippling slightly. So did the floor and the ceiling. She walked around at a normal human pace, memorizing the environment. She decided that if she didn’t stay down here, she would draw all of this for Beth.

She explored the area for a few minutes before feeling a hot wind. She noticed some sparkles coming from a passage.

She looked down the passage to find a room with numerous crystals that were glowing brightly. They were of all different colors. They had waves of energy coming off of them. She inspected them for a while, and then, out of curiosity, she snapped one off.

It hissed in her hand. Both broken sides were crackling but stabilized in a few seconds. She couldn’t put her fingers all the way around the piece, which was about as long as her forearm. She emptied the silk bag and stuffed the piece in it. She then broke off one of each color, stuffing them in the bag as well, before leaving the room.

As she left the room, she found vents in the floor spewing waves of sparkles. She looked at them for a moment. “I wouldn’t fit,” she thought after pondering a jump.

She heard an odd scraping sound, and the room vibrated just a little. She turned to look.

“The fuck is that,” she thought.

It was a mass of stone plates and spikes. What might be eyes covered it. One of the spikes opened and a glob of something shot towards her. She dodged it. The ground sizzled behind her. She glanced back to see the ground melting away, rock vaporizing like steam from a pot.

“Fuck that,” She thought.

While the ground was mostly clean, there were a few loose stones, and she winged one at the monster. It shattered without effect, not even a scrape on the rock plate. It was shooting more globs at her. They were easy to dodge, but she didn’t want to lose the glowing stones and wasn’t done looking around yet.

She tried more stones aimed at its eyes this time, but it just closed them before the rocks hit. She tried the tentacles, but they couldn’t get through the armor. She looked at it with an eye. Even that couldn’t see past the plates.

“I might be able to if I used more power, but then I’d pass out, and it would eat me,” she thought and shuddered internally. She didn’t want to be eaten and shit back out, naked, and covered in whatever that thing eats. She looked at it for a few moments before finding a small opening underneath. She grinned evilly at it.

“Right in the hole,” she thought, sending a tentacle up there. The beast wiggled some. It did notice, but it wasn’t enough.

“Fuck it,” she thought and spikes shot out of the tentacle inside the beast. Thokri had noticed that she could expand them. What he and none of the rest of the party knew was that she could change them to almost any shape.

The beast started shooting globs out from every spike while making a sound like steam coming out of a kettle and some gurgling. It lashed about, and then tried to run away. She removed the tentacle and let it go, leaving a trail of goo behind it. The goo sparkled.

She looked at the goo closer. “Everything down here is full of mana,” she thought.

She continued to explore, hiding from more of the rock monsters or darting away if spotted.

After a few more hours of looking, she came across a room filled with cubes. They were everywhere. “They don’t look natural,” she thought, but she couldn’t see any signs of people.

The cubes were made from layers of different minerals. Each layer was as thin as a hair. She used the eye to see into it, not wanting to damage the things, whatever they were.

She looked around, and not knowing what to do, she just licked one.

“Tastes like a rock,” she thought. “Well, I’m not a dwarf after all,” she said with a chuckle. Then she flew through the air, slamming into some of the cubes.

Ducking out of the way of another projectile, she looked at her attacker. “Huh,” she thought, seeing the thing. It was numerous spheres that flowed into and out of each other with a multitude of limbs that would spring out randomly from the mass. It was lobbing some of the spheres at her with shocking precision.

Stones did nothing to it, and neither did the tentacles. She didn’t want to get close enough to use her fists.

“I should leave now,” she thought, and then more of them started to pour out. She ran out as fast as she could, dodging the things. She ran towards the way up. The things kept pace. She barely dodged as she ran, getting smacked a few times sending her flying, but she was able to get back up and keep running.

“There must be a few dozen of them,” she thought, using the eye to see behind her. She flung herself up the hole, using a tentacle each time she slowed to summon another to send her higher. The things kept shooting at her but didn’t follow.

She reached the top and paused. She walked back to the edge, lifted her dress with her right hand, spread her feet apart, and pissed down the hole. She made a rude gesture with her left hand and swore the foulest things she could think of in dwarven before turning and heading back to the city.

She took her time heading back, taking about a week for the journey. All told, the whole excursion had taken two weeks.

“I hope they didn’t leave,” she thought, walking through the city.

She hadn’t bothered asking the spider folk. She didn’t want them to ask her for anything else, realizing that Elaine had been right. She walked to the building where they had been staying, hoping she would find them.

“I could track them down if I need to,” she thought as she walked in the door.

They were all there. George was missing, and there were no spider people, but her friends were here. Elaine, Barika, and Thokri were eating stew near the light. Voekeer and Lyreen were sitting off to one side. He was frowning, and she looked like she had been crying for some time.

“They haven’t noticed me yet,” she thought. “You will not believe what I saw,” she said.

“You came back!” Lyreen cried, running towards her. She was pulled into a hug and mashed against the woman’s chest while Lyreen sobbed on her head.

“Yes, I came back, but I thought you hated me,” Anna said to the woman. She stopped hugging Anna and stepped back.

“I don’t hate you. I never did. Please forgive me. I didn’t mean to say that. Don’t leave us again,” Lyreen said.

“I had thought about staying down there,” Anna said. Lyreen looked like she was ready to burst into tears again. “I came back because I realized I wasn’t just angry with you. I blamed myself for Thokri nearly dying, and I couldn’t handle anymore. I think it all just kind of blew up. You, the spider people, George, everything,” Anna continued. She smiled at Lyreen who smiled back.

“We did put you under a lot of stress. I guess you’re not completely indestructible after all,” Elaine said.

“I guess not,” Anna replied.

“I’m glad you came back, lass,” Thokri said, walking over. He eyed her. “Where in the name of the stone one have you been?” he asked.

“I went deep, really deep,” Anna replied.

“How far down did you go?” Barika asked.

“I went to the deep ground and came back,” Anna answered.

“Tell me?” Thokri asked.

“What’s the deep ground?” Voekeer asked just after.

“Lad, it’s so deep that not even dwarves can go there. No one has survived. Until now,” Thokri responded.

“By the tree,” Voekeer said.

She walked over to her pack, took out her trusty drawing supplies, and went to the still present table.

“I’m going to draw what I saw and explain. Wait till I’m done to ask. I’m going to be concentrating on this, and I don’t want to miss something,” Anna said. They all nodded and crowded around the table.

She began to draw and describe what she saw, starting with the decent into the deep ground, the crystal cave, the stony monster, the vents, the cubes, the things down there, and finally the escape. It took her an hour to draw. They all were inspecting the drawings.

“Oh, and I have these,” she said, remembering the crystals. She pulled one from the pouch. It was glowing brightly here. “Must have been really bright in that cave,” she thought.

Thokri’s eyes went wide, and he reached for it. “Can I?” he asked.

“I was hoping you would,” Anna replied, handing it to him.

He put his tongue on the crystal, and his eyes went wide. Slowly pulling it away, he just looked off into space.

“I’ve never tasted its like. It’s not even close to anything,” Thokri said, handing her back the crystal.

“So, what do you all think?” Anna asked the group.

“It sounds like something out of a story book,” Elaine said.

“One where the heroes don’t make it,” Barika said.

“Aye. As much as I’d like to see it, I don’t think even the lass could keep us safe,” Thokri said.

“It would take a year for all of you to get to the entrance, and I don’t think any of you would make it there,” Anna said.

“That far?” Voekeer asked.

“I can run about two days of normal travel in half an hour, and it took me five days to get there. I didn’t rest either,” Anna replied.

“Can you tell me more about the stone monster? The one with the magic blood?” Barika asked.

“I can’t tell you much more other than I fought it as hard as I could, and only the tentacle worked,” Anna replied.

“How did the tentacle stop it? I can see how it would hurt one of us, but that thing sounds tough,” Elaine said.

Anna summoned a tentacle and then had the spikes pop out. “Think that up the ass would work?” Anna replied.

“Ouch,” Elaine replied, moving her hand towards her butt.

“By the goddess child, that is just mean,” Barika said.

“It tried to melt me then eat me. I don’t feel that bad for it,” Anna said shrugging. “As hard as that fight was, I did win in the end. Those things in the cube room, I couldn’t do anything against them. All I could do is run,” Anna said. She grinned. “I did get them back, just a little,” Anna said.

“How?” Voekeer asked.

“I pissed on them and told them how I felt about them,” Anna replied. Then she said the foul dwarven words.

Thokri nearly passed out laughing. “Lass, that is the perfect ending to that tale. I’m gonna have a song written about this,” Thokri said.

“You peed on them? You peed on things from the nightmares of the dwarves?” Lyreen said.

“Yes,” Anna replied.

Thokri patted Anna on the back. “That’s my lass. I’m gonna ask to have you adopted into the clan when we get back to Oldforge,” Thorki said.

“I can’t taste minerals, and I don’t have a hairy butt. I don’t think I’d make a good dwarf,” Anna said.

“Lass, you’re a dwarf in all the ways that matter,” Thokri said.

“Can I see one of the stones?” Lyreen asked.

Anna handed her one of them. She took it with both hands and closed her eyes. Her hands sparkled for a moment before a large wave of mana pulsed from the stone. Lyreen’s eyes popped open.

“It’s pure mana. Pure condensed mana. I didn’t even know that could happen,” Lyreen said, still holding the stone.

“I read about that once, but honestly, everyone at the academy thought it was a legend,” Elaine said.

“The things we could craft with that,” Thokri said.

“I was planning on giving them to you anyway when we get to Oldforge,” Anna said.

“Lass, I couldn’t,” Thokri said.

“What am I going to do with them?” Anna asked.

“You could sell them for a fortune,” Voekeer added.

“I don’t need money. I already have more than I need,” Anna replied.

“You could live in comfort for the rest of your...” Voekeer said, stopping when he realized who he was talking to.

Anna just shrugged. She put the crystal back in her pouch. She heard spider people running away.

“Seems like they noticed the crystals,” Anna said. “You all need to run. I’ll buy you time,” Anna continued.

“What about you?” Voekeer asked. They all rushed to get their packs.

“Grab mine as well. I’m going to lead them on a chase,” Anna replied.

“Friends?” Voekeer asked.

“I met all kinds of fun things down here. I just think I should introduce them,” Anna said.

“Oh, you should,” Voekeer answered.

The party set out with a map Anna had made for them. She marked a spot for them to meet in several days. Anna sat at the desk holding a crystal. She sent an eye after the party to make sure they made it out of the city.

“Now, I wait,” she thought. She didn’t have to wait long. There was a group of armed spider folk outside the building. She was watching them with an eye. One of them walked in.

“Give us the crystals,” he demanded.

“Why?” Anna asked.

“Now!” he demanded.

“No,” she said. Eyes began to open and tentacles appeared.

“They are ours. You stole them from the depths. We rule the depths,” he said, sounding more unsure of himself.

She smiled at him, put the crystal in her bag, and then dashed past the man, dodging all of ones waiting outside, and running out of the city just fast enough to be seen and followed. She led her pursuers on a grand chase and introduced them to the true rulers of this realm.

They broke off the chase after half of their numbers were lost. They slank back to the safety of their city in defeat. She met up with the party. The whole adventure only lasted a few days.

“Were you followed?” Voekeer asked.

“No. They didn’t have it in them after the scorpion pit,” Anna answered.

“Scorpion pit. You are mean,” Voekeer said.

“They tried to steal from me. They had it coming,” Anna replied.

“So, what now?” Elaine asked.

“We have two choices. We can go back to the surface, head back to the crossroads, and wait for spring, or we can head to George’s people and spend the rest of the winter there,” Anna said.

“Are you staying with us?” Lyreen asked.

“Until Oldforge. Then we’ll see,” Anna replied.

“Oh,” Lyreen said and walked away.

“I need to talk to her,” Anna thought.

They decided to spend another day at the camp and discuss what path they would take. The others debated each option. Anna refrained. She really didn’t care.

“So, the crossroads would be safer, but we would lose time backtracking and would have to brave the weather, or we can go to the bat’s village. We could safely wait till spring, but after what happened with the spiders, I don’t know if it’s worth the risk,” Voekeer said.

“We will take a vote then,” Barika suggested.

Only Elaine voted to go back to the crossroads. No one else wanted to brave the snow.

“She just wants to see that giant of a man again,” Anna thought.

“Wanna talk?” Anna asked as she sat down next to Lyreen.

“I don’t know what to say,” Lyreen replied.

“Just tell me how you feel,” Anna said.

“I can’t do anything right lately. Everything I say just blows up in my face,” Lyreen replied.

“Not used to making mistakes?” Anna asked.

“No, I mean, I made some, but no one seemed to care back home,” Lyreen said.

“Everyone makes mistakes. I mean, look at me. I have rainbow hair. If someone like the dreamer can mess up, what chance do the rest of us have?” Anna said.

“You’re not the rest of us. I don’t know why it took me this long to figure that out. After you left, I thought I would be happy you weren’t around, but I was still mad. I’m not mad anymore. I just don’t know how I feel,” Lyreen said. Anna thought about it for a moment.

“Why do you do that?” Lyreen asked.

“Do what?” Anna replied.

“You just kind of stare, like you aren’t here for a few seconds,” Lyreen said.

“Oh, that. I can remember conversations like I’m there. Everything. The sights, the sounds, the smells. I was just thinking of something Barika told me,” Anna said.

“You can do that?” Lyreen asked surprised.

“Yes, and I know that others can’t. I mentioned it to Thokri once,” Anna replied.

“Oh,” Lyreen said and sighed again. “Something else I didn’t know about you,” Lyreen continued.

Anna just shrugged. “How many people have you told about how you remember things?” Anna asked.

Lyreen thought about it for a moment. “No one that I can remember,” Lyreen replied.

“See, I have to ask because I don’t know what else is different about me. You don’t,” Anna said.

“I want to be friends, but I just don’t know how with someone like you,” Lyreen said.

“Why?” Anna asked.

“I don’t know. You’re just so perfect,” Lyreen replied.

“It sounds like you’re comparing yourself to me, but you shouldn’t be. You’re you, and I’m me,” Anna replied.

Lyreen smiled sadly. “None of this turned out right. It wasn’t anything like the elders told me,” she said softly.

“They never let you fail. They wanted to keep the harshness of the world from you,” Anna replied.

Lyreen paused. “I, I think you’re right,” she said.

“They also never told you about someone like me,” Anna said.

“No, they didn’t. I don’t think they thought any one like you would cross my path,” Lyreen replied.

“If it wasn’t me, it would have been someone else. This world is filled with strange and beautiful things,” Anna said.

“That describes you perfectly,” Lyreen replied with a smile.

Anna stood up. “Let’s go see what Thokri managed to catch for us. I hope it’s more spider,” Anna said.

“I take it back. You’re more strange than beautiful,” Lyreen said.

“Yep,” Anna replied, and they headed off to get some food.

It was a transparent blob. She poked at it with her knife. The skin was tough. When pierced, the insides oozed out.

“Is this really food?” she thought. The others seemed to share her opinion, except for Thokri, who was happily munching away. She took a bite. It was chewy, and the insides oozed inside her mouth.

“Well, that face is all I needed to see,” Elaine said, sliding the thing back into the basket Thokri had steamed them in. The others followed.

“They aren’t that bad,” Thokri said still chewing.

She spat out the thing and swished her mouth out with some water from a skin, spitting it out as well. “Yuck,” she said.

“If that bothers you lass, never please a man with your mouth,” Thorki said in dwarvish.

“If it tastes like that, he can suck his own cock,” Anna replied, speaking dwarvish as well.

Thokri began to laugh and slapped his knee. Anna started to laugh as well, handing the dwarf her plate.

“What’s so funny?” Voekeer asked.

“Learn dwarvish,” Anna and Thokri replied in unison.

Voekeer just shook his head. Thokri passed her his flask. She took a drink and handed it back.

“Well, that explains it,” she said.

“What’s that lass?” Thokri asked.

“Dwarves brew this stuff to get the taste out of their mouths,” she replied. They looked at each other for a moment before busting into laughter yet again.

“What taste?” Lyreen asked. Elaine put her hand on the woman’s shoulder and used her other hand to shush Anna and Thokri.

“Lyreen, you need to ask yourself if you really want to know what would make them laugh like that,” Elaine said.

Lyreen looked at Elaine, then back at Anna. “You know what? Never mind,” Lyreen said.

“She is learning,” Barika said.

The trip to the bat people’s village was slow and uneventful, mostly because she had gotten used to moving at inhuman speed.

“I need to get used to this again,” she thought, trudging along.

They passed a stream running across their path. It flowed into a new tiny passage.

“That reminds me of a stream near my village. The elders would take me there and let me swim in the pool it fed,” Lyreen said.

Anna had taken the time to get closer with the elves, realizing that even though they looked almost human, they were as different from them as dwarves were. While Dwarves were a boisterous, unruly bunch, elves seemed to be the opposite. They were on average a quiet, reserved people, slow to anger, spending large amounts of time in deep contemplation.

Her two companions were still young, still children, as far as other elves were concerned, and they were right. While elves mature to adulthood physically at the same rate as humans, it took them centuries to mentally become adults.

“I feel kind of bad about teasing her back now. It would be like teasing Beth,” Anna thought. She smiled, thinking of the girl.

“What are you thinking about?” Lyreen asked.

“Beth,” Anna replied.

“The girl from the Inn back in Fishport?”

“Yes, she was my first friend,” Anna said.

“Tell me about her,” Lyreen said.

“She’s happy and always smiling. She hugs everyone she meets,” Anna said. Both elves looked at her.

“That sounds like you,” Voekeer said.

“I do copy people I spend time with. She was my first friend. I’ll always be a little like her,” Anna replied.

“To think the first friend of a true immortal is a little girl from a port town on the frontier,” Voekeer said.

“True immortal?” Anna asked.

“Before you showed up, only the gods and maybe a few dragons could actually live forever. Everyone else could still be killed by violence,” Voekeer said.

“So, who’s the oldest of the normal races that you know of?” Anna asked.

“I think a few high elves are nearing ten thousand years,” Voekeer answered.

“I want to meet one,” Anna said.

“They are, uh, hard to deal with,” Voekeer said.

“Why?” Anna asked.

“The high elves are a reserved people and are held in high esteem by other elves,” Voekeer answered.

“He means they are stuck up pricks,” Thokri said.

Voekeer shook his head. “I suppose they would seem that way to a dwarf,” he replied.

“If they are high elves, what kind of elves are you two? You look the same,” Anna said.

“We are both common elves. At least, that’s what the high elves call us. There are many kinds of elves,” Voekeer said.

Anna looked at him, expecting more.

“There are mountain elves, forest elves, sea elves, river elves, and beast elves. I haven’t seen a beast elf, but gramma told me about them,” he continued.

“You met sea elves?” Lyreen asked.

“Yes. One came to see my father. He’s one of the best carvers, and they had a rare wood they wanted carved into a statue for a temple,” Voekeer said, looking sad.

“We will go visit him after this contract is done,” Lyreen said, squeezing his hand.

“Not right afterwards,” he replied.

The village was in sight. It was not what she expected. The nests were hanging from the walls and ceiling. They were an odd mixture of mushroom stalks and insect chitin woven together crudely. The cave floor was clean, unlike a cave inhabited by normal bats. There were a few structures on the ground.

As they approached, they were met by several of the bat people. George was among them.

“It’s good to see you, my friend. Did your trip to the deep lighten your heart?” George asked.

“It did. I learned many things and found treasure. The spider people tried to steal it, so we had to run. We were not followed,” Anna replied.

He let out a chirp. That was his way of laughing. “How many died trying that?” he asked.

“Many. I think I will be a demon to them for a long time,” she replied.

He waved at a bat woman. “This is my mate. We have a large nest together,” he said.

“Meaning lots of children,” Anna thought.

“I am forever grateful. You saved him. I could not have gone on without him,” she said.

“I couldn’t leave someone who needed help,” Anna replied.

“If only more could think as you do,” she replied. Anna smiled at her, and she smiled in return.

“Come, we have made huts for ground dwellers. We hoped you would come before returning to the bright,” George said, gesturing for them to follow. “We have huts for all to have their own, and one for the mates to share. Is she with child?” George asked.

“Lyreen, are you with child?” Anna asked.

“What? No,” Lyreen replied.

“She’s not,” Anna replied.

“Odd, but they will if they keep trying,” he replied.

“He said you need to keep trying,” Anna said.

Lyreen paused, then grinned. “We practice every chance we get,” Lyreen replied.

“They do every night,” Anna said.

“Good, good. It will be soon then,” George replied.

The huts were constructed the same as the bat people’s nests. The main difference being a leathery flap over the entrance. She inspected it.

“What is this?” she asked George.

“Skin of a giant mushroom,” he replied.

“That’s a big mushroom,” Anna thought before she went inside. The inside was bare with plenty of room for a bedroll and equipment. It was somehow warmer as well.

She unpacked her things, hanging up her clothes to air out. They had been stuffed in the pack for weeks. She checked the contents and found them to be in mostly good shape. Some of the herbs were moldy and a few knives had rust. She disposed of the herbs and began to clean and sharpen the knives.

“Anna, we are planning a feast for tonight. The bat people brought us a bunch of food. We could use some help preparing it,” Elaine said.

Anna put down the knives and hopped up. “What needs to be done?” Anna asked.

“Clean and chop the mushrooms,” Elaine replied.

“I did that all the time back at Fishport,” Anna said, leaving the hut.

They had a mushroom skin tarp on the ground covered in every manner of mushroom, fungi, and lichen piled high. Thokri was filling pots of boiling water with unidentifiable pieces of meat. Anna walked over.

“Any spider?” she asked.

“Aye,” he said.

She walked over to the pile of mushrooms.

“Hey, lass,” Thokri said. He held one of the goopy things from before and was wiggling his eyebrows at her. She smiled at him and picked up a very large, very phallic looking mushroom, and began to suggestively lick the tip.

After a moment, she slid the mushroom into her mouth deeper and deeper until it was nearly gone, and then she slowly pulled it out. All the while she looked Thokri right in the eyes.

He looked at her wide-eyed and then began to clap. Voekeer tripped over a rock watching her display and ended up face first in some bug parts. Lyreen rushed over to help him up. Elaine started to clap as well. Barika just shook her head.

It was the most food they had since the crossroad. Everyone ate their fill and more.

“These folk know how to treat guests,” Thokri said. The others sort of nodded, too full to answer, except for Anna of course.

“I wonder why the spider people were so stingy with food. They had more than these people,” Anna asked.

“Thought everything belonged to them. Folks like that don’t like to share. I mean, look how they treated these people. They didn’t even try to see if they were smart or not. Just kill them when ever,” Thorki said.

“I really don’t understand people,” Anna said.

“Lass, I’m three hundred and fifty years old, and I don’t understand people, except for dwarves that is,” he replied.

“That old and he doesn’t understand either. I don’t feel so bad now,” Anna thought.