They collapse and go limp. Legs splayed, antennae drooping, not a twitch.
My fingers fly to my mouth and I gasp. No, no, no. I don't remember ever seeing any possibility where Peeble died like this. Not a single one. This can't be right. My eyes dart around the rocky landscape, panic clawing at my brain. What do I do with a dead beetle? Do I leave them here? Do I bury them? How deep do you dig for a beetle? Is there some kind of fae funeral rite I should know about?
Then I hear something that sounds a lot like an annoyed sigh.
I look down. Peeble has one eye cracked open, watching me.
"Elle, this is really depressing," they say. "Where is the wailing? Where is the traumatic grief of my departure? Shouldn't you be so distraught that you can't peel yourself off the ground? I was expecting at least a fetal position."
I stare at them for a solid three seconds.
Then I stand up and shove them. "Get up, you drama queen. I don't have time for your theatrics. That was a real shit move, Peeble. We have to find Kaelren."
Peeble rolls their eyes, and how a beetle manages to roll eyes that are essentially two shiny black dots, I will never understand. "Kaelren this, and Kaelren that. Does no one care that I chipped a claw?" They thrust one tiny leg toward my face. "Look at it, Elle. It's dreadful. I doubt you were considerate enough to carry a nail file. My new look is ruined."
I get to my feet and spin around, covering my eyes to shield them from the sun. The wind is whipping my hair into my face, and I have to squint against the brightness. "Where are we?"
"Well, genius, that is called a mountain," Peeble quips.
I scowl down at them. "I know it's a mountain. But I don't remember seeing any mountains before in the timelines I watched."
"That's because we're in the furthest portion of the realm. Not many travel to the Skystone Mountains."
Interesting. Nobody ever mentioned these in any of the iterations I watched. "What's up here?"
Peeble clambers up onto my shoulder and settles in. "Well, you've got all the elemental creatures that don't live down in the garden areas. You know, like the Veinlurkers over there."
I whip my head around, and that's when I see them. Thin, threadlike crystal seams running through the rock faces around us, pulsing with a faint blue light. They're everywhere, snaking through the stone in patterns that look almost deliberate, like veins under skin.
"Peeble. What does a Veinlurker do?"
Peeble has already floated back down to the ground and is using a rock to file down their chipped claw. "Hmm? Oh, yeah, so it's actually pretty cool. They redirect moisture through rock and flood tunnels by rupturing hidden water pockets. Mostly they hunt by collapsing ceilings from within."
I whip back around to stare at them. "They do what?"
"Yeah, we've probably only got a few seconds—"
They don't even finish the sentence. The ground swallows us whole.
One second I'm standing on solid rock, and the next everything drops out from under me. We plunge into some kind of massive cavern beneath the mountain, stones raining down all around us. I curl my body around Peeble and do my bestto shield us both from the worst of it. Rocks slam into my shoulders, my back, my arms. By the time I find Kaelren, he isn't going to recognize me through all the black and blue.
When the dust settles, I uncurl and look around. We're in a cave system. Tall ceilings, rough walls, the sound of dripping water echoing from somewhere deep. The only light comes from more of those crystal veins threading through the rock overhead, casting everything in a dim blue glow.
I glare down at Peeble. "You know, it would be nice if you gave some warning about things that might involve our death."
"I don't know why I should. You barely cared earlier when I was two seconds from my demise."
I close my eyes and count to three. "Okay. Tell me what you know about this tunnel system."
Peeble preens, straightening their antennae. "Of course! Well, rumor has it that there used to be massive trolls that ate anyone who wandered in here."
I look down at them, horrified.
"Relax, relax. Rumor has it that trolls used to eat anyone who wandered in here. Then the fae got smart and stopped entering, so the trolls ate each other instead. One by one, until only two were left. The final one died because he choked on the finger of his last companion."
My mouth is just hanging open.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Elle. You don't want the Veinlurkers getting in your system. They'll collapse your intestines from the inside, and then where will I be? Without a shoulder to sit on, that's where."
