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I’m shocked at the sight of such a bizarre landscape, and as we pass by one enormous mushroom with a stem as big around as my waist, the strange yellow-gold color of it strikes me as odd and yet familiar. It takes a moment for me to realize it’s the same color as the tunic I’m wearing. Do they make their clothes out of mushroom fibers, then? We pass underneath the thick golden cap of the mushroom and I run my fingers over it. The surface feels taut and slightly slippery, just like my clothing. How strange and fascinating.
I touch the mushrooms as we walk, marveling at the strange landscape. I haven’t seen much of this new world that I find myself on—I’ve gone from snowy waste to cave to, well, another cave. And while the glowing moss is pretty, this is the first time I’ve seen my surroundings and thought that it wasn’t so terrible to be here.
I feel a bit like Alice in Wonderland at the moment.
Set’nef and his brother take the lead, picking the way through the mushroom-filled expanse with the confidence of someone who’s been here before. Of course they have. Their people are probably used to growing mushrooms of all kinds. My fingers dance over the edge of another large mushroom, this one waist high, as we move down a narrow path—
—and it ripples under my touch, a pair of eyes and a mouth appearing.
I yelp in surprise, drawing back.
Immediately, R’jaal is there, pulling me back against him and covering my mouth. I feel like an idiot as the thing resting atop the mushroom flutters its entire body, the disc of it moving into the air and drifting away like a manta ray. It changes colors as it abandons its perch, dropping the peachy gold for a more muted brown.
Both Set’nef and Tal’nef are glaring at me like I’m the worst person imaginable.
“Sorry,” I whisper, and mime that I’ll keep my hands to myself from now on. So much for Alice in Wonderland.
They remain alert, straining to listen to our surroundings, but when nothing happens, they relax and gesture us forward again. R’jaal nuzzles my cheek in silent reassurance and holds my hand again, and I suspect it’s to keep an eye on me. I don’t blame him. I want to point out that if I’d known that color changing manta rays lived on the mushrooms, I wouldn’t be running my fingers all over them, but I should have known better.
This isn’t Earth. It isn’t a playland. No matter how pretty my surroundings might be, I don’t know how dangerous they are.
We stop at a trickling waterfall that floods from a hole in the rocks above. The water smells a little like sulfur and is as warm as a bath, so while we pause and the men refill their drink canisters, I wash up. I scrub my hair and every inch of my sweaty, sticky skin until I feel human again. I notice R’jaal is doing the same, and we’re both careful not to splash. We drink water, rest a little longer, drink more water, and then Set’nef gestures that we need to leave again.
“We will stop soon,” he whispers to us. “But not here. It is never safe to stop near water.”
I give him a thumbs up automatically, and he stares at my finger for a long time, clearly trying to decide if I’m showing him a wound of some sort. R’jaal covers my thumb with his hand and nods emphatically at Set’nef, answering for both of us.
“Sorry,” I whisper to R’jaal.
He shakes his head and leans in, his breath warm and comforting against the shell of my ear. “Do not apologize, R’slind. This is all new to you. They do not realize.”
I give him a grateful smile, glad that someone understands me at least.
The mushroom forest grounds seem to be sloping up after a while, and then we reach the edge of the enormous, endless underground cavern. Set’nef pauses, putting a hand onto a stone wall that creeps up forever, every inch of the surface covered with thick moss and some sort of strange vine.
“We stop here to rest and sleep,” he whispers, his voice low. “Tomorrow, we climb.”
Climb? Climb where?
But then Tal’nef moves to the vine-and-moss-covered wall and tugs on the greenery. He nods, as if pleased at their strength, and glances up. He then gives his brother an expectant look, points at me, and then up the wall again.
Set’nef moves close, leaning in to speak to R’jaal. “You are hampered with only two arms. My brother and I will take turns carrying your female so you can keep up.”
Carried? Again?
“I can climb,” I whisper. “Don’t worry about me.”
They ignore me. To my surprise, I see R’jaal glaring at Set’nef as if offended. He steps in front of me as if to shield me from Set’nef, of all things, and his tail twitches angrily. “She will be carried by me.”
