Lira looked up toward the Giant Tree, her eyes tracing the familiar ridges of its bark, where light and shadow wove like living patterns. "Great Tree," she called softly, "the Book is showing me… creatures. Tiny spirits that live beneath the soil. The Diggers. Where can I find them? How do I bring them here?"
The Grove seemed to quiet, holding its breath. Then the Tree's deep voice filled the clearing, low and resonant like wind rolling over mountains.
"They live far from this place, child," it said. "In the Buried Glades, beneath the Stone Veins and under the Whispering Hills. You have glimpsed them before, though briefly, when you traveled through the portal to the mountains of ash. They were shy then, retreating deep into the soil before you could greet them fully."
