[Cass]
The crack yawned wider after a night of picks and sweat. The Warbles had dug with voices humming, songs echoing against stone to keep their rhythm steady. Now the passage breathed warm air against Cass's face, moist and heavy, carrying scents that were not from this cavern.
He crouched, torch in one hand, and peered through. Roots like pale serpents hung from the ceiling, fat and swollen with faint bioluminescence. Below them stretched a wide ribbon of water, black and shifting, its surface broken now and then by ripples that had no clear source.
Cass's lips tightened. Opportunity always looks like teeth if you stare long enough.
"Lanterns," he said.
Karrek handed him two fungus-lanterns tied to carved handles. They glowed pale green, casting weak halos in the dark. Cass clipped one to his belt and raised the other. The light caught the roots, making them glow faintly gold.
The elder stood behind them, staff steady. "The Stone has opened," he said. "But the Stone also tests."
Cass nodded. "Then we take the test carefully."
He climbed through the crack first, his boots sliding on damp stone. The air hit him like a wet cloth, hot and thick. The tunnel sloped down into a cavern whose ceiling arched high, a dome glistening with water sheen.
The river moved across the chamber, wide and slow, but Cass could hear the weight of its current. If someone fell in, they'd vanish under its pull before a rope could reach.
Roots dipped into the water, some ending in bulbous pods that pulsed faintly. Cass stepped closer, sniffed, then sliced one free with his dagger. Clear fluid leaked, thick as sap. He dabbed it on his tongue, cautious.
It was bitter, earthy - but edible.
[System]:Resource Acquired – Root Pod (Edible, starch-heavy)
Shelf life: 2 days.
[System]: Warning – Pod veins fragile. Overharvest may collapse node.
Cass grinned. "Food."
Karrek plucked one down and sniffed it. "Smells like dirt."
"Tastes like life," Cass said. "Get baskets. Careful cuts, don't break the veins. If the roots die, the pods stop growing."
The Warbles moved quick, knives flashing. Small baskets filled with glowing pods. The cavern hummed with relief. Food days might stretch again.
Cass let himself breathe once. Then he noticed the ripples.
The water shifted near the far wall. At first he thought it was current, but the rhythm was wrong. The ripples came in pulses, each wave pushing against the cavern's edge and echoing back.
Something was moving under the surface.
He raised a hand. "Stop."
Knives froze. Baskets stilled. The only sound was the drip of water from the ceiling.
Then it came. A shadow, long and sinuous, gliding beneath the surface. Its body shimmered faintly, scales reflecting the lantern-light in broken lines. The head surfaced once, blind white eyes staring without seeing, mouth lined with needle teeth. It vanished again with a hiss that sounded like boiling water.
Karrek swore under his breath. "River worm."
Cass's knuckles tightened on his dagger. Not a worm. Bigger. More dangerous.
[System]: Predator Detected – Rootwater Eelbeast (Rare).
Behavior: Territorial. Status: Hungry.
Risk: Extreme. This threat will stalk the node until neutralized.
The eelbeast struck without warning. It shot from the water like a thrown spear, mouth wide, teeth flashing. A Warble screamed as the beast clamped onto his leg and dragged him toward the river.
Cass moved before thought. He drove his dagger into the eel's side, the blade sinking shallow through slick scales. The beast thrashed, tail whipping, spraying water across the cavern. The guard was dragged closer to the current, heels scraping stone.
"Hold him!" Cass shouted.
Karrek lunged, arms wrapping the guard's shoulders, heels digging trenches in the wet stone. The beast hissed, jaw tightening. Blood ran.
Cass grabbed a root pod, jammed it into the eel's gills, and shoved hard. The beast convulsed, choking. It released the guard with a final snap and crashed back into the river, vanishing in a spray of foam.
The cavern went silent except for the guard's ragged breaths. His leg was shredded, but he was alive.
Cass's chest heaved. He wiped blood and water from his face, eyes fixed on the black water. The eelbeast was not dead. It would return.
[System]: Settlement Threat Logged – Rootwater Predator.
Recommendation: Defensive measures required. Do not treat as a one-time encounter.
Cass spat. "Of course."
[Forum – Midday Noise]
[FishHook]: "Lost two men to a river worm in Rivermere. Stay off deep channels unless you've got nets."
[GreenwardGrrl]: "Fungus rot bad again. Tried boiling racks, not enough."
[Nocti]: "Underdark rumors connect to Rootwater? Map fragments surfacing. Coincidence?"
[Skeptik]: "Fake again. Stop giving bait threads life."
[Carto]: "Rivermere worm clips look a lot like those blurry 'ghost' screenshots. Just saying."
[BloodPrinceTV]: "Arena win streak at 7. Next fight tonight."
[FarmerJay]: "Food prices doubled. Starving already. This isn't balance."
Threads swirled. Most didn't care about Rootwater. Those who did argued. Ghost Lord remained a joke in half the posts, cult prophecy in the other half.
Cass's name wasn't there. He thanked the Dawn for that.
[Cass]
Back at the hamlet, the wounded guard lay with his leg wrapped in resin and cloth. The healer shook her head. "It festers already. I need herbs. Without them, he loses the leg - or worse."
Cass nodded grimly. "We'll get them."
The elder raised a brow. "Where?"
"Up," Cass said. "Closer to the surface. There are plants that clean blood. I know where they grow." He didn't explain how.
Karrek scowled. "Risk. Scouts get lost in those tunnels. Worse things than eels up there."
Cass's jaw set. "Then I'll go with them."
Silence followed. No one argued further.
Night fell. Glowshrooms dimmed, shrine pulsed low. Cass sat alone with the system menu open, staring at citizen entries.
[Rilka, 17 – Potential Rare. Aptitude: Memory, Pattern Recognition.] → [Class Potential: Cartographer]
[Torv, 42 – Potential Uncommon. Aptitude: Strength, Nerve.] → [Class Potential: Smith]
He scrolled further. Dozens of names. Each one a fragile spark. Each one hungry. Each one looking at him for tomorrow.
He closed the menu, lay back on stone, and stared at the Dawn Hole above. The faint thread of air moved across his face. The stars were too far to see.
He whispered: "Five years. Ten million. Just keep breathing until then."
[Media – World's Dawn Chronicles]
"Tonight's top stories:
Rivermere famine deepens. Caravans ambushed on northern roads.
Greenward healers warn of fungal plague if sanitation isn't improved.
Ashenfolk glass prices spike - economists warn of trade imbalance.
Rumor file: 'Rootwater nodes' are being mentioned again on the Herald forums. Analysts dismiss the reports as hoaxes or procedural anomalies.
And in entertainment: BloodPrince secures another arena victory, making him the most-watched Traveler this cycle."
[Cass]
He rose before the tribe stirred. His pack was light, his blade sharp. Karrek waited by the crack, spear in hand. Rilka clutched her slate and chalk, trembling but firm.
Cass looked once more at the hamlet, at the sleeping guards, the glowing shrine, the children curled near the fire.
"We bring back herbs," he said. "And whatever else the Stone offers."
Then he stepped into the tunnels, where the air grew colder, and the risks multiplied.
The eelbeast watched from Rootwater below, hunger unspent.