[Cass]
Morning came heavy. Not with light - Rootwater had none - but with the quiet weight of grief. The shrine pulsed faintly, its glow pale against the cavern walls.
Six bodies lay wrapped in woven cloth, sap-soaked to slow decay. A child among them. Cass stood over the line, ribs aching with every breath, his hands raw from fire and spear.
The Warbles gathered in silence. No songs. No chants. Just the hush of stone listening.
The elder stepped forward, staff tapping once. "Propervy receives them."
The words echoed, brittle.
The bodies were carried into a hollow carved deep into the stone. Warbles placed glowshroom garlands on each, then sealed the hollow with slabs of rock. No names, only marks etched with blades: fish-hook, hammer, flower, small hand. Symbols instead of words.
Cass pressed his palm against the stone last. His chest tightened. He had survived waves before. He had buried more than he could count. But the child's symbol - a tiny hand etched shallow - cut deeper than any predator's teeth.
Rilka stood apart, chalk clutched tight, slate pressed against her chest. She had drawn every face the night before, afraid she'd forget. The drawings smeared now, dust mixing with tears.
Cass knelt beside her. "You remember them."
She nodded, unable to speak.
"Then they don't vanish," Cass said quietly. "Not while you carry the lines."
Rilka looked at him with wide eyes. "But the lines hurt."
"So do graves," Cass murmured. "But we still carve them."
The council met in hushed tones. Karrek's knuckles were split, his jaw tight. "The eel will come again. Fire bought us one night. It won't buy us forever."
Eshna's voice was brittle. "And the people starve if we don't fish."
The elder's eyes turned to Cass. Always to him. "What say you, Child of Propervy?"
Cass wanted to scream that he wasn't their child, wasn't their savior. But the shrine's glow pulsed steady, as if waiting.
"We hunt it," he said finally. "Not tomorrow. Not with weak hands. But soon. We end it, or it ends us."
Karrek slammed his fist down. "Then we forge stronger spears. Iron, if we must tear it from the bones of the earth."
Eshna's gaze softened, but her voice stayed sharp. "And you'll lead, Cass. If you fall, we fall."
Cass's ribs ached. His hands trembled. But he met her eyes. "Then I don't fall."
[System Prompt]
New Quest Unlocked: Predator's End
Objective: Track and slay the Rootwater Eelbeast
Requirements: Advanced weapons (Tier II). Trained hunters. Fire traps (≥3)
Reward: Predator Trophy (Unique). Permanent River Access
Failure: Rootwater Collapse (High Risk)
[Forum – Global Noise]
[DeltaScout]: "Blue Bloom spreading in Rivermere. Whole river turning toxic."
[IronFist88]: "Lost 12 to eel swarm. They're everywhere."
[Skeptik]: "Still no proof of underground lords. Stop chasing myths."
[Nocti]: "Underground or surface, predators keep coming. The shard is tightening the screws. This isn't random."
[Cass]
That night, Cass sat at the shrine alone. The cavern around him hummed with grief.
He stared at the slab wall where the graves lay hidden. His mother's face flickered in his mind again - pale, thin, smiling even as her strength failed.
He whispered into the dark: "Not one more. Not if I can stop it."
The shrine pulsed once, faint but steady, as though answering.