“Good,” he said. “Because I’d rather not be here when it decides to stop working.”
“That makes two of us,” I muttered.
Keegan looked at me again, his expression softer now, though the tension hadn’t left it entirely. “Still with me?”
I nodded, tightening my grip on his hand just slightly. “Still with you.”
Because I was…Because despite everything, despite the bats and the tunnels and the way the air still felt too close to something I didn’t want to name…
We were still moving forward, and there was no turning back now.
We moved quickly down the tunnel with Twobble right next to me and Stella behind us, next to Nova. The mud walls blurred by with each step closer, and the pull of the stone led me forward. We came to a Y in the tunnel, and I knew I needed to go left.
“Not again,” Twobble muttered.
Stella chuckled as we all barreled through the opening, but there was a brightness in the distance. Large glistening trails of water ran along the walls, and big drips fell from the ceiling. One landed smack on my forehead.
“We must be close to the marshlands,” Stella said.
“I'd say more like directly underneath them.” Nova seconded.
As we got closer, I saw a tiny opening, and my heart rate started to slow. We were close.
“Once we get out in the open, we need to be as expeditious as possible,” Nova said.
“I couldn't have said it better myself,” Stella seconded.
“You all need to stay behind while I meet with Gideon.”
I saw the unrest settle behind Keegan’s gaze, and his jaw tightened, but he gave me a quick nod.
With a few more steps, we made it to the end of the tunnel. Vines draped over the exit, with light spilling through. Keegan stepped in front of me and pulled them aside as Twobble did the same, and I stepped through.
I couldn't believe what I saw in front of me.
For a moment, I forgot why we were here. The swamp stretched out in front of us, wide and open in a way that felt almost endless, with twisted trees rising from the earth and curling toward the sky like they had stories to tell if anyone stopped long enough to listen. Gnarled shrubs looked as if they’d provided shelter for centuries.
Soft light filtered through the canopy above, catching on the damp ground and the thin layers of water that still clung to parts of the land, turning everything into a quiet shimmer that felt both alive and holding its breath.
It was beautiful, but not in the way I expected.
There were patches where the water still gathered, shallow pools reflecting the sky in broken pieces, and clusters of reeds swayed gently as if they were still trying to remember the rhythm they once had. The air was thick, heavy with old moisture and something older that settled into my chest as I took a breath.
But I knew nothing about it was right.
I took a few steps forward, and my boots pressed into the softened ground, and that was when I saw it.
It was impossible to miss all the spaces where the water should have been.
Wide stretches of earth lay exposed, cracked in places, uneven in others, with dried lily pads scattered across thesurface like remnants of something that had once thrived and now simply… didn’t.
I crouched slightly, brushing my fingers over one of them, and it crumbled at the edges like watching lace shatter.
There was nothing like the lush, floating leaves I knew they were meant to be.
“This is what she did,” I murmured, more to myself than anyone else.
Behind me, I heard Nova step out of the tunnel, her breath catching softly as she took it in.
