Aric didn’t sleep that night.
The girl’s breathing stayed soft and steady beside him, but his own mind refused to still. The earth’s heartbeat pulsed in his chest like a steady drum, each beat reminding him he was no longer just himself.
The sensation wasn’t intrusive—it was seductive. Comforting. Like a warm hand on his back, urging him to lean closer, to let go, to let it carry the weight of decision-making.
He knew better. Nothing that powerful gave without taking.
---
They moved again at dawn—or what passed for dawn underground. The tunnels had no light but the faint glow of fungi and the occasional beam of water-reflected shimmer from some unseen crevice.
The girl was quiet as they walked. Aric didn’t ask why. He could feel her emotions through the ground now—faint vibrations in
