The forest canopy broke into twisted arches, light bleeding through in broken shafts as they trudged along the path. Some remaining bits of beetle husks crunched underfoot, the stink of ichor clinging to their armor. Kalrek dragged his feet dramatically, looking miserable.

"Are we there yet?" he whined, dragging one foot with theatrical limp. "Because if we're not, my legs are going to sue for abuse."

Veyra didn't even glance up. "If they do, I'll represent them in court. And win."

Kalrek sniffed loudly, as if wounded, then clutched his chest. "Betrayed by my own legal counsel."

Ash snorted, the sound half growl, half laugh, and even Tholn's lips twitched before his face hardened again.

They trudged deeper into the forest. The air grew stiller, the canopy crowding overhead until even the sunlight fractured into narrow, dusty beams.

The sound of their boots and claws seemed louder here, out of place in the growing hush. The smell of sap and decay thickened, clinging to their throats.

Kalrek's whining continued, his words bouncing against the trunks as the scene slowly began to change. Roots swelled wider and rose higher, knotting into grotesque shapes like gnarled ribs. Their trunks leaned together until the path ended at what first looked like a collapsed wall of timber.

Kalrek had just barked another, "Are we there yet?"

Suddenly, Ash paused. This time, the echo of Kalrek's incessant whining was slower, thicker, vibrating in Ash's chest.

He cocked his head in a particular direction, ears twitching, the fur along his shoulders bristling.

"You hear that?" he murmured.

The group froze, the weight of the air settling like unseen hands. Veyra frowned, lowering her bow slightly.

"What do you mean, Ash? What do you hear?" Tholn's eyes narrowed, scanning the tunnel walls.

Ash's chest expanded, his throat vibrating before he threw back his head and let out a piercing hyena cackle—"HYAHAHAHAHAA!"—that echoed through the Hollow.

As the echoes rolled back, Ash's ears twitched. He could distinguish tiny differences: the return from the left side was bounced back like before, so did the back and right, but the one from straight ahead was deeper, slower, as if swallowed by a vast cavity beyond. His instincts told him that the sound waves were traveling farther before rebounding, absorbed and reshaped by an open chamber.

Yvren seemed to have caught onto what Ash was talking about as his eyes narrowed, sharp and calculating, his voice steady.

"Again," he told Kalrek, signalling for him to shout again.

Kalrek blinked, then grinned nervously and shouted louder, "ARE WE THERE YET?!"

The echo returned—closer, deeper, almost like a groan rising from the Hollow's gut.

"It answers," Yvren muttered, confirming that Ash was onto something.

"The entrance," Ash muttered, eyes fixed forward, "There's space ahead—something big, hollow. That's where it is."

As they drew near, the mass resolved into a jagged maw that yawned into darkness. A path had revealed itself, not by maps or trails, but by Kalrek's endless complaints. For once, his voice was useful.

What had seemed a tangle of wood revealed a tunnel-mouth, roots curving down like the bones of some great beast. The air spilling from it was damp, heavy, almost as though the Hollow exhaled on them.

The tunnel narrowed into a single earthen passage, walls rough with packed soil and roots jutting like crooked teeth. Moisture beaded on the surface, catching the glow of their lantern-stones.

Veyra ran her hand along the grooves and muttered, "Stable enough. Just dirt and roots. Nothing shaped by hands."

Kalrek prodded one wall with his boot.

"So we're marching through a giant worm's burrow? Lovely. First beetles, now worms." he shook his head, "Tell me again why we didn't take the sunny path with flowers?"

A little further on, the ground crunched underfoot—discarded beetle shells, brittle and black.

Tholn crouched, brushing them aside, "Molting ground. Recent."

Kalrek bent to pick one up, turning it over in his hand even as Veyra's glare cut across the tunnel. He ignored it with a crooked grin, "Relax, I'm just examining it. Souvenirs build morale, you know."

He slipped the shard into his pouch anyway and added with a smirk, "Best worst gift shop I've ever visited."

The air grew heavier, carrying the smell of damp earth and rot. Ash's shadows shifted uneasily and Yvren noticed the tension in his stance, though he said nothing. The tunnel stretched onward in a straight line, no branches, no relief.

"Never walked a passage like this," Veyra admitted quietly. Tholn inclined his head, "Not in all my hunts."

Kalrek spread his arms wide, "So three seasoned experts are baffled, and one genius novice has all the commentary. Clearly I'm the most valuable here."

Glow-flies clung to the ceiling in clusters. When Kalrek groaned his line again, they scattered, dimming the tunnel before regrouping.

"Ha! Even bugs agree with me," he crowed.

Veyra smacked the back of his head without breaking stride.

The passage continued while dipping slightly lower, the soil damp beneath their boots. A faint trickle of water ran down one wall. They pressed on, steps echoing in the confined space.

"Not to state the obvious here guys but..." Kalrek glanced around, frowning, "Aren't there supposed to be beetles here? Why haven't we run into any?"

His question hung in the air, but none of the others answered. It was the exact same question that they all had in their minds too.

Where were the beetles?

If they hadn't found the nest earlier, they could've simply credited Kalren's account but they had found the entrance and even the remains of beetle mold. It was clear that the beetles had been here. But for now, they could only do one thing and their silence said enough to answer Kalrek.

They simply kept walking.

Soon, the tunnel eventually widened, opening into a small chamber where three separate paths branched ahead into the dark.

They paused, the air heavier here, each passage yawning like a waiting throat.

"Which way?" Veyra asked, her voice tight.

For a long moment no one spoke, the silence dragging heavy as they all glanced between the shadowed passages. Kalrek shifted from foot to foot, realizing slowly that no one had a clue which way to go.

He, ever restless, marched a step forward and dug into his pouch.

He produced a thin stick with an arrow-shaped tip, flung it into the air, and watched it spin before it landed, pointing toward the right-hand tunnel.

"There we go," he said proudly. "Stick says that way. Easy."

Veyra folded her arms, unimpressed. "Your stick isn't a compass, Kalrek. That's nonsense."

Tholn added dryly, "If we followed every twig you tossed, we'd still be lost at the surface."

Ash surprised them all by nodding slowly. "No… he's right this time. That path carries a slight aetheric signal. I can feel it. The rest give off none of the same signal."

Kalrek puffed out his chest, ready to bask in the credit, "See? Finally, my genius is recognized—"

Veyra cut him off sharply, "Ash gave us evidence. You gave us a stick."

Without another word, Yvren nodded, and the group filed after Ash into the chosen passage.

The tunnel pressed on in silence until something changed… The air grew worse as they advanced. A foul stink crept into their noses—fetid, sour, and thick with acid.

Kalrek gagged first, pressing his sleeve over his face, "Spirits… what died in here?"

Tholn shot him a sharp look, voice low but cutting, "Keep your tone down, Kalrek. We're arriving at your 'what' and if anything, it's showing us signs of life. If anything still feeds here, we don't want it hearing you first."

Hearing this, the whole group shut up, well… most of them were quiet already, it was just Kalrek… but anyways…

The tunnel pressed on in silence until a faint glisten caught their eyes. Moisture trickled down the walls where resin seeped through tiny cracks.

They rounded a bend and found the answer.

The chamber opened into a grotesque midden piled high with various contents; Bones with no flesh left to strip, keratin and horns, thick hides too tough to rot, shells, feathers, and sinew knotted together in decaying heaps.

The ground squelched beneath their boots, each step releasing another puff of rot. Lantern light disturbed clouds of gnats that rose in a haze around their heads.

Kalrek froze, eyes wide, and muttered hoarsely, "What in the world is this…"

His voice cracked between disgust and awe.

Veyra spat to the side, her voice sharp. "Look, it's just bones with barely any flesh hanging on to them."

She then took a step forward, observing closer at something darker.

"There's keratin and horns too," she reported as she continued looking, "hides… there some shells, feathers… oh, there sinew too."

Tholn's tone was flat, but the edge in it cut sharp, "Efficient. Hide nothing. Waste nothing—except what refuses to rot."

Ash wrinkled his nose, "It's a midden. And judging from the smell, they last used it recently."

Kalrek shuffled after them, still muttering about nightmares and stomach bile, while Yvren said nothing, his silence heavier than words.

Just then, a faint skittering sound echoed from deeper within the tunnel. The group froze, ears straining. Two distinct sets of mandibles clicked in rhythm, drawing closer with each second—the unmistakable approach of beetles.

Kalrek whispered, voice trembling but still clinging to humor, "Well, I asked where the beetles were…"

With a quick gesture, Yvren motioned for everyone to scatter.

One by one they melted into cover—Ash slipping into the deeper dark with his shadows, Veyra crouching behind a jut of stone with her bow ready, Tholn pressing into the wall above like a predator waiting to drop, Kalrek scrambling awkwardly behind a pile of bones, and Yvren standing firm in the center, staff lowered.

The silence before the clash was absolute.

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