Lissie watched as Niko took another step back. She tried to read his face. He blinked his eyes and shook his head, and wiped an eye. Something flew off, glittering and clear.
Ruskin was growling from Alexander’s pack. She turned to the sound, and watched Alexander slip one of the bones from the floor into it.
Cora asked, “Is it safe for him to eat that?”
“We are all breathing it, aren’t we?” Alexander shrugged.
Riley still hadn’t moved. Or spoken.
Lissie said, “There is soil here. Rock. There may be mushrooms.”
“Right, we are here for mushrooms.” Alexander forced a laugh. The sound was that of insanity escaping.
Lissie looked from Niko to Riley. She wanted to comfort them both. They were like statues.
She’s trained for war. This is something else.
Cora took a tremulous step over the head and examined the wall. “I see mycelium here. It’s what is illuminating us. Follow the lights until we find some fruiting bodies?”
Riley broke her silence. “Nikolai, how many were there?”
What were there? What are the blind?
Lissie couldn’t look too closely at the gore. Some glimpses she got were entirely animal, but some seemed too human. She looked into Nikolai’s face for answers and found none.
“Not enough for what they tried to do. Not here.” He rubbed his face with a hand. “Up there, I was weakened. I feel more myself now.”
Riley nodded her head at him once. Niko returned the gesture.
They both started walking down the tunnel. Everyone else followed.
Cora tripped on a bone. Lissie looked over, and she was plucking at the glowing strands with a hand as she walked, her eyes glued to the wall.
There were frantic, skittering noises as they went through the passage.
They are retreating.
“I know how it feels.” Riley’s voice ahead. “To lose control.”
Lissie waited for Niko’s reply, but he said nothing.
Riley pressed on. “There was a boy, back in the south. We had just set out. I nearly killed him.”
“Why?” Niko asked.
“I thought he was trying to hurt Lissie. I mean he did hurt Lissie. Just… Not bad enough to warrant what I did,” Riley explained.
“If they had been trying to injure Lissie,” he corrected himself, “or any of you, I would not feel bad about what I did. But they cannot hurt me.”
Cora called up, “They would have hurt us when we arrived. Lissie was first, and she’s injured.”
“Yes. I thought of that.” His voice grew softer with every word. “I told them to leave me.”
“What are they?” Alexander’s voice sang in the hall.
Niko looked back and said, “The Blind.”
Lissie waited for more explanation. None came.
Alexander muttered, “The Blind, I can work with that.”
Then she remembered the mural from her vision. “They hunt Giants, don’t they?”
“Hunt,” Niko replied, “is not the word I would use. They are adversaries born of the same blood. I do not know much of Giants. I have only spoken to one.”
They rounded the corner and the tunnel opened up around them into a wide cavern, lit bright aqua. The mushrooms were blinding after the dark. They sprouted from pillars of dripping stone on the walls and flowing columns of white rock.