23. The Hidden Colony: in the Time of Indigo Cloud's Return to the Reaches

     Moon should have been the last one to want to explore a strange doorway deep in a disintegrating trunk of a dying mountain-tree, but here they were.

     Granted, there hadn't been much choice after Fair had fallen into it and they had had to go after him. 

     Beside Moon, Balm muttered, "Why does it always happen to Fair?"

     Chime, holding up one of the glowing balls of moss Thistle had made for them, added, "Why can't it happen to someone we actually want to rescue?"

     In the darkness below, Fair yelled, "I heard that!"

     Moon said, "We meant you to hear that."  It was Fair's own fault for overcorrecting on a tight turn.  Moon stepped down past Chime, his claws curling around the figured wood.  From what Fair had said, the warrior had tumbled through the old doorway and down into some kind of well, then got himself tangled in brambles.

     "Consorts are supposed to be nice," Fair grumbled.

     "Do you want me to go get Jade?" Moon asked.

     The quiet "No" was clearly sincere.

     Perched above them on guard, Vine said, "So this used to be a colony, you think?"

     On the other side of the well, Balm took one of the moss balls and tossed it up to Briar.  "It has to be.  Look at the carving."

     Moon glanced up.  The others were tossing more lights inside,and now he could make out more detail. When they had first come in after Fair, it had just been a huge dark space scented of rotting moss.  Now the light spread up walls heavily carved with swirling designs of plants and animals.  It was very like the old carvings in the Indigo Cloud tree, except there weren't any images of Raksura, just the occasional tantalizing glimpse of a wing or a tail.  He said, "How old is this tree?"  How long did it take a colony tree to collapse from age?  Unless this was what happened after someone had taken the tree's seed away. 

     "I don't think this is a tree."  Chime had made his way over to the nearest wall, and dug gently at the surface.  "The carvings are stone, they're just so discolored they look like old wood.  I think the mountain-tree grew around a stone structure until it completely covered it, and then aged and eventually died, and as it rots we're seeing the stone again."

     Balm said, "Like the ruins around Opal Night?"

     Chime nodded.  "Could be, yes."

     The light chased shadows as Briar twisted on her perch, and poked at the wall nearest her.  "But this is Arbora carving.  Raksura used to build stone colonies in the Reaches?"

     Balm flicked her spines.  "The Arbora will want to see this."

     "Maybe we can come back and explore," Moon agreed.

     "Um, what about me?" Fair said, understandably impatient.

     Moon could seen enough now to tell the hole Fair was in was actually a stairwell.  He circled around, found the steps, and started down.  He could see Fair better now, trapped in the spiny brambles, clutching one of the bundles of glowing moss that they had tossed down.

     Chime hopped over to the edge of the well.  "Moon, be careful!  Watch out for strange groundling magic!"

     "That's why we left Thistle and the others outside," Moon pointed out. If there was a spell like the one in the ruin that had trapped Jade, Chime, and Balm, and the others, they wouldn't have been able to throw the moss bundles down to Fair.  And this place had a different feel.  It was empty, hollow.  Whatever had lived here had been gone so long, nothing was left.

     From above, Briar pointed out, "You said you didn't feel any magic."

     "That didn't help last time," Chime hissed at her.

     "Chime, just take it easy," Balm said.

     Moon ignored the argument, having to concentrate to find his way through the brambles without getting trapped like Fair.  As he got closer, he saw Fair had had the sense not to thrash around after getting tangled.  The brambles had caught both wings and Fair clung to one of the twisting branches to keep the weight off them.  Moon eased closer, his own wings tightly clasped to his body, and tested the branch. It felt like it would hold both of them.

     He got an arm around Fair's waist and said, "Shift."

     Fair dropped the moss ball and flowed into his groundling form.  Moon took the weight and pulled him up as his wings disappeared.  Fair clung to him like a fledgling, huffing out a breath in relief.  He said,"Thank you, consort," in a very small voice.

     "You're welcome," Moon said.  Fair was trembling a little; he had managed to sound brave enough calling up to them, but hanging here helpless in this well couldn't have been easy.

     As Moon eased back to the steps, he looked down and stopped, startled.  The moss had fallen further down the well and illuminated a huge wing of dark mottled stone,part of a statue that must be at the bottom of the well.  It curved up toward them, the delicate point sat the wingtip chipped and broken.

     Fair twisted around to look, and added unnecessarily, "There's a big statue down there."

     For an instant Moon was tempted.  He could take Fair up to the top, then comeback and explore a little.  No, it's too dangerous, he told himself.  It was also late in the afternoon, with not much in the way of daylight left.  They would just have to come back with more help, earlier in the day.

     He carried Fair up and out, leaving the lights glowing in the silent halls behind them.

***

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