CHAPTER SIX BELOW THE ROOTS
SHAARR
Humans made tunnels by cutting through the earth. Hunt-Born used the spaces roots had already negotiated. Rowan understood the difference at the third descent. He stood at the mouth of a narrow black opening while condensation gathered along his hairline.
"This is a path."
"Yes."
"It appears to be a root trying to digest a cave."
"Also yes."
He looked at me.
"I preferred you when you weren't funny."
"I am not funny."
"That's the problem."
We entered. Aboveground, western territory still carried wind and color. Blue leaves. Violet moss.
Rain dripping from branch to branch. Below the first root shelf, the forest became pressure. Wet mineral. Living wood.
No horizon. No sky. Only a passage just wide enough for Rowan to walk without turning his shoulders. I had to angle mine.
He activated the lamp on his harness. I covered it.
"No."
He stared at my hand.
"Do I get an explanation?"
"Heat draws ridge parasites."
He lowered the beam.
"Anything down here not trying to eat us?"
"Fungus."
"Excellent."
I removed my hand. We continued. Every few body lengths I touched bark or soil. Fresh fracture.
Mud displaced upward. Claw marks where none should exist. Too much movement. Rowan's probe made a quiet tone behind me. I glanced back.
He lifted one finger before I spoke.
"Monitoring."
"Pain?"
"Minor."
"Number."
He sighed.
"Two."
"Meaning?"
"Annoying, not disabling."
I considered that. Then let him continue. He looked faintly pleased. I disliked rewarding him.
The passage forked. Left descended toward groundwater. Right followed an old nursery migration route. Both carried fresh disturbance. That was wrong.
I crouched. Rowan came beside me and planted the probe in the soil. Three frequency bands crawled across his display. His mouth tightened.
"Same family?"
I asked.
"Related."
"Useful distinction?"
"Not yet."
"Then why make it?"
"Because pretending they're identical would be easier and wrong."
I looked at him. He noticed.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"That looked like approval."
"It was not."
"Of course."
He packed the probe. We chose the nursery route. An hour later, vibration rolled up through my feet. Rowan stopped immediately.
Good instincts. I placed my palm against a root. One movement. Then another beneath it.
Large.
"How many?"
"Three."
He waited.
"Possibly four."
"That's a terrible correction."
"It is accurate."
"Still terrible."
The passage narrowed farther ahead. I went first. Rowan followed close enough that his breath touched the back of my shoulder plate. Then his palm landed between my spine ridges. My entire body locked.
His hand vanished.
"Sorry."
"Why?"
"I slipped."
The receptor had already reacted. Heat traveled from the place he touched through my chest. I forced my claws open.
"Ask first."
"Even for balance?"
"Yes."
He nodded once. No complaint. We moved another ten body lengths before the floor dropped sharply. Rowan's boot slid.
He disappeared sideways. I caught his forearm. His weight snapped against my shoulder. The passage below was deep enough to kill him.
"Rowan."
"Don't pull."
I froze. His face had gone wrong. Eyes open. Not seeing me.
His free hand clawed at the wall.
"Rowan."
His breathing shortened. I knew that breathing. Not from fear of falling. From memory.
"Look at me."
Nothing. I adjusted my grip without tightening it.
"Your arm is in my hand because you slipped."
His eyes found mine. Slowly.
"Not because someone else is moving it."
His breath hitched. Then eased.
"Left foot," I said. "Find the wall."
He obeyed. Not because I commanded. Because he had chosen to hear me. His boot found a ledge.
"Again."
The other foot. He nodded. Only then did I pull. Once he was upright, I released him. Immediately.
Rowan leaned against the root wall. Sweat ran from his temple. Neither of us spoke. After several breaths, he said:
"The armor took my left side first."
I waited.
"During Preybridge."
I could smell the memory on him. Sharp. Metallic.
"The arm locked. Then the shoulder. Then the rest."
He flexed the same hand I had just held.
"I remember fighting it before I remember what the room looked like."
I wanted to say something useful. Nothing came. So I touched the wall instead.
"The ledge is unstable."
Rowan stared. Then laughed. One abrupt sound.
"Thank you for your emotional support."
"I warned you."
The echo traveled farther than it should have. Something below answered. The vibration hit harder this time. Closer.
Rowan's humor vanished.
"That was us."
"Yes."
The root behind him split. I wrapped one arm around his waist. He did not object. We ran.