Weavespinner

They travelled for quite a while, and Tarrin realized that being under the ground was going to make it hard for him to track time. He was never very good at keeping time, because of the nature of the Cat, and being robbed of the stars and moons and sun to serve as reference points, he would quickly lose count of the days. And knowing how many days he had to go was very important. When he thought that it was pretty close to sunset, he pulled up when they entered a huge chamber that had the sound of ru

"This is as good a place as any," she said in a quiet tone, almost a whisper. "At least we have water."

He had no idea how long they stayed there, because he couldn't easily tell time down in the cave. He Conjured wood for a fire and a roasted goose off some hapless i

He had no idea how long they slept, but when both of them were awake, they ate breakfast without conversation and then set out again. The going was easier and easier as the passage continued to enlarge and become easier to travel as it descended, almost like a grand gallery with a ceiling higher than they could see and a flat floor that almost seemed like a road. It rose and fell, but he could tell that it still predominately went down.

They travelled some time before a strange sound reached both of them. It was extremely faint, barely audible, but the nature of the tu

"Sounds like water," Jesmind whispered, peering into the gloom ahead. She could only see about a hundred spans ahead, just as he could, but the reflex to try was automatic.

"I think it is," he answered in the ma

"Let's be careful," she said. "I think I've caught whiffs of some kind of animal in the air. This air is too damn thick and laden with other smells for me to be too sure, though."

He nodded, bringing his staff out of the elsewhere. The passage was more than large enough for him to wield it.

They padded along carefully for a surprisingly long distance, as he realized that the tu

Tarrin stopped, remembering the last time he'd seen a ruddy red light at the base of a descending passage. "What's the matter?" Jesmind asked in the ma

"That might be an underground volcano," he told her. "Something has to be making that light. It might be lava."

"Well, let's keep going," she said. "If it gets too hot for me, I'll stop, alright?"

"Alright," he nodded, and they started down again, more cautiously this time.

They padded down to the end of the descent, as the air got hot, but not dangerously so. Tarrin did smell some sulfur and other minerals that he remembered smelling in the volcano, but it wasn't nearly strong enough to be dangerous. They reached a bend in the passage and peeked around it, and Jesmind laughed audibly when they saw what was on the other side.

It was an absolutely massive opening, a great chamber of empty space at the very heart of the mountain itself. The light wasn't from lava, it was from some kind of strange luminescent fungus or growth that was literally covering all the ceiling and walls, but not the floor. It was a huge circular chamber with an arching domed roof, the top of it more than two hundred longspans from the floor, cast in the strange red light of the luminescent material covering its walls and ceiling. The floor of the chamber was surprisingly flat, but there were multiple rimmed pits in it that were filled with water or dark, thick mud, and both water and mud laid in thin pools in depressions on the wide floor, all of which had tendrils of thin steam rising up from them. The air was hot, sticky, and he realized that the mineral smells were coming from the water itself. The hissing and moving sounds they'd heard were coming from the water, from the hissing of the water and mud that boiled to the sounds of the bubbling water churning in its stone pools, like large kettles on a stove.

It was a hot spring! A hot spring in the middle of the mountain's heart!

"Incredible!" Jesmind said in wonder, looking around. "It's a hot spring!"

"Let's be careful," he said. "Sometimes hot springs erupt into geysers. It won't hurt me, but I think you may not like having boiling water sprayed all over you."

They waited where they were for a while, then carefully circumnavigated the chamber around the walls, wary of any trembling in the floor or rushing sound that would herald an eruption. But none happened. They reached the far side of the chamber, where a wide tu

"I kind of like it here," Jesmind said. "I've never seen a place so exotic."

"It may be dangerous."

"Well, do your magic thing and find out if it is or not," she said. "I'm tired and I'd like to rest a while, and this place looks pretty good."

Glancing at her irritably, Tarrin knelt and put a paw on the floor, then sent flows of Earth down into the stone. He didn't like using magic as they got close to Val, but what he was doing was very gentle, very passive, and required very little energy. He sent his weave deep into the ground, seeking out the source of the hot spring, and once he found it, he inspected what he found there. The stream that they'd seen before dropped down close to a pocket of magma, which heated it and caused it to rise up here. It was very steady and consistent, and he sensed no erratic motion of water or steam that would cause a geyser. The springs here were very stable.

He told her so, which made her almost squeal in delight. "Let's find one that won't boil the meat off me!" she a