Sunbeam Lair mountains beyond mountains

“the teeth of the mountain” oooh, I like that…

The creature of the underworld did not respond to her anxious query, but continued to shuffle more forward — in lurching, undead movements with limbs breaking and was surely leaving a trail of slime behind her, certainly! For it was those types of things that lived down here; things that mimicked the fungi that clung to the wall but did not manage to capture any of their beauty; things that must hide themselves away for the sake of wolfkind. The druid’s heart fluttered, and had the pups within her been larger, they certainly would have stirred from the adrenaline that flooded her heart. 

If the aphotic beast had not shown itself in the next moment, Olive would have fled and prayed never to return to this place! But, when the image of a woman appeared and then was softened by the last remaining wisps of light, it was clear to Olive that this was not a hellhound, as she expected. Though the woman’s pelage glowed and crackled like embers, she was much too lovely to be anything but a gentle soul, lost in the deep recesses of the earth, as was she! Olive’s featherlight heartbeat stilled inside her chest and she exhaled the breath that, until this moment, she did not realize had been hitched in her throat.

The girl, however, did not seem to take solace in the sudden appearance of another. She stammered and seemed to wish to leave — but didn’t. The mother-to-be’s lilting gaze softened, but she did not seek to close the distance between them, lest she further spook the flighty little thing. “Oh…” she cooed. “You needn’t apologize…” and then, in words that came out more pleadingly than intended, “Oh, don’t leave, please...”