Permafrost Hollows durian

the land beneath the star pillar was cold, but it was only cold because it was still. 

he moved down a path of packed earth, and as his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw spires of old, old roots supporting many rooftops and rooms of frozen soil. dens were tiered low and to his left, their dark mouths announcing that they were not inhabitated. a curious blue plant sprawled all through the caves there, several of which fed into one another.

to his left, a green bower protected something he could not see, and beyond that, an underground river rushed beside stone banks. there was a forest here, fed by sunlight slanting from above, and he saw the track of delicate deer.

vines hung from the ceiling of the place, teeming with new flowers and birds, tangled strands of gold and green which beckoned the dreamer upward, through the great rotted stump carved by natural paths inside, and up until he had reached a vast terrace which leaned away from the main body of the star pillar.

it spread in a vague triangle, and a rich grassland of emerald foliage and berry-brush spread out before him. a waterfall fed into a pool, which he was surprised to find steamed hot in a small place behind the cascading rush, fed by an underground pulse beside the river.

and here the stars glittered!

and here for hundreds of miles he could see the millions of threads, countless now in the filaments which reached up to the star web. the sight of their beauty dried his mouth. the star pillar continued upward, almost touching the web itself.

and here he fell, and he wept, and he called out in loving voice to Wolf.