“Down there?” Natalie stared down the maw of an endless tunnel, black and silent.

Gar sat heavily and nodded. “This is the place.”

Jarin lifted his arm and his fist erupted in a pale flame.

He peered down into the tunnel. “We won’t be able to fly.” “I’ll go first.” He strode toward the burrow, his wings glowing faintly yellow.

“No. It’s my question; I’ll go first.” Natalie pushed in front of Jarin and crept down the tunnel. Twisting and turning, the writhing hole never revealed more than a few feet ahead. Cool air brushed along Natalie’s wings and the occasional root flared, lit by the torch of Jarin’s hand. Natalie plunged deeper and deeper, losing her sense of direction after only a few feet. “At least there are no branches,” she whispered.

“Yeah! I guess. Still, it’s creepy enough. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the Master. I hate underground.” Jarin fluttered his wings and the torch flickered.

Natalie stopped and Jarin had to arch his body to avoid colliding with her. “The Master?” she growled.

A hiss echoed back and Natalie shivered.

Jarin swallowed hard and nodded.

A cold, grating hiss, like a thirsty sword drawn ever so slowly, slid out of the darkness “Why do you disturb Shiva’s den?” the voice said.

Natalie’s palms broke out in an icy sweat. “Who’s there?” she croaked.

A massive triangular head slid forward, the torch-light glinting off its scales and reflecting crimson in its dark eyes. “Why do you disturb Shiva’s den, Morsel? Now is not a happy time.”

For a moment, Natalie thought she saw the viper shudder, then all life emptied from inside her as she stared into the serpent’s eyes, and her mind followed the dancing light deeper and deeper into the abyss. “I seek an answer,” she murmured. “Gar sent me.”

The serpent hissed again, and some part of Natalie’s mind noted that the voice was much closer, she could feel it's too-cold breath, “Shiva, the Answerer, is dead. I, Taymyr, am her successor and I am in no mind to answer questions.”