Coolness came from the corridor. Sam entered the dark corridor first, illuminating the road with his flashlight. Suely followed him.

  “Where did you get the flashlight” She asked.

  “I took this tactical flashlight off the drone.”

  “Do you know the way?”

  “Yes.” Sam answered confidently.

Sam knew the way. When he and Phil were looking for Dave, Phil showed him a scan of the hallways. Sam remembered one of the short corridors leading to the exit to the surface. In order not to forget the way, Sam scribbled a curved line on the body of his weapon with a knife blade.

  “We go straight to the first fork, then to the right, there will be four more corridors, we will need to go to the far left.” Sam explained, then stopped. “This is where we found Dave. This means that there are fifty meters left before the turn.”

They walked a little more, Sem noticed falling streams of dust ahead, he illuminated the ceiling and walls with a flashlight, but did not notice the weavers. The light of the lantern slid along the wall, illuminating some inscriptions. Sam once again illuminated the wall and, coming closer, said. ”I saw these symbols on the armor of Rсhod and on the bas-relief in the city.”

  “This is a pilgrim anthem, we have known this song since childhood.” Said Suely, climbing up the gentle curb against the wall.

She brushed the dust off some of the characters that were difficult to read due to the dust. Sam felt dust fall from the ceiling down his collar. Then he heard the grinding of thorns along the corridor walls.

  “Sing me this song, please!”

  “What? Right now!” Suely was surprised, but then took a deep breath and sang.

“Stars beckon us

Get ready for the journey

In the vast expanses

Ray of hope”

Suddenly the tip of the staff shone from behind her, its light flooding the entire corridor. Suely took it off her back, took it in her right hand and tried to look, but feeling pain in her eyes, she covered herself with her left hand from the burning light. Sam couldn't look at that glow either. In the bright light of the staff, he saw the weavers, who had crept up to them in the darkness, now quickly retreating, hiding from the light.

  “Keep singing! The rod glows when you sing. The weavers are retreating!” He said and pulled her along.

“Willpower and truth

Let's go through the cold,

the darkness of space,

The fate of the pilgrim

in the radiance of stars.”

Suely followed Sam. There were more weavers, they snapped their sharp fangs and scratched the walls with thorns. They did not attack, but watched the glow from afar, hiding in the ruins of an underground corridor.

  “Sing it, don't stop! It remains a little to go.” Sam encouraged her.

Finally they emerged into a corridor leading to the surface. Sam noticed that the weavers' behavior changed, they began to crawl out of their hiding places. Sam heard something moving in his direction from the darkness of the hallway.

  “Something scared the weavers. They stopped responding to the glow. Run to the exit!” Shouted Sam, turned around and fired several shots into the dark corridor.

In the reflections of the shots, he noticed how something small darted from side to side, dodging the shots. Sam realized that this is not a predator, only a combat robot could dodge shots so well, this frightened Sam and he ran to the exit. Suely had already fled far ahead, she was no longer singing, and the staff stopped glowing.

Sam ran to the exit, turned around and took aim. A shot rang out. The corridor was clouded with dust. Sam listened, but there was no movement in the hallway.

  “So I hooked him!” He was delighted.

Sam left the corridor and immediately rushed to Suely, she shrank, squatting down.

  “What's the matter?” He asked fearfully.

  “I don’t see anything, my eyes hurt. The light is hot. It's difficult to breathe.” She answered softly.

  “Be patient a little, your eyes will get used to the light.”

They managed to get to the surface of the planet. Sam was a little confused when he realized how risky this trip was. Above his head was the open sky that he missed so much. Sam quickly coped with his emotions when he felt the local sun hot. He remembered the equipment that had been left in front of the entrance. Several containers lay nearby. First, Sam covered Suely with the tent fabric.

  “This fabric will protect you from the scorching sun.”

  “Thanks! I imagined the surface a little differently. '' She said.

Sam returned to the containers and began to look for something. ” We left the equipment here. Emergency beacon safe and sound! Breathable masks, they are useful to us. Something edible, water. Enough for a day.”

  “Once it gets darker, the guardians of the planet creep out of the tunnels to the surface. We will have to come back.”

  “Do not be afraid! Sunset only after seven hours, they will have time to pick us up. If they catch a beacon signal.”

Sam spread out the circular antenna of the lighthouse and set it up at the edge of the stairs. They sat in the shadow of the parapet of the stairs. Suely was gradually getting used to the bright light. She looked into the distance with curiosity, but her eyes were watering again, and she had to hide her face from the light again.

  “This staff is magical.” She asked.

  “There is no magic here.”  Answered Sam and continued.  “In the body of the staff there is a resonator and an emitter, this is a complex mechanism.”

  “And the glow?”

  “This is very similar to ultraviolet radiation. Look at your hands and at my head.”

  “What are you talking about, so I can barely see what's with my hands?” She muttered.

  “They are red from the burn.”

  “I already understood that, it hurts to touch.”

  “The weavers did not attack us because they also experienced pain from this radiation, they hid, hiding their sensitive eyes from the light.”

  “How did you guess that the staff’s mechanism would respond to the voice?” She asked.

  “There, underground, I thought about what Cap said. The fact that we cannot go out without a staff. I couldn't solve this riddle until I saw a bas-relief in the city. On the bas-relief, the pilgrim was holding a star in his hand. And next to it were the symbols "Pilgrim's Song". As a child, my grandmother told me that our ancestors were pilgrims, in grief or joy they sang the pilgrim's hymn. The hymn is an expression of admiration for the light, it is a reliable support for the wandering, she said. The staff is also a support for the wanderers. I realized that the staff and the hymn were somehow connected. After we fell into the water and the paint began to peel off the staff, I examined it and noticed a sound resonator. I had no doubt that the staff responded to sound. It remained unclear how this works. Yesterday, when you were sleeping, I found the inscriptions on the staff, it seemed to me that it was a map, and I was not mistaken. It is truly a star map, centered on the top of the staff. I heard from pilots that prior to the appearance of star beacons, they navigated space by pulsating variable stars and the center of the galaxy. The fate of the pilgrim is in the shining of the stars, as the hymn says. The shining is what had to happen.”

  “You could have warned me about this, your request was unexpected for me.” Suely said.

  “Why did you react so strongly to the request to sing?”

  “We have a custom, girls sing only to their husband.”

  “Do you agree to be my wife?”

  “Yes! I sang to you! What are your customs?”

  “I dont know. There are few of us left, so there are no more customs.”

  “Shave your beard and grow hair on your head. This will be our custom!”

  “Good. I agree!” Sam broke into a smile.

  “Why are you smiling?” Suely glared at Sam.

  “I'm happy to have met you. And you?”

Suely stared at Sam, and he stopped smiling at the look. Suddenly she laughed, covering her face with her hands,” You should have seen your face now!”

  “Something is wrong?” Sam asked, puzzled.

Suely stopped laughing, she smiled. Moving closer to him, she touched his face.

  “Yes, my Sam, I'm happy!” She answered, looking into his eyes.