Leanna wasn’t sure how long they had been walking by the time they reached the end of the cave’s tunnel, but the silvered moonlight filtering down into the passage through a natural skylight, as well as the way her feet had begun dragging beneath her, said enough. Portal travel was difficult even when performed smoothly, and although keeping the orb alight was not particularly taxing for short periods, holding it aloft and siphoning bits of her own energy into it for hours on end was beginning to weigh her down.

They emerged from the tunnel into a wide cave mouth, the wet stone shimmering in the cool moonlight. At their feet was a dark, glistening pool of water that elongated into a stream at the cave entrance. Multicolored rocks glinted under the surface in the shallower depths before dropping off into inky blackness. Settled at the entrance to the cave was a long-limbed weeping willow, its leaves, somehow still green despite the season, swirling slightly in the bit of current passing in from the stream. Moss and ivy crept across the walls and along the walkable ridge of rock wrapped around the perimeter of the water.

“Oh, wow. Moon blossoms,” Penlyn said, taking a few steps along the wall to cup a crimson-veined flower in her gentle hand from where it hung on a vine. The white flowers were like starbursts against the silver-black walls. “These babies only bloom at night, and only grow under the most specific of conditions. I didn’t think any could be found on this side of the continent.” 

She stroked a petal reverently, then bent forward to smell, her eyes fluttering closed for a moment.

Leanna just hummed in response. She knew nothing about flowers, and had never cared much for them outside of the ones she could use for spells, but she could admit that these were particularly beautiful.

She began making her way around the outside of the water, careful not to slip or get her cloak any wetter than strictly necessary. She was halfway around one side before she realized Penlyn wasn’t following her. She turned to find the woman crouched and swirling her hand around in the water.

“We should scout outside of the cave, see if there are any houses or towns nearby,” Leanna said. She had slept on her fair share of floors in her life without complaint, and she almost certainly would again, but right now her body ached for a mattress and a pillow. If there was any way to avoid spending the night on the floor of this cave, she would take it up in a heartbeat, angry mobs be damned.

“Just a minute,” Penlyn said. Then she stood up and began undoing the buttons of her shirt.

Leanna forced her eyes to the ground. “What are you doing?”

“The water is warm—like, hot spring warm. And I’m still covered in plasma goo. So you can go scout around if you want, but first I’m having a bit of a rinse.”

Leanna waited through the sound of rustling fabric until she heard the splashing of water, followed by a long, contented sigh, and then she raised her gaze off of the floor. Leanna caught half a glimpse of bare, water-slicked brown skin before quickly raising her eyes to the ceiling.

“It’s fine, Leanna, you can look now. It’s too dark for me to truly offend your delicate sensibilities.”

Bracing herself, Leanna looked down to find Penlyn doing lazy strokes in water that rippled opaquely around her. All she could see was the curve of her neck or her arm when she raised it close to the surface. A little bit of tension eased inside her.

She walked to the mouth of the cave, peeking through the swaying branches of the willow tree at the land beyond. With just the moonlight to illuminate their surroundings, all Leanna could see was the sparkle of the creek where it continued to widen off to her right, and the dense darkness of the surrounding forest. There was no path in sight, and searching for one at this time of night in an unfamiliar landscape was just asking for trouble. Which meant they were camping here.

With a sigh, Leanna set to work gathering the makings of a fire. In just a few minutes, she had a ring of stones set up around a small, steady flame in a patch of rock where no flowers or moss grew. The fire threw warm light like paint splatters across the walls of the cave and turned the small ripples in the water to gold, but also made the darkness of the cave passage they had come through seem much deeper.

With nothing left to do but think about the ache in her feet and the weight of her eyelids, she sat down with her back to the flames, watching Penlyn drift in lazy laps through the water.

“Thanks for that,” Penlyn said, tilting her chin towards the fire.

Leanna just shrugged. 

The woman gave her a considering look. “Aren’t you tired?”

“Sure, we just walked for hours. Why do you ask?”

Now it was Penlyn’s turn to shrug. The tops of her shoulders barely peeked out of the water. “Well, you’re…I just don’t think my muscles would physically let me sit up that straight right now.”

It took every ounce of Leanna’s will not to stiffen further.

“This is just how I sit,” she said tightly. “There’s nothing wrong with good posture.”

“Right. Sorry.” There was a pause punctuated only by the sounds of softly rippling water. “So…you’re not going to get in, then?”

Leanna sighed. Because, no, she most definitely was not going to get in. Penlyn might be comfortable disrobing in front of a stranger out in the wilderness where anyone else could pass by under the cover of night, but Leanna surely wasn't.

However, her feet really did ache.

After a moment of deliberation, she leaned forward and dipped her fingers into the water.

Oh. Okay, maybe Penlyn was on to something.

Ignoring Penlyn’s gaze on her, Leanna made quick work of pulling off her shoes, hiking up her dress, and dipping both her feet in the water.

Then she groaned. The water was just hot enough to instantly soothe the bottoms of her feet in a way that made her eyes want to roll into the back of her head. Not prone to such dramatics, Leanna settled for letting her eyelids drop closed in ecstasy as she leaned back on her hands. Spirits, that felt good.

Penlyn gasped dramatically, making Leanna jump.

“What will the posture police think?” she said, mock scandalized.

Without hesitation, Leanna splashed her with her foot.

For a moment, Penlyn stared at her in shock, mouth agape as droplets of water inched down her cheeks and plastered her hair to her forehead. Then she let out a thoroughly delighted, absolute cackle of a laugh.

In spite of herself, Leanna grinned wickedly in response.

Penlyn brought both her arms back, preparing for her own counterattack. “Oh, you’re about to regret that.”

Leanna tensed, ready to scramble out of the water to safety, when something behind Penlyn caught her eye. She froze.

“What? What is it?” Penlyn asked.

“Get out of the water,” Leanna said, her voice like ice. “Now.”

Despite her instructions, Penlyn turned, finding a pale pair of eyes staring back at her from across the water.

Penlyn screamed.