With Terravax anchoring one flank and Azelis's disrupted shadow clearing a path through the other, they carved a route deeper without losing anyone to the river's reach.
Deposits of crystallized Eldritch Energy clung to the ceiling here, undisturbed because nothing else could safely reach them. Selenroot's root tendrils extended carefully, prying the crystals loose without disturbing the surrounding shadow, while Azelis kept her disruption active to hold the river back.
By the time they made camp that night, exhaustion had settled into all of them again, but so had a quiet satisfaction at how much they'd already gathered, and how much more they'd survived.
"After today," Yuna said, sprawled against a smooth stone wall as Emberlune curled against her side, "the shadow river feels almost relaxing."
"Don't get comfortable," John said, though he was smiling as he sorted through their materials. "This place still has teeth."
