Shawn wasted no time covering the distance after they did a quick sweep through the area, and found nothing of note. Not even any recent camps. “I'm beginning to understand agoraphobia, you know? We saw it from orbit, Cire. A spectacle no one’s ever seen before.”

  She let out a soft tsk. “Yeah, the view was great. To die for, even. The burning wreckage of Telga’s orbital winter retreat, not so much.” The area outside the mine was strewn with piles of processed rock, creaking wooden cranes, and the metal banded carts rusted in pce on the rail track, some of them not protected from the elements. The tracks sloped down into the entryway that went deep into the cliffside.

  But they focused their gaze on the expanse–the chasm that formed the edge.

  Shawn had always scoffed at the people who still believed the earth was ft, and that if you went far enough, you’d fall right off. He realized those people might have been partially right--if they had been aware of an alien world, with its unnatural structure, arranged like yers of an onion.

  "You know, I can see how keeping a civilization connected might be tough. Instead of oceans...we have cosmic gaps," Cire commented. The chasm between the tectonic masses that formed Remaria, where the atmosphere thinned out, and the blue nebu that hovered perpetually overhead was barely visible. "Wish we had a nebu right next door to us."

  "Oh, that green and blue whirl?" Garrett clucked. "I've heard Telga refer to it the hallowed goddess overlooking the world. She's also scoffed at 'real' gods, just supercharged beings that acted very much like all the other folk–driven by passions, idiosyncrasies, and obsessions–or in the case of a few, enlightenment and altruism. Though they are shockingly in the minority."

  "What is her deal?" Shawn asked. "She acts like she's isoted."

  "She is," Regia answered. "Why do you think we're doing this, instead of getting volunteers from across Valtiria? She was at odds with many of the Radiants. only a few listen to her."

  Distantly, Shawn could make out the far-away tectonic mass, many kilometers away–past where the atmosphere thinned next to nonexistent. Alien stars in unfamiliar consteltions were visible, even with the sun in the sky. The tectonic mass was hundreds, even thousands of kilometers of fractured rock hovering over a void. He took a deep breath and dared to find beauty in this surreal pce.

  That mass of rock, vines, and a waterfall dripping water into the nebulous expanse was a sight to behold. He sat down, digging his cws into the rocks just below his position, where the world terminated. Small roots from the trees nearby were dug into the earth, and with nowhere to go. A steady breeze came up from the terminus of the tectonic mass, and he looked down once he had steadied himself.

  Down below his feet, was a vast expanse of the cosmos. Stars dotted the sky, and the glowing nebu wrapped around the edge. But it wasn’t the biggest fixation for his eyes. What was below was something far more fascinating–the orbiting, fragmented masses of Remaria, closer than ever. A hollowed world bsted apart by some ancient camity, each concentric yer of tectonic masses rotating around a central core. Sunlight drifted down, illuminating the yers at infrequent times, all rotating together at roughly the same speed. Spires of massive crystals were visible that seemed to channel the sunlight inward like miniature suns–but some looked like vast debris fields, colteral of an ancient apocalypse, and glittered in the void.

  “What a view, huh?” Cire said quietly, with her knees pressed against her torso–she wasn’t quite as bold to dangle her legs over the edge. At least he had his wings, the little he’d used them, or dared to try.

  Below him, he could see the next yer of Detourrai, the crucible of creation, as Telga had referred to it. Verdant forests pocketed one continental mass, and an ancient ocean dripped over the edge on one side, illuminated by the rays of the star that formed this sor system. Rain clouds formed and drifted down below the edge, then slowly swirled around, and deposited rain on the mountains on the far side–a self-contained loop, on a self-contained continent. A va flow with an eerie orange glow traced distantly like a river on some far corner of the tectonic mass. Sunlight was interrupted, and cast long shadows from the masses above them, though some sor towers were intact.

  The engineering or magic to pull off such a structure was unmatched. He pondered what it must be like, to have this continent below his feet to serve as the ceiling for their world. The sor crystals, as he referred to him, did help, but he didn’t think they should be near enough. And yet, vibrant green life persisted below.

  Below that, another yer of orbiting masses, closely knitted and less fractured, were shrouded in darkness, the deeper they went into the world. It was harder to make out, without a telescope. “Regia, I don’t have names for those pces below, but…”

  “You know Detourrai. There are three orbital yers, plus the core world. The third–cast in deep shadow, due to few sor towers that align correctly, is Seluniri. It is riddled with eldritch secrets, long dead civilizations, and ruined cities pockmarked throughout its yer, buried deep into the earth.” Her gaze drifted down to the glow of the deepest yer, traced with soft fissures of golden light. “Below that? The source of our current troubles.”

  “Revarik, or the Etteria?” he asked. She didn’t answer.

  “Whole civilizations, huh? What cracked this world apart?” It was Cire’s chance to ask a question. “Telga said that it was an ancient cataclysm. I mean honestly, a hollowed-out world would already be an unprecedented feat, but…this world should have colpsed in on itself.”

  “No one knows, but the Radiants. It's been this way for a long time, Cire,” Garrett answered calmly, eyes fixated on the expanse below. “If Telga knows, it’s a secret she doesn’t want to share. I don't think she knows, though. Not fully."

  “Eh. Still a great view, either way,” Varrick shrugged. “A word to the wise, Shawn, don’t try to fly out there, ever. The atmosphere thins out rather quickly if you stray from the tectonic mass. Then you fall. Straight down to the core world. There won't be a body to bury. Plus, the gravity gets a little spooky in pces. Watch out for things that don't look right, like stactites not growing straight down, or vines dangling in the wrong direction. Or, just throw rocks ahead of yourself."

  "Grim," Shawn responded softly. he couldn't take his eyes off the core of the world of Remaria. He couldn’t make out the details, but he could see patches of green, brown…and dim fractures of light, far below. That core powered all life and magic of this world. Somehow, it kept this fractured world stable. He dug his cws gently into the small patch of grass clinging to a tiny outcropping and kneaded the soft vegetation gently. “Hell of a view, indeed,” he added a few seconds ter.

  This was the literal end of the world. A terminus that made navigation between the masses difficult, in this world of disparate technology and eldritch magic. He could see a thin beam of green connecting this tectonic mass, and the other one distantly, with a constant glow of light. Several others were there, connecting to various points across the orbital yer.

  He figured those might be the teleport strands Telga and the others mentioned. A delicate weave that made intertectonic travel possible.

  “Gravity feels normal here,” Shawn observed. Even though it technically didn’t make sense, gravity should be pulling in the retive direction of the center of mass. And this wasn’t a three-body problem, this was an nth order level of complexity.

  Best not to give it too much thought. Even I can’t calcute this one, Shawn.

  “It’s normal here, but weird stuff happens to gravity near the edges. We post signs and warnings where the gravity might shift orientation. Well, best we can,” Varrick commented. He clenched his cws into the ground a little more deeply than the others. "For unexplored areas, you need to tread carefully."

  Shawn gnced at the wings on his back and wondered how far he could get before he would fall–or when the flow of the gravity well would pull down on him. Or was it orthogonal to the tectonic mass? Or when the air was too thin to support his weight? "Guessing people ignored the warnings?"

  "Yep. Didn't end well."

  Shawn took that as another sign this pce defied physics on every level. Even with the danger…he couldn’t help but appreciate the ethereal beauty of this world, strange and alien, and it was everything that Earth was not. It was majestic. Wondrous. And he wanted to see more of it.

  He’d have to, if he ever hoped to find Maggie in this fractured mess of a world. And, confront the foes who made this whole disaster possible, down in the depths of the pnet.

  Cire gently put a hand on his shoulder, gazing at him with curiosity. “Ever think of taking a spin with the wings?”

  “Nope. Not gonna chance it here.” Everyone else had sat down at the edge after seeing him take the daring lead. Their equipment was set a short distance away and only Regia stood stoic, always with her eyes looking out for threats.

  “We tell the kids to stay the chasms away from the edge,” Trask murmured. “Raine, anything nearby? I don’t want to get my ass thrown off the edge of the world.”

  “Nah. Nothing but us.” Even so, Raine gnced around, focusing on the nearby mine entrance. Clouds slowly drifted up from the edge and over the small mountainous area. “That said, knowing our luck? That mine is infested with nasties.”

  Shawn scooted back from the edge and brushed the dust off his trousers. “Well, shall we? We’ve got small steps down here before we make big steps down there. Or up there,” he added while pointing to a small, barely visible moon. “Think there’s a Radiant up there, gring down at us?”

  “Bunch of pricks, the lot of them. Always leering down at us, literally and figuratively,” Trask grumbled. “Minus Telga, and even then, she’s tolerable. And yes, I’m sure some Radiant is peering down, wondering why we’re going into an abandoned mine, or making bets with the rest of the enlightened pricks on how many of us come out alive.”

  “I hope we’re getting good odds,” Regia chuckled.

  “Alright, time to do this. Pack light, we’ll leave nonessential gear in that little shack.” Garrett pointed to a derelict structure made of rusty metal siding and aged wooden pnks, but the door was intact and the windows were unbroken. Garrett pushed the door open with a rusty creak, favoring a revolver pistol simir to Regia’s for the closer quarters, and gave a thumbs-up that it was clear.

  Shawn gnced at the shack. It was packed with what he figured were supplies for the mine–tins for rations, likely long since expired, picks, sorting bins, and even a few fragments of ore that Cire packed into her bag. They had truly abandoned it quickly to leave such items lying around. Everyone in the meantime belted on ammo and the little chemical light sticks Cire had cooked up. Shawn kept a bandolier of alchemical cartridges on his belt and vest, as did the others. At least he had his gestalt when ammo ran out, and his hammer.

  A moment ter, they eyed the gated entrance, left untched and shifting slightly with the wind. “Down, into the underground. Now there’s something a bird should never utter,” Shawn added grimly. Cire let out a soft ugh.

  “Yeah, Shawn. You’re now the literal canary in the coal mine. So if you kick the bucket…I’ll know it’s time to get out.”

  “Kick the bucket?” Regia echoed. “You off-worlders bring such strange sayings with you, I would love to know where some of them originated from.”

  “Help us get through this crisis, I’ll tell you all about it,” Cire replied warmly.

  Shawn felt the ground shake beneath his feet, and he bowed his legs lightly as the world trembled. A few sparse bushes shook and a few rocks cttered from down the slope, adding to an existing pile of crumbled rocks that had accrued like a regur rockslide zone. “Whoa, what was that?!” he called out.

  “Quakes. You get them on rare occasions on the tectonic masses,” Varrick called out. “It’s usually stronger closer to the edges, back in Vea’nt, you’d barely notice a leaf shaking.”

  “Movement!” Raine barked out, grabbing his rifle and aiming at the entryway, even as the tremor ceased, and that ominous vibratory sound faded into the background breeze. “Multiples, small critters, no idea what!”

  Garrett made a swift move and locked the gate–though it still had plenty of openings, and Cire grabbed and broke open one of her glow stick analogs, and tossed it into the darkness. The bright yellow glow of the impromptu fre lit the dark entryway, and they all took a step back as several high-pitched screeches filled the air. Everyone took cover by an overturned cart and processed rocks, waiting for the threat to emerge.

  Cwing their way through the dark were about a dozen creepy rat-like monsters with razor-sharp cws closing in, each the size of a medium-sized dog. Each had six legs, and mangy-looking bck fur. They were sprinting across the distance, possibly scared by the tremor, and a few climbed over the slower ones, scrambling, screeching, and screaming. Those beady eyes were nothing mouselike. They were the eyes of predators who were attacking as a pack.

  They bashed against the gate, now tched and the frame buckled from the impact. They reached their ratty limbs, trying to swipe at the cracked gate. Saliva dripped off their sharpened teeth, their mouths emitting a shrill noise that made Shawn’s ears hurt. The gate was about to give way as the wood sts cracked and broke apart at the impact of the small but powerful creatures.

  “Razor rats. Fun,” Garrett growled, before loading his new shredder rounds. “Let the exterminating begin.”

  Might want to put this fight in our favor, Shawn! They look disturbingly hungry, and pissed off!

  Shawn took that initiative, funneled a charge of frost energy to his arm, and sprayed the area adjacent to the entrance with a sheen of ice. Regia took the initiative and also helped coat the area with a slippery surface, in preparation for the imminent battle--hopefully, to slow these monsters down.

  The gate broke apart under the strain. The swarming creatures rushed forward, and the screeches of many more behind ensured a dangerous task had just started.