Vashti trotted smartly along the trails worn by other explorers, creeping moss muffling the sound of their hooves. These places were interesting, sure, creatures and plants were always shifting things around, uncovering something new, hiding something old until it was new again, Vashti apricated this, but they wanted to see something they’d never seen before, so they veered off onto a less worn track as soon as there was a chance. The moss grew fast, so dozens, maybe hundreds of coursers could have travelled this way before, Vashti could pretend though, that they were the first.

Moss grew sparer underfoot, and the booming sound of their hoofbeats told Vashti that this cavern was one of the larger ones. They didn’t recognise it at all, and that was enough. Slowing to a careful walk Vashti sniffed the air, nothing but the scent of plants and small creatures came back to them. No smoke or blood that might tell of a former battle here, nothing overtly hostile. Ears turned back and forth: rustling leaves, moving vines and the plants swayed in the breezes that headed from below ground to above, scuttling of tiny rodents, insects going about their business. Nothing out of place. Well, all right then. Nothing to worry about.

The problem with no danger, Vashti came to reflect was that it often meant nothing of interest. After a poke into a variety of likely looking alcoves and corners Vashti was thinking they might have to move on, but as they’d poked their nose into so many places they might as well try them all, right? Shoving aside some hanging vines revealed a hidden glint of metal that immediately caught Vashti’s eye. They shouldered aside the rest of the vines and moved in. This partially concealed alcove was deeper than they’d thought, maybe even deserving of the title of cave in its own right. Evidence of the ancient ones was what had caught their attention. Empty metal shells of their strange shapes lay in the dust. Once again Vashti was struck by how strange they must have appeared when alive. They turned a helm gently with a forehoof, and as usual it contained nothing but dust. The iron pot over the dust of a fire in a ring of stones also contained dust. Vashti snorted at it, blew it everywhere, and sneezed several times as dust puffed up into their nostrils.

Leaving the dusty metal seemed like a good choice, Vashti couldn’t be sneezing the whole way outside. What else was there? Vashti craned their neck to look around and saw letters on a stone. In a stone. Sharp and regular, deeply incised, though moss was trying its best to grow over them. Vashti braced a forehoof on the rock and used the other to scrape back the moss before standing back. GALATEA. Hmmm.

Vashti thought about the word. It made no sense to them. Sounded like galaxy, but why would someone go to the effort of carving a misspelled word in a stone? That couldn’t be it. Nor did they think it was supposed to be GALA TEA, because even though they were real words it wouldn’t make sense to carve them into a stone either. Was this the tomb of great hero of old called Galatea? It was as good a theory as any. Dismissing the confusing word Vashti decided this might be a good place to take a break before further exploration.