The tunnel was dark and wet and worn with age. Its edges smoothed to slick, rounded clumps of dirt-and-stone after years of water-borne erosion. Phoebe cautiously followed the equally old path, the hoofprints of Coursers embedded into it from constant use. Yet despite the proof of life Phoebe could not help but feel terribly alone. Her only company was the moss and mushrooms which clung to the slick walls. On the ground sparse patches of moist greenery stiffly stood beside the path she treaded. 

Phoebe walked further into the damp shadows, as plants ebbed and flowed like a river. Roots bursting from above and below, subterranean branches thick and twisting they crawled across the floor in dangerous clumps until they slowly thinned away to nothing. Finally, Phoebe saw the end of the tunnel. A halo of light just a few feet away, yet something in the air had changed. Looking around she saw the path had a small webbing of roots covering it, incredibly complicated and delicate in equal measure. Thrumming with a strange rhythm- contracting and expanding with a sickly milky-white glow. Looking beyond she saw it; a twisted bundle of pulsating filaments. It stood equally still, the only movement being a gentle swaying by a breeze from the tunnel’s end. 

Phoebe took a step forward and so did the bundle. She paused for a moment and tilted her head. The bundle followed, cocking its head to the side like a lost dog. Phoebe took a moment to think. It obviously wasn’t a traditional threat; the threads had no teeth, no hooves, and definitely no obvious sense of independence. Slowly she twisted around the tunnel corridor, circling the bundle as it mimicked her moves. Soon Phoebe had the exit to her back and the bundle standing still at her front. Carefully, she gathered her strength and prepared to bolt- twisting around in a frantic burst of energy she galloped out the exit and far away from the strange being. Her only companion being the howling of wind in her ears.