“The way the creature spoke implied that its mind was not solely within the being we saw.” Rareth remarked. “If we are going to speak to it ‘in person’, then that worm may have only been a conduit. We may be dealing with a hive mind, or at least something that can control certain creatures.”

Once they reached the cliff face, Rareth returned her weapon to her back and gave another quick scan of the area behind them. “It seems we need to climb to keep progressing, but we should still be cautious about it. We should not all climb at once. Thebes, have some of your team stay down here to cover us as we climb. We will do the same from the top once we reach it. And you may want to share out some of the weight from Nirann for the climb, just to make sure none of those handholds give way.” She suggested. 

For Rareth, her climb was more of a sprint. Echolocation allowed her neural implant to build a detailed map of the cliff before she started, so she did not even need to use her eyes to know exactly where she should grab, and where to move next. Coupled with her long limbs and powerful muscles, she could move up top in leaps and bounds. At least for her, there were no interruptions before she reached the top. 

Although she did not yet see any movement from potential lifeforms, Rareth still drew her weapon and remained alert as soon as she was at the top. From the top of the cliff, the landscape ahead of her really opened up. The dominant feature was the large lake that took up most of the space ahead, which reflected the light from the beacon in the distance. There were forests to either side in the basin, composed of trees that seemed to demonstrate some form of bioluminescence. Since they did not have the means to cross the lake directly, their path would likely take them around the side, through those forests.