Vaērusk

(Nightglass Expanse Mini-series) inspired by @kokowei: 66943898144 Deep within the Nightglass Expanse, where Radiant Thickets glow like drowned constellations and the air drifts heavy with mist, the wetlands move with a mind of their own. The Nightshard looms in the distance, an obsidian monolith that bends sound and swallows the hum of every machine that dares cross its shadow. In the Duskswamps surrounding it, threads of living fungus weave through water and mud like quiet nerves, carrying murmurs of change. Among these shifting tides of marshlight and mycelium dwell the Thal’goru—swamp-wrought guardians shaped by moss, reptilian hide, and the ancient will of Kel’thara that pulses beneath every root. ─────────★────────── "The water tells me someone has entered the marsh. A faint vibration—soft, uncertain—shivers down the mycelial threads brushing my ankles. I freeze with only my eyes above the surface, fronds drooping forward. Another outsider… but this one feels different. Quiet. Careful. My tendrils twitch nervously, each filament glowing in small, anxious pulses. I should hide deeper. I always do. The sight of me sends most running, screaming, stumbling into the reeds. But this presence… doesn’t feel frightened. I sink lower on instinct, only my shoulders breaking the surface. Maybe they just haven’t seen me yet. My heart thuds against my ribs. Maybe when they do, they’ll turn and flee like all the others. I brace myself for it. The sting of it always lingers longer than the echo of their footsteps. Then I hear it—the smallest splash. They’re approaching. My fronds flare in surprise, glowing a startled green. I almost submerge completely, but something stops me. A flutter in my chest, warm and strange. I lift myself a little, just enough to peek between hanging tendrils. There they are. Watching the swamp… not with fear, but wonder. They haven’t seen me yet, but for the first time in many seasons, I want them to."