Maddy didn't break her stride.
"The man who requested the job mentioned it explicitly. He heard it blooms only in Area 1, but in a pocket—a hidden glade that no one can find by simply walking the path."
Johnn stopped dead, his face twisting into a silent, frustrated grimace. He didn't speak, but his eyes darted toward the impenetrable wall of thorns and shifting bark that separated the known map from the deep, uncharted growth. His jaw tightened, a silent admission that he knew exactly what kind of place she was describing, and the dangers it held.
Maddy stopped to consult the glowing holographic interface only she could see, but her brow furrowed. The map, usually a steady, reliable grid of her surroundings, was behaving erratically. Lines were bleeding into one another; the western sector she had noted only an hour ago had vanished, replaced by a dense thicket, while the central corridor had suddenly shunted to the north.
