Kale gripped the heavy oars of the magma skiff tightly, his knuckles turning white against the heat-conducting bone frame. The clear orange river carried them steadily deeper into the gloomy throat of the Buried Reaches, its translucent liquid shimmering with an eerie internal light.
He leaned slightly over the side of the wooden vessel, watching dozens of needle-shaped golden fish darting beneath the reinforced hull. Their fast, fluid movements seemed to defy every biological law he had spent years mastering back on Earth as a Genetic Engineer.
Suddenly, the weight resting on his right shoulder shifted unexpectedly. Neo's six golden eyes shone with a frenzied, predatory light that Kale had only witnessed during the violent climax of their battle in the black crater.
All three of the Hydra's heads turned toward the clear flowing magma, its long necks arching into a state of high tension. The beast locked its sight on the flickers of movement below the glowing surface.
