"W… what!??" Nathan trembled.
"Wait a second, don't be scared!" She smiled with her eyes still glowing.
Inside the hole, the atmosphere began to shift. Velmora said nothing else—she slowly turned around, her lower body slithering like a soft wave across the ground, producing a krsk… krskk… sound.
Then that sound stopped at the far end.
Nathan was still standing a few steps behind.
"…Velmora, wh-what are you doing?" Nathan stammered.
Velmora turned her head, her face still damp with sweat, her breathing calm.
"I want to turn on this stone."
Nathan frowned.
"Stone?"
Velmora smiled, then with a gentle motion, she touched her side — and plucked a thin scale from her own skin.
The scale reflected a faint light. She turned around, raised her tail, and — click — slotted the scale right into the crevice of a red rock.
Bzzzzt…
In an instant, the stone lit up.
Its glow was soft, a warm red, like the bedroom lamp of a child too scared of the dark but too embarrassed to admit it.
