"Lead the--" Oh. Oh. Fern nods quickly, tightening her grip on her staff, and turns to look back down the treacherous slope that they'd been hiking up to get them to this point. She swallows, gathering her courage, and starts to make her way back down again, doing her best not to shuffle, wobble, and trip over the uneven ground.

The slope gradually gives way to firmer, steadier ground, and through the dense underbrush Fern catches a glimpse of a few fallen stones she'd noticed on their ascent. She points to them, looking over her shoulder to make sure Ellana is still following. "There," she says, "it looked like an old rock wall to me, not just some bits of boulder." Inquisitive, she walks over to it and reaches out to touch the evidence of masonry along its weathered edges.