We set out as soon as we were able. The soldiers marched in formation as if it were a parade. The regular citizens who were able to walk carried anything left of value. Since the path was safe, my uncle had consented to letting the trolls drag the sick on great slabs of fallen bark.
The long walk back was uneventful, save the deaths we knew were coming. As we buried another in the ash to leave forever, the Gloam-Eyed Queen's assassin told me that she would take my uncle's life if I asked. I thought about that for most of the journey. In the meantime, I loudly announced that he and his soldiers would graciously eat the awful clam-meat so the rest could have the remaining real food.
We met the Queen again at the end of the path. She was there in place of her brother the Prince, whose appearance would surely cause panic. She and her assassin conversed in quiet for several minutes, and then she led us upward along the roots.
This was a different path than the one we had descended, and before long, we were passing through a different style of catacombs than the tunnels beneath the Capital. Something of the Nox, maybe? The sarcophagi were certainly large enough for a giant.
Lighting had grown poorer as we had climbed, but now a distinct fiery glow had taken everything. There was no cavern wall on one side, and I saw to my shock a great lake of lava. Surely not the same one. How far had I traveled underground?
My captain swore and made a protective sign.
An Erdtree sapling was growing at the heart of the lake. Only, the color of the light was wrong. My former wife had begun the great project which would be her undoing. This was the first step. The Wodetree. The insect-infested Tree of Frenzy.