Beyond the cave, spreads a sky of purest porphyry.<br/><br/>Below it is a sprawling, primeval rain forest.  Its layered canopies tuck all horizons under its steamy lushness.  Its jade throbs, teasing the sky with tongues of heat.  The sky, stark and lovely as all elegance distilled, sips in the heat unchanged and glares down with a perfect circle of sun.<br/><br/>As Miaren looks over the cave rim, she sees spindles of weightless gold among the most distant edges of the trees - towers that seem more enchantment than structure; more dream than residence.  She sees flocks of birds coast over the restless body of the rain forest, as it tosses, sensuously undulant with life.  She sees nature at its most elegant and wild - sees a universe of it.<br/><br/>Then, with a glance down, she sees Fern and the Thing plunge into a pool about fifty feet below.  The Thing emerges, still with Fern in hand, and labors toward a shore surrounded by a meadow of unmarked emerald.<br/><br/>