"Is there anything else you want to say?" Beila asks the spirit.

"No," it rumbles. "Make them stop."

"I will carry your message," Beila says.

It rumbles without words and falls silent, and Beila creeps back from the edge of the pit and manages to stand up and position herself near Dao for picking-up. "I'm going to try to count your steps while we go. I'm pretty sure we traveled north and a little east; help me out and mind the sun when we can see it. It'll be a start at finding what place matches the pit."