The bright purple liquid—water?—flowed down the gentle incline between a series of shallow pools that had been paid into the landscape with close-fitted stones and a patina of moss and lichen that suggested a wholly ancient origin. The water(?) purred softly as it flowed, a gentle noise that would have been soothing if not for its utterly alien hue and unknown composition. The spring at its head gave no indication, other than a light indigo staining of the surrounding rocks, where the fluid was seeping from.

This, certainly, was the source of all the mysterious blue, indigo, and violet flora and fauna that had been reported in the area. But as for the origin of the purring purple fountain, the land offered no clue. The opening was tiny and the pressure such that even a branch would struggle to be thrust down against the current.

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