1 — Geology

"Water, wind, ice," Elara confirmed. "The patient assassins. They take the hard, strong birth-rock and grind it into dust. They carry it to the sea. They bury it."

Leo grinned. For the first time, the mountain didn't look like a place for a picnic. It looked like a story waiting to be read. geology 1

"A nautilus," Elara said. "From when this place was a shallow sea, full of mud. Remember the sand we saw? It got buried. The weight of new rock on top squeezed it, cemented it, turned it into this—sedimentary rock. And sometimes, it caught a life and kept it forever." "Water, wind, ice," Elara confirmed

She put the pebble in his pocket. "Lesson one complete. Next week: volcanoes." geology 1