The sea.
He closed his eyes and let his awareness flow through the network, following the threads as they branched and divided, reaching deeper into the earth. He could feel the water table, the vast underground reservoir that fed the coastal springs. He could feel the minerals dissolving in the soil, the nutrients being drawn up into the roots of the crops. He could feel the energy flowing in a great circuit, from the earth to the fields to the harvest and back again.
And at the edges of that circuit, he could feel the sea.
The connection was subtle, almost invisible. The mycelium did not reach the ocean directly. It reached the water table, which reached the springs, which reached the kelp beds, which reached the fish. The chain was long and winding, but it was unbroken. He had pulled on one end, and the other end had tightened around the necks of the fishermen.
But what if he could break the chain?
