"The clay pit is now a stairway," Vincent reported, standing at the edge and peering down.
Holding the iron egg in his palm, Trask curled his arm. "And I'd say our key is now under thirty pounds."
"Having fun yet?" Kendra asked Seth.
"Watching giant statues pound each other into gravel? I can think of nothing more beautiful."
Chapter 4 Passageways
K endra rolled her eyes. Only her brother could act upbeat after nearly getting decapitated by a primitive stone club. She supposed it was better than wallowing in pessimism.
As the others gathered near the stairway to continue onward, Kendra paused, surveying the room. The seamless perfection shared by all of the surfaces inside the Dreamstone made the place feel surreal. Nothing in here looked constructed. The thought of winding through more alien corridors made her frown. After the statues and the strange dead ends, who knew what dangers might await? Berrigan was right--the rules of reality did not seem to apply completely here.
Despite her apprehension, as Trask led the way down the stairs, Kendra fell into line between Tanu and Seth. What else could she do? There were enemies in pursuit. Not to mention that they needed the Translocator to rescue Warren and perhaps her parents.
She felt glad that she had noticed the keyhole in the alcove. Up until that moment, she had been feeling like useless baggage. Of course, a big reason she had been invited along was in case the Translocator needed recharging. If the artifact was inoperative, the magic inside of her should bring it back to life. Still, she hoped she could find ways to help beyond serving as a spare battery.
The stairway narrowed as it descended. After the stairs ended, Kendra and the others once again meandered single file through a snug, snaking corridor until they reached a dead end. Doubling back, they arrived at a short downward stairway that promptly led to another rounded termination. When they reversed direction again, they found a long stairway that curved up and up, spiraling left and right in a disorienting climb until finally the steps ended at a wide, level corridor. As they progressed along the serpentine passage, the air became balmy and humid.
The corridor descended until they reached a cavernous, flooded room. Water simmered within a few inches of the level of the corridor, heat radiating from the burbling surface. Steam hung in the air, and moisture beaded the walls. A simple wooden canoe was secured near the entryway to the room, with two paddles resting inside. A low island in the middle of the partially submerged chamber was the only destination accessible by boat besides the bases of the high, smooth walls.
"How deep is it?" Seth asked, squinting down.
"Can't tell," Mara replied. "The water is too bubbly and the surrounding stone too dark. At least fifteen feet. I would guess more, perhaps much more."
Trask leaned out over the boiling water, inspecting the room. "The next keyhole probably awaits on that island. I don't see any on the walls or ceiling. We have any canoeing enthusiasts among us?"
"I can handle a canoe," Vincent said.
"As can I," Berrigan added.
"Me too," Mara put in.
"The craft is small," Trask said. "I wouldn't trust it to carry more than two people. Vincent and Berrigan were the first to speak."
"I don't like all this superheated water," Tanu said. "We should all take one of these." He held up a small cylinder of fluid. "The potion is designed to make the user fire resistant. It will offer considerable protection against high temperatures."
"This makes me feel a little better about the rickety canoe," Vincent said, accepting a cylinder.
"You're a miracle worker," Trask said.
"I try to be prepared," Tanu replied. "I originally designed these for Wyrmroost."
Kendra unstopped a cylinder and drank the contents. The clear liquid tasted sugary at first, then spicy hot, then cool and tangy.
After everyone had downed the potion, Vincent accepted the iron egg from Trask. Tanu held the canoe steady as the two men climbed inside and got situated.
"Let's not capsize," Vincent recommended.
"Not in the mood for boiled Aborigine?" Berrigan asked.
"I could live with that," Vincent replied. "It's the side order of Filipino guy that worries me."
Tanu gave them a gentle shove away from the entrance. Vincent and Berrigan dipped their paddles into the simmering water. Kendra estimated it was about fifty yards to the damp island. Handling their paddles with careful competence, Vincent and Berrigan guided the canoe swiftly to the destination. Vincent disembarked first, one foot sliding on the shiny black surface. He steadied himself, and then Berrigan climbed out too, remaining at the edge of the island with a brown hand on the canoe.
"Hot out here," Vincent called. "You might end up with steamed Filipino guy."
"See a keyhole?" Elise asked.
"Sure do, right here at the center of the island." Vincent stood up straight and turned in a slow circle. "I don't see any other options. Should I go for it?"
"Time is a critical issue," Trask shouted back.
Vincent knelt and took out the iron egg. The island was high enough that they could not see the keyhole from the entryway, but they could see Vincent's posture change as he turned the key. He held up a slightly smaller key to show he had accomplished the task.
The water stopped bubbling, creating a momentary silence. After the brief lull, a strong wind swept through the room. Vincent fell flat to avoid being blown off the island. Berrigan sprang into the canoe as the gust pushed it adrift. The small craft rocked severely, then capsized, dumping him into the water.
Kendra noticed when the sound of the wind changed, becoming fuller and more violent. The volume seemed to increase behind her, as if a gale were whooshing down the corridor. She turned in time to see a frothing wall of water hurtling down the tunnel toward her. Mara called out a warning. Kendra barely had time to close her eyes and tuck her head before a foamy explosion of water hurled her and the others into the searing pool.
The water felt scalding, although Kendra hardly noticed since the force of the flash flood kept her tumbling blindly. Hot water sluiced into her nostrils. As the colossal influx of water pushed Kendra farther from the tunnel, the turbulence diminished. Having lost all sense of direction, Kendra opened her eyes to verify which way was up, then stroked toward the surface, following the bubbles churned up by the flood. The weight of her sword made her progress slow, so, with her lungs beginning to burn, she unbuckled the weapon. When her head finally broke the surface, she coughed out water and gulped air in greedy gasps. Her clothes felt billowy and cumbersome, but she could keep her head above water. At least her shirt of adamant mail didn't exert too much downward pull.
The water seemed cooler than it had at first. Either the new water rushing from the tunnel was lowering the overall temperature of the pool or the potion was compensating, because although the water felt uncomfortably warm, it was endurable and did not seem to be inflicting physical harm.
Already beyond the island, Kendra treaded water, drifting toward the far wall of the room. She saw Seth and Tanu not far from her. Trask, Elise, and Berrigan had righted the canoe and clung to the sides as they swam toward her.
Suddenly Vincent's head shot out of the water, breathing hard. "I lost the key!" he spluttered.
"Where?" Trask demanded urgently.
"Right around here," Vincent said. "Below me. I think Mara dove for it."
"I'm on it," Elise said, disappearing under the water.
"Me too," Berrigan said, vanishing as well.
"Everyone grab the canoe," Trask instructed, towing it toward Kendra. "I'm worried we aren't out of the woods yet."
Kendra reached the canoe a moment before Seth and Tanu. The water level in the room surpassed the top of the entryway. Although the water continued to rise, the influx of water stopped making noise. They drifted in silence.
"Should I dive down?" Tanu asked.
"I saw you could barely stay afloat," Trask said. "You're like me--too much gear. Give the others a few more seconds."
Mara came up first, taking deep, controlled breaths. "Berrigan has it," she reported. "The key was too heavy. I could barely make upward progress with it."
Several seconds later, Berrigan and Elise surfaced together. They swam over and heaved the iron key into the canoe.
"I don't know how she did it," Berrigan said, nodding at Mara. "When we found her, she was on her way up, but she still had to be forty feet under."
"The key sank a long way before I caught up," Mara responded. "I found it sliding down the underwater slope of the island. It was slow going."
"Butterfingers," Vincent lamented. "My bad. The flood caught me off guard."
"It's hard to swim with it," Berrigan said. "No harm done."
"Are we going to drown?" Seth asked, glancing up at the ceiling. The water level continued to rise.
"Good question," Trask said. "Did any of you notice an exit down there?"
Mara shook her head. "I looked, but didn't see any exits or keyholes. Of course, I couldn't see everywhere."
"Could you see the floor?" Kendra asked.
"Yes. Maybe twenty feet below the lowest point of my dive."
"Do you feel all right?" Seth asked. "Can't you get the bends from coming up too fast after a deep dive?"
Elise smirked. "We weren't that deep. Plus, decompression sickness is less of a threat when free diving. You know, with only the air in your lungs."
"Meanwhile, the water keeps rising," Vincent pointed out.
"Let's hunt for another keyhole," Trask decided. "Do I have it right that Mara, Elise, and Berrigan are our best swimmers?" There were no objections. "You three explore underwater as best you can. The rest of us will look up. Let's find an evacuation tunnel or a keyhole."
Still holding the canoe, Kendra dipped her head under the water and watched as Berrigan, Elise, and Mara swam away and down in different directions. With her eyes below the surface, and the water no longer bubbling, the underwater scene was surprisingly clear and well-lit, although Kendra could not clearly discern whether she could see all the way to the bottom.
"The water isn't bubbling anymore," Kendra said after bringing her head up. "It feels cooler."
"The temperature is dropping," Tanu remarked. "The potion isn't stopping you from perceiving the heat. It just helps reduce the damage."
"This feels like a medium hot tub," Seth said, eyes upward.
"Won't matter what temperature it is once it fills to the ceiling," Vincent muttered.
"The ceiling is irregular," Trask said. "We've got sort of a chimney over by that corner." He pointed at a square gap in the ceiling. "Hard to say how high the shaft goes, but we should get under it. That will be our last resort."
Mara popped up near the wall above the submerged entryway. "Water is still flowing in. I checked around the entryway but found no keyhole." Without awaiting a response, she ducked back under the water.
Kendra scoured the walls and ceiling, searching with increased intensity as the ceiling drew nearer. Berrigan, Elise, and Mara surfaced periodically, reporting no success. The temperature of the water continued to fall until it was barely lukewarm.
"Tiny perforations in the ceiling," Vincent remarked. "See them?"
"I see them," Trask confirmed.
"Those teensy holes mean this is a death trap," Vincent said. "The air escapes through the holes so the room can fill up without forming air pockets."
"I guess you don't have any anti-drowning potions," Seth said.
"Don't I wish," Tanu chuckled darkly. "We might try a gaseous potion, but the effects won't work underwater, and I don't think those holes are big enough to use as an exit, even as a gas. Your form could get too dispersed, and that would be the end of you. As a last resort, I suppose we can try. You and Kendra each have a gaseous potion, and I have three extras."
The smooth ceiling was now within reach. Trask called Berrigan, Elise, and Mara over to the canoe the next time they surfaced. All three looked exhausted and waterlogged. They positioned the canoe under the square gap in the ceiling. Kendra stared up. The sheer chimney would accommodate the canoe if they kept it at a diagonal, from one corner to the other. She could see the ceiling at the top of the shaft, a long way up, glossy and smooth. It felt like she was gazing up from the bottom of a well.
As the water level reached the ceiling of the room, the little group drifted up into the shaft, clinging to the canoe. With considerably less volume, the shaft filled much faster than the chamber below. The canoe carried them upward at an alarming rate. The top rapidly drew near.
"I don't see holes in this ceiling," Tanu said. "So much for the gaseous potion."
"I see an offshoot near the top," Mara declared.
"You're right," Kendra agreed. "A little shaft branching off to the side."
"We'd better flip the canoe," Trask said. "It will create an air pocket. Tanu, grab the key."
Once Tanu had snatched the iron egg, Trask flipped the canoe. They all kept hold as the ceiling approached.
"Don't go under the canoe until you must," Trask ordered. "We'll deplete the oxygen soon enough."
"I'll explore the side tunnel," Berrigan said. "Give me the key." Tanu handed it over. Berrigan scrambled inside as soon as the water level reached high enough, wriggling forward on his belly due to the cramped confines. Water slurped into the little tunnel behind him. An instant later, the side shaft was flooded, and the bottom of the canoe bumped against the ceiling. Kendra raised her chin, her nose brushing the ceiling as she inhaled a final panicked breath before the water filled to the top.