by F. P. Spirit
Lloyd’s hand immediately shot up. “I will!”
One side of Ruka’s mouth lifted, her eyes twinkling with amusement. “Not the worst choice. You weren’t too bad back at the cape.”
Aksel peered around once more. “I assume there are no objections.”
Seth leaned against the pillar, his arms folded across his chest. “Nah. Lloyd’s got this.”
Alana gazed down at her steel-encased torso and shook her head. “Don’t look at me. Do you know how long it takes to get in and out of this thing?”
Glo respectfully declined, as did Elladan and Elistra.
“Very well.” Aksel faced Lloyd, his arms slowly weaving the pattern of the spell that would allow the young man to breathe underwater. Once it was cast, they all headed back to the water room. Ruka dove in immediately while Lloyd and Donnie stripped off their shirts and boots. When they were ready, the two of them dove in after the teen. Glo glanced upward, his eyes fixing on the holes that spouted water into the room the day before. “I think it might be best if we head to the center. Once the water comes pouring down, we’re going to want to be under that dome.”
Seth let out a short laugh. “Heh. Ya think?”
Below the waterline, Donnie, Ruka and Lloyd swam to the bottom. Both golems were at their regular routines, one marching back and forth in front of the first switch, while the other remained stationary next to the second switch. The trio had worked out the plan on the way over to the water room. Ruka would once again distract the stationary golem, drawing it off when the marching golem was farthest away from its lever. Donnie and Lloyd would then quickly swim in and pull both levers simultaneously. Hopefully, that would end the puzzle, and the golems would not reset the levers.
Ruka swam off and positioned herself a short way from the immobile golem. Lloyd and Donnie waited just far enough away for the golems to ignore them. When the marching golem neared its farthest point, Ruka swam for the standing one. As she drew close, a huge stone arm shot out toward her, yet once again, Ruka proved too fast for the creature, nimbly swimming around the long stone arm and dodging its grasp. As she shot off across the pool, the golem took off in pursuit. Donnie motioned to Lloyd and the duo simultaneously launched themselves toward the levers.
A moment later, the other golem reached its farthest point and turned around. It immediately spotted them and stomped back toward its lever, doubling its usually slow pace. At the same moment, the golem chasing Ruka halted and spun about. It also saw the two swimmers and charged across the bottom of the pool. It was a race now. Lloyd and Donnie redoubled their efforts, swimming as fast as they could. Twenty feet, fifteen feet, ten feet, five feet. The two golems continued to bear down on them and would be in grabbing distance any moment. At the last possible second, both man and elf reached their levers and yanked them hard, slamming them into place.
Above the waterline, the door to the main chamber slid closed and water began pouring in from the ceiling. Seth pulled the lever on the central platform, and a clear purple force bubble appeared around them. Elladan’s eyes swept around the group, his face breaking out into that all too familiar half-smile. “Alright! I love it when a plan comes together.”
A few minutes went by with still no sign of Lloyd, Donnie or Ruka. With the force bubble surrounding them, there was no way to get a clear view down into the water. Glo grew increasingly concerned as the minutes went by. “Where could they be?”
The chamber was beginning to fill, the central platform rising with the water level. Abruptly, two figures broke the surface—it was Lloyd and Donnie. A second later, Ruka surfaced. Glo let out a hugh sigh. Seth flipped the switch, turning off the bubble, allowing Lloyd to climb aboard. Donnie and Ruka, however, remained in the water. Alana knelt down at the edge of the platform. “You two coming aboard?”
Donnie and Ruka exchanged a quick glance before he answered. “No, I think Ruka and I will stay out here—just in case.”
“Suit yourself,” Seth said, pushing the lever back the other way.
The purple force bubble immediately reappeared, surrounding them once again. The platform continued to rise with the water level. About a half an hour later, they had nearly reached the ceiling. The chamber was almost completely filled with water. The companions watched with keen anticipation as the top of the force bubble hit against the closed door in the ceiling above them. Nothing happened.
“Why isn’t it opening?” Elladan asked, with more than just a trace of concern in his voice.
It was indeed a good question. Glo had thought that the door would open as soon as the field pressed up against it. Around them, the chamber continued to fill with water. It began to rise past the bottom of the platform. Luckily, the force bubble remained intact.
Seth called out to Donnie. “Check around for a hidden switch around the door.”
“Will do!” Donnie cried back.
The slight elf spoke two soft words then climbed out of the water and up the side of the force bubble, sticking to it like he had to the walls of the air chamber. He reached the ceiling and then crawled up onto it, searching around the perimeter of the closed door. Around them, the water continued to rise—it was now waist level outside the bubble. Ruka tread water just outside the bubble, watching Donnie climb around the ceiling.
Seth cupped his hands and called up to the elf. “What’s taking you so long?”
“This is not as easy as you make it look!” Donnie yelled back, continuing to crawl around and run his hands around the ceiling as he spoke.
Elladan glanced nervously at Glo. “What happens if the bubble shuts off?”
Glo arched an eyebrow. He hadn’t thought of that. Up till now, Glo assumed the bubble would stay on and the water would just stop once the chamber was filled. He suddenly felt queasy in the pit of his stomach. He glanced over at Aksel. From his expression, he was having the same thoughts as Glo.
“That would be a problem,” the little cleric answered apprehensively.
Glo placed an arm around Elistra. The seeress smiled back at him, but he could see the worry in her eyes.
Alana tried to bolster their confidence. “Don’t worry. I’m sure Donnie will find something.
Seth said nothing, instead carefully scanning the ceiling from where he stood. Suddenly he called up to Donnie. “Try over to your right!”
Seth pointed to a spot about three yards away from the sight elf. Donnie swiveled around and headed toward where Seth was pointing. “Found it!” he suddenly cried, and began fiddling with something on the ceiling. The water was now even with their necks.
“Hurry!” Elladan shouted up to him. “If the bubble turns off, we’re all gonna need gills!”
“I’m working on it!” Donnie yelled, not taking his eyes off whatever he was tampering with. “Almost there...” he added a few moments later.
The water was now over their heads—it had nearly reached the top of the bubble. Glo tightened his grip on Elistra. Seth climbed up on the pedestal to get a better look at what Donnie was doing. Aksel began to pray. Elladan glanced nervously at Glo. He opened his mouth to speak when they heard a loud click. Everything happened at once. The door above them opened, the bubble disappeared and the platform began to rise. As water rushed in to soak them, Donnie and Ruka dove onto the platform. The platform then shot up through the opening, leaving the water-filled room behind.
Glo turned to Elistra and hugged her tight. Aksel made a sign across his chest in thanks to his goddess. Elladan wiped his hand across his brow. “Phew, that was close! I thought I had sung my last song there for a minute.”
Lloyd clasped Donnie on a sopping wet shoulder. “Nicely done!”
“Even if you cut it way too close,” Seth added, his lips bent into a thin smirk.
Donnie got up and winked at the others while ringing out his trousers. “I just wanted to see you a
ll sweat.”
“Gods, now he sounds like Seth!” Elladan declared, a half-smile spreading across his lips.
“No.” Seth shook his head. “Just no.”
The companions were now in another place entirely. This area above the water room was park-like, a carpet of lush green grass spreading out underneath their feet with what appeared to be blue skies overhead. Around them stood groves of well-groomed trees and neatly trimmed bushes. Two stone pathways cut through the grass, leading off in different directions. The companions decided to split up. Seth, Lloyd, Glo and Elistra went one way, while Donnie, Alana, Aksel and Elladan went the other. Ruka shape-shifted and took off upwards to investigate.
The park turned out to be far larger than anyone anticipated. The stone pathway led through a garden area with a large stone fountain, behind which was a tall hedge maze. Seth led the way through the maze, his instincts unerringly guiding them through to the other end. As they exited the tall hedges, Lloyd cried out in excitement. “We found it!”
Ahead of them in a small courtyard stood an old fashioned gazebo. It was rather elegant with ornate sage green columns, decorative white latticework, and a majestic concave sage green roof that rose up to a white octagonal cupola at the very top. In the very center of the gazebo stood a pedestal. Floating above the pedestal was another golden eighth of a sphere.
“Well, that doesn’t look too conspicuous,” Seth noted wryly. The halfling searched carefully around the gazebo. He quickly discovered a pressure plate on the steps leading up to the structure. Seth traced it back to a box hidden in the grass just at the base of the gazebo. He disarmed it in less than a minute.
“What was that?” Lloyd asked when Seth rejoined them.
The halfling responded with a nonchalant shrug. “Nasty little trap. Looked like it set off another force field around the gazebo and filled it with water.”
Glo raised a single eyebrow. “A drowning trap?”
“Apparently.”
Glo shook his head and sighed. Where Larketh was concerned, paranoid was an understatement. The companions entered the gazebo and approached the pedestal. Seth made a sweep of that as well, but then pronounced it all clear. Lloyd reached forward and grabbed the piece of sphere, spun around, and handed it over to Glo. Glo carefully scrutinized it, swiftly determining it was just like the others. He then put it in his robes and glanced around the interior of the gazebo. “Based on the last room, there should be another one around here.”
“Here it is,” a familiar voice called out from behind them.
They all spun around and saw Ruka saunter up the steps of the gazebo. In her hand she held another piece of globe. Lloyd eyed the young teen incredulously. “Where did you find that?”
Ruka halted in front of them, balancing the piece of sphere in one hand. “Oh, just floating around,” she answered in an almost too-casual manner.
Seth eyed her suspiciously. “Sure ya did.”
Elistra strode up next to Ruka and stared at the others, her hands on her hips. “Does it really matter?”
Seth stared at her a moment, then broke out into a wicked grin. “No, not really. It’s just a natural reflex.”
Ruka snickered softly as she handed Glo the other sphere. He held a piece in each hand and slowly brought them together just like before. Once again, when they touched there was no sound, but they instantly merged and became a quarter sphere. Elistra leaned in close, staring at the golden object in wonder. “Now all we need is the other quarter sphere and we’ll have an entire half.”
Ruka flew off to tell the others they had found the pieces, while Seth, Lloyd, Glo and Elistra retraced their steps. They all met back at the platform from the water room. Glo held up the quarter sphere for the others to see.
Aksel appeared quite pleased with the find. “Nicely done.”
Glo turned to Elladan. “Shall we join the two pieces together?”
“Certainly,” the bard responded, reaching into his portal bag, and pulling out the other quarter sphere. He handing it to Glo, the wizard holding the two quarter spheres apart, one in each hand. Glo slowly brought them together, and once again, when they touched, they noiselessly merged into a hemisphere.
Elladan leaned in close, examining the sphere from all sides. “I don’t think I’ll ever get over how cool that is.”
Glo handed the half sphere back to him for safekeeping. “Okay, where to next?” Elladan asked, as he put the hemisphere into the portal bag.
There were a few moments of silence, everyone either glancing around uncertainly at each other, or lost in thought. Glo was one of the latter, mulling the choice over carefully. The two elements they hadn’t tackled yet were earth and fire, but no matter how he looked at it, there was not enough evidence in support of one element over the other. Seth finally broke the stalemate.
“I say we save fire for last.”
Aksel gazed at the halfling and nodded. “That may be wise.”
“Then onward to earth,” Donnie declared, raising a finger above his head exuberantly.
Everyone seemed enthused, except for Lloyd. The young man’s brow was deeply furrowed. Glo glanced at him curiously and asked, “What’s the matter?”
Lloyd’s hand went to the back of his neck, a sheepish grin spreading across his face. “I just have one question—how do we get out of here?”
Earth
Steam began to rise as the greenish acid quickly ate the edges away
It turned out that pulling the switch on the circular platform emptied the water out of the chamber below. It took about an hour, but the water finally receded to its original level. The platform lined back up with the walkway, and then the door to the main chamber slid open.
The companions disembarked the circular platform and left the water room, crossing through the main area over toward the earth chamber. They passed under the archway with the flat topped pyramid and walked to the end of another short corridor. The door here had the same chakra disc lock mechanism as the others. For expediency’s sake, they used Elistra’s multi-colored disc once again.
The door slid open, and the companions got their first view of the chamber beyond. Unlike the air and water rooms, this chamber appeared to be a large, rocky cavern. It was not as well lit as the others, the source of light being a strange greenish glow emanating from the ground ahead. A rocky bluff was visible on the other side of the chamber, but the roof of the cavern was hidden from view, lost somewhere in the darkness above.
The companions filed into the chamber one at a time, Seth and Donnie leading the way. They found themselves at the top of a cliff, a wide pit stretching out below them, filled with a bright green glowing liquid that bubbled and popped in spots. Thin streams of smoke rose out of the pool here and there, an acrid smell reaching their nostrils as they approached the edge of the cliff.
“Acid,” Seth hissed.
Glo’s eyes went wide with surprise. Seth was right—the entire pit was filled with acid! This was perhaps the most dangerous room yet. The elven wizard slowly exhaled, his eyes scanning the length of the cavern. There was a faint purple shimmering in the air in front of the opposite cliff. Another force screen.
The rocky bluff was further separated from them by the pool of acid which stretched all the way from one side of the cavern to the other. Near the cliff edge closest to them, a lever jutted out of the ground. Atop the opposite bluff was another lever, behind which stood a pedestal. Over the pedestal floated yet another golden piece of sphere.
Donnie turned to Seth. “Were you saying something about elaborate traps and strange keys?”
Seth tilted his head downward and glared at the slight elf. Any retort he may have had, however, was abruptly cut off.
“What is that?”
Lloyd stood at the edge of the cliff, pointing at the pit below. Glo followed his g
aze—a reddish-brown mound rose out of the pool of green liquid and shambled about. Glo’s breath caught in his throat. “Clay golem,” he managed to croak out after a moment’s pause.
Clay golems were large, ponderous, vaguely humanoid creatures made entirely of clay. Their muddy bodies, while soft to the touch, were extremely resilient, actually reforming over any wound. There were even recorded cases of combatants’ weapons being stuck and engulfed in the amorphous body of these creatures. Lloyd appeared awestruck, his mouth hanging open as he gaped at the large creature. “I didn’t think anything could live in a pool of acid.”
Elladan drew up next to the young warrior and placed a hand on his shoulder. “They’re immune,” he said softly.
“There’s another one!” Donnie yelled. Glo looked at where the slight elf pointed. Sure enough, another creature had risen out of the green liquid. The form was similar to the first golem, but this one was gray in color.
“The pool is full of them,” Ruka called out. The companions watched in awe as four more golems rose up out of the acid. The creatures were of various shades of red, brown, and gray. They roamed around the glowing green pool, submerging and resurfacing here and there. Thankfully, the cliff they stood on was high enough that the clay creatures disregarded their presence.
“Guess swimming across is out of the question,” Donnie quipped. No one laughed. The sight of the acid pool filled with clay golems was perhaps too sobering a sight.
After a few moments of silence, Seth rubbed his hands together. “Okay then, let’s pull the switch and see what it does.”
He strode over to the lever, knelt down, and carefully examined around the base. After about half a minute, he stood up, grasped the lever, and gave it a hefty yank. The lever moved easily, clicking into the opposite position. As soon as the switch was thrown, a set of large stone tiles appeared out of thin air directly in front of them. There were dozens of them, hovering at about the same level as the cliff they stood on.
