We had to swim to reach the lift. Activating it created a whirlpool from which there would be no escape. My escort knight and I held onto the doors leading into the chamber as the water rushed by. Our guide had taken the plunge without hesitation.
The boy offered to go alone. It was a bad idea for either of us to go. He would surely drown in his armor, and even giantsflame could not be conjured underwater. Yet, when was the last time I had made a rational decision?
I ordered him to go back. Assume me dead after three days. I dove without looking back.
I was washed through several chambers but never completely submerged. A great deal of fire manipulation lies in the breath, in stoking an inner flame. Even as the current sometimes pulled me down, I did not fear.
At last, I washed ashore. As I cycled my breath, I inhaled what may have been the worst stench I have ever experienced. The water steamed away as it struck a lake of lava. Molten stone is no fresh flower, to be certain, but this was uniquely rancid. A reddish vapor hung over the wide chasm unlike anything I'd seen.
"Do not breathe too deeply, Dear," she said. "Fire only expels the Scarlet Rot. It does not destroy it."
A burden was lifted from my shoulders, as if mortality had left me again. My wife stood there, that smug grin on her face as it always had been.
That was it, then. They could not come to me because of the water. They had trusted I would find them. Yet I had nearly given them up for dead.
As I rose, I reached for her hand, but she backed away. I froze. After a moment, the obvous sunk it.
"You've caught it, haven't you?"
She wore black robes which were longer than those she had as a nun. The sleeves hid her hands and the hood, her face.
Giantsflame could expel the Rot, even if badly infected. Yet there were lingering sorts of infections. It bit into one's spirit if not promptly healed. Such was even the demigod Radahn fell victim. It was not impossible, in our haste to flee. She may have been too exhausted to cleanse herself.
I tried to meet her eyes, but she looked away. I nodded and rose on my own.
She invited me to see the city they had been building. I agreed… and followed at a safe distance.