Chapter 4

Waterscape.

'We must go,' said Dekkion. 'This place is no longer safe for any of us.'

The Knight was looking nervously around the narrow valley again, eyes lingering on the nearby cave. His tenseness unsettled Presto even more. Dekkion is very worried. (No, Dekkion is extremely worried) This is not good.

The Magician followed Dekkion's gaze and turned to look at the cave as well. It was dark and full of mist and…he froze. There was movement, he was sure. Slowly, two green points of light glared at him from the ball of mist inside the cave making Presto's fear suddenly soar. What had the Nereid said? Something about "the Dragon in the Waterfall"? They hadn't seen any Dragon around here…yet! And not all Dragons were friendly, either!

His breath caught sharply in the back of his throat. It's time to leave! (Again)

Dekkion was helping the bedraggled Korlock to stand. The Knight looked weary, but neither Diana or Lorne had moved to help.

There was a low growl from behind them. Something seemed to be solidifying out of the mist and all Presto could think of were those glowing eyes. They had to get outta there! He grabbed Korlock's arm from the Knight and started pulling him forward, Diana taking the other arm. Then they all staggered back upstream, with no sound of pursuit, but Presto didn't have the courage to look back and check.

The going was slower than before, as both Korlock and Dekkion were struggling to keep up with the younger ones. Lorne trailed behind, all his attention given to the Stone around his neck. But they made it safely back to the huge lake without incident. As soon as they were out of sight of the waterfall, Dekkion ground to a halt and slumped down on a rock again.

They gathered round the exhausted Knight, except for Lorne, who stood off to one side. The wizard Korlock was next to Dekkion, still catching his breath. Presto had kept a close eye on the newcomer, and so far that he hadn't given the Stone of Astra a second glance. But from what Presto remembered, the Stone had a powerful pull on the man. He wouldn't give it up, not without a struggle.

Finally, the Knight spoke.

'Thank you, Korlock, for your aid,' he said.

The other man nodded then asked:

'Your wound, it was from, him?'

The two men exchanged "significant" glances, and there seemed to be an unspoken understanding between them. Presto found it uncomfortable to watch the way they looked at each other, as if they knew something that he didn't. Eventually, Korlock sighed and said:

'I am sorry, Knight. This madness spreads quickly and my powers become weak in this dismal place. I cannot give you the magic you need.'

Dekkion nodded, as if he had expected Korlock to say that.

'Yet there is another way you may help,' he replied. 'We travel to the Dungeon at the Heart of Dawn, but the way is perilous. You still have some power within you. Will you join us? Will you aid us?'
Presto looked at the other Wizard uncertainly and caught the fractional glance Korlock gave Lorne as he stood sulking at the back.

'Is this a good idea, Dekkion?' asked Diana suddenly. 'Can we trust him?'

'This man saved our lives, Acrobat,' said the Knight. 'We may need his aid again.'

Diana studied the ground for a few seconds, looking uneasy, then glanced at Presto.

'What do you think, Presto? What should have happened to him? You did meet him too, in your world, didn't you?'

Slowly, the Magician nodded, even though he hated being treated like an Oracle. This Korlock person had spent his whole life chasing after the Stone of Astra only to destroy it after defeating Venger. He didn't look trustworthy; the hooked nose and short, stubby beard made him look like the bad-guy out of Scooby Doo, but he'd helped them before, as well as now.

'He used the Stone to save us from Venger,' replied Presto heavily. 'Then he destroyed it.'

Korlock was looking at him in amazement.

'You, "know" this? How?'

The Magician suddenly felt very awkward explaining the situation to a stranger. It was bad enough that he'd had to tell anyone, and the look on Korlock's face didn't make it any easier.

'I, um, sorta, um, know different sorta stuff,' he managed to say. 'Yeah, just sorta different. Where I come from, things happened a little differently, that's all.'

Korlock narrowed his eyes.

'You are from another, different Realm?' he said solemnly, as if trying to understand a puzzle. 'Different, but the same?' He paused in surprise 'So, what the Demon said was true! I would never have believed it.'

'What!' said Presto, alarmed. 'What do you mean?'

'I met the Shadowed One, and his "entourage", before coming here,' the Wizard replied, arching his bushy eyebrows at Dekkion. 'I have witnessed first hand its evil and destructive power. It boasted, of how the powers of Darkness had subverted one of the Weapons of Power, and had done, this; changed it all, making it…different.' Korlock stopped, looking at the Magician with infinite sadness. The expression made him want to cry.

'The powers of Darkness?' murmured Presto. The Hat had been "subverted" by the powers of Darkness. (This isn't good. This really isn't good) Under other circumstances, he would have just ignored the implications, but the word Darkness struck a chord. After all, with Martha's help, they had destroyed the Darkling, saved Hank and stopped the Winds of Darkness "covering the Realm forever". Perhaps this was some sort of revenge.

'We'd just defeated the Darkling,' said Presto quietly, 'before I woke up here. I'd used the Hat to help, and suck up some of the fog…fog?' Korlock's expression had changed to a terrifying scowl at the word. 'T-the Darkling's fog?' said Presto in surprise. 'You can't think that it could do this? No way! It was just some dumb fog, there's no way…it…could…' He stopped.

'You know so little about your weapon's power, Magician,' Korlock told him. 'But next to the power of Darkness, even it must submit.'

The surge of anger through his chest was overwhelmed by fear as Presto realised what Korlock meant. He felt the blood draining out of his face and shivered, trying to understand what the man had told him. Somehow, his Hat had become a tool of Darkness? And Darkness did this, changed it all for its own purpose? How was he gonna overcome Darkness, again and on his own? More questions started to form, but there was one that was more important. He looked up desperately at the other Wizard.

'It will be OK, right? The Hat, I mean. It will work OK? Won't it'

Korlock shrugged.

'Perhaps the power of the Dawn can cleanse it, I do not know.'

Presto could hardly think. What if it didn't work? What if the Hat was broken beyond repair this time? A feeling of terrible loss threatened to overwhelm him, then he felt a hand on his arm: Diana's.

'But do you know how to get there?' the Acrobat asked eagerly. 'The Dungeon at the Heart of Dawn?'

The man shook his head.

'I have travelled in all five Planes, and never yet found the entrance to the Dawn. Its power cannot be woken by one such as myself; only one with the right and resolve may succeed.'

Presto frowned at Korlock. This guy was starting to sound like the Dungeonmaster; too much like Dungeonmaster for comfort!

'So how are we gonna find this dungeon place without a guide?' asked Diana, turning back to Dekkion.

'We will have to follow the line of the mountains,' replied the Knight. He smiled reassuringly at the Acrobat and Magician. 'We have the right and the need to find the Dungeon at the Heart of Dawn,' he told them, 'and we must surely succeed. We have to keep going.'

That last statement almost made Presto smile. We have to keep going? There was no way the Knight was going to last. But Dekkion managed to pull himself upright once more, and he started walking without another word. Korlock followed, then Diana. The Magician waited for a few seconds, then a sullen-looking Lorne followed the Acrobat, still rubbing the Stone.

Presto tried to step forward, but the heaviness in his heart made it almost impossible. Things were getting worse! The Hat had been corrupted but Darkness. It was probably useless. Was there any point in even continuing? There was no way he was ever going to fix what he'd done, or what Darkness had done through him. He didn't want to be doing this anymore, he didn't want the responsibility of saving them all. He didn't even want to "be" anymore.

Hank would have been so much better at this, he would never have let himself be used for an evil purpose. Hank would never have let everyone down so badly. Hank would know what to do. But you do know what to do, Presto, he told himself. You've known it from the very beginning. That thought did nothing to cheer him up, but he knew it was the truth. Keep going, and don't give up.

'Keep going,' he said out loud. 'Don't give up. Hank wouldn't give up.'

He closed his eyes for a second, feeling tears starting again. Then he took a deep breath, and started walking.

There was no sign of the Nereid, or any other creature for a long while. Occasional waves would appear from nowhere and often there were high-pitched whistles and clicks, but there was no one to disturb them. The lack of trouble worried Presto. Dekkion had been worried about attacks, but there had been no sign of anything for a long, long time. Surely there were other things in this Plane?

They were not allowed to rest, and that worried Presto too. Dekkion seemed to know what he was doing, but the Magician couldn't shake the feeling that he was getting desperate. Diana seemed to agree, judging by the covert looks she was casting in the Knight's direction, but they were both too tired to talk to each other for long. Korlock still walked next to Dekkion, and had deliberately kept out of Lorne's way so far. Those two hadn't even acknowledged each other. Lorne was lagging behind, constantly fingering the Stone. There was a look of a lost little boy about him, a look that reminded Presto of the Cavalier when they'd first come to the Realm. It was depressing.

But what was more depressing was the constant dampness. They'd walked through water for so long that Presto had almost forgotten what the word dry meant. And what was even more depressing was the fact that they didn't seem to be getting anywhere. The water always looked the same, as did the mountains to their other side. Often, Presto imagined he was stationary and everything else was moving around him in a continual loop.

Every so often they stopped to rest for a minute, and it was during one of those brief breaks that Dekkion finally gave Presto some hope. When Diana asked how they were doing, instead of the usual "We progress slowly, Acrobat" answer, he said: 'We are close. I can feel it.'

The Acrobat and Magician exchanged excited glances. They were close!

'How far, Knight?' asked Korlock.

Dekkion drew a slow, painful breath and pointed out into the lake towards a tiny mound that was barely visible.

'I think that is the entrance,' he said.

Everyone was quiet. They were all thinking the same thing.

'How do we get there?' asked Presto. 'Do we have to swim?'

Unable to stop himself, the Magician glanced down at the blood slowly leaking out of the Celestial Knight's armour. Swimming was not going to be an option for Dekkion.

Presto looked down to his Hat with a silent sigh. It only it was working, he could get a boat or some diving gear out of it.

From somewhere behind them more shallow waves appeared from nowhere. Presto looked back nervously. Perhaps something was following them after all.

The Knight was looking alarmed too.

'We must go, now,' he said. 'There should be a path, but we must swim if we have to.' Dekkion looked less than impressed at the thought, which didn't surprise Presto at all; swimming in the robes would be hard enough, but with all that armour (and in his current condition) the Knight would sink before he took a single stroke. Diana was looking at Dekkion with a familiar don't-be-dumb look that she reserved exclusively for Eric, but she didn't say anything as the Knight waded off.

It felt strange leaving the mountains behind, and Presto didn't like it. They had given him some strange sort of comfort, a link to the other Plane and reassurance that there was something solid around here. Wading out into the water didn't seem like a good idea, particularly when he couldn't see the bottom properly.

The lake had only been ankle deep to start with, but as they waded out, it grew deeper. It was half way up his thighs by the time they were only a quarter of the way across. Lorne was waist deep already, being shorter than the Magician, but he didn't seem to care. He was still holding the Stone, his eyes brighter than before and a sardonic smile on his face. Diana was walking close behind Dekkion and Korlock, and Presto could see she was shivering.

The mound was growing larger with every step forward they took. But the water grew deeper. By the time they were half way, it was up to Presto's ribcage. He could feel his robes swishing around in the thick, cold water, and it felt like he was encased in a lead suit. He now knew why Eric hated climbing so much; carrying around all that steel couldn't be much fun.

Ahead, just behind Diana, Dekkion was getting increasingly nervous; Presto could tell from the way he was looking around at the empty lake.

'We attract to much attention,' he muttered, when Presto asked what was wrong. 'We take too much of a risk.' The Magician gulped, expecting The Thing from the Bottom of the Sea to leap up out of the water at any second. 'And we are too spread out.'

Lorne was far behind and almost swamped by the waters, so the group stopped to wait. Presto was almost pleased. Being stationary meant that at least some water could be warmed up around him.

No one spoke. He waited in vain to hear the words of Dungeonmaster in his mind, prompting him, and helping him to keep going. There was only silence. He just kept feeling worse and worse. They were all helping him get to the Dungeon at the Heart of Dawn, but it was still his responsibility to get it done, to put things back the way they were. So far he'd done nothing but trail along after Dekkion and Diana. He hadn't helped at the waterfall, in fact he'd almost gotten fried by the Stone's magic. They weren't even at the caves yet. If Dekkion collapsed, or Korlock turned on Lorne and took the Stone, what would they do?

But that wasn't the real problem. The Hat. (The Hat and the Darkness) The Hat. The Darkness. What was he going to…?

There was a gasp from Diana, and she pointed behind them.

'Are those, fins?' she asked.

Everyone turned.

Lorne was much closer, his face red in spite of the cold and he was breathing heavily. Behind him were a number of fins, all slowly cutting through the water. Presto shuddered. They had to be sharks.

'They've been hovering around me for ages,' gasped Lorne as he struggled up. 'You coulda waited sooner!'

The creatures hung back, away from the group, the tops of their fins barely visible.

'What are they waiting for?' asked Diana nervously.

Dekkion just shrugged, so Korlock said:

'Perhaps they sense the Stone and the Sword, even through the water. They must not be hungry enough to attack those who are armed.'

'So why are they following us?' asked Presto. Korlock said nothing but the Knight pointed to Lorne.

'The Stone will draw evil to it,' said Dekkion. 'It is a dangerous and destructive weapon.'

He looked down at the boy, with all the majesty and power of a Celestial Knight. Lorne gulped and shrank way, but he still clutched the Stone. Then, looking embarrassed and ashamed, the boy turned and marched off, as well as anyone could march in such deep waters.

'Diana, follow Lorne,' ordered Dekkion. 'We must not wander alone.'

She looked surprised but agreed.

'Korlock, watch over the Acrobat.'

The man nodded warily, leaving Presto and the Knight together.

Presto looked at the exhausted man by his side. Dekkion wasn't going to last much longer. There was no way he should have lasted this long in the first place.

'Magician,' said Dekkion eventually. 'Time runs too quickly, but I have something to say.' Presto looked back at him, with a slight frown. There was a tone in his friend's voice that he didn't like. 'You must believe, you must trust what you do, please.' Presto nodded, but didn't really understand. 'I have sworn to help, and that I am bound to carry out. But I fear we may yet meet the Demon,' continued Dekkion. 'And when you do, you must be strong.'

The Magician frowned, not knowing what the Knight was trying to tell him.

'Look, Dekkion, you need some rest, you shouldn't be…'

'No, Magician! Presto, my friend, you must listen. This may be the only opportunity I have to tell you these things.' The Knight looked pale and afraid, and Presto was reminded of his best friend, the Cavalier, just before they went to attack the Darkling's Grotto; there was a look of determination that was the same. Presto shook his head briskly as he realised what he was doing. Comparing Eric to Dekkion? Favourably? It must have been the similarity in uniforms! The Knight continued.

'The Demon will bring his power to bear on you the most, and you must be ready to face the truth.' He took a long slow breath. 'I know what you fear. For I am a Celestial Knight, and have faced the true fears of my heart. You have too, in the Tower. You fear powerlessness, being stripped of your glasses, or your Hat. Believing yourself to be weak, you rely on others, both objects and people, to control your fate. But only through facing the truth, can victory come to us. And only you can achieve this, Presto. Do not fail us.'

The last sentence was barely more than a whisper. The words made Presto shudder, and not just because they sounded so Dungeonmaster-like. The Knight was trying to tell him something.

'Why are you saying this?' asked Presto. 'What is it that I've gotta face?'

'I am sorry. You will have to discover it on your own, I can't bring myself to…' He paused. 'But remember, Magician, you have to do this deed, no matter what the consequences.'

'Consequences?'

Dekkion nodded.

'There are always consequences with magic, Presto. You should have learned that by now.'

With that, the Knight turned away, and followed Diana, Korlock and Lorne. Presto waited for a few seconds, but he could see the predators following them and he waded after Dekkion. He was busy thinking.

Consequences with magic? It was all about the Hat, it had to be. It had never been a reliable weapon. Yes, it could be very powerful, but just as chaotic; after all it had thought "Ranger Fred's Guide to the Amazon" was going to stop the greatest Evil in the Universe! Korlock had said as much earlier. You know so little about your weapon's power, Magician. At the time, Presto had been annoyed at the comment; but he had been too concerned with what Darkness had done to his Hat to really think about it. But now, he remembered. He knew nothing about how the Hat worked; it didn't have a manual and no one had ever told him anything about it, apart from what Dungeonmaster had said about "twiddles". Damn it, even Uni had gotten the stupid thing to work on the first try!

'Where's Dungeonmaster when I need him,' murmured Presto. 'What I wouldn't give for a riddle right now!'

He waited hopefully for a second, but nothing happened, no comforting words or sudden appearances, so he continued wading forward. It was easy to catch up with Dekkion, and Presto walked next to him in silence for a long while, trying to understand what the Knight meant. They were drawing close to the mound, close enough for him to see the water lap at its edge. Ahead, Lorne and the others had stopped.

'The water gets too deep,' explained the Acrobat as Presto and the Knight stopped beside her. 'We'll have to swim.'

The Knight gave a heavy nod, as if he'd always expected this. Presto glanced behind them. The fins had gone. Was that good or bad?

'More than one at a time may attract to much attention,' said the Knight. 'But who will go first?'

Lorne looked at Korlock, Korlock looked at Dekkion, and Dekkion looked at Presto. Presto gulped.

'I will,' said Diana with a confident smile. 'I have to get outta here before I freeze!' She noticed Presto's worried look. 'I'll be OK, Presto.'

With that, she turned and pushed off into the cool water.

It took her a long while to swim across, making the Magician worried. She was a good swimmer, but she was tired and cold. Taking long, careful strokes she kept a good pace and eventually reached the mound, pulled herself out and waved at them.

Next to him, Dekkion slowly removed his breastplate, letting it slip silently to the floor of the lake. He kept the chainmail and his scabbard belt on. Red wisps of blood leaked out of the mail shirt into the waters.

'Lorne, you will follow me, then you Presto,' he said. He looked at the older man standing behind. 'You will be last, Korlock.'

Korlock nodded brusquely, giving Lorne and the Stone a quick glance that only Presto saw. He shivered, and not because of the water. Dekkion had turned to start his swim.

It was obvious from the start that the Knight could swim, but he took a very, very long time to cross the gap to the mound and he left a trail of blood behind him. But he made it to the mound in one piece. Diana helped him climb out, and he lay still, obviously exhausted.

'This is getting dangerous,' whispered Lorne. 'Who knows what things hunt here!'

Behind, there were soft swishing noises, perhaps the prelude to an attack. Presto started

shivering again. Shouldn't the sharks go after the blood? (Maybe they're not sharks?) Maybe they're worse…

Lorne took a short, fearful glance at Korlock, then swam out after Dekkion. He had a less efficient stroke, but he was younger and fitter and he started off quickly. It was going to take him only a short time to cross; too short in Presto's opinion.

Korlock was watching the waters behind them, ignoring Lorne's efforts, and unaware that the Magician had turned to look at him. Presto was thinking about what the wizard had said about the Hat: You know so little about your weapon's power, Magician.

He'd never had the chance to talk to another wizard before, not one that wasn't totally evil. All the magic users in this awful place seemed to be evil: Kelek, Warduke, "Merlin", Queen Syrith; even Karena had turned on them. His heart sank, filled with cold and fear. All he could hear was the soft sploshes as Lorne swam onwards. But he could at least ask; this might be the only opportunity he was gonna get.

'Korlock?' he said suddenly. 'What do you know about the Hat?'

The other wizard looked down sagely at him, like a teacher asked a difficult question.

'If the Dungeonmaster has not told you, then I should not either,' he said. 'But it is weapon of the most powerful and most dangerous nature.'

'But…'

Korlock held up his hand.

'I can tell you this. It is NOT just a conduit between realities and its sole function is NOT just to produce objects. Someday, you will learn of its other power.'

Ignoring Presto's obvious frustration at his answer, Korlock turned away, looking behind them once more. The Magician was about to say something but Korlock hushed him with a flick of his hand.

'Be still! Can you sense it?'

Presto opened his mouth to ask what, but he didn't have to. There was something inside, an uncomfortable feeling as if he'd eaten too much candy in one go. But also there was a feeling of anticipation and excitement; a lightness of heart, something he'd only ever experienced back at school, watching Hank go for the last and vital touchdown of the game.

'There are creatures, both Good and Evil coming, Magician,' said Korlock not bothering to turn around. 'They can feel us just as we can feel them, our need and fear scream out like a beacon. We must hope that Good finds us first.'

Presto turned to watch as Lorne plodded forward, focusing on the feelings inside, and trying to make some sort of sense out of what Korlock had told him. But it was too hard to concentrate on. He'd make a good Dungeonmaster, thought Presto sourly. And at least he'd stopped worrying about his impending swim.

'Magician,' said Korlock suddenly, when Lorne was almost across. 'You must hurry! Go now and I will follow soon.'

The man gave him a thin smile, one that the Magician took to be his attempt at being supportive.

Presto took a deep breath and plunged forward. He swam slowly forward the cold water making him gasp, but the robes had trapped some warm water and his muscles didn't start to cease up. Starting slowly, trying to conserve energy, he paddled forward, counting strokes and reciting math formulae to stop himself panicking about the distance.

He could see the others. Lorne was sitting down, holding the Stone. Dekkion was slumped against a rock, eyes closed, bleeding with the sword was held limply in his hand. Diana was down by the edge, waiting for him. She was smiling encouragingly and even though he was exhausted, he tried to smile back. He was almost within grabbing distance and she held out her hand.

It all happened within a few seconds. Around him, all the water surged and instead of taking a mouthful of air, Presto got a mouthful of water and started coughing.

'PRESTO!' screamed Diana. Her next cry was swallowed by the noise of bubbling water and the Magician was overwhelmed by the waves.

Pulled down, the heavy robes totally water logged, he slowly sank down towards the gloom. He struggled, a crushing pain through his chest, trying desperately to swim; his arms were flapping, but all he did was sink deeper. The panic grew quickly. He couldn't breathe and he couldn't swim, there was no way to get back to the surface. He was gonna drown. He was gonna die this time for sure. And a voice inside his head said: You don't deserve anything else. You've let them all down already!

His lungs were bursting, but there was a swirl of water beside him, and something chirped at him from close by. A rough, warm, body moved against him, pushing him back up.

His head broke the surface just in time and he gulped in huge whooping gasps of air. By his side, something was floating, helping him to stay on the surface. There was a large, grey Dolphin at his elbow, nuzzling his arm gently. It had skin like sandpaper and lots of small, pointy teeth. But it was watching him with big black eyes, dipping its nose rapidly in and out if the water, like a pet wanting attention. It clicked at him again.

A Dolphin! He suddenly realised that these were the creatures that had been following them. In spite of the danger, he smiled. Dolphins, not sharks…

It clicked happily back at him, then stared. Presto had the strangest sensation, looking at the playful, eager animal beside him. It was trying to tell him something too. He imagined he could hear it talking to him, saying: "You have to keep going. Don't give up when you are so close!"

The animal chirped urgently at him, then with a flick of its tail and a swish of shallow waves, it was gone. Presto looked after it, puzzled. Don't be dumb, Presto, dolphins aren't telepathic.

A hand reached out, and pulled him to the rocks. He hauled himself up, straightening his glasses that had amazingly managed to stay put. Close by, the Hat was still floating in the water, and Presto watched it without moving.

The first impulse was to grab it, to make sure it didn't get lost, but he could remember everything that he'd done and he hesitated. Why didn't he just give up? He could let it just float away. He couldn't cope with all this responsibility.

Diana was giving the Magician a huge hug, then she reached forward and plucked the Hat out of the water. After giving it a quick wring, she handed it back.

'Here you go, Presto,' she said. He looked at the soggy weapon in his hand. Don't give up when you are so close! He pulled it firmly back onto his head.

There was a splashing from near by, making Presto start. Korlock was close, swimming forward with long, powerful strokes.

'Quickly,' he said, pulling himself up, 'get away from the edge. They come!'

Just as the man pulled himself out, the waters behind started to churn and froth. Streams of bubble erupted from the water like geysers.

Presto, Diana and Korlock all moved back to join the others. Lorne was standing, holding the Stone tightly. The Acrobat took up a fighting stance, as if she had the Javelin. Dekkion hadn't moved or opened his eyes.

Before them, the water bubbled and churned, and Presto felt a familiar lurch of fear. All they seemed to be doing was going from one disaster to another.

'Wh-what's happening?' asked Diana.

Five huge monsters slowly pulled themselves out of the water and onto the rocks of the mound. Green in colour, they looked like slimy giants from the real Realm, dripping with foul smelling ooze. The water that they passed through turned black behind them.

There was a grate of metaland Dekkion forced himself to stand.

'They are here,' he said.