Kol returned to find Argie and me sampling a number of different drinks and laughing together. She was telling me about some of the people that came through her tavern. There were a lot of strange people who came through. She told me about a man who had all blue skin who drank nothing but cherry juice and another that liked dancing with his reflection in a mirror. We were both hunched over the bar laughing while she told me a story about a woman who wandered in by mistake and asked about her little lamb when Kol came back.

"I leave for a few minutes and you try to get Ebb drunk," Kol accused jokingly as he sat down next to me. He took a drink from one of the bottles Argie had pulled out.

Argie and I laughed. We were getting along rather well. "She's not getting me drunk. We're sampling all of the Scrolldart specialties."

"So she's trying to kill you? There are hundreds of specialties in the back. If you taste them all, you'll explode." Kol took another drink of something else.

Halfheartedly, Argie batted at his hand. "Stop drinking straight from the bottles like a barbarian and get a cup."

"No can do, Argie," Kol said as he put the bottle back down on the counter. "I was thinking I'd show Ebb the lake today. So I just need some lake clothes before we go down."

Argie grumbled and started putting away the bottles. "You have been trying to get down to that lake for weeks and now you've finally found someone to sucker into going with you. I guess you two can go down there if you want, but be careful. You know where the lake clothes are kept; just don't touch anything else. I have to stay up here and keep these ruffians in line."

"There's a lake?" I asked. Kol just smiled and pulled me up from my seat.

We went behind the counter and through the door that was nestled in the middle of all the shelves. It led to a long room filled with even more bottles on racks stacked up to the ceiling. There really were hundreds of them. There were bottles of all shapes and sizes and colors, but we did not stop to look at them. Instead we went through another door at the far side of the room and down a creaky wooden staircase. The staircase ended in a room almost as large as the tavern above it, but it was much more crowded. This room was not filled with people, but with things. Tables were cluttered with what looked to be half built contraptions surrounded by tools. The walls had all manner of weaponry hanging on hooks above the full tables and above that lamps, jars, and miniature ships hung from the ceiling. Some of the contraptions were clicking or whistling softly and a paper dragon swung around from where it hung from the ceiling. The floor was amazingly bare except for a few stools of varying height scattered around the tables.

"Welcome to the workshop," Kol exclaimed as he raised his arms in presentation of the cluttered room. "Don't touch anything."

I looked at the sharp tools and bubbling liquids in their glass beakers and decided not touching anything would be for the best. "So where is this lake? Is it far?"

Kol went over to a wardrobe that was placed between two tables. "The lake is closer than you think. Here put these on, Argie doesn't like water trailed through her workshop so she makes everyone wear her lake suits. She made them from some kind of quick drying material. As you can see, she likes tinkering with things."

Kol threw me a pair of black pants and a large short sleeved gray shirt. I looked at them dubiously. The shirt looked like it was a man's and the pants seemed too small. "Are we going to be swimming in this lake or something?"

He had pulled out a pair of clothes for himself, only his seemed to be the proper size and the shirt was blue. "No one goes to the lake to just sit on the side. Can you swim? I never asked. I just love going to the lake so much, but Argie has this rule where no one can go alone."

"Of course I can swim." I took the clothes to the room Kol pointed out. Did he have access to something similar to the hall of pictures so he could go to a lake somewhere outside of the city? I had not expected to go swimming while I was in Pharyss.

I changed into the lake clothes. The fabric felt strange and the shirt was altogether too large on me and hung well past my hips. The pants fit better than expected. When I stepped out from the room, Kol was just putting his blue shirt over his head. I glimpsed the tattoo before it was covered with the fabric. So many people knew to fear him, yet here I was ready to follow him to some unknown lake and I was not afraid. I trusted him.

Kol adjusted his shirt and looked up at me. He laughed when he saw me. "Sorry about the clothes, but those were the only ones in there. Argie makes clothes for the people who go to the lake usually. Those are the extras."

I crossed my arms and examined him. His clothes fit perfectly and were very flattering on his tall, lean frame while I was wearing something that fit like a potato sack. Kol motioned to the other side of the room. Partially hidden behind a large contraption with many cogs and levers was a door. That was where we went. On the other side of the door was a downward sloping path made out of rock. It was dark and I had to put my hand on the wall so I didn't bump into anything. Still I bumped into Kol when he abruptly stopped in front of me.

"I can't see anything. Shouldn't we have brought a light?" I asked. I reached out and put a hand on his back to know where he was and not run into him again.

"Give it a minute." Kol murmured. "Ah, there they are."

Small, but bright lights were coming up the tunnel in front of us. They flitted to and fro aimlessly along the tunnel. There were dozens of them and their light brightened the tunnel considerably. As they got closer I could see that they were insects. They looked like little glowing bees. When they flew around us, I gripped the back of Kol's shirt. I did not know if these creatures were dangerous or not. I whispered his name in concern, but he did not seem worried. He even raised one hand and two of the little creatures landed on his fingers.

"Anthophila adustrum, burning bees," Kol explained. The little bees were crawling over his hand as he turned it. "They are harmless. They live in the cave that has the underground lake and they light it up almost like day. There are thousands of them in there. They are helpful little things and come when they hear voices to light the way."

I raised my hand like Kol did and one of the bees landed on my outstretched fingers. It felt its way across my skin with its fuzzy antennae. Led by the light of the burning bees, we continued down the tunnel until it let out in a huge cave that was dominated by a wide lake that stretched further than the walls. The water disappeared beneath an overhang of rock on one side of the cave and I could hear the flow of the underground river. There really were thousands of bees flying around the lake, their light doubled in the surface of the lake. Kol immediately kicked off his shoes and dove into the water with a shout. I was slower to follow. The water was cool and felt nice as it lapped at my legs. Kol was already splashing about happily in the deeper water. I smiled and swam out further.

"It has been ages since I was able to come down here. I try to convince Bert to come with me but she is always busy with Addie or her mother is keeping her locked up because she is always with Addison." Kol leaned back and floated face up in the water before diving down only to pop up on the other side of me. He was like a fish in the water with how well he maneuvered.

When he resurfaced, he splashed water at me. I laughed and returned the favor and a fight broke out. We would both try to dodge each other's splashes by ducking under the water. There were little white fish there that dodged away from our kicking and splashing. Kol ducked under the water when I aimed a wave of water at him and resurfaced some distance away. He grinned impishly and cupped his hands together at the water's surface and shot a stream of water directly at me. I shook my head as it hit me and splashed in his direction.

"No fair!" I called at him as he circled around me still squirting water from between his hands. I dove deep under the water and swam back towards the edge of the lake. I passed fish and bees under the surface. It seemed the burning bees still glowed and could even swim under the water. I felt something grasp my ankle quickly before letting go. Kol had caught up to me and was now right behind. He really could swim better than a fish. I kicked back at him and he batted at me with his hand. We broke the surface at the same time and laughed.

"Look what I can do!" Kol called as he swam a few feet away. In moments his entire torso was out of the water as if he was standing on something in the middle of the lake. "There are stalagmites beneath the water in some places that you can stand on."

I ducked under the water and looked at where he was standing. If I squinted through the water, I could just see the outline of the stone pillar rising from the bottom of the lake. I heard a muffled shout and then saw Kol appear beneath the water in a cascade of white bubbles. He had jumped off the stalagmite into the water. There was also a ledge to one side of the lake that we took turns jumping off of. It curved up around one side of the lake where the water was deep enough to dive in. Kol was able to do flips and tricks in the air before he hit the water. I tried doing a flip, but didn't turn enough and ended up landing painfully in the water on my stomach. That didn't stop me though, and the next time I turned completely in the air and cut smoothly through the water the correct way.

Kol dove off the ledge next. He jumped farther than we had been and posed in the air before he fell. He disappeared beneath the water as he dove in. I was treading water out of the way as I waited for him to resurface. The seconds ticked by and he didn't pop up like he usually did. Worry clenched in my chest as I submerged myself and swam as quickly as I could to where I last saw him. My hand brushed against one of the stalagmites at the area where Kol went under. My lungs were burning for air as I searched for him so I took a quick breath before diving back under. Near the bottom of the stalagmite I saw Kol's arm limply floating in the water. I found Kol unconscious on the bottom of the lake which was about fourteen feet down. His forehead was bleeding. He must have hit the hidden stalagmite when he jumped into the water.

I wrapped my arms around his chest and pushed off the rock lake bed with my feet to propel us to the surface. Kol's deadweight made it hard to swim, but I was not going to let him go. We broke the surface and Kol's head fell back against my shoulder. I did not realize how heavy he was and we both sunk back down. Determinedly, I used all my strength to get us back to the surface. I was going to save him. We made it back to the surface and this time I was able to keep us there - barely. Using one arm and my legs I was able to get him into water shallow enough so I could sit and keep his head above the water. Luckily we were not too far from the shore. He was still limp in my arms.

"Kol," I pleaded. "Wake up. Just open your eyes, please. Kol!" I shook his head in an effort to revive him.

His face twitched and with a gasp he coughed up the water he had swallowed. I relaxed but still held tightly onto him. He was breathing again and getting the last of the lake water out. A small line of blood ran down the side of his forehead from the cut. It was not deep and must have only been enough to stun him, but underwater that was enough. He was breathing deeply now. He sat beside me and his back was slumped against me with his head resting on my shoulder. I was shaking from the exertion and relief from getting him out of the water. We were both worn out.

"Are you alright?" Kol asked and turned his head slightly towards me.

"I should be asking you that. How's your head?" I smoothed his damp hair away from the wound. He had closed his eyes and his mouth was slightly parted. He looked so peaceful and young. Absently I continued stroking his hair away from his forehead.

"I'm still alive thanks to you," He murmured. "My head is fine. I think I'm done with swimming for today though."

Well, that's enough happy fun times. Next chapter comes with a rating bump. I thought this would be a good place to stop before I really do go silent for a week or so and end it on a good note instead of what comes next...