Chapter 20: Floodmaze
As Kendra swam downwards towards the bottom of the lake, she could feel as the water level became deeper and deeper. Glancing back upwards, Kendra could see that the rippling surface of the water had become less visible the further she went. The buoy that had been used as an indicator was now too far away to make out.
Now that she had been transformed into a mermaid once again, Kendra was experiencing the sensation the second time over. Her legs had fused together into one sturdy tail, enabling her to swim through the water as though it was second nature to her. The gills on her tail were providing Kendra's lungs with the oxygen she needed; she felt as though she was in no danger of drowning.
Around her, Warren, Bracken and Bright were merfolk as well. Along with Raxtus and Geminus, who were in their regular fairy dragon forms, and of course Mariana, they were all trying to reach the bottom of the lake.
It didn't feel like more than two minutes had passed before the bottom of the lake came into sight. By comparison, Kendra remembered that the Marianas Trench had been a whole lot deeper. In comparison, it made Lake Superior seem more like a swimming pool than an actual body of water.
"Well, it looks like we've reached the bottom," said Bright, once they had stopped descending upon coming to the bottom of the lake, which consisted mostly of sand, rocks and seaweed.
"So, where's this whole Floodmaze supposed to be?" asked Geminus.
"This has to be the place," said Warren. "But I was pretty sure we were swimming straight down directly below the buoy the entire time."
"What information do we know about the Floodmaze beyond its location?" asked Raxtus.
"Not much, really," said Warren. "All that note really told us was that the Floodmaze is underwater, and that we should travel to these coordinates to find it."
"You think maybe the note was a hoax?" asked Bright.
"It seems too good to not be true," said Kendra. A note written in Sylvian in the possession of the Demon God? Something is definitely up with that."
"I'm not sensing a distractor spell or anything," said Raxtus. "Maybe there's a clue or something that we need to look for."
"Are you sure this is the right spot?" asked Bracken.
"We're going by the translation that Kendra wrote down," said Warren. "And according to my GPS, we set down that buoy in the exact spot where the note said the Floodmaze was located. If we're wrong, it's because the note itself was wrong."
"You guys see anything?" asked Geminus, as she began to swim around the area, combing through the seaweed and running her claw along the floor of the lake.
"Just a bunch of stupid rocks," said Warren, swimming around several large boulders. "I don't get it. The Floodmaze should be right here."
Mariana then swam up to one of the boulders that Warren was floating around and clenched it with her jaws. Using her immense strength, the leviathan ripped the boulder off of the floor of the lake and heaved it aside.
"What are you doing, Mariana?" asked Bright, as the leviathan hoisted a second boulder away from the group.
"Watch where you're chucking those things!" said Warren, as the boulder flew past him.
"I see something!" said Bracken, pointing at the spot where the boulders had been sitting. Kendra could see a faint, rounded outline in the sand where the boulders had been resting.
"Come on, Mariana," said Raxtus. "Get all of those boulders out of the way!"
Before long, every last boulder in the group had been tossed aside, revealing a wide, circular indentation, probably fifteen feet in diameter, on the floor of the lake, which had been partially obscured by sand.
"Good work, Mariana!" said Warren. "Um, you don't mind sweeping away the sand were the boulders had been, do you?"
Mariana shook her head, then proceeded to brush away the sand with her tail. Once most of it had been cleared, Kendra could see that the circular outline had a large, rainbow-hued crystal star set in its center.
"A star," said Kendra. "What's this all about?"
"It seems to be a magical lock," said Bracken.
"A lock?" moaned Raxtus. "I didn't even realize we needed a key."
"We have the key," said Bracken.
"No we don't," said Warren. "What are you talking about?"
"This lock can only be unlocked by fairy magic," said Bracken. "Watch."
Bracken then waved his hand, and shot a flash of white energy at the star in the center of the panel. Upon being hit, the star lit up vibrantly, and the entire circular panel vanished.
"Nice," said Kendra. "I see now why that note was written in Sylvian. Some fairies, or at least fairy-like creatures, had to have had a hand in all of this."
"Wish we knew which fairies," said Bright.
"At least non-fairy creatures wouldn't be able to get inside this place with a seal like that," said Bracken.
Kendra peered down into the hole, and saw that it went directly downwards a considerable distance.
"Well, I guess this is it," said Raxtus.
"We need to be extremely cautious," said Warren. "We don't have any idea as to what could be lurking down there."
"Maybe Mariana should go first," said Bracken. "Out of all of us, she has the best chance of survival."
Mariana nodded.
"Go ahead. But not too fast. We'll follow behind."
Mariana then proceeded to swim down into the hole headfirst. Kendra then joined the rest of the group as they swam into the hole after Mariana. From what Kendra could tell, it was a deep, circular shaft, wide enough for a leviathan like Mariana to swim through with ample space for her to turn around should she choose to.
The group followed Mariana down the hole, the walls of which were lined with grey bricks. To Kendra, it felt as though they were swimming down to the bottom of a very deep well.
Before long, Mariana came to a sudden stop. Looking at her from her rear, the leviathan appeared to be unharmed.
"Mariana!" said Kendra, swimming up and past the side of the sea serpent. "What's wrong?"
"She appears to be okay," said Warren, following Kendra's lead. "I don't know what appears to be the problem."
"I guess she's just as confused as we are," said Raxtus, once he had arrived next to Mariana's head. "Look at all these paths."
Indeed, the tunnel had now reached a point where it branched off in several different directions, some of which were level, others which appeared to be on inclines leading to different depths.
"Oh great," said Geminus. "Where do we go from here?"
"First we experienced the flood," said Warren. "Now here comes the maze."
"Should we split up?" asked Geminus.
"I don't know," said Warren. "Our problem is that there's six of us, but only one Mariana. The whole reason we recruited Mariana was to have her by our side in this place."
"So, which way should we go?" asked Kendra, looking around into all of the branching tunnels.
"No way to really deduce which tunnel is best," said Bright. "At this rate, we should just pick one and see where it takes us."
"Okay," said Bracken. "Mariana, you're by far the most knowledgeable about waterways. Which tunnel do you recommend?"
"I don't think she's got any better of an idea than us," said Raxtus. "Just pick any tunnel, then."
Mariana nodded, then proceeded to swim down a seemingly random tunnel. The group all followed her closely behind.
This new tunnel looked much like the previous one, only it twisted and turned in a wild array of different directions. As they were all also underwater, Kendra nearly lost track of whether she was even upside-down or right-side up.
After a while, Mariana came across another intersection, which broke off into several more paths. She then came to a stop.
"This is great," said Geminus sarcastically. "Another fork in the road."
"Wouldn't surprise me if this was the same intersection as the first one." said Bracken. "We could've been going in a huge loop for all we know."
"Might as well try another path, Mariana," said Warren.
Having been paying attention to the group, Mariana turned her head forward and ventured down another, seemingly random tunnel. As with the previous tunnels, there was nothing to differentiate this one from the others.
After swimming past several more twists and turns, Mariana came to another halt, as she had yet again come across another intersection.
"This is getting us nowhere," said Raxtus. "Are we even making progress, or are we just going in circles?"
"Maybe we ought to try door number three," said Warren, crossing his arms. Kendra could sense that he was starting to get perturbed by the sound of his voice.
"What we need is a way to keep track of which tunnels we've gone down," said Kendra.
"You mean like, leave a marker of some sort?" asked Bracken.
"A waymarker," said Raxtus. "Good idea."
"What could we use to leave our mark?" asked Warren. "Hansel and Gretel used breadcrumbs, but if we tried that, they'd get all soggy in a place like this."
"We used a buoy back up on the lake," said Bracken. "But it seems a bit impractical in a place like this."
"I can just jot something down," said Bright, pointing around with her index finger. "I'm gonna pick a tunnel. No tunnel in particular. Just a random, inconspicuous tunnel."
Bright then swam up towards the entrance to one of the tunnels, but did not pass down it. Instead, she shot a small beam of energy onto a wall of the tunnel, right by the entrance. Upon hitting the wall, Bright's beam prompted a red arrow to appear on the wall, pointing down into the tunnel.
"What's that for?" asked Geminus.
"Well, if for some reason we wind up at this intersection again, we'll know that we've already been down this very tunnel."
"Good idea, sis," said Bracken.
"Okay, Mariana," said Bright. "Try this tunnel!"
Mariana proceeded to swim down the marked tunnel, and the group followed along behind her. This next tunnel only led everybody to another intersection.
"Hold it," said Bright, as she swam back into the tunnel that the group had just came out of. She then proceeded to conjure up another arrow on the wall of this tunnel. However, this arrow was pointing out of the tunnel, rather than back inside.
"I get it," said Kendra. "If we end up here again, we'll know that we've come already out through that tunnel at some point!"
"Now, we try another tunnel," said Bright, as she swam up to a different tunnel and produced an arrow on the wall, this one pointing down into the tunnel.
Mariana led the group down this next tunnel. After several more twists and turns, it led them to another intersection. Bright made sure to place an exit arrow on the tunnel they came through. However, the rest of the tunnels were all unmarked.
"We've just got to keep at it," said Bracken, as they ventured down another tunnel at random, which only led to another unmarked intersection.
Determined to not give up, Mariana led the group through several more series of tunnels and intersections. As they arrived at each intersection, the group made sure to inspect every tunnel for one of Bright's arrows.
"This isn't working!" said Warren.
"Think maybe the arrows aren't permanent for some reason?" asked Raxtus.
"They shouldn't just rub off," said Bright. "My magic is supposed to physically change the color of the bricks that I've marked."
"It could be an effect of the maze," said Bracken. "Possibly to prevent people from cheating."
"Let's go back," said Kendra. "Back through this same tunnel to the previous intersection, to see if the arrows are still there."
"Might as well," said Warren. "I can't say we've been making any progress through this method."
The group swam back into the tunnel they had emerged from, and soon arrived back at the previous intersection.
"It's still here!" said Geminus, drawing everybody's attention over to the tunnel they had just returned through. "Bright's arrow is still here!"
"And look at this!" said Bracken, who had swam over to another tunnel. "The exit arrow that Bright placed on this tunnel is also still here."
"We could probably trace our path back all the way to Bright's first arrow," said Warren.
"What difference does it make?" asked Raxtus. "No path we've taken seems to be any different than the others. We're lost."
"Well, what should we do?" asked Kendra. "We don't know how big this Floodmaze even is. And there's no way of knowing whether we're going the correct way or not."
"If only we had more information," said Bright.
"But that note," said Kendra. "Sarah said there were others in Murdred's possession. But she only managed to grab one. What if the rest of the information we need is on one of those other notes?"
"If we could so much as only get to Murdred's throne room," said Warren, "we wouldn't even be swimming around in this Floodmaze, because we wouldn't even have to find the Necromaster. We could just deal with Murdred right then and there."
"We've come this far," said Geminus.
"But how much further do we still have left to go?" asked Raxtus.
"Beats me," said Bracken. "At this point, we should just continue to explore and hope that we wind up at the end."
"Besides," said Bright. "We have the Translocator. If we get fed up with this place, we can always leave, then use it to come back later."
"In that case," said Kendra, "let's just keep trying some more tunnels."
The group then traveled back down the tunnel that they had previously returned through. From that point, they swam through several more tunnels. Just like before, they had not come across any of the previously marked paths at any of the intersections that they came across.
After a while, the group came to a new intersection, prompting Mariana to come to a stop.
"What's wrong, Mariana?" asked Kendra.
"Mariana seems to be getting tired out," said Raxtus.
"Already?" asked Kendra. "But she can traverse entire oceans with ease."
"Not physically tired," said Raxtus. "Emotionally tired. This place is getting to her. Me as well."
"There is one way to solve a maze," said Bracken. "We stick to one side of a wall and work our way around."
"Doesn't seem too feasible," said Warren. "Not only do the tunnels all branch off in different directions, but this a three-dimensional maze. There's too many levels for that to work ideally. Besides, all these tunnels look the same."
"I have a theory," said Kendra. "Mariana, is there any logic you're going by when you pick a tunnel?"
Mariana shook her head.
"Do you feel a current leading into any of these tunnels? Perhaps one that's stronger than the others?"
Mariana waved her tail around, then turned her head towards a tunnel and nodded.
"You're saying that the water is mainly flowing into that tunnel?" asked Bright.
Mariana nodded in response.
"She's good," said Raxtus. "At this depth, even I can't sense the flow of the water."
"Okay, Mariana," said Kendra. "You might as well lead us through the currents and see where we wind up!"
Nodding again, Mariana swam through the tunnel, and the group followed her through.
"If Kendra's theory is correct," said Bright, "then I don't need to worry about placing more markers in these tunnels."
After arriving at the next intersection, Mariana came to a stop as she felt the water around her with her tail.
"I hope this current doesn't go on forever," said Bright.
"It shouldn't," said Warren. "So long as there's some logic to all of this, it has to have a beginning and an end."
"Too bad vaults aren't exactly fair when it comes to something like logic," said Kendra.
"Well, I see no reason why the current should be going through an endless, infinite loop," stated Warren.
"I say we just let Mariana keep on going, and see where we end up," said Bracken.
Mariana led the group through tunnel after tunnel, seemingly making no further progress than before.
"Man, nothing is working," said Warren after several more minutes. "We've gone through tunnel after tunnel after tunnel!"
"Perhaps I should go back to placing more markers?" asked Bright.
"This endless current thing, if it really is endless, makes no sense," said Raxtus.
"Mariana's only going down the tunnels that have a significant current running through them," said Bracken. "And I don't know why, but I don't think we've been through any repeat tunnels so far."
After several more minutes of swimming through tunnels, Mariana led the group down another tunnel. Unlike the previous ones, this particular tunnel seemingly went on for a far greater distance than the others before it.
"Where are we now?" asked Geminus. "This is by far the longest tunnel we've been down."
"This is either a good sign," said Warren, "or a bad sign. It could be what we're looking for. Or, it could be a trap."
At last, the group came out of the end of the tunnel. They emerged not at another intersection, but in a wide, open chamber, roughly the size of a concert hall. There did not appear to be any other tunnels leading out of the chamber, save for the one which they entered through.
"What is this place?" asked Raxtus.
Kendra swam down towards the bottom of the chamber, where she saw what appeared to be a large, round, olive green boulder resting on the floor. The width of the boulder appeared to be too wide for it to have passed through any of the tunnels to reach this point.
Upon closer observation, Kendra saw what appeared to be a hole in the side of the boulder. "What's in there?" she asked, slowly swimming up to the hole. Suddenly, bubbles began to flow out of the hole.
"Get back!" exclaimed Warren, who was following directly behind Kendra.
A large, green, reptilian head poked itself out of the hole. Lunging itself forward, it attempted to snap at Kendra and Warren, who swam back in time to avoid getting chomped, only because the neck could extend no further.
"I think we found the guardian of this place," said Bright warily.
The massive turtle poked its limbs from out of its shell. However, instead of legs, four large, serpentine creatures swam out through the other openings in the shell. As the creatures turned to face the group, Kendra could see electricity crackling across their bodies.
"Make that guardians," said Warren.