I revised the last chapter to make Cordero's story more readable, and put in Eric's reaction.

HANK

[0000]

The rope bridge was incredibly long, resembling something from Indiana Jones, except thick boughs hung above it with extra supporting ropes, their shape reminding me of a puppeteer with a marionette. It seemed steady enough, despite the erratic swaying when we stepped halfway across.

Diana glanced back at our feathery escorts. "Owls have good night vision." She turned to face the sheep. "Can't you send them out to search the forest?"

"Owey and Nateela are out searching the woods," Taskil said. "We'll let you know if we find them."

The snowy owl muttered something to Presto. He shrugged and said, "All right." Then, to Diana, "Amo's going to fly me to the dining hall."

Diana put her hands on her hips, rolling her neck. "She what?"

Presto flushed red. "I mean, if that's okay with you."

Me and Eric both stared at him, wondering if he'd catch the subtle hint.

I smacked my face when he only said, "Meet you at the dining hall," and let the owl carry him off to a distant treehouse.

Diana sniffed her pits. "Do I really smell that bad?"

Eric shook his head. "He smells just as bad as you do."

Diana gave him a playful shove. "Shut up!"

"Hey! Careful! You want me to break my neck? Anyway, I'm just saying he doesn't know the first thing about women, and missed your ever subtle cue."

She crossed her arms, sighing through her nostrils.

"But you know who noticed, right?"

"Yep!" Diana smiled and put an arm around him. "You're right! You're absolutely right! He's naive, and doesn't know any better. I think that's why I love him so much. Plus she's an owl and he's a person. It would never work."

"Huh?" Eric winced. "Oh great. How did I become a relationship counselor all of a sudden?"

We neared the end of the bridge.

"Your fighting skills are truly impressive," Miktam said to Diana. "Taskil told me about your escape. I would like to spar with you sometime."

"Yes. Let's do that. It would give my boyfriend something to be jealous about."

"Oh brother," Eric groaned.

Miktam grinned. "Welcome to The Roost."

We passed a treehouse decorated with lutes, flutes and other musical instruments, crossed another bridge, and found ourselves at a sort of...tavern.

Cylindrical like all the other buildings, but it had with mullioned bullseye windows all around like an Old English pub. Painted wooden shields hung all around the exterior, each painted with their own artistic style. From within came sounds of instrumental music, and singing. The delicious smells wafting out reminded us that we hadn't eaten dinner.

Cordero opened the door, ushering us into a summer camp style dining hall (well, minus the commissioner tables and modern amenities). Pretty basic, a rough stage where Churt the barn owl performed with a lute, rough wooden tables with stools. More decorative shields hung from the walls, depicting owls and forest scenes.

Miktam stepped outside, guarding the door.

Finding the six tables disappointingly empty, we followed the food smells to the kitchen.

A primitive kitchen back there. No rangers, no plumbing or refrigerator. Potbelly stove, a bucket sink, archaic instruments like toasting forks and the kind of waffle iron you hold above a fire, a dutch oven. They had meats and vegetables either dried and hanging from the ceiling or in briny jars.

The snowy owl had some pots boiling on the stove. Potatoes, pinto beans, rice. Presto sat next to what appeared to be a bread box, eyes narrowed in concentration as he placed his hands on it.

"You have to concentrate on thoughts of caring," Amo said to him. "Family-like affection, not necessarily romantic love."

"It sounds easier than it is." Presto opened the breadbox, bringing out a couple black...tubers. The resembled dog toys more than potatoes, beetle shelled, covered in bumpy nubs. He groaned, adding them to a growing pile. "Oh great. More Bapongas."

Amo giggled. "That's how I was when I first started using it." The plump bird creature smirked at me. "Make yourself useful. Grab that knife from the wall and start peeling those things."

I cast Cordero an annoyed glance, but he only chuckled and indicated a knife with a flint blade.

Other sharper looking steel knives hung next to it. When I grabbed one, Amo warned, "I wouldn't use that if I were you. Not with a Baponga."

The sheep gave me a look like he agreed, but I picked up the sharp knife anyway.

Amo stirred the rice. "Someone likes to get cut fingers."

"How am I not going to get one with that caveman knife?"

She only shook her head.

"Some hosts these guys are!" Eric complained. "Keep you like a prisoner in their jail, then they let you out to cook your own dinner."

Cordero didn't reply to this. Amo glanced at him questioningly, but after they locked eyes, she just mashed the pinto beans.

Diana put her hands on her hips. "It does seem a little impolite."

Presto closed his eyes and touched the breadbox again. "Hey, this has got to be some kind of Mister Miyagi type thing. If I can master this, maybe I can use my hat better."

"That'll be the day," Eric scoffed.

Diana elbowed him.

"Don't fall for it, Hank. If this really is some kind of Mister Miyagi ninja test, that's probably a joke knife, kinda like how they make those guys in Kung Fu movies carry around cone shaped water buckets."

I pulled up a stool in front of the cutting board, set a tuber down, and immediately cut my finger. The black shell...I don't know what it was, it resisted all the regular knives like a piece of steel cable coated in rubber. The blade slid right off, into my thumb. I tried two or three times, but always got the same result.

"Nice try." Cordero spat in his palm, then offered me his paw to shake.

"Oh great. Now he wants to be spit brothers...and give you a bacterial infection."

Presto rolled his eyes at Eric.

I probably shouldn't have, but I'd had dealings with aboriginal tribes of goblins and orcs, and they did similarly barbaric stuff to welcome you as one of their own, so, in the spirit of good will, I shook the paw.

To my astonishment, all my cuts healed up like they'd never happened.

"Now...use the other knife."

Eric stared. "The sheep's been holding out! I bet he could bring Bobby and Sheila here if he really wanted to!"

Cordero only looked at him with pity, like he were developmentally challenged or something.

The flint blade actually took. The moment it pressed against the exterior of a tuber, it glowed white, and where it bit the surface, a misty...black smoke arose, reminding me of the action you'd get from a woodburning kit.

Inside they resembled yams, with a pit like a plum. The black stuff, when peeled off, revealed a fuzzy outer layer, reminding me of a kiwi. "Is all this effort really worth it?"

"Yes. They're really tender and delicious."

Amo handed Diana some plates. "Here. Set these out."

Diana frowned. "What, no magical toys for me?"

The owl rolled her eyes. "Not everything can be a magical 'toy', as you call them."

Diana held the dishes up to the light. "These aren't...magical in any way?"

Amo only snickered. "I painted some magical dragons and unicorns on them with glaze. Does that count?"

Groaning, Diana marched out with the plates.

Eric opened his mouth to say something, but Amo cut him off. "You. Whiner: Get Churt to help you draw water. We're running low."

Eric glared at her, cast me a questioning glance. I only shrugged.

He left the kitchen grumbling under his breath.

Miktam entered the room, addressing the sheep. "Master, I can still not yet fly. I know it may take many months for my wings to recover, but I was wondering, your power is great. I know there are others more worthy of healing, but can you heal me?"

"Can I?" Cordero scoffed. "Do you really think I am so weak, or uncaring?" He gave me an apologetic glance. "Excuse me, I need room to work. If you need me, I will be outside."

Nodding, I continued with my chore.

Lute music trickled in from the other room. I thought I detected notes of Smoke on the Water, but after they played the signature twelve note riff a couple times, it went into another song.

After I peeled another Baponga, Amo placed a wing on my shoulder. "Try one."

I cut a slice, lifted it to my lips.

"Wait, don't bite into it yet. Your expectation can ruin the flavor. Clear your mind, close your eyes and think of the most delicious thing you can think of."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh...kay?"

"Are you thinking of something super delicious?"

I gave her my best `Are you crazy' look. "Uh, yeah. I'm thinking of lasagna."

That earned me a blank stare.

"Layered...pasta?"

"Oh, like a ponulku? Okay, pretend you're eating that."

When I was going to gradeschool, my parents once took me to this Italian eatery. The business closed down years ago, but they served the best lasagna I'd ever tasted. When that slice of Baponga settled on my tongue, I swore I'd just shoved a forkful of that oozing goodness into my mouth. I gaped at the tuber in astonishment. "That tastes exactly like lasagna!"

"Hey! Let me try one!" Presto cried.

I cut him a slice. His eyes bugged out when he bit into it. "You sure it's lasagna? I'm tasting Taco John's dessert pizza!"

Amo leaned over the table. "It tastes like anything you want."

Presto ate another bite. "Maybe it sends electrical signals to your brain through your nose or tastebuds or something."

The owl blinked like she didn't understand, but muttered, "They're not very fun when you have a cold. You're better off having soup when that happens."

"It definitely sounds like a nerve ending thing."

I peeled more Baponga. "So what kind of dish do you make with something that can taste like anything? I mean, if you put it in stew and think of sweet candy, it would be disgusting..."

Presto placed his hands on the breadbox again. "Salads wouldn't be too bad...Or a pizza..."

He opened the compartment, looked in, and shouted "Yes!"

I stared as he brought out a cheeseburger.

Unfortunately, when he made another attempt at making an all beef patty in a sesame seed bun, he only brought out another Baponga.

Amo pushed him back from the breadbox. "Stop. You're done for the day. We got more than enough for dinner."

My friend gave me an apologetic frown. "Wanna split the burger four ways?"

Eric and Diana brought the water in. I stared at Eric in shock for a minute before realizing that Diana and our owl friends had probably had a conversation with him. Plus, well, it doesn't take a person that long to set out plates.

We all brought out pots of food. Amo set down a pitcher of water.

A delicious meal, especially with the cheeseburger that we actually did divide four ways. Eric complained about it. Me, Presto, and Diana were just grateful to have a cheeseburger at all...I couldn't help but feel guilty that we couldn't share with Bobby and Sheila.

Churt sat on a stool, slowly plucking a complicated section of the Electric Prunes' Going Going Gone. You'd think this would be an anachronism, but a guitar only has six strings, and you can only get a maximum of about twenty one notes out of it, counting the sharps and flats, so someone is bound to come up with identical sounding tunes.

Plus, apparently, this place had a World Series. Their teams had names like The Graywood Elves, but still...baseball. Anachronisms weren't that surprising.

To an empty side of the room, Taskil the horned owl and Screech practiced sword fighting with wooden swords, the horned one muttering very seriously about stances and blocks.

I cast Cordero a pleading look as he took a seat at the table. "Please, we've got to rescue our friends. Can't you do something? Or at least tell us where to find them?"

"You are not yet prepared to fight Jadis."

Diana tried a different tactic. "What kind of place is Jadis using as a base of operations?"

Cordero got a faraway look. "All the lands of Narnia are mine, from here to the distant horizon. But a dark stronghold grows in the distance."

"So...like a castle or something?"

The sheep stood up, gazing out over the forest. "All the ground beneath us once formed from the best dreams of the minds of humans, aligned to my other name, and nourished by hope, they became fertile provinces of beauty and marvel. But a corruption has spread through the land. Like a missing circuit on your...computers, or a burned out bulb on your...Christmas lights, it brings a void of spreading darkness. From the heart of this darkness came The Shadow Towers, and Jadis' sister Xayide. The towers stand in defiance of my name, a symbol of the rule of the sisters. Daily they amass an army through the power of addiction, gain still more through the forces of corruption."

"If this land belongs to you, and you're such a big powerful ruler," said Eric. "Why can't you just use it to change human minds? you know, make them do your bidding?"

"If you loved someone, would you force them to love you in return?"

Eric glanced at Diana and frowned. "...No...Wait, are you implying that all the bad stuff going on out there is due to love?"

Cordero didn't deny it.

"Well then, yes, I'd change all their minds! No love is worth all that!"

The sheep looked unsurprised. "You say this because you do not love anyone but yourself."

"That's not true! I love other people!"

I, Diana and Presto stared at him. A largely unconscious response. Although it's true that Eric, at times, did show that he cared about someone other than himself, ninety percent of the time, he didn't, and we therefore couldn't help but cast him questioning looks, even if we didn't mean to do it.

Eric scowled at his plate, stuffed a Baponga into his mouth. "Guys, did you know these things taste like whatever food you think about?"

At this point, we all knew this, he just wanted to save face.

With our meal, we received steaming cups of black tea. "You have a long night ahead of you," Cordero explained.

Presto rubbed his eyes and gulped some down. "We have something called `coffee' where we come from, but I've read that it used to be hard to import."

Cordero nodded like he understood.

Although we'd all been sweating in the heat all day, I did feel ready to lay my head on the table at this point, so I drank a cup myself.

Throughout our meal, Presto's feathery...friend made things a little awkward. She kept leaning close to him and smiling, `accidentally' brushing his hands...

As a waitress, her service seemed...unbalanced. When Presto emptied his glass and stuff, she'd hurry to get it, but otherwise, we had to ask. Diana kept rolling her eyes and metaphorically shooting daggers at Presto. Eric gave her a look like `Would you get a load of this guy?'

"Geez, why don't you two get a room?" Eric muttered under his breath.

Diana did that neck rolling thing women do when they're mad, but said nothing.

To Presto's credit, he didn't `hold feathers.' Once or twice, I got this `Help!' look on his face...Of course, at other times, I think he enjoyed having two females vying for his attention.

Our `waitress' was a touch clumsy. She spilled water, and, upon taking our plates back to the kitchen for seconds, dropped and broke three of them on the way back out. The fourth dropped one didn't break, but only because it happened to be magical, a glowing edge growing out of it on all sides, until it resembled a shield.

With a nervous laugh, the owl picked up the magical dish, carrying it to a wall. "Oops! Guess that's why this one came with a strap."

She cleaned up the broken ceramic pieces, took the spilled food to the kitchen. I suspected they didn't care about health codes, because the food we got when she returned to the table looked identical to the food she dropped, and even had bruise spots.

Amo took her seat next to Presto. "So...What brings you children of Adam to Narnia?"

"Well, uh..." Again, two females' attention. It got him flustered. "It's...kind of a long story. We've been traveling this world for months. It all started when we found this amusement park ride, and it somehow brought us here. We're still not sure how it all happened, if Dungeon Master had something to do with it, or some other individual with great magic power. DM doesn't hang around long enough to give a Q&A most the time..."

She asked us about a few places we'd been to, the mythical creatures and so forth, but seemed more interested in the theme park, our ordinary lives, homes and schools...especially Presto's, but she found mine and Eric's interesting too.

We finished eating. Churt kept quietly fretting on his lute, some song that reminded me of the Beatles' Back in the U.S.S.R, or maybe the Ducktales theme song.

Diana sniffed herself, adjusted the straps of her furry bikini top. "Cordero, do you have someplace for us to bathe?"

"So far they have made do with water from a well, but it is not ideal. Many complain about the length of time it takes to bathe just one individual." The sheep walked to a window, pointing to the trees. "My brood draws water from a well, but an aquifer stands two miles from here. Unfortunately, its waters have been corrupted. Dive deep, destroy the thing which corrupts, and you shall have no want of cleanliness."

Diana rubbed her face in frustration. "I'm not sure I want to clean up that bad."

Eric clapped. "Hear hear! This sheep is all wet!"

Cordero did not argue, he just added, "The aquifer will give you clues on how to locate the Shadow Towers. Within its depths, you will also find useful armaments for your quest."

"It's just like I said before," Eric complained. "He's just a woolly version of DM."

Diana got up, marching to the sheep. "Maybe so, but we need to find Bobby and Sheila. Cordero, can we please have our stuff back?"

Cordero nodded. "I have some additional tools that you should bring along as well...Wait here...Amo, bring their items from Contraband Storage."

The snowy owl smiled. "Gladly." She hurried out the door, flapping her wings.

Cordero disappeared into the kitchen.

Diana leaned on the window sill. "A cursed aquifer..."

Eric only scoffed. "He's probably getting a toilet plunger and a drain snake. I think we're a couple centuries too early for a machine...My uncle once had a swimming pool fed by an aquifer. He always had people out there, snaking it out. One time he had a literal snake stuck in there."

The sheep brought out our cooking tools.

He placed the knife I'd used to peel Baponga before me. "Keep this in your belt. It was forged from a portion of my soul. As you used it to carve the darkened portions from Baponga, it can be used to pierce an enemy's thick hide, and shatter their armor."

Presto received the rollers that I'd seen inside their magical breadbox. "The Darts of Heart. Strikes an enemy to the core, brings them to their knees."

Cordero took the magic shield from the wall, placing it before Eric. "The Shield of my Honor. The more you trust me, the greater the protection."

Eric groaned and crossed his arms. "Great. I'm going to die...Good thing I already have a shield."

Diana raised an eyebrow. "Do I get anything?"

The sheep untied a sash from his waist, handing it over. "Wear this, and your eyes will never deceive you."

Diana knotted it around the middle of her bikini. She took one look at the sheep and said, "I knew that was you."

I wrinkled my brow. "You recognize...him?"

"Yes. He's very human. And...also not." She didn't explain further, and none of us could get a clear answer from her.

"He's probably Dungeon Master in disguise," Eric groaned.

Diana only shook her head slowly.

"He's that giant lion, then?"

That only made Diana look thoughtful. No definite yes or no response.

Amo came flapping back with our magical tools as well.

Eric, utterly pleased about getting his regular shield back, pushed Cordero's in front of Diana. "Here. You'll probably get more use of this anyway."

Frowning, she slipped it over her arm, but it did nothing.

Eric rolled his eyes. "Huh! Looks like someone isn't trusting Cordero enough!"

"Not necessarily," said the sheep. "But a tool does work better with the one I entrusted it with."

I gestured for Eric to take the shield back. "Humor him."

With a shrug, Eric took the plate from Diana, put it on, and it immediately grew a glowing edge, roughly the size of a family pizza. "Oh brother. Guess it's better than nothing." Then the edge shrank a couple inches.

"You trust me more than you let on," Cordero said.

Eric blew a raspberry. "So I've met a few magical creatures, and you're a little more powerful than most. Big deal."

"Every bit counts," said Diana. "Cordero, are you sure we should be doing this at night?"

"As midnight falls, the walls between our realities grow thin. You will not be able to reach the corruption during the day."

Diana shoved her magical vaulting pole into her belt. "Cordero, you know where this place is. Can you come show us?"

He shook his head. "In this realm, I can only be in one place at a time, and I have other matters to attend to. My brood will take you to the aquifer."

Amo swallowed, feathers visibly poofing out in fright. "I'll show them, sensei...It will be my...pleasure."

Diana chortled. "You don't look pleased to me."

Amo made a funny grunting noise. "It's not a pretty place. I'd rather you didn't go and put yourselves in danger, but if you must..." She cleared her throat. "I will guide you, guard your tailfeathers with my bow." The owl smacked her forehead. "(Amo, you are so stupid!) I mean, I'll watch your back."

Churt paused his strumming. "Sister, if you're going, someone's got to watch your tailfeathers."

We had a bright, full moon when we stepped out. Here and there light blazed from braziers and lanterns. A faint glimmer of dawn, not much more than a blue line, cracked on the horizon. Owls, obviously, burned the midnight oil.

All throughout, The Roost smelled of cedar trees, food, burning lamp oil and wax, faint lingering odors of the wood they'd crafted the buildings and planks from.

We didn't get any more volunteers for our quest. Most other inhabitants of the treetop village had seen us fight, and figured we could hold our own. They looked more concerned about Amo and Churt tagging along.

We came to a blacksmith shop. Personally, I didn't think it a great idea to have a big fire and a heavy anvil in a treehouse, but they'd taken all the appropriate safety measures.

A burly raccoon creature grabbed the two owls both by the shoulders, speaking in low tones. "I want you to be careful out there. First sign of you getting into something over your head, you come running back to me."

He draped a necklace with a lion pendant around Amo's neck. "The sign of Aslan. Don't take it off."

A tall Australian masked owl set down the blown glass she'd been working on, handing Churt a belt of little glass bulbs. "I agree with your father. Don't take unnecessary risks. We all work as a team here."

"Yeah?" Eric scoffed. "So how about helping us with this thing? It would go so much easier."

"You already have Cordero's blessing."

"Oh brother."

The raccoon brought an iron out of a fire, setting it on an anvil. "I've watched you fight, and my children are not entirely defenseless. However...If I see a feather of my children harmed..." He hammered the metal in a semi-threatening manner."

I frowned at his handiwork. He'd purposefully broken a sword. "...We'll be careful."

The masked owl raised a wing. "May the Great Lion bless your travels."

"Er, thank you." Presto scratched his head, muttering, "This is so confusing."

Amo grabbed a bow and arrows from her rack. Churt picked up a mace and buckler.

Eric pointed to a sword. "Sir, can I please have that? It might be useful where we're going."

The raccoon just laughed. "Cordero told me you'd ask for that, so here's my answer: I'll give it to you for ten silver rupees."

"Ten? I don't even have one!"

That made him laugh all the more. "He also told me you'd say that!"

Masked Owl smirked. "He told me you have fought many battles with less."

Eric crossed his arms indignantly, mocking their words. "Okay, so why do these owls get a mace and arrows?"

"Because it's dangerous and we've shown them how to use them. You...on the other paw...You don't look like you can handle a broadsword."

"Looks can be surprising."

"Talk to me when you have ten silver rupees."

Ironically, after this conversation, Amo handed a small crossbow to Presto. "For your darts."

"But I don't get a sword," Eric complained.

"How else is he going to use Cordero's darts? Throwing them?"

Masked Owl resumed her glass blowing. The raccoon pointed at her work, gave a compliment.

Eric snickered as the stripe tailed blacksmith slipped a paw around Masked Owl's waist. "Now there's an odd couple!"

We continued down a rope bridge.

"I'm surprised Amo isn't a flying trash panda—"

"I'm adopted," the female owl blurted. "Daddy died when I and Churt were hatchlings...Chanoch and Mother love each other very much."

"Enough to make...flying trash panda babies?"

Diana elbowed Eric hard.

"What? Inquiring minds want to know."

"Careful," Churt said in a conspiratorial whisper. "The last one who called Dad a trash panda ended up wearing his latest smithing project."

Eric pointed to the male's belt of bulbs. "What are those?"

"All I know is that if you twist them just right, they go boom."

Eric's eyes bugged out. "Do me a favor: Don't make them go boom around me!"

Screech Owl had made some air bladders for us, literally from animal bladders. We picked them up at the hut with all the wacky steampunk inventions. Although not too much more sophisticated than scuba gear from Jason and the Argonauts, they had a billows pump that allowed you to refill the air with ease.

The Roost had a rickety wooden elevator at one end, you know, for those who didn't have wings. A talking rabbit worked as sentry and elevator technician. Not much room in that thing, so Churt and Amo flapped their wings and hovered around the cage as we descended.

The nearer we came to the forest floor, the less the place appeared inhabited. The artful use of plant cover, the lack of litter and homey decorations made the area seem indifferent from the surrounding wood. I could only guess they had enemies, or they wouldn't have bothered with such elaborate camouflage. Eric had to point out the location of their well — that had been hidden too.

The moment we stepped out of the cage, we prepared ourselves to fight, drawing our magical armaments.

Wind whistled through leafy branches. Cicadas called to each other from unseen places.

Like any forest at night, owls hooted from the shadowy treetops. The difference here: Our companions hooted back.

One sounded like Masked Owl, the hooting making a distinct `I love you' pattern. Amo and Churt repeated the sound back.

For a couple miles, we didn't encounter anything dangerous. No sign of anything being grown, harvested or cultivated, either. Oak and cedar trees, a shag bark hickory with a ring of fungus. It seemed to abound with wilder produce, though: Clumps of morel mushrooms, a gooseberry bush, wild scallions and a blackberry tree.

Amo marched ahead. "We do half our farming up top. Mom, Owey, Nateela and other owls fly in food from our other farm. Down here we do carrots, potatoes and stuff. Dreamcloud makes sure it all looks like part of nature, and not immediately obvious."

A loincloth clad man-frog crept around a tree, nocking an arrow into a bow.

The amphibian stuffed the arrow back into his quiver when Amo waved to him.

"This is Dreamcloud, our low impact farmer." She frowned at a line of smoke coming from behind a bush. "I thought they told you no watch fires!"

"It's getting late, and I wanted tea. I'll put it out when I'm done, hatchling!"

Amo groaned and shook her head.

"And where are you off to?"

"Cordero sent these children of Adam to reclaim the aquifer."

The frog cringed. "The aquifer? That's madness! The thing will kill you!"

"I'm wearing my pendant, worry wart."

"I somehow don't think it will be enough."

"It has The Great Lion's blessing."

"A lion no one has seen in these lands for thousands of years."

Eric's new shield practically became a regular plate. "Dude, I knew that sheep was blowing smoke out his rear! Let's turn around now before we get ourselves killed!"

I clenched my magic bow with one hand, put my palm on my new knife with the other. "This could be our only chance to get home."

"Now where have I heard that one before?"

"Fine. Stay back with the owls in the tree. But if we find a way home while we're out there..."

"Fine, fine. I'll stay with this little suicide mission."

For a quest to the alleged source of evil, we continued to have a surprisingly uneventful trek. No enemies of any sort faced us. Before we knew it, we stood within a copse of trees, before a large pond filled with dark water, a pool of shadowy liquid welling from its center.

In addition to the moonlight, the pool had an eerie supernatural glow to it, so nobody asked how we'd be able to see down there.

Nothing disturbed the surface of the water, not a leaf, not a twig, nor fish nor turtle. A stagnant algae aroma clung to everything.

"And up from the ground came a bubblin' crude." Eric put his hands on his hips, frowning at the bubbles with apprehension. "So what are we supposed to do now? Set the black stuff on fire? Scoop it all out with our bare hands?"

Diana shrugged. "Your old shield might do the job..."

Churt skipped a rock across the water. "That isn't pitch down there. We tried setting it on fire once, but the fire went out."

"So that's not oil?" Eric kicked a stone over the side. "That sucks! I was hoping we could at least sell it! Where's a sump pump when you need one?"

Amo crept up to the edge. "You guys can swim, right?"

Eric gaped at her. "You actually want us to dive into that crap?"

"You did tell Cordero you needed a bath."

"We didn't tell him we wanted to bathe in sewage!"

"That's why Cordero sent you to cleanse it."

"Cleanse? With what?"

"To find that out, you'll have to swim to the bottom."

Eric backed away. "Unh-uh! No way in hell I'm diving in there!"

I set my bow aside and stepped into the shallows. "We've run into stuff like this before. There's probably some cursed object down there, like a magic skull or a crystal, and once we pull it out, it'll...stop...polluting or whatever it's doing." I considered skinny dipping, but my clothes needed washing anyway. Well, that was the theory, anyway.

Diana waded in with me, pushing past until she drifted waist deep. "That feels so good...Even if the water does look gross."

I pointed to her sash. "Hey, you're getting that wet."

"It's magical. Plus, we have to see what's doing all this."

Presto turned his crossbow over in his hands. "I don't get it, Amo. If this is just a diving expedition, what's this for?"

Eric scoffed. "You're going to be needing a harpoon, stupid! Why else would you be lugging it around?" He slipped Cordero's shield over his arm, setting his larger one aside. "Guess this one would be less bulky underwater..."

No one likes swimming in a robe, so Presto stripped to his shorts, strapping the crossbow to his back. Diana gave a wolf whistle. When Amo added an appraising noise, he nearly threw his robe back on.

A couple months back, we'd gotten a jeweler to fashion him an adjustable kind of `granny chain.' He now tightened the fastener to make sure his glasses stayed on underwater.

Eric reluctantly got in the water with us. "You do realize I'm wearing chain mail."

"No one said you had to wear it. Still, it'll make it all the more easier for you to reach the bottom. We have those air bladders for a reason."

He sighed.

Churt set down his mace and shield. "I just got an idea. Wait here." He flapped off into the trees.

Diana treaded water, spat some out, giving Amo an expectant look. "You coming in? Frankly I'd be surprised if you owls could—"

A pair of bloated green hands shot out from the depths, grabbing Presto by the shoulders. He yelped as...whatever it was pulled him into the inky blackness. The bubbles from his screams rippled the surface.

"Presto!"