Celaine had an arrow ready on her string when the shade veered toward her, soaring down from a thin strip of clouds. It was a lone creature, and one of the last to return to the gateway.

“Steady,” Vivienne called to her. “Let it come.”

She didn’t need to be told by some wizard how to hunt. Her bow was ready if anything went wrong, but the trap was set. She watched as the shade grew closer, studying its movements. The flap of its cloak, the ripples through its hood. The dark, shrunken face beneath, almost hidden even from her eyes.

Vivienne cast her wand forward, unleashing her spell. The air trembled, vibrating against Celaine’s skin like a thousand tiny drums playing all at once. The spell intercepted the shade with ease, bringing it to a sudden stop. The black creature hovered in place, its cloak-like body spiking and bulging as it tried to break free.

Vivienne adjusted her grip on her wand then raised her left hand beneath it, fingers bent into a claw, as if she held the shade in her grip. Any movement stopped. There was no escape now. It was overwhelmed by the power of her will, crushed within the grip of the formation.

The trap was perfect, so Celaine turned her eyes back to the sky, watching for any other shades that might approach, drawn in by the spectacle. They must have felt Vivienne’s power too, yet none came. The hunger was gone from them now that the gateway was close to closing. All they cared for was escape. They’d had their fill, or at least, they’d tried to. Celaine only hoped that the town had put up a good fight without them. It was difficult to tell, but she thought there were less shades returning.

“Tell me when they’re out of sight, Celaine,” Vivienne said.

Celaine didn’t answer. She knew her role in this. As the shades edged further into the darkness, she let a little of her dragon blood roar, the night becoming clearer as her eyes gleamed with essence. It was hard to tell whether the shades dipped below the horizon or beneath the surface of the water, but it was only a matter of minutes before they left her sight. Gone one way or another.

“They’re gone.”

Vivienne nodded. “Everyone into the boat.”

They boarded quickly. Still Celaine kept an arrow ready, just in case. Vamir had taught her to always be ready for the unexpected. One would never regret being too careful. But at least for tonight, there was no need for it.

She sensed the spell’s release before she saw it. It was like a break in a storm. The air pressure suddenly dropped, and the presence of intense power disappeared. Celaine could breathe normally again. She didn’t feel as if she was under attack. Ironic, for the shade was now free.

Vivienne drew back her wand before the shade had even realised its release. “Soul Tracer.”

A small red ball of light flew outward like a firefly, swooping through the air as it sought out its target. When it struck, it vanished into the shade’s body. For a moment, the night went dark. Then red light smoked from its back. It flew into the air frantically, racing after the other shades, quick and timid as a deer. The red smoke trailing it through the night, faint, but clear as the moon in the night to Celaine.

Vivienne boarded quickly and Dylan channeled his Aspect of the Bear, his slim figure nearly doubling in size as he started to paddle. They glided across the water, accompanied only by the splash of the oars. Celaine fixed her eyes on the smoke. She didn’t trust any one of these southerners to stay on track in the day, let alone now. They lacked a hunter’s vision, and they lacked a dragon’s instincts.

It led them through the night. Occasionally, the trail would vanish, but she knew what way it was heading now. The wizard’s beacons would pick up again once it entered the range of the next one. They flew forward, the water guiding their way as Vivienne worked her magics, until finally the trail dipped below the surface of the lake. Down and down it went, and then she saw nothing. Either too deep or hidden behind something.

“Is this it?” Bud asked. The clumsy knight tried to look over the side of the boat, rocking it as he did.

“Whoa!” Dylan snapped, clutching the sides for balance. “Calm down there, big guy.”

“This is it,” Celaine said. She stared at the wizard. This was the part she hated. The part she had no control over, and where she had to show her trust above all. “Are you sure your spell will work?”

Vivienne didn’t look up from where she searched through her bag. “If I didn’t think I could reach the temple, I wouldn’t have bothered searching for it all this time. I’ve done this many times before. it will work.”

“What happens if it doesn’t?” Bud asked.

“You’re a knight,” Vivienne said. “You’ll probably survive.”

“You could turn yourself into a block of ice and float to the surface,” Dylan offered.

“Suffocate or drown. That’s a difficult choice.”

The wizard ignored them, pulling out a blue stone about the size of a chicken egg. Two lines of runes circled it, parallel to each other, too small for Celaine to properly make out.

“What’s that?” Celaine asked.

“A spellstone. It’s about to store a spell for later activation. If I were to cast this myself, it would drain me of much of my essence.”

“Hump mentioned one of these when we were in the dungeon,” Bud said. “It was used for a Mass Undead spell.”

Vivienne glanced at him with furrowed eyebrows. “That’s a powerful… We’ll discuss it later, when there’s time. This is only a Tier 2 spell, so it’s far simpler than that.”

Bud nodded. “What do we do with the boat?”

Vivienne smiled, then chanted the spell. The spellstone shone brightly, pulsing with a powerful light that lit up the area around them. A wave of pressure washed over them, coating them in essence.

Suddenly, the boat tipped forward, the front diving underwater. Celaine gripped the side of the boat and gritted her teeth, resisting the instinct to leap from the boat. Before she could blink, they were underwater. They sailed down into the darkness, the moon a silver ripple about, and the world illuminated by the blue light of Vivienne’s spell.

Down they went, following the trail until the moon above was just a pale shimmer. The lakebed was covered in stone and vines of algae, a thousand places for the shade to hide.

“This is amazing,” Bud said, reaching out to touch the bubble.

“Don’t touch it,” Celaine snapped, before she had time to think.

Vivienne smiled. “It won’t break if something touches it, don’t worry.”

Celaine shrank back on her seat, biting her cheek, her cheeks warm for having let out such a fear filled outburst. Vamir would be laughing so hard he’d fall off the boat if he’d been there.

“The trail seems to go underground,” Dylan said. “How do we follow it?”

“We don’t need to,” Celaine said, pointing at a hill of algae ahead of them.

Vivienne frowned and turned toward it, aiming her wand. “Wizard Light.” The darkness was pushed back, and there, draped in aquatic plants and a thousands of fish, was the ruined temple. White marble stones crumbled before the might of the lake. The remnants of stairs leading up to a large chamber that still remained intact. And from the chamber, essence smoked out through the roof. There was a door in the entrance, a symbol of three eyes carved into the stone above, watching them.

“Gods above,” Bud said. “You were right.”

“The gateway’s in there,” Celaine said.

“Are you sure we want to go in while it’s open?” Dylan asked. “We could wait for it to close and scout it out when we know it’s empty.”

“No,” Bud said. “We do this tonight. Gods know how many day’s pass for Hump for every day we waste here. Who knows what that beast is doing to him? No. We can’t wait.”

“We’ll proceed cautiously,” Vivienne said. “Our goal is to strike up a dialogue, not to start a fight. The gateway closing soon may play to our advantage.”

She directed the boat forward, floating it up along the stairway, between crumbled pillars and fallen statues. The spell pressed out only water, so as they neared the temple wall, it expanded around it, incorporating it into its structure so that they could touch it.

Dylan pressed a hand to it in wonderment, the white marble stained green from algae and time. “How can it still be standing?”

Vivienne did the same, but this time Celaine felt her essence stirred. The wizard closed her eyes, and they waited.

After a minute or so, she said, “There’s an enchantment over the entire chamber, sealing it. It must have weakened substantially for us to see essence escaping through the roof.”

“Can you open it?” Bud asked.

The wizard touched the door with her wand, piercing it with essence. While she couldn’t see it, she could sense something at work. She could feel Vivienne’s power forcing its way inside, building until it was so intense Celaine felt fear. She was underwater, completely at another person’s mercy. It was a poor place for a Huntress of Owalyn to be.

A dull thud rumbled through the water, and the door cracked open, just wide enough for them to get through. Water rushed into the empty room, the sudden surge pressing them forward.

“Go!” Vivienne shouted, remaining in the doorway.

Dylan was the first one out, stepping into the dark chamber with his staff ready. Bud followed close behind, taking out his sword and setting it ablaze with frostfire. Celaine joined them, the water coming up to her ankles already, but Vivienne stood in the entrance. The barrier that had kept the water from them was now blocking most of what came into the chamber.

She let her essence fade, and the door slammed shut behind them, sealing them inside.

“Well, we’re in,” Dylan said.

Vivienne looked around, eyes taking everything in. “We’re in.” She laughed. “Gods above, we truly found it.” She knelt down by the door, examining what looked like runes. “Look at this, Dylan. These aren’t of any language I recognise.”

“That’s all well and good,” Bud growned, “but we’re not here for runes. Rescue Hump and the townspeople first, then you can look around.”

Vivienne sighed and stood. “Of course, Robert.”

He was right, and here in the dark, where flesh prowlers and shades might lurk, she trusted none of these people to take the lead.

“Do you all hear that?” Celaine asked.

The others shook their heads.

“Breathing,” Celaine said. “Further up the corridor. It doesn’t sound human. I think there must be flesh prowlers in here.”

“I’ll take the lead,” Bud said.

Celaine stepped ahead. “No. I’ll go. You follow. Quietly.”

She left no time to answer, skipping on ahead, empowering her movements with Spring Step so that not even the water made a splash. It was a short corridor, and it only led to one place. She could feel it long before it came into view. Its darkness poured out from an opening up ahead, raging like a storm.

As she reached the corner, she peaked around to look into a large chamber. And at its core was a gateway. Flesh prowlers stalked back and forth within, idly watching the shades as they flew back to their own world. Through the gateway, Celaine made out a familiar shadowy figure looming over the creatures.

She retreated and gestured for the others to follow.

“What do we do?” she asked.

“Only two things we can do,” Vivienne said. “Either it talks, or we fight.”

“What…” Bud trailed off.

Vivienne stepped into the chamber. She strode forward, the flesh prowlers snarling at her approach, but she paid them no mind. Instead, she stared up at the gateway.

“Visitor from the beyond, I’ve come seeking to speak with you. I’d like to negotiate.”

There was a long silence, then the low, hollow voice came back. “Then speak, Witch.”