Guided by Kinsley’s Lantern the Ascenders made their way quickly but cautiously through the mouth of the cove. Other than the sound of the oars splashing through the water the area was completely silent. Aiden would have preferred an even stealthier approach but the noise they produced was the trade off for not having to wade through waist deep water. Or in Maria’s case, shoulder deep water.

As they rounded the first bend the cavern walls began to glitter like diamonds in the light of the lantern.

“What is that?” the Rift Caller asked quietly.

“Opals”, said the Corpse Hunter. “They’re embedded in the walls of the cave. I mean cove.”

“Are they valuable?”

“Yes. They’re as popular among jewelers as they are with enchanters.”

“How hard are they to take out of the walls?”

“Pretty hard. Generally you need a pickaxe or a hammer and chisel. Though I could probably pry them out with the gauntlets without damaging them. But regardless of which option we went with it would make a lot of noise and whatever might be down here would be well aware of our presence.”

“Then we should probably just keep going,” Maria said, admiring the opals.

“A wise call,” Aiden said.

They continued on past the glittering stones moving deeper into the underground tunnel. Before long it opened into a large chamber.

“The water is a lot deeper in here,” the girl commented quietly.

“How deep is it?” asked the man in gray.

“Deep enough that I can’t see the bottom anymore.”

Maria leaned over the edge of the boat trying to get a better look of what was below them.

“Sit further back, I don’t want you falling in.”

Something slammed the underside of the boat jostling the occupants of the small rowboat. Two events immediately followed in rapid succession of one another. First he heard a loud disconcerting splash and then he watched as the room immediately descended into darkness.

“Maria?” he called out.

“Ow,” she said. “I fell on my beetle cage, I don’t think I hurt it though.”

Aiden sighed. “I thought you fell off the boat.”

“No…but whatever hit us knocked the lantern out of my hand.”

The Corpse Hunter’s face glowed in the light of the sparks from his tinder kit. A moment later his torch illuminated the underground cavern.

“Hold onto this and try not to drop it,” he said, handing the torch to her. “This too.”

Aiden took off his tricorn, the one with Reginald’s name on the seam, and put it on the girl’s head. It was far too big for her and she had to tilt it back to keep it from covering her eyes.

“What are you doing?” Maria asked.

“We’re at a loss without that lantern. So I’m going to get it back.”

Aiden cracked his knuckles. The Hands of the Hill Giant were almost entirely coated in rust now. This would probably be the last thing he’d get to do with them before their power faded. He pulled an orange potion from his bag and then set the backpack on the deck of the boat.

“Vagrant you’re in charge while I’m gone,” the Corpse Hunter said before taking a deep breath and diving into the dark waters.

As he swam down into the murky depths below a dim light came into view from the bottom of the small lake just as the man in gray had hoped. Kinsley’s Lamp could do more than just pierce magical darkness. It could stay lit even while submerged in water.

It would’ve been easier to retrieve the relic without the heavy wool overcoat, leather boots, and undercoat. But Aiden preferred the extra protection over the extra freedom of movement. Whatever had rocked their boat was down here and if his plan to deal with it was going to work he’d need the enchanted clothing.

As Aiden approached the lantern the dim light grew brighter. He could now see the floor of the cove as well as something large swimming around the relic. It had the head of an alligator, the body of a shark, and the limbs of an octopus.

“The only thing worse than a regular Chimera is an Aquatic Chimera,” the Corpse Hunter thought to himself.

True to their nature all Chimeras were a combination of multiple ordinary and or magical beasts. The most common and well known Chimeras had the heads of a lion, a goat, and a dragon with the tail of a snake. Though other air and land based creatures were also seen in the mix from time to time.

Variant Chimeras were believed to be created when the Dungeon summoned a standard Chimera in the presence of a natural element. As one would expect, Aquatic Chimeras could be found in large rivers, lakes, seas, and oceans.

When it took note of the man swimming above it the monster rocketed towards him, its toothy maw wide open. It was faster than he expected and only by wedging one of the gauntlets into the corner of the beast’s mouth was he able to avoid serious injury as it latched onto him. That had only bought him a short amount of time though.

Chimeras of all varieties were intelligent foes and this one knew that all it had to do was wait for its prey to run out of air. Of course Aiden didn’t intend to let that happen. He reached into his pocket and withdrew the orange potion.

Being underwater, regardless of what clothing he wore, greatly slowed down Aiden's movements. He wouldn’t be able to throw the glass bottle hard enough to get it to break against the Aquatic Chimera. That would take a little finesse and some unorthodox methodology.

The Corpse Hunter jammed his arm into the mouth of the crocodile headed monster and crushed the potion between his fingers before it could clamp down onto his elbow. With a muffled blast the underwater shockwave tore through the beast ripping it into shreds. A geyser of blood and gore shot forth from the water splattering across the walls and ceiling above.

But there wasn’t much time to relish in the victory. Aiden’s lungs were starting to ache and he still needed to get the lantern. With the only threat in the immediate area eliminated he swam down to the relic and grabbed onto it. It was heavy in his hand, far heavier than it had ever been before, and far heavier than it should be now.

That was when the man in gray realized that the gloves had run out of magic. Their strength was replaced with dead weight as the Hands of Hill Giant reverted back to their unpowered form. Aiden pulled them off of his hands and tucked them into his coat quickly fixing the lantern to his belt. Then without any further delay he swam for the surface.

Life always had a way of trying to pull out the rug from you, the Corpse Hunter thought. Sure the gauntlets hadn’t helped him swim any faster but they weighed next to nothing while still active. Now they were trying to pull him back down to the bottom of the underground lake.

It felt like an act of betrayal to the next Corpse Hunter for Aiden to lose such an invaluable item. But he wasn’t gaining enough distance to reach the surface before running out of air, not with the weight of the gauntlets holding him back. If he died now then tomorrow or soon after a child would inherit his Fate, his burdens, and by extension his misery.

He reasoned that it was far crueler to bring another Corpse Hunter into existence prematurely than to deprive them of the Hands of the Hill Giant. With a heavy heart, the man in gray pulled the gauntlets from his overcoat and released them. They quickly sank to the bottom of the lake passing out of view of the lantern's light.

Moments later Aiden breached the water’s surface, taking a much needed breath of fresh air. Maria sat on the boat covered in chunks of alligator hide, shark meat, and octopus tentacles.

“Gross, gross, gross,” she said, pulling the Aquatic Chimera pieces off of herself and dropping them over the edge of the boat.

“You ok?” the Corpse Hunter asked as he pulled himself back into the rowboat.

The girl didn’t answer, instead continuing to mutter quietly to herself while doing the best she could to clean herself up. He sat the lantern in her lap and gave the child a few minutes to compose herself. After scooping several handfuls of water to wipe off her face she said she was ready to go.

“Wait,” Maria said as Aiden grabbed the oars. “What happened to your magic gauntlets?”

“They ran out of magic so I had to leave them behind,” he said with a shrug.

“What? Weren’t they really rare? Like Kinsley’s Lantern? Mother said you could buy a house for every member in your family for the price of something like that.”

“Your mother is right, but that doesn’t change the fact that right now they’re little more than an anchor at the bottom of a deep body of water.”

“I could get them. You killed the monster right? The one that knocked the lantern into the water? If it's safe now then I can just swim right down there and teleport back up.”

“Kid you only have one use of your Fate left before you need to rest to avoid blacking out or worse. It's not worth the risk or the delay. I have other relics at my disposal, not to mention the one in your lap.”

“No, it was my fault that you had to jump in the water in the first place.”

“Doesn’t matter whose fault it was that doesn’t change-”

“I’ll be right back,” the Rift Caller said, tossing the Corpse Hunter his hat back.

She took the beetle cage off her belt, hooked the lantern in its place, and dove into the water before he could object. Aiden slowly turned to Vagrant who had been quietly listening from the back of the boat. The vulture squawked.

“You’re right,” Aiden said. “We should’ve tried tying a rope to her.”

About a minute or two later the child reappeared a foot above the front end of the boat. She slammed onto her butt with a heavy thud causing the raft to rock back and forth. Aiden tried to steady the boat but there was little he could do about it.

Maria sat with her back to the Corpse Hunter breathing hard. Evidently she had stayed down there as long as she could and teleported back after running out of air. Aiden couldn’t see her face to read her expression but silence was rarely a good sign.

“Look, it’s not that big of a deal,” he said when the silence started to get awkward. “We lost a relic but we found another, so that makes us even. Plus we still have the actual treasure to look forward to and I have a feeling we’ll come out ahead regardless of what it is.”

With a deep sigh the girl held both of her arms up in the air. She barely had the strength to raise the Hands of the Hill Giant over her head. Aiden took them from the child as she fell onto the of the boat causing it to rock once more.

“I think I need another break,” Maria said.

“You’ve earned one,” Aiden replied, tucking the gauntlets into his backpack. “Don’t take risks like that again though, they don’t always pay off.”

Maria unhooked the lantern from her belt and handed it to Vagrant who hopped into the front of the boat. The Ethereal spirit held the relic in its beak and acted as the forward lookout while the girl layed down. Then the man in gray started rowing again.

On the far side of the lake was a large rocky landing. A swarm of large bats descended from the ceiling upon being disturbed by the presence of the Ascenders. However, the light of Kinley’s Lantern blinded the nocturnal creatures and they didn’t attack.

Instead the swarm flew out across the lake and either left the cove or found somewhere else to rest. Aiden didn’t know which and honestly couldn’t have cared less. Maria was too tired to train at the moment and any combat that didn’t directly contribute to helping her or completing the golden quest was, in his mind, an absolute waste of time.

Aiden docked the boat alongside it then dragged it out of the water to keep it from floating away. From inside the raft came the gentle snoring of an exhausted eleven year old.

While she rested the Corpse Hunter sat up against a rock wall beside Vagrant. He pulled out the silver flask that he’d looted from the undead pirate captain’s desk and unscrewed the cap. Then he gave it a quick sniff.

“It’s rum,” Aiden said before screwing the cap back on. “Can’t wait to have a sip of that when we’re back in the Plinth.”

That was amusing, it was the first time in a long time that the man in gray was looking forward to returning to the city. It had always been something he loathed and the Dungeon was his reprieve. His chance to go somewhere else without really going somewhere.

While the city and the world as a whole were unfair, the Dungeon treated everyone the same. To it he wasn’t the dreaded the Corpse Hunter, or the scary man in gray. He was just an Ascender, no better and no worse than any that had come before him. Or any that would come after.

Almost everyone in the Column assumed that the structure had been created by the gods. Aiden wasn’t so sure, not that he had any evidence against that assumption. It just felt to him that the Dungeon had always existed and that it always would. Even without any Ascenders to risk their lives upon its many levels and floors, the Dungeon would continue to exist.

“Where do you put her odds of passing that assessment?”

The vulture paused for a moment then let out a squawk.

“Really? You think it's that low?”

Vagrant squawked again then raised its wings in a bird-like shrug.

“Yeah I know, you’ve always been a realist. You're’ the most grounded being I’ve ever met. I just thought she had a better chance, that’s all. Her mother works for the Ascension Academy that must be worth something.

“Then again with them that might be an excuse for even more scrutiny. Those bastards think they know everything there is to know about everything.” Aiden looked over at the sleeping child. “But I bet you they don’t know the difference between a cave and a cove.”