Qishti returned a few minutes later with three white disks in his hands. He handed one to each of them. “Put these in your mouths when we enter the water. They will allow you to breathe. Just do not breathe through your nose.”

Spence examined the device. It had a protrusion on one side—like the tip of a toy flute or recorder—which he assumed went into the mouth. The rest of it, the size and shape of a hockey puck, would remain on the outside. His heart raced at the prospect of swimming. He had no clue how even to start. But at least with this device, he wouldn’t drown.

“You can leave your weapons and armor here—you will be safe. I would also advise leaving your boots,” Qishti said.

Caleb stared at Qishti with raised eyebrows.

“No one will touch your items,” Qishti said.

The three removed everything except shirts, pants, and daggers and followed Qishti outside the building.

“We are going for a swim,” Qishti said to the guards outside the door, who straightened when they walked past.

He led them on the wooden pathway around to the rear of the large building. He then guided them through several forks until the path finally ended at the water's edge. “I trust you can all swim?”

Spence glanced at Morgan and then at Qishti. “Morgan and I cannot.”

Once again, Qishti’s face was unreadable. “Simply paddle your arms and legs and follow me. The water is murky but will not hurt your eyes.”

Caleb placed the breathing device in his mouth. “How do I look with a toilet mint in my mouth?” he asked Morgan and Spence.

Spence laughed, glad to see Caleb’s sense of humor make a rare appearance. He put the small tube into his mouth and closed his lips around it. The disk was lightweight and didn’t feel as awkward as it looked. He hoped he could keep the mouthpiece firmly in his mouth.

“Spence, I’m so glad your cell phone is dead. This would blow up the Internet,” Morgan said, placing hers in her mouth.

Qishti waded into the water until he was chest-deep. Then he arched his back and dove beneath the surface. Caleb followed him, with Morgan going next and then Spence. Spence had trouble getting his entire body submerged below the surface. He flopped and splashed on top of the water for a minute before finally using his arms to guide his body down. He kicked his legs hard to keep himself from rising to the surface.

He could barely detect movement straight ahead at the far range of his sight. Then he accidentally breathed in through his nose and momentarily panicked. He flailed in the water and nearly resurfaced before blowing the water out of his nose and breathing deeply through his mouth. After a few seconds, he had the hang of it and began kicking his feet, placing his arms together in front of him, and then spreading them wide with his palms turned out. It took a few minutes to learn how to maintain the same line in the water and not go too deep or float to the surface.

The water soon deepened to what he estimated to be ten or twelve feet. He gradually began catching the others and could soon make out Morgan’s body in front of him. They must have slowed for him to catch them. Morgan appeared almost as unsteady as he felt. His face was right behind her bare feet a few minutes later. The water at this point was too deep even to discern the bottom.

Soon Spence saw a landmass materialize in front of them. It sloped down from the surface and disappeared into the depths below. He saw the others start angling down in the water, and he tilted his head down and brought his body into the new trajectory. They swam down the angle of the landmass at least thirty feet until they came to a round, black opening.

Qishti entered first, followed by Caleb and Morgan. Spence’s heart accelerated as he swam through the hole barely wider than his shoulders. The water inside was nearly pitch black. He could only see Morgan’s feet and nothing of the others in front of her. He followed Morgan as she angled up, and half a minute later, his head suddenly broke the water's surface.

***

“Where are they going?” Artemis asked.

“I do not know,” Enki replied.

“How do you not know of this place and have it monitored?” Odin demanded.

“My Draconians spend most of their time in the water. I cannot watch the entire swamp. Besides, no questers have even made it close to here before,” Enki responded.

“This could be a fatal oversight,” Ra said.

“Nonsense. What are they going to do? They are just discussing their theories on Nibiru and our intentions yet again. If they do not depart to lead their races soon, we will force their hands,” Enki replied.

***

Dim light shone from high overhead but not bright enough to illuminate the details of their surroundings. Then Spence heard steel striking stone and saw a flash of sparks. A few seconds later, he saw Qishti holding a burning torch. They were inside a dome-shaped structure with a small opening in the top. Water filled half of the space. Qishti stood on the shore of the other half, which was sand and rock.

Spence swam to the shore and wearily crawled onto the dry sand. He hadn’t realized how badly his arms and legs burned. Caleb and Morgan already sat on the beach. Qishti lit another torch in a sconce on the near wall and placed his on the far one. Most of the domed space was still dark, but they could see each other well enough. He sat on a rock in front of the others.

“Private enough?” Qishti asked.

Caleb peered up at the opening in the top. “As long as nothing can look down the hole. Where is this place, anyway?”

“It is the inside of one of the islands. The opening is in the base of a hollow tree trunk, so there is no danger of someone reaching the island or fitting inside the trunk. The hole lets the smoke out and keeps the air fresh.”

“And you know why we wanted the privacy?” Caleb asked.

“I assume so the gods cannot see or hear,” Qishti said.

“Bingo. The other races each led us to secret places and told us things about the gods and this world. The gods must be unable to hear or see, or we would have died long ago.”

“This place is safe, or I, too, would be dead.”

“So, you speak badly about the gods?” Spence asked.

Qishti hissed. “The gods created all the races. But you have seen them and us. We are all monstrosities. They made us into walking and talking lizards and keep us confined to this swamp. We cannot reproduce or bear children. A replacement shows up when one dies, keeping us at one thousand strong. We are their playthings. We have always wondered what our purpose is—why they created us. Now, I think we know.”

“The war?” Caleb asked.

“Yes,” Qishti said with a long hiss at the end. “I do not know their objective, but I doubt it is only to stop your former companion and the dwarves. What has Enki told you?” he asked Spence.

Spence thought momentarily of lying. But at this juncture, keeping secrets was pointless. “He wants me to lead the Draconians and conquer and rule Nibiru. He said we could subdue one of the other races and make them join us. Then we can take out the others one by one.” Spence turned to Caleb. “Is that what Ra told you?”

“Pretty much.”

“And the same for Artemis,” Morgan added.

Qishti hissed again. “So, they do not want you to join together to stop the dwarves?”

Caleb rubbed his chin. “They probably do initially or don’t care if we do. Then they will produce a reason to force us to fight each other.”

“Why? Our world has never had war. The races exist in peace,” Qishti said.

“For entertainment,” Morgan said.

“Entertainment?”

Morgan glanced at Spence and Caleb, who both shrugged. She then told him the theory they had developed with Tom. Spence and Caleb chimed in here and there. The four sat in silence as Qishti absorbed their words for a few moments.

“I do not fully understand some of this technology you mention, but your theory does have merit, especially with the arrow hitting the sky.”

“What about your land? What is south of the Forsaken Swamp?” Spence asked.

“There is a wall of impassable vegetation,” Qishti said.

“What’s underneath the vegetation?” Spence continued. “Is the water blocked too?”

“We have swum a little way beneath it. The vegetation and tree roots extend far beneath the surface. If you swim deep enough, you can go underneath. But we can only go so far until we run out of air,” Qishti said.

“What about with these devices?” Caleb asked, holding up his disk.

Qishti scratched the side of his face absently. “We have not tried them there. We have enough land and did not see any reason to push further. We figured the water would become impassable at some point.”

“Are you thinking the water could go underneath the dome?” Spence asked.

“Possibly,” Caleb said. “Or at least go directly up to it. Maybe the gods didn’t account for every scenario, especially since no questers have even made it this far.”

“How would we get through the wall even if we reached it?” Morgan asked.

Caleb dragged his fingers through the sand. “Good question.”

“If it were on land, I would suggest my lightning bolt or fireball,” Spence said. “But I’m thinking neither would be a good idea in the water.”

“Spence, you’re almost a genius!” Caleb exclaimed.

“Almost?”

“How about the third attack—the shock wave? When the arrow struck the dome, it rippled like water and became solid again. What if your shock wave at close range could temporarily open a hole?”

Spence’s mind raced through the possibilities. “It’s possible. We don’t know if the shock wave, or even my staff, will work in water, though. Or if it does, would it open a hole or just cause a bunch of ripples?”

“Maybe you could touch your staff to it and push the button. The dome can only be so thick. And if it can move like water or plasma, I’m thinking you could blast right through it. It would most likely close shut quickly, but it might stay open for a brief time, depending on the viscosity of the material.”

“Viscosity? Someone paid attention in Mrs. Rhodes’s A-P chemistry,” Morgan said.

“Do you really want to try this? Should we not be focusing on stopping your friend Trey and the dwarves?” Qishti said.

“Will it take long to get there?” Caleb asked, ignoring the question.

“It would if you tried to swim from here. If we went by boat, it would take two hours or so. It is hard to know how long it would take underwater, assuming the way is not blocked at some point.”

“Is there a time limit on these breathing devices?” Caleb asked.

“Around an hour, depending on how fast and deeply you breathe.”

“The gods will see if we’re in a rowboat for hours and wonder what we’re up to,” Spence said.

“True,” Caleb replied. He rubbed his head thoughtfully. “Maybe we could make up an excuse to have to go that way. Any ideas, Qishti?”

Qishti stared past the four at the black water. “There is a flower growing in some parts of the swamp my people use to heal wounds. There would most likely be some in that area.”

“But that only gets us to the overgrown part,” Morgan said. “We still have to have a reason to dive underwater.”

“Maybe not,” Caleb replied. “We can just announce we want to see what’s below the surface. I doubt the gods would have any clue of what we’re planning. And even if they get suspicious, we’ll know one way or the other within an hour. If we break out of the dome, all bets are off anyway. If we fail, we swim back, get in the boat, and go with the war plan.”

“What do you hope to accomplish if you get outside this dome?” Qishti asked.

“I honestly don’t know. I guess just discover what type of world we’re actually dealing with. Maybe we can confront the gods without their monsters. They might save them only for the dome, and they live in a normal world,” Caleb said.

“But they could have police or a military,” Spence replied.

“Well, we’ve seen what our future is here. The gods are not going to let us go home. They want a war between all the races. If we defeat Trey and the dwarves, they’ll find some way to make us fight each other until just one race remains, or at least until one is victorious. Then what? There will be something else. If it’s not possible to win the game, then we need to change the rules.”

“What about Trey and the dwarves? They have to be marching by now—either north to the elves or south to here,” Qishti said.

“Well, if we cannot leave the dome, we’ll only lose half a day.”

“And if you escape?” Qishti asked.

“Then hopefully, we can stop the gods and their war. If they control things here, maybe we can force them to do what we want them to. Or intervene ourselves. In the end, we’re all doomed if we just stay here and play the roles of pawns in their game.”

“You are brave,” Qishti said. “I guess that is why you have survived the quest.”

“Sometimes you just get to the point you’re tired of being afraid. I think we’re all at that point.”

Spence and Morgan nodded.

“Are we all in agreement then?” Caleb extended his hand in between Morgan and Spence.

Spence reviewed the options in his mind. The temptation of leading the Draconians into battle no longer appealed to him. Defeating Trey would be good, but he was now too close to Caleb and Morgan to want to fight against them. Caleb was probably right, too, about the gods wanting only one victor. They were making the rules, and he and his companions had no choice here but to follow them. If they could get outside the dome, anything was possible. Perhaps they could find other ways back to Earth or recruit allies to help them.

Part of him was glad that going back to Earth now was not an option. He wouldn’t be forced to make that decision. Maybe they could find a way back that didn’t involve losing his walking ability. He placed his hand on top of Caleb’s.

Morgan didn’t hesitate and placed hers on top of Spence’s.

“For Earth!” Caleb roared.

“For Earth,” Spence and Morgan repeated simultaneously.

“For the squad,” Spence said, grinning.

“For the squad,” Morgan and Caleb repeated, also smiling.

“I can take you there by boat, but I cannot leave my people or this world,” Qishti said.

“Understood,” Caleb replied.

“We will set out in the morning.”