It took nearly twenty minutes for Milius to track down the other Knights, for all of them, instead of returning to their rooms after cleaning up, had decided to venture about the castle. He found Ariana chatting merrily with Hestia in the Great Hall, Shakil in a corridor on one of the higher levels, peering out at the enclosure where the dragons were being kept, and Sirius (predictably) in the dining hall, pulling everything within reach on the heavily laden dining table towards him; he had been most upset when Milius had arrived to drag him away from a huge plate of roast chicken, but followed him up to his room all the same.

Milius opened the door and Sirius slouched in after him, but his displeasure faded at once, replaced by utter shock when he noticed the other occupants of the room.

“What are they doing here?” he said loudly, pointing at the Sandstone Archer and the Temporal Paladin, who both looked back at him, eyebrows raised.

“We asked the same question,” Ariana, who was perched on the edge of Milius’s bed beside Shakil, told him. “But Milius said to wait until you got here. Now that you are — mind explaining?”

“Yes — Sirius, sit down,” Milius said firmly, for Sirius was still glowering at the Archer and Paladin. He walked slowly across the room and flung himself upon the bed, glaring up at them all. “Good. Now listen — remember that underground chamber we got trapped in when we were in the forest?”

Milius had expected their reactions, but this did not ease his frustration in the slightest when Shakil sighed, Ariana shook her head in exasperation, and Sirius muttered, “Here we go again.”

“Just listen!” he said irritably. “When Shakil and I met Pan in the forest, he told us that he once felt something similar to the magic imbued in the mirror in a place called Lake Tiberion, when he visited the place years ago to move some sea creatures to the forest.”

“So?” Sirius said in a bored voice, picking his teeth with his fingernails.

“So, these two have heard rumours of places similar to the underground structure we fell in that day — and one of them was said to be near Lake Tiberion!”

The interest around the room sharpened palpably. Shakil’s mouth fell open as he stared from the Archer to the Paladin, and Sirius and Ariana were now sitting bolt upright, their faces set.

“Just listen,” Milius repeated, and he gestured to the Temporal Paladin.

“My name is Lucas,” the Paladin said. “Years ago, I was chosen to be a Paladin, much like you four were chosen as Dragonknights. However, our inauguration ceremony is quite different from yours. Our rings” — he held up his right hand, showing the large, intricately carved, opal ring perched on his finger — “grant us certain powers over time. One of my partners can slow time, as he did during our match, and another can displace objects out of time, so that the world, in essence, moves on around them without their noticing.”

Milius’s mouth fell open. This, then, explained why so much time from the match seemed to completely slip by him while he was still on the ground.

“Okay, and that's all interesting and everything,” Shakil said, “but what does that have to do with the underground building?”

“We are the guardians of time,” Lucas continued. “We protect it, and utilize it, but for that, we must be familiar with it. Our rings lose their abilities when they're passed on, regaining them only after the Harvest, where we sacrifice to the time god Chronus. During that period, the newly appointed Paladins receive visions, from the past, future, and present. An ancient group of Paladins had a vision — albeit a vague one — about the Catacombs, and the legend has been passed down since. Many people have tried to find them, to discover the secrets of these powerful, magical places, to find out whether they truly hold untold power or treasure. And from what Milius has described to me, I am very much convinced that you have managed to step foot in one of them.”

There was a little silence. Then Ariana, who was frowning slightly, said, “When we were there, we found a mosaic that resembled my dragon, Vrydius. That initially led us to believe that the chamber had something to do with the Dragonknights, but neither our Elders nor our archives could tell us anything about it. If the image really was of Vrydius, if it really does have something to do with us, why would you know about it, and not us?”

Lucas shrugged. “Time is a fickle thing, my dear. It flows, not like a fountain, but like a river. Every single action made in our world is like something being dumped into that river, and the effects are like ripples across the surface. The ripples, however, do not fade like in normal water. They cause more, which in turn cause even more; countless distortions across the endless stream of time, which often lead to the most surprising turn of events one can ever imagine. Even we Paladins do not fully understand it. We can only try to follow its course, as best as we can.”

Ariana looked confused. She opened her mouth to respond, but before she could get the words out Milius said quickly, “And you, Shya,” and motioned to the Archer.

“To answer your question first, young lady, I imagine that you have by now learned that our groups have partnered once in the past? Do you have the full details of that encounter?”

“Well —” she began uncertainly.

“Exactly,” he continued, with a triumphant smirk. “As the Paladin so rightly tells it, time is an endless stream of uneasy waters. How it dictates itself to those who follow it is not for us to decide. So why we would know of that, and you wouldn't, is beyond us, as is we Archers knowing of our past alliance, and you Knights not. As for the Catacombs, we heard tell of them, not from time, but from travellers. Unfortunately, there is not much I can tell you that you haven't already heard. Forgive me.”

“Don't worry about it,” Milius said gratefully. “You've put us further ahead than we've been for weeks. Thank you both.”

Shya and Lucas nodded, then departed.

“What do you mean?” Shakil asked at once, when the door had closed behind them. “How are we further ahead? It’s all rumours. That information didn't help at all!”

“Of course it did. Don't you see? Pan, the Archers, the Paladins? Everything points to Lake Tiberion, even Time itself!”

“Wait,” Sirius said suddenly, standing up and staring suspiciously at Milius, “you're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you? You're not actually suggesting that we — that we go there, are you?”

“It’s the only way to find out for sure!”

“What? No!”

Ariana had leapt to her feet too, staring at Milius as though he had gone mad. “Fly to the bottom of a lake — oh yes, let's do that, because you had so much fun the last time!”

“It won't be like that time with the Amphitrice!” Milius said impatiently.

“Shakil!” Ariana said, rounding on him. “What do you think of this?”

Shakil did not answer at once. He bowed his head, not looking at anyone. Milius felt a surge of apprehension. Shakil was sure to object to it, just as he had objected to Milius’s flight the night they had met Pan. . . .

“I think we should do it.”

“What?” Milius said, taken aback.

Ariana and Sirius were gazing at Shakil in disbelief as well, but Shakil, still with his eyes averted, said, “Between Shya and Lucas and Pan himself, there's obviously something going on there. Maybe we should check it out. If there is something there, then maybe we can finally solve the mystery of the underground structure and the blank mirror. If not, well, no harm done. And besides, you know that if we refuse he'll just sneak out and do it anyway, we might as well go with him.”

Milius grinned, but Ariana shook her head vigorously. “Even so, there's still the matter that it's most likely under the lake!” she said fiercely. “So unless any of you secretly have gills — !”

But Milius, who was still grinning, crossed the room, rummaged around in his belongings, straightened up a moment later and said, “Who needs gills, when we've got this!”

The Orb of Triton glittered in his palm as he held it up, casting shimmering lights over the room.

“The pearl!” Shakil gasped. “I completely forgot about it! Do you think it can get us all down there?”

“Compared to everything else I've done with this, that'll be nothing,” Milius said, waving his hand dismissively.

“Sirius!” Ariana said desperately, turning to him, clearly determined to find support in her objections. His pale blue eyes were darting from her shocked face to Milius, who stared back at him with defiance. He swallowed, then, apparently unable to speak, shook his head at Ariana. She seemed to deflate under his gaze. She stared around, horrified, then said in a quavering voice, “Well . . . I see I've been outvoted. . . . Let's . . . let's do it, then.”

“Excellent, go grab your stuff, will you?” Milius said brightly.

“What — now?” Ariana looked aghast.

“Yes, now!” Milius said fiercely. “The quicker we go the quicker we can get this done!”

“Oh . . . oh, fine! Fine!”

“Excellent!” Milius said again. “So, let's get our swords and —”

But he broke off, staring at the trunk in the corner of the room again.

“Milius?” Sirius said uncertainly.

Milius did not respond. He was still gaping at the mess of his possessions before him. “Where's Palpatunde?”

“What?” Shakil gasped again. “Do you mean it's — gone? But how?"

“I left it right —”

But at that precise moment there was a loud rapping on the bedroom door and it swung open. Frederick was standing there.

If Milius had not seen his own shock mirrored in the faces of the other Knights, he would not have believed that what he was seeing was real.

“Did you — did you sneak into my room and take it when I was in the bathroom?” he spluttered.

Frederick grinned apologetically, holding the ornate, amethyst-hilted sword out to its owner. “Sorry,” he said. “I came to see you after we got back to the castle, to congratulate you for winning, you know, but you were gone. I saw the sword, and it was just so fascinating, I had to take a closer look! Doesn't work for me, though, but it's still incredible!”

Milius stared at him, thunderstruck. He felt violated. Only once before had someone taken his sword without his consent, and that had been during his battle with the minute warrior in Phontus’s castle. He wanted to rage at Frederick, but then he remembered why he was looking for the sword in the first place. He took a deep, calming breath and said, his voice quivering slightly from anger, “It's fine. Just . . . don't let it happen again.” He took the sword, and his eyes passed from the gleaming metal onto Frederick’s face. He was smiling, and again, Milius felt a powerful stab of familiarity, sure that he had seen Frederick’s face before, but just as certain that they had never met. “Well, thanks, but —” he began after a slightly awkward pause.

“I know you're going out!” Frederick burst out. “I was listening at the door, I heard everything — but I didn't mean to!” he added hastily. “I was coming to return the sword and I heard you talking. Can I come with you?”

Milius looked at his immensely hopeful face, and then around at the others, who were wearing identical expressions of incredulity.

“Uh — well — sorry, Frederick,” Ariana began, “but this is too danger —”

“I killed a Hellhound!” Frederick said quickly. “Singlehandedly! I can handle myself! Besides, it's just under the lake, right, and I'll be with you! What's the worst that could happen?”

Milius did not think much of this idea at all, not least because he was still angry at Frederick for taking his sword without his knowledge, but he could not see how they were going to get rid of him; he could easily tell the Elders what he had heard if refused. Milius exchanged a dark look with the others, trying to communicate as much of this unpleasant thought as possible without words, and perhaps they understood it, because Ariana sighed and nodded, looking exasperated.

Milius turned back to Frederick. “Fine. But not a word of this to anyone!”

Frederick looked delighted. He stood to one side of the room, positively quivering with excitement, as the other Knights trooped past him to retrieve their weapons. Unless they had moved, the Elders were conversing with the King and the representatives from the other countries, so they should be able to leave without disturbance, Milius thought.

The other Knights returned within minutes. Ariana took turns dousing each of them with her Invisibility Potion. The effect was slightly different from what Milius had expected. When the spray hit his body, thick tendrils of pearly white mist began to swirl around him, coating his body. Then, Ariana pronounced him invisible and turned the nozzle upon herself. Together they crept through the halls, quickly and quietly, and met the dragons in their enclosure.

Despite being invisible, the dragons raised their head at their approach, peering right down at them as though they could see them perfectly well. Ariana sprayed each with the potion as well (each dragon took two sprays for the effect to kick in), and then they were off, soaring towards Lake Tiberion.

The flight was quick and smooth, save for the small fright that they gave a large flock of birds when the Invisibility Potion suddenly wore off, causing them to scatter in alarm as the dragons burst back into sight. Lake Tiberion swam into view some twenty minutes later, a vast, glassy, deep blue expanse, glittering in the watery evening light. Everyone stared at Milius as they descended towards the lake. Sparks were jumping on Lumeus’s plates. Milius remembered his dislike of water and cold, and realized that Verdona, beside them, seemed to share his unease. But then, Milius thought, she was the dragon of fire.

“Didn't the Elders say that the Orb only works on waters under Triton’s domain?” Ariana asked. “What if Lake Tiberion isn't ruled by him?” She did not sound anxious at all; on the contrary, she was making no effort to hide her hope. It could not have been clearer that she wished, at the moment, for nothing more than to see the Orb fail.

Glowering at her, Milius raised the Orb high, focusing upon the serenely-flowing water beneath them. The effect was immediate: a massive hole appeared in the surface of the water, large enough for the four dragons to fit with a comfortable space between them.

“Wooow!” Frederick cried from behind Milius, his eager face a stark contrast to Ariana’s, which looked thoroughly disappointed.

“Well, that's settled then,” Milius said triumphantly. “Let's go.”

Lumeus plunged into the gap, and the other three dragons followed. The journey downwards was different, much different than when Milius had descended to Phontus’s palace. Back then he had passed schools of fish, had seen an entire group of jellyfish spread out in a vast curtain, flooding the dark waters with blue light, and had seen cities bustling with aquatic life, settled comfortably inside enormous, heavenly bubbles; now, however, he saw nothing but overgrown beds of seaweed, channels of mud, and rough, dark rocks that glimmered in the light of Aleia’s shimmering fins, which, it soon transpired, glowed underwater. . . .

“So,” Ariana said, some fifteen minutes later, when they had dove past fifty feet and were staring around at blank, dark water. “So. Who could have predicted this!” she said in tones of mock surprise. “Who could have predicted that there was really nothing down here? The lake is far too big for us to search for one place that might not even exist. I say we call it quits and — SHAKIL!”

The great sea-serpent-like dragon had suddenly swerved out of their clear, water-free space, streaking leftwards.

“What the hell is he doing?” shouted Sirius, but Shakil’s strange behaviour had suddenly jogged something in Milius’s memory, and by the look on her face, Ariana had remembered as well — how she had darted off in the underground chamber, following something that none of the others could see.

He raised the pearl again, wrapping them all in a single, huge bubble, and summoned an enormous wave that thrust them forward, following the twinkling lights from Aleia’s fins. They came into view a moment later, and Milius, hoisting the Orb even higher, summoned another bubble around Shakil’s head. Aleia did not seem to mind the water. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying it. She was moving much faster than Milius had ever seen her go. They soared along behind her for a few more minutes, then, at last, they stopped.

“Oh my,” Ariana said, when they had finally halted beside Shakil. His eyes had completely glazed over under his bubble of air, and he was gazing up at a magnificent, dark blue building, settled inside an enormous, twinkling bubble.

“Still think there's nothing there?” Milius said smugly to Ariana, who looked awestruck. Without waiting for an answer, Milius sent them rocketing forward through the bubble, behind Shakil, and towards the door.