"Would you mind telling me why we're walking through the sewers?" Nya whispers.

You sigh. "The Serpentine are keeping Jay in a tomb they've dug somewhere under the city, and we can get to it through the sewer system."

"One more question," Nya says. "How do you know this?"

"I have my ways," you reply without turning around. You're really not in the mood for the lecture about how you can't rely on information from a Serpentine. Besides, despite everything, you do trust Slithraa. Maybe not to be entirely truthful, but you do trust him to stay out of your way while you rescue Jay.

"Look here!" Nya's voice snaps you out of your thoughts. "There's a tunnel!"

"Thanks, Captain Obvious," you growl under your breath. "Let's go."

You and Nya start down the tunnel. The ceiling is low, but it's still high enough for you to stand upright. The tunnel curves and bends, sloping downward until you and Nya round a corner and come to a fork.

"Amazing! It looks like they've dug a whole network of caves down here," Nya breathes.

"Yeah, whatever," you mutter. "The point is that the Serpentine are down here, and so is Jay."

"Y/n-"

"Let's just go," you say, throwing your bag over your shoulder and striding off down the left fork. "We won't find Jay by standing here."

Nya jogs a few steps to catch up with you "Be careful, y/n. The Serpentine might have set up traps."

You ignore her and keep walking, although you reluctantly make sure to keep an eye out for tripwires or loose rocks that might be set up to trigger traps.

"Y/n," Nya says after a few minutes. "I really need to ask you something."

You mutter something unintelligible and keep your eyes fixed on the tunnel ahead.

"Why do you-"

Nya never finishes her question, because there's an explosion of rocks and dust from the sides of the passage. Three orange and black Serpentine leap out of brand-new holes in the sides of the tunnel and stand in front of you and Nya, blocking your way. For a few seconds, both sides just stand there. Then Nya charges forward and punches the Serpentine on the right in the face.

One of the remaining two snakes rushes to help her friend, while the other charges toward you. You try to use your powers to blow him away, but he keeps coming.

"You need to concentrate, y/n!" Nya calls over her shoulder.

"Will you save it until I'm not going to die?!" you yell. You lean forward and charge, head-butting the Serpentine who's attacking you in the stomach. He grunts and doubles over, and you slam your foot into his face. Nearby, Nya has one of her opponents lying dazed on the floor and is trading punches with the other.

Suddenly, all three Serpentine stop what they're doing. The two who are still standing grab their friend's arms and take off down the tunnel, dragging him behind them. You feel the ground beneath your feet start to shake.

"Look out!" Nya yells. She dives across the tunnel and tackles you to the floor.

"What the heck?" you demand. A second later, a huge rock falls from the roof and lands right where you were standing.

You look back at Nya. "Oh. Um, thanks."

"Thank me later," Nya replies, pulling you to your feet. "Right now, run!"

The two of you take off running in the same direction as the Serpentine. Behind you, rocks keep falling from the ceiling. A rumbling sound that seems to come from everywhere fills the tunnel, and the shaking ground throws you and Nya from your feet.

You muster all of your concentration and summon a vortex of wind that pushes the falling rocks aside and forms a protective dome over you and Nya. Finally, the rumbling and shaking stops and the wind dies away. Your flashlight, which you dropped in the confusion, is shining on a wall of interlocked boulders where the tunnel used to be.

You sit up and groan. You've never used your powers for that long at once before. You feel like someone put you through a tumble dryer.

Nya sits up and shines her flashlight around, revealing more boulders in every direction. "Well, the good news is that we're alive. The bad news is, we're trapped."

You lean back against a boulder. "Great. Just great."