I skimmed on the surface of the lake. Kuro was transporting me back to Dale’s den. He had grabbed me by my skivvies and kept my torso kept above the waterline. The water and wind whipped my face but at least I was allowed to breath. A small dorsal fin popped up and skipped along next to me. A tiny shark kept up as I sped through the terrain.

“Woah!” I said to the shark, “Easy.”

“Are you okay?” The shark whispered to me in a familiar voice, “What’s going on over there? Did you find out about Dale?”

“Anubis?! You’re talking through… a fish?”

“It’s a Dogfish. A type of shark I can command. What’s happening? What have you found?”

“How can it survive here in the lake?” I asked then added, “Have you been watching me?”

“I have to command it back to the ocean soon. I felt your presence when you used Second Wind. And for a short period your inner light flickered. We’re tethered together since you’re using my magic. Remember that.”

“So…” I said, pushing the envelope a little, “you can’t see me all the time, but you can sense my life force and can feel my presence when I call upon your power?”

“Are you jet skiing? “ the dogfish dipped under the water, “How are you moving so fast down the lake?”

“Kuro’s helping me.”

“Kuro?!” She squeaked.

“I know, I know. He thinks I’m a Sun-Thrower. He’s going to help me with Dale.”

“What have you found out…” She dipped under the water and came back, “About Dale?”

I could have told her about Hosu. I could have told her about the line from The Notebook and the almost kiss… She might have taken that as her answer… but then… why would I be seeing Dale again? What would I need from him that would draw me back to his cave and risk everything?

I trepidatiously said, “I think I saw something.”

“You think you saw something?” A floundering dogfish Anubis asked, “Then why are you going back?! What did you see??”

“I… I’m not sure what I saw. That’s why I want to go back.”

“Well, silly, tell me what you saw and I can tell you if you should go back. I can’t risk Dale thinking I don’t trust him!”

There it was. If I told her what I saw she would likely ban me from going back.

“I saw him getting ready for a date. Prepping himself. I think he’s bringing someone over to his cave. I want to check it out, Anubis. Trust me.”

There was some silence as the dogfish leapt up into the air and back into the water. “Okay. But please don’t get caught.”

“I totally understand.” I said.

“Be sure to test out your powers. That will help me ‘see’ snapshots of you. Good luck!”

I saluted her and she attempted to salute back with her diminutive fin. Then her dogfish vessel swam away.

Kuro’s arm pulled me down into the water as we approached the cliff. I swallowed a lot of air. We approached the entrance. In one smooth motion, he emerged into the clearing, chucking me to the side and stretching his arm up really high to the ceiling of the cave. This kept Dale and Hosu’s attention on his hand as their heads craned upward. They missed me rolling behind some rocks.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Dale asked, his arm around Hosu.

Kuro’s hand flapped like a sock puppet and his voice came out, “Dale. I have to show you guys something. It’s on my side of the lake and it’s freaking awesome.”

“What?” Dale asked, “We’re busy over here dude,” and he gestured to Hosu sitting on the couch with him.

“Are you saying something or gesturing?” Kuro asked, “Because I haven’t made, I don’t haven’t made eyes or ears yet.” Then his index finger and pinky stretched into circles, the index into an eye and the pinky into the shape of an ear. “Ooooh. Hi, Hosu.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Hosu gave a fingery wave to Kuro, he said, “You should both come. I gotta show you this thing!”

“What is it?!” Dale asked.

“It’s ambergris. Here in the lake! You think one of the other gods is hiding a whale? A freshwater whale? I swear it’s the biggest piece of ambergris I’ve ever seen you gotta take a look!”

Dale sighed and looked at Hosu, “I make my own cologne so there’s ambergris I have to check it out. What do you think?”

Hosu gave a soft shrug and nodded, happy to go check out this ambergris. Dale and Hosu approached the exit. I slowly stepped farther away to avoid detection. As soon as Hosu touched the lake her figure transformed. She melded with the water, and became invisible. Dale grabbed Kuro’s arm and said, “This better actually be ambergris.”

Dale let out a yelp as Kuro yanked Dale into the water, disappearing both of them.

Once they were gone, I approached the chest to inspect it. An Ibexian lockbox. I touched it. It looked like a normal box. I recanted a bit of Sylvan, no spell, just some fundamentals. The box’s hidden lettering glowed and the metal started to heat up. I took my finger off of it. When I was in the Chacali cage, I could affect the bars around the lock. I heated the metal until I could warp it easily. This time, the treasure was behind the whole box. I thought of Clary, and regretted not bringing her along. If she had furthered her rogue training, she could have easily picked this lock with no magical assistance.

I stared at the contraption. I dropped it from as high as I could reach. I tossed it against the cave. I shook it to try to hear what was inside. Whatever it was, it was heavy and would make thumping noises. Soft thumping noises. I sat on the box as I thought about what to do. How would the Sun Thrower have gotten in? Could he have? The wet sand at my feet comforted me as I thought. Could I use elvish magic? It took a lot of energy to heat something up, and even more if I couldn’t put my hands directly on it. The other snag was that this box was made to heat up. I imagine if the Ibexians treated the box for high temperature resistance. Which left the option to pick the lock. I looked at the lock; it was embedded into the box.

I fiddled with the lock, trying to dig my tiny fingers inside of the keyhole. My nail touched upon the tumblr. I walked around the cave, looking for something that can help me pick the lock. Some small sliver of metal. It was quite bare. A real bachelor pad vibe. In this dank cave was a cabinet full of drinks. There was the couch that Hosu and Dale both sat on. And tucked in a corner was a bed with no bedframes. Next to the bed and against the wall was a nightstand with a ton of mugs that had not been cleaned. I checked the nightstand more thoroughly. That was where I saw it. Between the bed and the cave wall… was a body. A bloated body that barely looked human from having stayed too much time in the lake. It’s robes had lost their color and its eyes had been eaten out of from fishes needing a snack. If I had to guess, I’d imagine this was the owner of whatever was in that box. I tried not to gag, realizing that I would have to check his robe for a key. Just in case. I held my breath but the smell still suck in. I grabbed it’s robe. I peeled back his lapel, hoping to find a secret pocket. Its skin came off with the lapel, having been underwater for so long. Then, the corpse grabbed me back.

“Woah!” I yelled, it kept a vice grip on my arm. I could not pry myself from its grip. I would have to fight it.

Then corpse spoke to me in elvish, “Please. It was a gift. If you see her, please see that she gets it.”

I blinked, caught off guard by the corpse’s plea, “Where is the key?” I asked, but it’s grip softened. The life disappeared from it’s body as it slumped back downward. It must have been a spell. Like a voicemail to play after someone found the body.

I checked the rest of the corpse’s body. Nothing that could help. I sat back on the box and rested my feet back on the comforting cool wet sand. I dug my toes in. Then I looked back down at sand. I thought about it. It couldn’t be done. The temperature needed to be about double than what it would take to heat iron. How would I even be able to generate that kind of heat? I sprung off the lockbox. Staring at the thing in excitement. Not all the heat had to come from me. I got on my knees and scooped the earth into the lock. Filling the mechanism with sand. I laid the lockbox on its back, so gravity was on my side. Once it was filled to the brim, I pressed on the keyhole with my finger, packing it and creating even more space. Once I couldn’t jam any more into it, I mixed water and sand in my hand and dripped it atop the keyhole as it gently hardened like I was sealing an envelope with wax.

Once my delicate casing was made, I stepped back, and stuck my hand out. I began the verbose series of commands I had become familiar with to use elvish for flame-throwing. The candle wick of my mana began burning and fire shot at the keyhole. The elven scripture lit up on the box. It retaliated, burning whatever was touching it. As my fire poured onto it, the writings got brighter and brighter. From the combined temperature of my fire and the box’s heat, the sand melted. It glowed red as it transmuted into something else. I released my spell. The box slowly dimmed and but the sand remained red. Without risking touching the box, I scooped some water in my hand and dripped it on the lockbox. I heard a sizzle as the water cooled down the hardening glass. After a few minutes, the lockbox’ tumbler was now sealed with glass. I took a rock and chipped either side of the keyhole, providing a grip for my fingers. I poured water on the makeshift bump key. No sizzle. I gingerly touched the glass key head and did not feel any burning. I slowly turned the key. Click. The soft sand had packed the tumblr so tightly that the pins were pressed against the lock. The lockbox opened.

My heart jumped a beat as I looked inside and saw the treasure.