“Oh, hey! It can do video.” Rhys was sitting on one of the fold out chairs, hunched over the Rovex manual.

“Thought you were the tech geek, Rhys? Shouldn’t you be familiar with your favourite watch’s functions?” Odessa quipped from where she sat by the pool, nursing a nice hot cup of coffee. Nico had made it and it was quite possibly one of the best bush coffees she’d ever had.

“I am, just not for film. That’s you and Donny’s area of expertise.”

“Right.” Odessa thought about Donny as she stared out over the calm pool. She hoped he and Bob were okay. It was a nice day out today, no wind, no clouds, warm sun.

Triss was checking and double checking the gear. Rhys had been helping until they’d found the box the watch had come in.

“Somebody wake Chaser up, or we’ll be standing in the water waiting for him to get ready,” Rhys said without even a glance up from his watch manual.

“Don’t you dare. Chaser needs his beauty sleep,” came Chaser’s voice from inside his tent.

“I think he’s already awake,” Odessa remarked.

“No, I am not,” Chaser replied.

“Well, if you’re not out in 5 minutes, I’m eating the last sausages,” Rhys told him.

Two minutes later Chaser emerged from his tent stark naked.

“Dude, have you heard of clothes?” Inquired Rhys.

“I thought I heard you say you wanted sausages?”

“Not that kind.”

Chaser disappeared back into his tent to put some pants on while Nico joined them near the fire pit with a bunch of maps. “You guys want to see what’s been mapped so far?”

They all gathered around.

“Ooh, that’s where I was yesterday.” Chaser pointed.

Rhys gave him a look.

“Well I only went this far. Hmm, it hasn’t been mapped much past that. There were definitely more tunnels on the other side. I say we check that section out first.”

Triss glanced around. “Hey, where’s the old bird this morning?”

“Probably still sleeping,” replied Rhys.

“Should someone go wake her?”

Nico frowned and shook his head. “I tried but I couldn’t find where her tent was. She must have camped pretty far in. That or she’s been sleeping up a tree.”

“68 metres,” Odessa remarked.

“What?”

“That’s the deepest anyone’s mapped this system. We should push that down a little, see how much deeper it goes?”

“Thought you wanted to explore the caves, not wait around decompressing?” Chaser teased.

“Yeah, but we do the deepest dive first, right?” she teased. “Anyway, if we do the cave first that hole will just be sitting there taunting me. I wanna know how deep it goes.”

“I doubt we can reach the bottom,” Nico replied thoughtfully.

“But we can set a limit and go to that and at least get an idea of how much more there might be.”

The others nodded. Except for Chaser who looked thoughtful.

“I say we double it,” Odessa suggested.

“What, go to 140 metres?” Triss confirmed.

Odessa nodded.

“That’s hours of decompression time, Dess.” Chaser complained.

“Not if we keep our bottom time real short. Like we hit 140m and we come straight back up, no more than 30 seconds there.”

“That’ll still be a couple of hours,” Nico told her.

“Yeah, but probably not more than three right?” She looked to Rhys.

“I’ll get the dive computer.”

“And multiple gas mixes,” Triss reminded her, but she didn’t look opposed to the idea.

Odessa nodded.

“By the way, despite what grandma said about all the Nitrox mixes being 32%, it seems we do actually have some 50% and 80% mixes, which is good given a) I put them on the list, and b) it will help us shorten the decompression time for this dive. And they are labelled at least.”

Nico frowned. “Maybe she just meant all the ones labelled 36% are 32%?”

Triss shrugged. “Mmm, and on that point, what about grandma? We’re supposed to take her with us today?”

“Oh, right...” Odessa trailed off. She didn’t see them dragging Hoots all the way down to 140 metres. She looked at that blank spot on the map. It called to her.

“Hey, I got an idea,” Chaser held up a finger. “What if I pair up with Hoots and show her the cathedral area I went into yesterday. It’s nothing hard and I solemnly swear not to go any further than where I already went.”

The rest of them all all gave him a narrow-eyed look.

“You know, the sorcerers have spells that can make you commit to statements like that,” Triss told him.

“Do they?” asked Odessa, her eyes wide in surprise.

Nico nodded, “Yeah, but none of us could do something like that. Or should for that matter.”

“That’s blood magic anyway,” Chaser added with a look of disgust.

“So are infusements,” replied Triss.

“No they aren’t.”

“Yeah they are.”

“Nuh uh.”

Odessa looked from one of them to the other. Where was Bob when you needed him? He would be able to settle this.

“Infusements use your own blood,” Chaser added.

“What?” Odessa gave him a puzzled look.

“In a round about way.” Chaser waved a hand. “Not actual blood, which is why it’s different from spells, which use actual blood.” He gave Triss a pointed look.

She shook her head. “Not for infusements that can be used by humans. Those are made with blood.”

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

“Well we’re not using those.”

“Speaking of infusements, what about surface support? Who’s gonna do that?” Nico butted in before Triss and Chaser could continue their arguing.

“I say forget it,” Odessa suggested, eager to get going. “We don’t need surface support.”

They fell into debate again and several times more after that. They were so focused on their planning that they didn’t even notice when Hoots turned up. One moment they were locked in discussion but the next time someone looked up, there she was, sitting quietly in one of the chairs, snacking on a packet of peanuts, just watching them.

Something about her presence made them all come to their senses and it wasn’t long after that that they agreed on a plan.

Odessa, Rhys, Nico, and Triss would dive deep, right down to 140 metres for no more than 30 seconds, ideally much less, and then they’d ascend, taking a little over 2 hours to do so.

Chaser would dive shallow with Hoots, no deeper than 30 metres but they’d stay down longer, and he’d be up not too long before the others. Then they’d spend a few hours off-gassing and eating lunch before an afternoon dive to explore more of the cave system.

Hoots nodded contentedly when they explained their plan to her and then she eyed Chaser hungrily like he was some kind of main course. It didn’t help that Chaser had stripped down to nothing to get in his wetsuit. And it wasn’t the only eye he caught.

“Is that your body count or the number of people you’ve slept with?” Triss asked as she caught sight of his tattoos.

Across his back, approximately where his belt would normally sit, if Chaser had ever worn a belt, were nine tally marks.

“Maybe it’s both,” Chaser replied with a mischievous grin.

Triss bit her lip to hide her smile and ducked her eyes away. Odessa rolled hers but was soon distracted by Nico.

Camp activity was bustling as people got ready but Nico was sitting on one of the chairs with a thoughtful frown on his face.

“Hey, can I ask you something kinda weird?” Odessa inquired.

He looked up in surprise and then nodded. “Sure.”

“Promise not to laugh at me?”

“I promise.”

“Are goblins real?”

He laughed and then stopped himself quickly as he caught sight of her expression. “Um, goblins? Yeah, but they’re rare, very elusive creatures. Sorry, I forgot you grew up in a human village. Can I ask you something? You don’t have to answer if it’s too personal or weird or whatever?”

Odessa nodded. “What is it?”

“Well,” he paused as if reconsidering his question, and then he lowered his voice.

Odessa leaned in.

“In the human villages, do they, you know...”

She raised her eyebrows in question.

“...still burn witches?”

Odessa paled. “Um...”

She was saved by Triss handing her a couple of gas tanks. “Here. Deco tanks. Make sure you check them yourself too.”

“Thanks,” she remarked. Triss was already moving on to the next person.

Nico spoke before Odessa could reply. Perhaps he’d read her emotional response to his question? “Sorry, that was too personal. It was a silly question. It’s probably just a legend parents use to scare their kids based on the old ways.”

Odessa nodded, not trusting herself to answer, for the truth was far darker. She had attended her first burning when she was 3 years old. They were rare but they did happen. Magic was forbidden in her home town of Witchaven and the punishment hadn’t changed in well over a hundred years.

Chaser saved her from anymore awkward questions when he called out to the group, “Is everyone ready?”

“Oooh, this is so exciting,” remarked Hoots as, after several more minutes of prep, they all lined up along the edge of the pool.

Odessa did a quick video for her fans, which she’d upload to the internet once they got back to civilisation. Then she double checked her own tanks and regulators. She had on one back-mounted twinset for the main bottom gas with a black regulator, which contained 9/88 trimix which she would switch to once deep enough that the gas was no longer hypoxic. On her sides she had two single tanks, one with nitrox 50% and a green regulator, the other with nitrox 80% and a white regulator. These would be used for the first several metres and for the decompression stops on the way back up. Finally she also carried a smaller bright yellow tank, known as the pony bottle, for emergencies. That bottle also had its own regulator, bright yellow, and called the octo, on account of its longer hose which allowed for easier sharing of gas if required.

She patted her dive knife, confirmed that her lights worked, and both her dive watches were synced. Rhys gave her the once over and she double checked his gear as well. Then they listened to Triss going over the plan for the 5th time.

Finally they were away.

Things looked different with the sun out. The various greens and reds and browns of the underwater plants and algae were so much more varied and less foreboding than they had been in the dark but looking down at the hole beneath her in the daylight made it much more obvious that there was a point where the light could not reach. The inky black was further away and the hole far deeper than it had looked the night before.

Breathing Nitrox 80%, Odessa dropped down into it alongside the others. Chaser remained at the surface with Hoots. He would take it slower to make sure Hoots knew what she was doing before he took her any deeper.

They reached the 20 metre mark, where their first gas switch would take place. She double checked the depth on her watch then signaled to Rhys that she was switching gasses. Triss was carrying one mindwalking infusement, just for emergencies. They’d decided that it was otherwise more of a distraction than an aid. Chaser still had his in case something went wrong and he needed to locate them later. Odessa had put Bob’s around her neck, more for a sense of comfort than anything else. She’d had a go at trying to use it on the surface, but it seemed that Triss had been right, these were not made for human use. All the same, she didn’t want to lose it and she felt it was safer on her neck than anywhere else.

She positioned herself stably in the water and switched off the valve on her regulator. Carefully and quickly she stowed it away, attaching it to a clip on her dive harness. Then she reached for the black regulator, the trimix, and hit the purge button, removing any water or debris that had gotten inside. She listened carefully, checking that the air flow sounded right, before placing in in her mouth. A few slow breaths confirmed that the regulator was operating correctly. She made the ‘ok’ signal at Rhys and then watched as he did performed the same steps with his own air.

Once done they checked that Nico and Triss were also good to go.

Triss gave the thumbs down signal, meaning she was ready to descend. It was matched by the others and they continued on their way.

They all, as if by some unspoken agreement, paused briefly at the spot where the dead diver had been found the night before.

No one hung around too long though. The air supply wasn’t unlimited down here.

The tunnel grew narrower for a bit, barely big enough for two people, and then it widened out. Odessa could see more gaps in the walls. At one point, the wall fell away entirely, giving them a glimpse of an expansive black cavern.

Odessa resisted the urge to swim just a little further inside it, knowing that it probably continued for quite a way, although she did inch a little closer to it, enough that Triss activated her mindwalking infusement.

‘Keep away from the opening, Odessa, just in case there’re currents.’

Odessa didn’t think it likely there was anything too strong, but you never could be sure, so she did as she was asked, and she watched the cavern slide by her and then disappear above her as their descent continued ever deeper.

She checked her dive watch and air supply regularly. So did the others.

At one point, Nico tapped his dive watch and then extended his hand out and brought it back towards his body. A signal that they were quickly approaching the 68 metre mark. Beneath them the tunnel was as dark as ever.

Odessa glanced back up toward the cavern they had passed. It hadn’t been on their maps. Why hadn’t the last deep diver added it on? At this depth they didn’t need to swim so much as sink. The increased pressure pulled them down. Eager to reach their destination, Odessa delayed some of the inflation of her buoyancy device, not so fast she was out of control of course, but fast enough to give her a little thrill.

‘Slow down,’ Triss thought at her.

‘We’re still a fair distance away,’ Odessa thought back. This was nothing compared to the speeds she’d descended on some dives, even if it was deeper. Indeed, in the world of free diving, which Odessa liked to partake in occasionally, speed of descent was a requirement. She felt she had a good intuitive feel for her buoyancy.

‘I know you’re a practiced free-diver,’ Triss thought at her, ‘but we’re deeper than even you can free-dive now, and the pressure is much greater. Don’t underestimate it.’

Odessa inflated her BCD some more which slowed her descent. How did she explain that being on the edge was when she was the most calm?

‘It doesn’t make me calm watching you,’ Triss told her. ‘Don’t forget the group.’

On that she did have a point, Odessa conceded.

‘Air check?’ Triss asked to the group.

One by one Odessa heard the others report their numbers and she wondered if Triss was staggering the replies. She couldn’t imagine trying to listen as everyone thinking stuff at you at once, not to mention all the other stuff that unconsciously wandered into people’s heads constantly. Triss was a pretty competent and cool-headed person she decided. She considered it a good group in general, Chaser too, even though he often acted over-relaxed he, like Odessa, excelled in the high pressure situations. Rhys was always prepared but Chaser was quicker on his feet, and quite capable.

They were at about 120 metres depth when Nico grabbed something that was floating loose in the water.

‘What’s that?’ Odessa asked. She could feel the pressure much more now, in her ears, in her nose, all over everything felt tight. And it was so dark.

Nico held it in front of his light so they could see.

It was a lone flipper. It looked like it had been torn in half, ripped straight through by something sharp.

‘What did that?’ Odessa asked. She didn’t see any obviously sharp edges nearby and it wasn’t like there was a strong current here. Also, the fact that it was just floating and hadn’t sunk to the floor of the cave was kind of weird.

‘Where did it come from?’ Triss asked.

Nico pointed up to an underhang. ‘There.’

They swam a little closer. Odessa could feel a small current now, pushing them down.

‘I guess it was stuck in the tunnels and just got flushed out recently,’ Nico thought.

‘Must have gotten caught on a really sharp edge and broken off,’ added Tirss.

Odessa wasn’t so sure. The cut was strange. If she had to guess, it looked more like teeth marks.