The dark tunnel reminded Venza of those old myths where you could enter the land of the dead through a passage in the earth.

“Gonna be tricky holding torches and our gear,” Aiela commented.

"Don't worry," Venza said. "My great grandfather should have installed magelight sconces on the walls. We can use those."

Aiela gave her a look. "Your great grandfather? So the lights are what? A hundred years old?"

Venza offered a sheepish grin. "More or less. There should be a switch over there."

Her hand found the outline of an oval-shaped crystal attached to the wall. With a gentle touch, she pushed the crystal in, hearing a soft click.

A trail of blue lights on the ceiling flared to life at her touch, leading further and further down, with each magelight sconce roughly a meter apart.

"See? Still works," Venza said.

As if on cue, the fifth light down from the one she touched seemed to sputter, flicker, and then promptly died, leaving a part of the passage in partial darkness.

"I feel so reassured," Aiela deadpanned. “I was about to ask why he put these here but didn’t put lights around the town, but if they’re this flimsy-”

“It’s because they were expensive,” Venza said. ”Oil lanterns are a lot cheaper if we’re talking about putting them all over an entire town. Your moss lanterns are better than either, but those weren’t around a hundred years ago.”

Aiela looked to be in thought as she looked at the cavern walls. "Hey, this tunnel is rather large, isn't it?"

"It's a bit big for people, yes," Venza answered. "You could stand on my shoulders and you still wouldn't reach the ceiling."

"Rude," Aiela said. "It's wide, too. Your carriage could fit in here. Wait. I just realized."

"What?"

"Your ancestors didn't make this tunnel," Aiela stated. "I'm Earth Three and it would take me years to make a tunnel this size."

"Earth Three?" Venza echoed, knowing Aiela was referring to her affinity with Earth magic. "Why is your Earth affinity so high again? I understand Nature because you're always working with plants, but how did you get so good at Earth?"

Aiela gave her a blank stare. "You do realize that when gardening, there's one very important step before you actually plant the seeds?"

Ah, right. Of course. Aiela needed to dig holes in the soil, and like almost every other mundane task, she probably did it with magic.

"Right," Venza answered, looking away. "But to answer, no, my ancestors didn't dig these tunnels. These old passages are called the Serpent's Path, because people believed a giant snake formed these pathways in the past."

"I didn't know that," Aiela said. "Did anyone ever find evidence of this giant snake?"

"No, Miss Aiela," Roeder said. "It's just a story everyone from Astamarr knows."

"How did I live here for six years without hearing about this?" Aiela asked.

"Probably because no one really calls them that anymore," Carver answered. "It's just the river for most folk."

"Well, I'm not willing to fight any giant snakes," Aiela said, gesturing to the high ceiling and wide tunnel walls. "At least nothing that could make a tunnel this size."

"I don't think any of us are," Venza answered. "Hell, I'm not sure the entire Imperial Army would be willing to take on a challenge like that. Luckily, we're just here to check why the river's been poisoned."

Aiela gave her a look that seemed to ask if Venza was picking up what she was putting down, but Venza had no clue what she was trying to say.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Really?" Aiela asked, glancing at the two boys. "No one? The town's water suddenly got poisoned, the underground river is called the Serpent's Path, and it was supposedly created when a giant snake went through?"

"If there really was a giant snake that could make a network of tunnels this big, don't you think we would have felt the earth move if it had come back?" Venza pointed out.

Aiela sighed. "Fine. Let's just go do what we came to do."

The swollen scorpions took up the front and rear, with Venza and Aiela walking side by side in the center, flanked by Roeder and Carver. If anything lay in wait behind the stalagmites, better for the scorpions that would die anyway to take the brunt of it.

Just as Venza was about to move forward, Aiela stopped her with a hand and said, "Steelskin." A surge of power flowed into her, followed by a sensation of numbness all over her skin.

It hadn't been the first time Aiela had tried the spell on her. She knew it would make her skin harder than iron for about an hour, though she wasn't sure she'd ever get used to the numbing sensation. Aiela then repeated the spell on herself before ushering Venza onward.

"What about them?" Venza asked.

"I need to conserve my casting," Aiela answered. "Besides, they have the Entanglers. We don't."

The wear and tear of time was both better and worse than she'd expected. Entire sections of the tunnel were bathed in such low light they might as well have been completely dark. And yet somehow the path which was older than the magelight sconces managed to remain intact.

A short distance ahead, she spotted another of the lizards rushing in their direction. As she prepared herself to disable it with Reach, Aiela waved her hand, and the creature suddenly went limp and fell to the ground, where the front scorpion made short work of it with its pincers and stinger.

"Look out!" Venza said instinctively as she heard a sound from directly above. Two lizards suddenly dropped down from where they'd clearly been perched on the ceiling. Roeder managed to react in time, intercepting one lizard with his shield, binding it with thick vines. The other found Venza's staff lodged into its throat, repulsing it. It clattered to the ground, swiftly moving to right itself, only to have Carver smack it with his shield.

To their surprise, the vines barely reacted to the contact. The lizard stood itself up, rearing back to lunge at Aiela, only to suddenly go limp in place, much like the first one had. Spears, pincers, and stingers swiftly put them out of their misery.

Seemingly unfazed by the deaths of their kin, more of the lizards came rushing out of the darkness with surprising speed. Venza used Reach to grab one by the leg, causing it to trip right into the front scorpion.

The rear scorpion moved forward and engaged a pair, holding them in place with its pincers. Aiela waved her hand again and the two last lizards suddenly stopped in place, eyes wide, their tongues lolling out of their mouths. Venza closed the gap and smashed them hard in the head, rendering them either dead or unconscious.

Their group remained on guard, watching for signs of more, but it seemed there were either none or they'd decided the four of them were too much trouble to fight.

"Good work," Venza said, inspecting the fallen monsters.

"Of course," Aiela responded, brushing off imaginary dust.

"Is anyone injured?" Venza asked.

"No, ma'am," Roeder said.

"I'm fine, too," Carver added, though he seemed embarrassed. "Sorry for almost letting one get past."

"Remember," Aiela began, not seeming upset at all. "The vines react to physical trauma. The stronger the impact, the more vines will activate. A tap won't do. That’s why I wanted two men used to smashing things with heavy weapons."

"I won't forget again," Carver assured her.

"Good," Aiela said, offering him a small smile. "Shall we continue? These scorpions aren't long for this world."

"A moment," Venza spoke. "What did you do to them back there? They just stopped moving."

"Ah, that was an Air spell called Heat Sink," Aiela explained.

Venza quirked an eyebrow. "Isn't that what you use to keep the room cool during summer?"

Aiela nodded. "It lowers the temperature in a target space. I assumed these things were cold-blooded, so chilling the space around their hearts puts them in shock."

Venza grimaced. "Can you do that to people?"

"Sure, but it'd just feel uncomfortable," Aiela said. "It's not like I'm freezing them or anything. Just dropping the temperature a little for a short time. Anyway, what do you make of these creatures?"

Venza gave her a long, hard stare, not sure if she believed Aiela’s explanation. She knew lizards didn’t take well to the cold but that seemed a bit much.

"They're kind of weak," she finally said.

Aiela snorted. "I meant their presence here. I thought this was something engineered by those men selling medicine, but these things, assuming they're what's blocking the river, make that seem unlikely."

"I’m not sure, but I see only one way to get to the bottom of this," Venza said.

"I suppose you're right."