Eiden used both his magic and physical movements to bring him to the lake surface. Gasping for breath, he split the surface, but kept in his mind to calm his senses, not wanting to breathe too much less oxygenated air which was supposed to be common in deep underground caves.
Surprisingly, the air was clean and crisp, like it was an open mountain pool rather than a subterranean lake. He propelled the water around him to gain faster to the bank and climbed up to see around.
The room was bathing in a yellow-white glow; a magically generated light. The pool was circular and the huge waterfall, which Eiden fell with, was falling into it from a dome above. He stood speechless, seeing massive and regal-looking marble statues placed around the room.
It was safe to light a fire, and he spotted large bowls designed to keep a long-term fire burning in front of each statue. They were filled with some type of stone, and what looked like ash which was covered with a great deal of dust. He cleaned a bowl, then added a few lumps of coal and scented oil from his satchel and lit the fire.
His danger sense was also tingling, as he sensed a hint of dark magic, somewhere closer. However, except for the low undertone of the presence of dark magic, no extreme danger was detected. Therefore, he decided to bring others down.
"What is it, please tell, Eiden, please?" Nub kept asking Eiden, who maintained his silence while getting dressed.
"No, I'm not ruining the surprise." he laughed at her, it was the third time he got poked in the back. He teleported them to the spot with the fire bowl, and they had the same jaw-dropping surprise to see the statue hall, but they had no time to spare for archaeology.
"Let's find a room big enough for the runic trap."
Tall doorways were opening to the statue hall, a possible indication that this place might be a part of an ancient temple. Ierma disliked the idea that they should be separated and insisted everyone must stay together.
Through the first doorway, a tall tunnel-like hallway was visible, but it was caved in and they came back to take another door. The second hallway was shorter and led to a courtyard-like space, which was littered with thick clumps of dead creepers and entangled vines covering the stone benches.
"Do you feel dark magic here?" Eiden asked others.
"Yes, but dormant dark magic. My lord, I think these are the poisonous flowers that Guru told." Ierma said, looking closely at creepers, which didn't seem 3000 or so years old, perhaps they didn't die until recently.
"I think so too, which means this was a home to the black dragons once. But, who made the statues?" Eiden urged others to go back, he didn't want to disturb the poisonous flowers graveyard.
The next door was opened to a space that resembled a spacious dining hall, which satisfied Eiden's requirements for confining the black dragon. After hectic cleaning they started with the trap.
It was a more difficult task than Eiden thought and took about four hours straight for them to lay out the trap. Then, he started writing the inner circle of runes and carefully infusing them with his fire. A whole day writing and he finally came up with an acceptable runic trap. Ierma and Nub stayed behind to finish laying out protections, and after a long rest, the boys departed to go to Mount Sorax.
Angling their route to avoid the area at the foothills of Mount Sorax, they planned to walk southwards. The jungle was thick and there were no dwellings of creature people this far inside. Yet, around them seemed like a central city market on a crowded day. There were noisy birds all over, on the trees, on the ground, and in the sky, screaming for Azur knows what, and butterflies as large as the palm of a man's hand were fluttering like floating paper fans.
"Man, I'm done, I feel like cooking inside." Ivar stopped to drink water.
It was nearly noon, and the jungle was humid and full of tiny to big insects swarming like clouds around their heads. For Ivar, as a northerner who used to live in a colder and dry climate, the conditions in the jungle were getting extremely uncomfortable. Eiden, being in the Sangona once, knew what to expect, however, his situation was not far from Ivar's either. They decided to camp before dusk deepened. No matter how much time was important, none of them were willing to walk in the dark.
The second day wasn't better than the first. Quite a few times, they had to teleport from one bank to the other of small rivers. The rivers were full of life as much as the forest. Eiden and Ivar had never seen Sangon demigetos in real before, only in pictures. Sangon demigetos were reptilian magical creatures, endemic to the Sangona. The seventh spine of the demigeto dorsal crest was highly magical. They stared with wonder, at the huge floating logs like demigetos and occasionally diving ones with their dorsal crest open.
They were nearing Mount Sorax, and uneasiness was filling their hearts. Earth magic felt ancient and hostile and whenever they lay down to sleep, the ground was whispering unknown threats. The trees look abnormal and hideous, with twisted trunks and darker small leaves. They passed a few streams, and near the banks, the ground was treacherous with hidden bogs, and the bubbling muddy puddles with large slithering things that Eiden had no interest in knowing what.
Cissa and Clade's ability to pick up trails, through less dense areas of the jungle, was extremely helpful in diverting their route. It was about mid-morning. The surroundings were unusually quiet, even hearing only their own words felt too loud.
"See, I told you animals don't live in this area," Cissa whispered.
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The trees were often covered with creepers making them look like bent old people, with green cloaks. Some trees weren't tree-shaped, rather like tall and twisted pillars, and openings among the thick vines looked like gaping mouths screaming for hidden horrors.
They stopped for a short break, struggling with undergrowth made them feel exhausted. Eiden plopped down on the ground asking for something sweet to eat. Clade, who was carrying fruits they collected on the way, threw it at Eiden. Ivar and Eiden took a few small mangos and started sucking their sticky sweet juice.
Suddenly, Clade stood up, and Cissa moved his ears listening to something that humans couldn't hear.
"Get up. Snakes around," Clade ordered, and they stood up at once. He tapped the ground and emitted a vibrating low growl that felt through their boots.
"Go, go" he pushed everyone in front of him. Cissa screeched, hitting something long and green which sailed through the air. Everyone heard them now. Slow hissing and scales grating like chattering teeth were all around them. The thick green foliage looked alive and squirming.
"Eiden shield us," Clade yelled.
Eiden dropped a dome shield around them, even though he didn't understand why. He just wanted to run. Not a second later, a rain of splashes hit the dome, and the transparent shield started to sizzle as vicious yellow liquid ran down.
"Venom, they are spitting venom." Eiden gasped.
"Yes. Can blind and burn," Clade said, and the green snakes were now getting closer to the dome, hissing and slithering over each other.
"I can't hold long, Clade," Eiden yelled.
"Can't use fire." Clade knelt and put his hand on the ground. He reached the other to Eiden.
"Want your magic," he said. Eiden took a deep breath and gave his hand to Clade, channeling his magic, luckily, Ivar was helping to keep the dome. Clade's magic, amplified by Eiden's raw power, vibrated the ground beneath them.
The effect was immediate, as the snakes started to retreat fast.
"Let's go, faster the better." They were already tired from using magic, yet scurried like frightened mice, falling and getting up until Eiden couldn't take another step.
"Stop, please," he clung to Ivar. Clade touched the ground for a moment and stayed still.
"Ok, let's rest. Can't feel their magic, now." They collapsed and drank gulps and gulps of cool water.
"What did you do back there?" After a while, Cissa asked Clade.
"I'm their distant kin. Made my magic threatening with Eiden's power," Clade said.
"So, they thought you're a giant snake," Ivar asked, opening the fruit sack.
"Arrgh," Ivar screamed, dropping the clump of banana. He clutched his hand, withering in pain.
"Something bit me," Ivar, a 6 feet 4 inches tall, large man, started to cry like a baby, holding his hand.
"It's a spider." Cissa quickly took his satchel and found a herb, chewed it, and put it on Ivar's bite wound.
"What's that?" Eiden asked while using his magic to lower Ivar's pain. Both Cissa's herbal medicine and his soothing magic were slowly easing Ivar's pain.
"I carry these herbs with me always, the spotted red spiders live in banana trees. When we hunt monkeys, we sometimes get bitten, and it hurts to the tip of the tail." Cissa explained while searching among fruit to remove any more harmful insects.
Eiden thanked Azur for making him find these creature people, or he would have been at a loss even before he began this quest.
They were getting pretty close to the spot where they thought the black dragon was kept. The landscape was already changed into grassy uneven ground with jagged rocks sticking out. A harsh wind blew all day, and the chill was not lifted even at noon.
The air was so thick with magic, that Eiden's magic sensitivity was driving him mad. Cissa was complaining about magic making his skin itch and keep sneezing. The magical residue was not that much of a problem to Clade's thick hide, but he was feeling extra jumpy, hissing and growling at every moving thing. Ivar said he never felt this uneasy, and alert, and was hardly able to sleep.
"I think we are nearing wards. They wouldn't expect someone to come here. Security must be to keep things inside." Eiden whispered.
"The stories are true, right. There's a lake, can you feel it?" Cissa asked.
"Yes, a big lake, the magic is so heavy." The grass was tall, but they were all taller and bulky men, even Eiden who was the smallest of the group, the grass didn't offer a lot of places to hide.
They finally reached the plateau, and Eiden started to feel the magical pull, in a form similar to a link. He knew that the magical link had formed due to his blood poisoning. They advanced slowly in the direction of the pull.
Soon, they were greeted by a sight of a gigantic lake, with reed marshes around some length in the banks, and distant islands located in the middle of the lake. It laid there like a huge monochrome blue canvas, against the green and brown mixed landscape.
They found a small indentation in the ground covered by tall grass and decided to rest and discuss their advances.
"We need to have a short nap. I don't want to go ahead tired." Eiden stretched his legs.
"I'm hungry." They ate cold meat and snacks, a few fruits, and drank honey water. Two of them went to sleep as the other two stood guard. It was late at night and they felt slightly refreshed.
"Now what's the plan, Eiden?" They saw the lights ahead, about at least three hundred yards away, around a small hill closer to the lake.
"Guess that's where the main camp is," Cissa said.
"Yes, I want to sneak in about 3 to 4 am. Most people will be sleeping. It will help me to track the exact location. Too many magical activities interfere with tracking." Eiden said watching small yellow lights move.
"Look," Eiden took their weapons out.
"I want Ivar to stay outside with Clade. Cissa has better eyesight in the dark, and the two of us are less bulky than you two. So, we go in."
"Right, you're the boss,"
"And stay side by side always, don't separate. Any threat to life, you promised to leave, don't break it, understand?" Eiden watched intently at their faces.
"Well yeah. Hate to think of it." Clade put a hand on Eiden's hand and squeezed.
"You promised," Eiden said in a hardened tone.
"Cissa, we could die inside, do you wish to stay outside with them?" Eiden asked. ‘Please say yes’ he thought hard.
"No way Kit, you know me." Cissa purred, nuzzling Eiden's hair.
"I feel so guilty endangering you all." Eiden sighed.
"Eiden, you're not. It's our choice to come with you. If someone is endangering our lives, then it will be us." Ivar was usually a less-spoken guy, but his words were clear and honest, Eiden felt his eyes stinging.
"Thanks, Ivar," he mumbled.