"You truly intended to free me? After the misery my shadow wrought on both of you?" Jack found his heart swelling with pride. "What wretched thieves! Any cutthroat worth his salt would have let me swing!"
"Your untimely death would have left too many mysteries unresolved," Anders finished.
"If it turns out you weren't responsible for the incident on Manycoins Way," Tharzon added in a low rumble, "Anders convinced me that it might be possible that you can tell me who was responsible. I live to settle that account, Jack."
Jack turned to Zandria. "So I can explain to my satisfaction the presence of Marcus, Ashwillow, Anders, and Tharzon," he said amicably, "but I don't understand how you come to be here, dear Zandria."
"Three reasons," she said brusquely, "the ring, the dagger, and the death of Brunn at the hands of your simulacrum. Tempting as it is to blame you for the last, I know better. Whoever made that shadow of you bears responsibility for its actions. Like your fellow cutthroats, I intended to remove you from Ill-Water so that I could recover my property and discover the identity of your enemy. I followed the Lady Mayor as well, until I encountered these two ruffians and accosted them. We compared notes and resolved to join forces for the moment. Later, in the chamber of the stone dragon, we encountered the Hawk Knights here and struck a deal with them as well." She crossed her arms, eyes blazing.
"And, you rescued me from the burning tavern when you might easily have left me to die. Consider the debt repaid."
Illyth spoke up from her place by Jack's side, revealing herself. "So, what do we do now?"
Five hostile stares turned on her. "We have what we came for," Anders remarked. "We've found Jack. The sooner out of this place, the better."
"Unlikely, barbarian!" Marcus snapped. "I am taking Ravenwild into custody. He is staying right where I can see him, and I am not going back to the surface until I've caught the Warlord as well."
"I believe that we all have more important business here than bringing me to trial," Jack said. "You said it yourself, Marcus-the Warlord is down here, too, and she is much more noteworthy a felon than I."
Marcus scowled. "What of it? The accusations against you demand our attention." He advanced on Jack, sword ready. "Ash, watch the ruffians. We'll sort this out when we have him in custody."
"No one is taking anyone into custody!" Zandria raised her hand and created a flash of light to seize attention. "While we stand here arguing, the Warlord comes closer to reaching her goal."
"Stand down, Sir Marcus," Illyth said. "The Red Wizard speaks the truth. Regardless of Jack's guilt or innocence, the Warlord's plans proceed. You should concern yourself with matters of justice after we have addressed matters of the city's survival."
The two Hawk Knights exchanged dark looks but did not refute Illyth's point. "Agreed," said Ashwillow, speaking for both. "Stopping the Warlord's designs takes precedence, but I cannot make any promises about what happens when we return to the city."
Jack bowed. "Then may I suggest that we resume our quest? If you'll follow Illyth and me, well show you which way the Warlord went."
Moving swiftly, they set off across the cavern floor, nervously scanning the darkness around them. They walked a couple of hundred yards and came to the cold lakeshore, where three dead lightning-blasted ropers marked the scene of Jelan's battle against the monsters.
The green spiral of energy out over the water was even stronger, more distinct, than before, a twisting emerald strand weaving slowly back and forth. Jack could hardly take his eyes from it; the others were awestruck as well.
"I think the wild mythal lies beneath that," Illyth said quietly. "That's where Jelan and her henchmen went."
"So how do we reach it?" said Tharzon. "That must be five hundred yards, at least, and this water will be icy cold."
"Swim or sail," Anders replied. "Flying would work too, I suppose. Given those options, perhaps we should look around for anything that might serve as a raft."
"You omitted an option," Zandria said.
The mage stepped into the water and waded out until it was knee deep, reaching down to stir her staff in the blackness. She muttered a few words and gestured, working a spell. Instantly the water in a large circle around her changed in texture, color, filling with streams of bubbles.
"We can walk. I have cast a spell to render the water in this circle breathable. If you stay close to me and remain within its bounds, you will be able to breathe with no trouble at all."
Tharzon balked. "I'll pass, thanks. My father didn't raise me to walk on the bottoms of lakes."
"It is perfectly safe," Zandria said.
"Then I will not concern myself on your behalf," Tharzon replied. "You can go ahead without me, but I am not walking into that lake."
Marcus sighed and sheathed his sword. He waded into the water beside Zandria and motioned to Ashwillow and Anders.
"Come on," he said. "If we stand here trying to argue a dwarf into doing something he doesn't want to do, we'll be here all day. The Warlord is still ahead of us."
The Hawk Knight and the Northman shrugged and waded in as well. Jack joined them a moment later, Illyth following behind them. Tharzon remained on the shore. Jack turned back and waved at him.
"Better to stick together," he said. "Who knows what might be lurking out there in the cavern?"
"Who knows what might be lurking in that lake?" Tharzon grumbled, but the dwarf winced and walked into the cold waters, axe held high over his head.
Jack nodded and turned toward the lake. Zandria waded deeper, the circle of changed water following her. The water was bitterly cold, and he still felt as if he stood waist deep in any normal lake, but he had confidence in Zandria's magic. He followed her, and when the water rose to his neck, he ducked under and tried a very cautious breath. The changed water felt strange and cold in his mouth and throat, dense and humid, but it was indeed breathable.
"Not pleasant, but tolerable," he said aloud, and he was surprised to hear his voice echoing in his ears as if he'd spoken more or less normally.
With one last look at the cold stone-strewn shore, Jack turned back into the lake and allowed the waters to close over his head entirely.
They marched across the bottom of the lake floor for a strange, indeterminate time, chilled and wet despite the airy water that encased them. The lake was virtually lifeless, the ground beneath their feet smooth and weedless gravel only marked by an occasional haze of algae or detritus. The buoyancy of their bodies imparted a very long, bouncing stride to each of them, carrying them through comically awkward steps. It seemed to Jack that they moved through some kind of dark and sinister dream world.
It soon became obvious that maintaining a straight course to the center of the subterranean lake would be next to impossible. Marcus halted in indecision, unable to tell whether he marched straight toward the gyre of energy that was visible from the lakeshore or not. Jack could feel the tug of the mythal so strongly that he doubted he could walk in any other direction, even if he wanted to. He moved up and took the lead, guiding the others across the rocky bottom toward the unseen font of magic ahead. Jack trudged on for a time, and then he saw a dim glow ahead through the darkness, a bubble of green light on the lake floor ahead.
"Douse our light, Zandria," he called through the strange medium. "There is something up ahead."
The mage complied without a word, leaving them in blackness so complete that Jack had to repress his body's natural rebellion at being in the cold, lightless wet. But with their light's absence, the light ahead grew stronger. Jack led the others toward the other light, and as they drew closer it became clear that an emerald column glimmered from the lake bottom up to the unseen surface overhead, surrounded by a wall of water that streamed sluggishly around it. In fact, Jack could feel the tug of the current crossing their small circle. He advanced closer, halting only when they were a few feet from the perpendicular wall ahead. The circling current was so strong that Jack and his companions had to use their hands to steady themselves on the rocks of the bottom in order to keep from being pulled out of Zandria's circle.