She kept quiet as the two walked through the opening and into the darkness that blanketed them. There was an unsettling noise inside, one they had heard back in Erste’s cave. This time, it sounded much more overbearing.
Alma grabbed a torch that burned with an orange fire off the wall and saw what had to be no less than several dozen Spidree crawling in front of an opening with a ladder that led very far down below the lake. How far exactly, they could not tell.
“We’ll have to jump,” said Alma, looking over at Ing. “I’ll go first.”
Alma jumped across the mass of Spidree and grabbed onto the ladder; Ing followed a second later and they started their descent. The torch was left on the ground.
“I had hoped that once we reached the island, our journey would have been over,” said Ing.
“Apparently, we are not so lucky,” replied Alma. “It is unclear what we will find down below, but we must persevere.”
After many long minutes of moving down the rungs of the wooden ladder, Ing and Alma had reached the bottom. Soreness gripped Ing’s hands and a small blister had formed on his right hand which he gazed upon in irritation for a moment.
When he looked up from his hand he was stunned. Never before had he seen such things as he did in this dwelling beneath the lake.
They were in a wide-open area with thin, rock-like walls to their left and right. Behind the thin layer of rock, the water of the Lake of Promises could be seen. The walls had an odd, mystical quality to them; there seemed to be no explanation for their near-transparency. There were all sorts of creatures swimming around in the depths of the water: Mermen, Mermaids, Squid fusions, and Skeleton Fish. For some reason or another they had decided not to attack the two companions while they rowed across the lake which puzzled Ing. Maybe they just stayed at the bottom?
Ing walked up to the see-through wall and rubbed his fingers along it. It felt so smooth.
“We don’t have time to delay,” said Alma firmly.
Ing and Alma made their way through to the second room. It was just as large and equally as fascinating as the first. It had tall trees that stretched to the ceiling miles above; everywhere, the ground was filled with brightly colored leaves. Ing thought the room must have held every type of tree in the entire land of Eclestia; there were oak trees, maple trees, yew trees, weeping willows and many more that he was not familiar with, that spread across the area like silent statues. Carvings were etched into the trees in a language unfamiliar to Ing or Alma. The writing seemed to resemble the language in Grimlee’s cabin. Creatures that looked like a mix between a monkey and something very strange were swinging from the trees and crawling through circular holes in them. The room had an interesting feeling as if it were somehow not real. The colors looked like pastels out of a painting and a low, peaceful flute was echoing through the room from an unknown source.
Ing started feeling like he was in a dream and he began to forget where he was or why he was there. His mind drifted to his days in Ganwin.
A great red sun rose slowly in the east of Eclestia, spilling its radiance and warmth upon his hometown. Birds chirped happily in the trees above. Ing looked at his mother with her warm, welcoming smile. Her blue eyes were like the sea, crashing upon gentle rocks, with the soothing sound of the splash. Wind blew faintly all around.
Alma, however, remained focused on the task that lay ahead of them. The witch was growing close and they could not afford to delay. She noticed Ing’s eyes had hazed over and she urged him to continue.
“Wait,” said Ing, suddenly angry. “Why do we have to continue? We could stay here forever. It’s peaceful…I like it.”
“You’re not thinking clearly, Ing. The Dark Lord will cover this land in darkness if we delay.”
Ing was trapped in some sort of fantasy, it appeared to Alma, and she was unsure of whether or not she could reason with him. She figured it had something to do with the mystical quality of the chamber; he had to be trapped in some spell caused by the Lady of the Lake.
After several moments of arguing, Alma was able to break the grip of the fantasy that had consumed Ing and onward they went, crossing the span of the room towards the third one; the leaves crunched under their feet. When they got to the opening, it split into two.
“That’s interesting,” Ing observed. “It looks like we have to go from here alone.”
“So it seems,” said Alma. “But we cannot be sure. Go through the path on the left and I’ll see if I can follow.”
Ing walked through the path on the left and his companion tried to follow, but an invisible force prevented her. She had no choice but to take the other path.
“It seems we must play by the witch’s rules,” said Alma. “I’ll see you after we’ve mastered the remaining trials.” With that, she walked over to the opening on the other side.
Ing came out into a room of all crystal; it had to be as large as the first two rooms combined. Crystal flakes were floating down gently from above. He grabbed one in his hand, the one that had been injured from the fight with Hector LaBelle. Slowly his wound started to vanish; he was astonished. The crystals had some sort of healing power. He had never expected there to be so many wondrous things where the Lady of the
