"It's like they enjoying torturing us." Shadoe said as she looked in the mirror outside the changing tents of the Class Tournament. Dawn and Ethan stood at her sides in equal displeasure of the yellow and teal uniforms of the second years. "Can we go back to the purple and green? I swear I won't complain if we have the purple and green."
"We have to wear these. These are the second year uniforms. You saw them last year, you knew this is what we would get." Ethan said examining the yellow and teal half-cape draped on his shoulders.
"Yeah, I didn't say I would like getting them though." Shadoe muttered and turned away.
"It's really not that bad after a while, you kind of get used to it." Dawn tried to say as she examined her skirt earning disbelieving looks from her companions. "Yeah you're right, these are ugly." She folded her arms trying to hide herself but nothing could hide their radioactively bright uniforms from anyone. Mr. Watkins called for everyone to gather for the meeting for the first game.
"Alright, thanks to last year's fiasco apparently it is no longer legal to ride double in broom tag."
"Yes!" Kai and Shadoe both exclaimed happily.
"So this year we'll be going in waves."
"Really?" Shadoe said in disapproval.
"Hush," Mr. Watkins silenced her. "I've listed your names on the wave list here." He pointed to the chalk board. Ethan saw that his name was in the third and last wave.
"Of course, wouldn't want pretty boy to get hurt in the first wave." Daniel scoffed and all eyes turned to Ethan. Ethan looked around and could feel the ice cold glares from his classmates who had yet to forgive him.
"Hey, this is broom tag, not war. Lighten up, children." Shadoe defended.
"I'll go in the first wave." Ethan quickly interrupted.
"Are you sure?" Mr. Watkins asked and Ethan nodded his head. "Ok, who wants to switch with him?"
"I will." Deryk's voice came. "I'll take the third." He volunteered. Ethan's eyes met with Deryk who gave him a bow of his head before looking away again.
"Very good, let's get in position." He called and everyone moved to the sides of the courtyard walls to wait for the signal to be released. Ethan moved to the front of the line to be first in the game. Behind him stood Daniel who glared at him the entire time and behind him was Rosaline who wouldn't make eye contact. He sighed and looked out at the crowd of spectators who had come to watch their children compete. His eyes widened as he saw his own parents in the crowd. They were not in their royal garb with servants and guards to protect him but they were rather plainly dressed. They appeared just like any other parents waiting to see their child. Ethan felt both happy to see them but at the same time angered that they had not come sooner.
They listened as Principal Crane addressed the crowd and explained the rules of the tournament. Everyone mounted their brooms as they waited for the signal. Ethan could see the fifth year entrance directly opposite of their own. They all looked fired up and ready to attack. Ethan took a deep breath and shot out to the courtyard on his broom as soon as the horns blared.
He dodged and ducked as the upperclassmen attempted to grab his flag on the end of his broom. He couldn't focus on trying to steal anyone else's flag as they all seemed to be attacking him. He nosedived to try and shake them but the fifth years were relentless. Ethan could tell how well they were doing in the match as he had no time to check the scoreboards. He looked around for his teammates when he suddenly realized what had happened. He was the only second year in the arena. The first wave hadn't followed him out and he was on his own.
He noticed that the other teams seemed to back off. Ethan turned his broom around and found that one member of each team was waiting in the center. There was one minute left on the clock. It appeared that having seen what the second years had done the rest of the years followed suit as soon as the fifth years accepted the challenge. This would be a one-on-one game now. The clock ticked loudly and everyone was stagnate in their movements. Ethan knew he would have to make the first move if this game wasn't going to end in a tie.
"YA!" He shouted as if his broom were a horse and shot forward towards the others. The crowd erupted in cheers of support for their teams. They all converged on each other and Ethan jumped up on his broom to stand and leap over the fifth year who was going for him. He grabbed onto their flag and dove for his broom that had shot under the fifth year. He reached to grab it and barely grabbed hold to pull himself up just as the buzzer rang to end the game. He had been the only one to grab a flag.
"Broom tag! Won by the second years!" Mr. Eichorn announced and the crowd broke out into cheers. Ethan flew back to the second years who all shamefully were looking on the ground.
"So was this a plan to bully me or test me?" He folded his arms.
"A little of both." Daniel muttered. Ethan walked up to him and Rosaline.
"I truly am very sorry for everything that has happened. To all of you." He looked to the other first years.
"We are too." Rosaline looked up at him with a smile. The second years slowly began to applaud him in winning their victory making Ethan beam with joy.
"Now let's go win some color bombing!" Ethan shouted and they erupted into hoots and hollers.
In the game of color bombing each team has a large basket of small colored balls that are enchanted to turn whatever it hits into the color according to the ball. Once hit with a color bomb, you are forced to play for the team for whose color you now wear. Ethan and the second years were yellow and their basket sat in the middle of the courtyard with the four other colored baskets. The courtyard was now covered in posts and barricades to hide oneself from attack.
Mr. Watkins and the second years were sitting together discuss tactics. Their first objective they had decided would be to get their basket away from the others. No spells were allowed in the game so there would have to be sacrifices. Shadoe was the first to volunteer.
"No way, I'm doing it." Kai stood up in rebellion.
"No, I called dibs." Shadoe argued.
"You'll get hit even before you touch the basket!" Kai snapped back.
"Wanna bet? I'm the fastest person here!"
"Oh not again you two, hush!" Mr. Watkins silenced them. "Shadoe volunteered first, she will be the one to get the basket."
"And how do you plan on getting the basket to us?" Rosaline asked in her usual snooty voice.
"All the baskets have wheels, I'll push it, obviously." Shadoe rolled her eyes.
"You won't make it a foot by the time the others get to you." Kai mumbled.
"You seriously underestimate my abilities, sir." Shadoe retorted.
"Enough, once we get the basket everyone stays in teams of three. In case one member is hit, strike them with a bomb to keep them on our side." Mr. Watkins instructed. "Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" They all shouted out and Mr. Watkins threw his hand in the middle, followed by the collective grouping of the second years who shouted out a cheer on the count of three. They all walked out to the arena and waited for Principal Crane to finish explaining the rules.
"That's our post." Dawn pointed to a small barricade on the other side of the arena. Ethan looked over to the baskets and saw the other teams that were preparing for the run to their basket. He looked over to Shadoe whose eyes were focused on the basket. He noticed that the fifth years were not actually staring at their basket. They were examining their team to see who would be the group to get their yellow basket.
"Dawn, suddenly I don't think putting Shadoe in the pawn's position was a good idea."
"Why do you say that? She is the fastest." Dawn looked up at him.
"Because I don't think we want Shadoe as an enemy." He pointed to the fifth years that had no doubt spotted Shadoe ready in her position to run for the basket. They looked at her like prey ready for catching.
"Uh oh." The horns blared the signal to start and everyone ran out into the arena. Ethan and Dawn watched as Shadoe had already grabbed the basket. The fifth years quickly got to theirs and each grabbed a color bomb to throw at Shadoe. Shadoe spun around with the basket and as soon as she let go she sent it flying down towards where Kai, Leland, and Daniel were waiting to catch it. However, they all saw as she was suddenly struck by five red balls of the fifth years’ team. In a split second her clothes, her hair, and skin were red. The only thing that remained like Shadoe were here piercing purple eyes that clashed with her lobster-like skin. Almost immediately, Shadoe turned to the fifth years and grabbed a hand of the bombs. She began throwing with amazing accuracy at other students in the arena.
"That definitely was a bad idea!" Eugene exclaimed as he tried to hide himself from her pinpoint attacks.
"We have to get her back!" Dawn ducked another attack by some fourth years.
"Ok, I have an idea!" Ethan said as he handed each of them another color bomb. "I'll go out and distract her, when she's throwing at me, throw everything we got at her." Dawn and Eugene nodded their heads. "On three! One!" He looked around to see where Shadoe's positioning was. She was directly in the center of the arena dodging other attacks and throwing with great speed. "Two!" He checked that his path was clear. It appeared everyone's attention had been on Shadoe. "Three!" He ran out towards another barricade and sure enough. Shadoe's reflexes immediately sent a red bomb flying at him. He dove towards the other barricade and somersaulted to avoid the attack. When he looked up he was pleased to find Shadoe covered in yellow and running over to his barricade.
"Hey! What did I say about rescuing me?!" She said mockingly.
"I couldn't very well leave you in the hands of the enemy, now could I?" He joked and handed her a yellow bomb. "Let's do this."
"Go!" She called and they jumped up to throw their bombs at the fifth years when suddenly the buzzer went off announcing the end of the game. They all waited in suspense to hear who had won.
"Color bomb champions are," Principal Crane waited in suspense to announce the winners. "First years!" Almost everyone looked around in shock as the first years cheered in their victory.
"How the heck did that happen?" Kai asked and folded his arms angrily as they returned to Mr. Watkins for the final strategy in the last competition.
"They hid the entire time, didn't even go for their bombs." Mr. Watkins answered and pointed to the still completely full basket of green balls. "They simply waited you all out to destroy each other and at the last second threw all of their balls at everyone."
"Clever first years." Shadoe said approvingly.
"Well there is still the scavenger brewing." Dawn said trying to cheer everyone up. If we win that we win the whole tournament!"
"What do they mean by scavenger brewing?" Eugene asked.
"It means that the ingredients are probably hidden in the school somewhere and we have to find them, brew the potion, then win." Kai explained.
"Yes, however," Mr. Watkins gathered everyone's attention. "Four students must be at the cauldron the entire time and only two can go searching. The pairs can only bring back one item at a time."
"So we rotate, waiting, searching, brewing." Leland spoke up.
"Exactly. We'll draw sticks for the pairs." He whipped out a cup and everyone began drawing. Ethan pulled his out of the cup and the end of it had a star punched into it. He held his up to try and find his partner.
"Guess we're forever scavenger, buddies." Shadoe said dangling her matching stick in front of him.
"Well we do make a great team." He laughed.
For the final competition, the team members in waiting sat on color-coded benches in front of the spectators which were surrounded by the Royal Guard. In the center of the arena were five huge cauldrons filled with water. Shadoe and Ethan would be on the brewing team first and so they stood on the platforms next to their cauldron as Principal Crane addressed them again to explain the rules. They waited in anticipation for what potion they would be making.
"Your potion is," He scanned around the students to create more suspense. "The Laughter Potion." The horns blew and Shadoe and Ethan watched as Dawn and Rosaline ran into the school together to pull out their first ingredient.
"I just hope they don't kill each other while searching." Ethan gulped in worry.
"They'll be fine. I'm sure." Shadoe hurried to light the cauldron with Eugene and Desiree of the babbling trio. They waited for a long time and watched as the fifth, fourth, and third years hurried out with the first ingredient: toad warts.
"Come on, where are they?" Desiree whined.
"There they are!" Eugene pointed to the entrance to the school. Dawn and Rosaline were running out of the school. Dawn was holding the jar of toad warts. When they rushed down the stairs Rosaline suddenly tripped on herself. Dawn quickly rushed back to help her. She pulled Rosaline up but she had twisted her ankle.
"Just go! I'll catch up!" Rosaline ordered.
"No, we have to go together, come on." Dawn bent down in front of Rosaline and picked her up on her back.
"You're ridiculous, Dawn." Rosaline whined.
"Thank me later, then." Dawn retorted as she rushed to the cauldron. She passed the warts to Eugene who dumped them in.
"Come on, Ethan!" Shadoe called as the two of them ran into the school to find their next ingredient.
"What's next?" Ethan asked.
"Lizard eyes." She answered when suddenly a pair of fifth years came racing around the corner knocking them down.
"Haha, too late second years, there's no more in the supply cabinet!" The fifth laughed and raised the two jars of lizard eyes in front of them.
"That's cheating!" Ethan jumped up angrily.
"Let them go, come on." Shadoe pulled him away.
"But they stole our eyes!" Ethan argued.
"Mr. Watkins has a secret stash of ingredients for emergencies, come on!" She ran up the stairs towards Mr. Watkins office. As Ethan tried to catch up with her he almost ran into her as she stood frozen in the hallway.
"Why did you stop?" He asked but she didn't need to answer as the growl of three beasts stood staring them down with their symbols cut into the area where their eyes should be.
"Rampages." Shadoe muttered.
"What are they doing here?" Ethan gulped and remembered the same beasts that had attacked them last year, only this time he knew they weren't here for Dawn. They were here for him. Ethan slowly pulled out his coin and kissed it to alert the others. Suddenly the rampages let out a thunderous growl.
"Ethan, run." Shadoe pushed him back down the stairs from where they had come and down another hallway. The rampages were on their heels, snapping and foaming at the mouth with their snakelike and paralyzing tails swaying behind them, poised to attack. "Come on!" Shadoe pulled Ethan to run faster. She suddenly let go and jumped up on the wall, kicking a red stone in that set off an ear-piercing screech of an eagle.
"What was that?" Ethan shouted.
"Alarm system for the school. Mr. Watkins told me about them in case of a larger attack." She explained and pulled him down another hallway. "Ethan, we're not going to outrun them."
"Yes we are! Come on!" He pulled her but all of a sudden she grabbed a small vile out of her pocket and splashed it on his face. She then took another vile and poured it all over herself.
"What did you just do?" He asked firmly.
"Don't come after me." She warned.
"What?"
"I'm sorry." She kicked a door open to one of the classrooms and threw Ethan inside. Ethan scrambled to get up and run back to her but there was a force preventing him from leaving the room. He looked into the hallway to see that the rampages had surrounded Shadoe.
"No!" Ethan screamed as the rampages pounced on her and stabbed her with their tails, paralyzing her. He watched as they picked her up in their mouths and ran away. "NO!" Ethan pounded on the invisible wall keeping him locked in the room. He waited in a solemn silence until Mr. Watkins and the others found him.
"She did it." Mr. Watkins said waving his hand and removing the barrier.
"Did what?" Ethan glared up at him.
"Ethan, you have to understand, this was for your safety."
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Ethan screamed and flailed in anger.
"Ethan! It was her idea!" Kai grabbed him and held his arms down.
"What?"
"When you left that day during winter vacation, she came up with a plan in case anything came to collect you." Ethan calmed down to listen.
"There is a potion," Mr. Watkins continued the story. "Known as Godbout's Exchange that will take whoever the potion is used on and switch their aura, scent, and if brewed properly appearance to the eyes of outsiders temporarily."
"She knew they would come for me?"
"We were being prepared in case they did. She was pretty confident that Teras wouldn't come in person to collect you. She thought that if he sent those beasts, Rampages, she called them, that it would work to trade positions since they work off of scent."
"We all had some." Eugene pulled out a vile in his own pocket. "We've been carrying them ever since."
"Dawn?" Ethan looked to her. She wasn't there during that conversation. She was with him.
"Shadoe gave it to me later." Dawn pulled out the vile and looked down.
"She knew how important your life is to the world." Mr. Watkins said.
"And she thinks she's expendable, I know." Ethan rolled his eyes.
"Ethan! You don't get it!" Kai shouted. "You're the Crown Prince! Do you realize that? If you die the royal line dies and all chaos will break loose! You bring stability to the government! Teras wants that destroyed!"
"You shouldn't risk your lives for me!" Ethan pushed Kai out of the way.
"Yes we should!" Kai pushed back. "And Misturry knows it! That's why she did this! She was trying to save you!"
"I bet you're real glad that she got taken, aren't you?"
"What?" Kai stepped back.
"You know what I mean! You've always hated Shadoe!"
"That's not what this is about." Kai tried to explain but Ethan shoved him back angrily.
"Just because you don't care if she lives or dies doesn't mean that I don't! Shadoe has always been there for us!" He looked around at them. "She's always there, even when you don't realize it. She's there protecting us! Calculating, watching, making sure we are all safe and living our happy little lives. Do you know that when you two were fighting," He looked to Dawn who was already crying, "that she watched over you the entire time? She saved us when she didn't have to." He turned back to Kai. "I know that you two will never get along because of your stupid blood-bound hatred for each other but this is her life! I owe it to her to help! I'm not going to sit back and let anyone else die for me!"
"Oh yes you are." The voice of the King boomed through the room. They all turned to see the King, Queen, Mr. Slithers, and a handful of guards standing outside.
"Father." Ethan gulped. Everyone immediately bowed to the King and Queen.
"Guards, escort these students and their teacher back to the Courtyard while I have a word with my son?" The guards walked around and grabbed the others to move them away from Ethan. His parents stepped inside the room with Mr. Slithers who shut the door.
"Father, you must send your men to get my friend back. Her name is Shadoe. She's half-Rimanis. She's about five seven, black hair, purple eyes." Ethan began describing her.
"Ethan, we are not going after a civilian." He said sternly.
"What? You have to! Isn't it our duty to protect the lives of our people?" He argued.
"Do you understand what a dangerous position you are in, young man?" His voice boomed again silencing Ethan.
"Your highness," Mr. Slithers spoke up. "We need to move you to a safe location."
"What?"
"It's alright sweetheart, we're coming with you." His mother went to hold him but he stepped away.
"We're running? Why are we running? He's one man! Trace those Rampages and go after him and save Shadoe!"
"Rampages are untraceable, they carry in their flesh a seal that prevents tracking their movements by any magical means." Mr. Slithers answered.
"Give up on the girl, Ethan. It's time to go." His father ordered.
"No! I'm not going to give up! She doesn't deserve to die like this!"
"Ethan, I assure you, I have sent in an agent to find her." Mr. Slithers tried to calm him down.
"Yeah, where was your agent when those things attacked?!" Ethan snapped back at him.
"Ethan, calm down."
"No! Don't tell me to calm down! This is ridiculous! He is one man! ONE man! Why haven't you caught him yet?"
"You don't understand!" The King shouted. Ethan turned to him waiting for an explanation which never came. Ethan stared down his father. "He wants to bring back the Troll King and his armies." Ethan exhaled slowly and glared at his father.
"Since when was the King of the witching world afraid of anything?"
"Ethan, listen."
"No you listen! Teras is a thief and a murderer. Nothing more! I will not give him the satisfaction of destroying another life!" Ethan stormed out of the room.
"Guards! Seize him!" The King shouted as Ethan ran. The guards outside the room chased him down the hallway. They thrust out their hands and summoned chains to fly out. Ethan turned around and in one swift movement he formed a barrier around him that dropped the chains to floor before he ran down the hallway. He ran as fast as he could towards Mr. Watkins office. He was pleased to find Mr. Watkins was there with his friends. They were surrounded Dawn while she had the Rimanis scrying tools laid out on a table.
"What's going on?" He asked and hurried to the table.
"We're trying to find Shadoe." Dawn answered.
"And we're going to go get her." Eugene added.
"And for the record, I do care whether she lives or dies. I care a lot more about her than you think." Kai added bitterly.
"Kai, I'm sorry." Ethan apologized.
"Be sorry later, we have to find her." Dawn interjected.
“So how are we going to get her?” Ethan asked.
“We? You’re crazy if you think we’re taking you.” Kai said.
“I’m the reason she got captured in the first place, of course I’m going with!” Ethan defended.
“She got herself captured so you wouldn’t! It’s too dangerous, you’re too valuable to him.” Kai argued.
“Kai is right, Ethan, sending you in will be like giving Teras an early birthday present.” Mr. Watkins explained.
“Look! I don’t care! I’m going with you and that’s final. As the Crown Prince I order you to let me come along.” They all looked at him in shock at the first time Ethan had used his royal authority towards them.
“Yes, your majesty.” Kai mockingly bowed.
“Enough you two, we’re running out of time.” Dawn snapped to silence them and took a deep breath. She took the prism to her forehead and focused on Shadoe. She placed it in the center and spun it on its tip making the stars and image on the board swirl in a mass of colors. She began to breathe heavier as everyone watched intensely. She held up the necklace and threw the dust on the board. The board began making the blueprints of the school but they seemed like the sand couldn't make up its mind on what to show. The necklace began spinning at a wide radius that Dawn was having difficulty controlling.
"What's going on?" Eugene panicked.
"I don't know! It's never done this before." Dawn answered and tried to control it. The board began spinning faster and the sand whipped around in a violent miniature tornado. Dawn let go of the necklace as they all stepped back. The necklace spun in the air until the sand erupted and blasted out at them all. They all ducked from the sand and shook it out of their hair.
"What does that mean?" Kai asked.
"It means you'll never find her that way." Deryk's voice came. They all jumped up to see him standing in the doorway.
"What are you talking about, Deryk?" Mr. Watkins asked. They all studied the grave and apologetic expression on his face.
"Deryk, what have you done?" Ethan glared.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen." He stepped him. Kai and Ethan immediately seized him into a chair.
"Talk." Kai said in a threatening tone.
"I was just trying to protect my family." He cried. "He said that if I didn't help him he would kill my mother."
"You said your mother was dead." Dawn said.
"I'm sorry, I lied. He swore he would kill her and my entire family if I didn't help. He knew that I knew you. He wanted the potion." Dawn's eyes widened. "You had my diary. You broke in to our room didn't you?"
"I'm sorry." He begged forgiveness.
"He has the potion now." Kai exhaled with a furious rage on the tip of his breathe.
"Please forgive me, I didn't mean for these things to happen."
"Matthew Karlstrum." Ethan said and looked at Deryk in the eyes. "Was that you? Even though you knew he wasn't the prince?"
"He threatened me, he blackmailed me! I didn't want to do it but I had to." Deryk shouted. Dawn suddenly walked up to him and slapped him across the face.
"How could you, Deryk?!" She screamed. "Why didn't you say something? Why didn't you tell anyone what was going on?! We could have helped you!"
"I couldn't! I'm sorry!" He apologized again.
"Where is he then?" Ethan asked firmly. "Where has he taken her?"
"You can't go after her, he'll kill you!"
"WHERE IS SHE?!" Ethan slammed his hands on Deryk's wrists, pushing them into the arms of the chair he sat in.
"Siberia!" He screamed out.
"What?" He stepped back.
"He's in Siberia where the Troll King's armies are held."
"If that were true she would have shown up on a map of Siberia." Dawn said angrily.
"That's because she's not there yet. He told me if I captured you," He looked to Ethan. "That I had to take you through the Ether Tunnel in the lake."
"Ether Tunnel? I thought they all died out and are inaccessible." Eugene said.
"No, just hidden from the general public." Mr. Watkins answered. They all turned to hear what he had to say. "There is one in the lake, all of the staff knows about it, that's why no one is allowed to swim in the lake."
"Really? I thought it was because it holds a giant sea monster." Kai said sarcastically as he remembered the events of the lake.
"That too, but the thing is, the tunnel is sealed. No one knows how to enter it."
"Except Teras." Deryk said. "He gave me this." He pulled out a necklace from his shirt that held a vile of blood. "He said this blood would open it."
"Whose blood is that?" Mr. Watkins took it from him.
"I don't know, he didn't say."
"Did he say it had to be this amount?" Deryk shook his head and Mr. Watkins immediately went into his cupboard and extracted a bit of the blood in Deryk's vile and put it into his own.
"What are you doing?" Dawn asked.
"If this blood is a key to opening those seals, I want to know whose it is." He handed the original vile to Dawn. "There isn't much time."
"You can't go, Dawn! He'll kill you all!" Deryk panicked.
"Shut up." Kai took a cauldron and whacked Deryk on the head with it, knocking him unconscious.
"You don't have to come with me." Ethan looked to his friends.
"Yes we do." Dawn brought his hand up and squeezed it.
"For Misturry." Kai put his hand on top of theirs.
"For the world." Eugene put his hand on the top. Ethan smiled at his friends when suddenly they heard the calls of the guards in the hallway.
"Out the back." Mr. Watkins opened a back door in his office that led to a stairwell and they all rushed into it.
"You're not coming?" Ethan asked.
"I'll keep them at bay. Here take these," He handed him a small packet of gum. "For breathing underwater," He handed him a sack of red powder, "and for the trip back. Go!" He shoved Ethan in the stairwell and closed the door. Ethan and the others ran down the secret staircase that led them to a gardening shed. They checked to make sure they were clear to run. They could see the lake from where they stood but there were guards standing by the trees in the distance. They crept quickly to the bridge on the lake and crawled to the top.
"Ready?" Ethan looked at them. Everyone put the gum in their mouths.
"Let's go." Dawn agreed. They all hopped up on the edge of the bridge. They could hear the calls of the guards as they spotted them but they were too late to get to them as they dove into the water.
As soon as they hit the water the temptation to hold their breath was strong but they remembered to chew the gum. They felt the air bubbles form in their mouth. They didn't understand how to breathe though as the bubble became bigger. They began to panic when Eugene was the first to open his mouth. They watched as the air bubble formed around his head, allowing him to breathe. He signaled with a dopey smile that it was ok and they all opened their mouths to be encased by their own air bubble. Ethan signaled for them to follow him as they dove deeper, looking for the seal. They weren't sure what they were looking for but they hoped they would find something out of place. As they pressed on in the water it was clear that the air bubbles weren't going to last infinitely and with each half hour they grew smaller around their heads. Dawn gasped as they swam further in the water to discover the rotting corpse of the sea monster Shadoe had managed to kill.
"Showering straight for a week when we get back." Kai said in a muffled tone of disgust.
"What's that?!" Eugene pointed. Near the tail of the monster was something round and silvery. They all swam as fast as they could to it, knowing they were losing air. They pulled back barnacles of seaweed to see a casing, like that of a sewer cap. On the center of the cap was a shield with a symbol of for creatures: the phoenix, unicorn, sphinx, and sea dragon.
"That has to be it." Ethan said and Dawn brought out the vile. She swam closer to it and emptied the blood which floated in the water. However, it slowly drifted directly to the cap and traced the lines of the shield. The cap began to glow and the light consumed them, dragging them into the tunnel.