Chapter 21 - The Serpent's Path New
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.

"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."
 
Chapter 22 - Sally New
They continued without incident until the tunnel opened up into a wider one through which the underground river normally ran. With the river blocked, however, the party found that the way was flooded with muddy water. Venza frowned. She'd rather avoid wading through mud, if possible.

"I don't suppose you have a spell for walking on water?" Venza asked.

Aiela shook her head. "Currently beyond me. I haven't been a Water Mage for long, you know."

Fortunately, the river ran only in the center, leaving thin banks on either side that could be traversed. Despite the blockage, the water only made it halfway up the shin if one stayed at the sides.

"Interesting," Aiela said, which caught Venza's attention.

"What is?" Venza asked.

"The river isn't completely stopped," Aiela said. "I suspected as much or this whole tunnel would be completely flooded."

"So it's just mostly clogged?" Venza asked.

Aiela nodded.

"If we're lucky," Aiela said, "the damn lizards built a nest or something in here and that's all we have to deal with."

She closed her eyes for a moment, then added, "A bit over half an hour left on the scorpions. We should keep moving."

The four of them headed downriver, once again keeping one scorpion in front with the other taking up the rear. This time, they minded the walls and ceiling for signs of the lizards. Fortunately, it seemed the group at the entrance had been the only lookouts.

"This terrain is not ideal," Venza pointed out.

"Obviously," Aiela drawled. "But there's nothing I can realistically do about it. I'm not wasting all my magic on making solid ground when we don't know what else is waiting for us."

Venza's eyes scanned both walls, the ceiling, and even the river. "You don't suppose they move better in water than-"

Suddenly, Aiela motioned for them to stop, prompting Venza to ask, "What's wrong?"

A frown creased Aiela's lips. "There's something up ahead!"

Several somethings raced up the water towards them, at a speed Venza could hardly believe, but Aiela had already raised her hands up in a blocking movement. She must have cast a spell, as a great wind suddenly blew into existence, buffeting the river upwards into a sort of watery wall.

The speeding objects crashed into the curtains of wind and water, their velocity hampered by the collision, but not halted. Venza focused her mind and grabbed the closest one using Reach, altering its course to slam into the tunnel wall. It was only when it crashed down to the flooded bank that she realized it for what it was: Another one of the lizard creatures.

Roeder and Carver each caught one of the creatures with their shields, the impacts still causing the boys to reel despite Aiela's water wall having slowed them down. Vines detached and coiled, constricting the reptiles like swarms of snakes.

Venza had never seen a creature propel itself with water like that. As weak as these things seemed earlier, they seemed far more deadly in water.

Her thoughts were cut short by a massive object suddenly speeding towards their party.

"Fuck me, is that-" Venza began, but couldn't finish.

The speeding object sailed through the sky like a green comet. Its body landed on the lead scorpion, the armored arthropod instantly crushed with a loud crunch. Towering above them was a large, bulky behemoth. Venza could now see it was a larger version of the lizards, easily four times the size of the normal ones. Where the small ones had slender, long bodies, this one had a wide, bulky frame supported by stubby legs and wide, prominent fins on the sides of its head that stretched back like ears.

She didn't think Steelskin would have saved her from getting crushed by that.

"Aiela!" she shouted, but the mage was already on it.

"Scald!" Aiela invoked, sending a jet of boiling hot water to shoot from the river onto the creature's face, causing it to rear back.

Venza focused her own magic. Reach, she thought at the same time she punched her right fist forward, twisting her body to put more force in the blow. The impact reached across space to stab the monster in the left eye. As the monster roared in pain, a bloody trail leaked from its eye socket.

Seemingly spurred by its cry, several of the smaller lizards appeared from the shadows to aid the large one. The remaining scorpion charged forward to engage, but the lizards largely ignored it, going straight for Aiela.

"Cover her!" Venza commanded, and the boys followed without argument, using their shields to hold the reptiles in place.

"Venza!" Aiela called out as she stopped two of the lizards in place with Heat Sink. Venza nodded, bringing her fists down hard, bashing the two lizards in the head through Reach. Their heads slammed into the ground hard and their bodies went limp.

Suddenly, another one dropped down from the ceiling, giving her just enough time to bring an arm up to block it. Sharp fangs tried to sink into her arm, but due to the odd angle and her hardened skin, it slid off, only mildly scratching her brigandine.

She tossed it aside and brought her other fist down on its neck, which rewarded her with a loud crack. Finding no more lizards attacking, she took a second to survey the battle. Roeder and Carver were occupied with the smaller lizards, but the giant remained focused on Aiela, its scales burnt by boiling hot water and missing an eye.

"Scald!" Aiela invoked again, using the same attack spell from earlier. Venza wondered why she insisted on using such a roundabout spell when she had- Oh, of course.

Aiela was probably trying to see if she could get access to the Fire Sphere if she burned enemies in combat. She had, after all, gained her affinity for Water spells by using Nature Magic to purify water. Still, Venza wished Aiela had picked an easier opponent to make the attempt against.

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Aiela

As if annoyed by Aiela's insolence for not taking it seriously, the beast suddenly stood on its hind legs, its forelegs up in the air like arms. With a heavy swing of its right foreleg, the creature made a punching motion, and a piece of the tunnel wall the size of a boulder ejected itself, straight at Aiela. She countered by bringing her fist up, conjuring a pillar of stone to block the flying rock.

"Foolish creature," she said. "You can't beat me in Earth or any other magic."

Still. She supposed she should stop trying to cheat her way into Fire Magic against such a formidable opponent.

The creature growled, bringing its left foreleg down, causing rocks to fall from the ceiling. She shifted the water to push her away from the impact area. With a grin, she brought both arms forward, sending two pillars of earth down from the ceiling to hit the monster square in the face. The monster raised one claw up to block a pillar, rotating its massive body with surprising agility to dodge the other. It then smoothly brought its other claw up as if grabbing something Aiela couldn't see.

Aiela felt the vibration before she saw it. A claw made of mud rose out of the ground, mirroring the creature's and poised to grab her. With a muttered curse, she conjured a gust of wind that propelled her upwards and out of its reach. She then landed on the muddy ground intact thanks to its softness.

The creature advanced towards her, but she was ready. With a powerful punch, she conjured a prodigiously large spear of rock, aimed straight at her enemy's throat. There was no way it could dodge or block that with its magic.

The creature brought its claws inward and clasped them together. To Aiela's shock and horror, the massive creature slammed its joined claws against the spear, breaking it and sending shards of stone flying towards her. She reacted too late, stunned by the display of raw physical power. Scrambling, she tried to get a wall of earth in front of her to intercept but knew she wouldn't make in time.

It wasn't fair. She was a better mage in every aspect! But her human body couldn't match the sheer muscle and bulk of the monster in front of her.

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Venza

After helping the boys dispatch more of the smaller lizards, Venza turned to Aiela just in time to see the big lizard send a rock straight towards her friend. Exhausted but unrelenting, she channeled Reach once more, jerking Aiela towards her.

Aiela managed to land on her feet, nodding thanks to Venza. The mage brought her right hand up as if reaching for something then spoke the words 'Necrotic Lance.' A long, beam of crackling green-black energy appeared in her outstretched hand for barely a second before Aiela hurled it at the monster like a bolt of death.

Venza watched in real time as Aiela got serious. Despite her strong affinity for multiple types of magic, Aiela relied on Death and Nature most when things actually got difficult.

However, the creature was prepared. It swiped its right claw upwards, and a thick wave of mud erupted from the ground, blocking Aiela's attack.

It launched forward once more, riding the wave of mud towards Aiela. Venza readied herself to cast Reach again, but at the last moment, the creature somehow hopped its bulky body off the wave of mud, its four legs finding purchase on the tunnel wall despite its immense weight. As Venza pulled Aiela out of the mud wave's path, the giant lizard scampered along the wall at an improbable speed, straight for Venza.

Time seemed to slow as her mind processed her options. The creature was simply too large and too fast for her to dodge safely. Knocking it off-course wasn't an option, either. She might have been strong for her age but she was nowhere near strong enough to budge an enemy of that size, let alone stop its momentum. It was moving too fast to punch out its other eye, too.

As the split seconds passed, it became clear her only option was to brace herself and try to dodge to the side.

Her body moved to follow her plan, throwing her weight to the right in a desperate maneuver to evade. Then suddenly, she felt an impact on her left shoulder. She turned to face its owner, and found Roeder there, using the full force of his body to push her to safety.

In an instant, he'd managed to push her out of harm's way as the lizard came crashing down, angling itself midair to crush whoever was beneath with its belly. It missed her, but a sharp cry from Roeder told her it hadn't completely missed him.

Venza's fists curled tighter as she kicked herself up from the floor. A far-reaching punch with all her fury behind it struck at the lizard's throat, causing it to stagger. Then came another punch, and another, each focused on the sensitive throat. Nearly half her Reach punches whiffed, distracted as she was with fury, but enough landed to keep it unbalanced.

"Venza!" Aiela yelled. "Your pouch!"

Suddenly remembering the pouch Aiela had handed her, Venza reached into it and grabbed every single Tanglefruit inside, chucking them at the monster will all the might she could muster. The green tomato-like fruits exploded as they made contact with the giant lizard, covering it in a thick, green goo that hardened before their very eyes.

Aiela had said it would be very difficult for humans to escape, but apparently if you tossed half a dozen, even a giant lizard would have trouble. Even as they watched, however, Venza could see the monster gaining ground as it struggled out of its bonds.

As the slime barely bound the creature to the ground, she spotted Aiela's lithe form seemingly step on thin air, jumping up and landing on the creature's back. Aiela's mouth moved but Venza couldn't make out what she said. The mage's hands glowed a sickly green as she reached for the back of its head.

Suddenly, a sound like a whistle echoed through the tunnel. The monster stiffened in response just before Aiela's fingers made contact. As her green-glowing digits touched it, the lizard's scales suddenly turned pale, and it froze in place, as if its muscles had turned as hard and immovable as stone.

The creature let out a sound as if choking, its body suddenly ceasing almost all movement. Venza wasn't sure what Aiela was doing, but it was clearly working.

"Stop! Stop!" a male voice cried out from upstream, bearing a small lantern. "Please stop! Don't kill her!"

Aiela and Venza shared a look. "Serpent's Slumber," Aiela spoke, touching her hand to the monster once more. Its eyes fluttered once, twice, then the creature fell down, eyes no longer open. It was the same spell she'd used to cure Milly of poisoning.

As the monster slowly lost consciousness, Aiela turned to face the new voice. Venza did the same, taking up a fighting stance. Her body felt like it was on fire. She wasn't sure how many more Reaches she had in her.

The dim light revealed a boy roughly Aiela's height, with pale skin and a mess of black hair. He was wearing only a pair of brown undergarments, which earned him scathing looks from both girls.

"Who are you?" Venza asked.

"Tom. Tom Lowrey," he answered as he stopped a few meters away from them. He was panting for breath as if he'd run quite the distance. "I- I'm so sorry, but could you please spare Sally?"

"Sally?" Venza asked.

"The lizard?" Aiela questioned.

"Yeah, Sally," Tom said. "She's our circus' Mu'drakker."

The two of them shared a look. "This had better be good," Venza muttered.
 
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