The additional equipment Jacobs had requested arrived from Aerion via expedited military courier the following morning, carried in specially sealed, water-resistant containers. The tension that had simmered during the day of waiting sharpened into focused anticipation as Jacobs gathered the squad one last time near the shore of Loknezt Lake. The water lay calm under the bright morning sun, its placid surface a deceptive mask over the cold, dark depths where their quarry lurked.
Jacobs laid out the newly arrived items, their arcane energies humming faintly in the air. "Alright, listen up. Command came through." He indicated the key pieces. "One single-use Protective Amulet, Rank 4 defensive ward, rated for thirty seconds of sustained protection." He handed it carefully to Henry. "This is your final safety net, kid. Use it wisely."
Next were five smooth, blue-grey Waterflow stones. "These significantly reduce water resistance for ten minutes each. Enhanced underwater mobility." One went to Henry, two each to Sophia and Daniel. Then came three small, crackling orbs. "E-balls. Standard issue electrical discharge devices. Good for paralysis or distraction." These also went to Henry. Eight milky white Air Bubble stones followed, promising fifteen minutes of breathable air each, with a built-in failsafe enchantment to pull the user towards the surface in the final thirty seconds. Henry, Sophia, and Daniel each received two. Finally, two linked Signal Stones, flat grey discs etched with identical runes. "Daniel, you take one," Jacobs instructed. "When Henry reaches the target zone and the Serpent is closing, crush this stone according to the pattern we practiced. I'll hold the other; it will shatter simultaneously, signaling Lumos and me to engage."
He looked around the assembled squad. "The core plan remains the same: Henry lures the Serpent to the cave mouth fifty meters down. Sophia activates the Vortex Scroll. Daniel gets Henry clear with the enhanced Airbolt." He clapped Lumos on his massive shoulder. "Our role," he nodded between himself and the big warrior, "has been added as insurance. When Daniel signals, we engage the Serpent hard just as the vortex forms. Keep its attention, add to the disorientation, ensure it doesn't break free before the scroll takes full effect." He looked at Melly and Torsan. "You two maintain surface watch, ranged support if absolutely necessary and feasible, but primarily, you are our eyes up here and our first responders if extraction is needed. Clear?"
Nods all around. The plan was complex, dangerous, relying on precise timing and flawless execution in a hostile environment, but it was their best chance.
Henry secured the amulet around his neck, tucked the E-balls into easily accessible pouches on his belt. He activated one of the Waterflow stones; a faint shimmer enveloped him, the air around him seeming to ripple slightly. Sophia placed a hand on his shoulder, murmuring the incantation for her Blessing of Strength, channeling her aether into him, a familiar warmth spreading through his muscles, enhancing his physical capabilities for a short time. Finally, Henry, Sophia, and Daniel activated their first Air Bubble stones. Shimmering pockets of clear, breathable air coalesced around their heads, allowing for underwater respiration and, crucially, communication within the bubble's confines.
They were ready.
Jacobs stepped forward, placing a heavy hand on Henry's shoulder, his expression serious but steady. "Be careful down there, Henry. After this mission, you should have more than enough contribution points to finally make Rank 3. With the pay raise that comes with it," he added, a faint grin touching his lips, "you owe me, and the entire squad, a proper feast back in Aerion."
Henry met the Captain's gaze, forcing a confident smile despite the cold knot of apprehension in his stomach. "Count on it, Captain. That day, the finest food and ale the Dunlyre has to offer are on me. Enough for everyone to burst."
"Good lad." Jacobs chuckled, clapping his shoulder firmly. "See that you're there to pay the bill."
With final nods, Sophia and Daniel slipped into the cool water near the shore, their forms quickly disappearing beneath the surface as they descended towards the predetermined location near the underwater cave entrance. Henry took one last look at the familiar faces watching from the bank - Jacobs's grim resolve, Lumos's quiet encouragement, Melly's nervous energy, Torsan's wide-eyed fear - then turned towards the waiting raft. He paddled it out towards the center of the deep lake, the point Jacobs's map indicated was roughly above the cave mouth far below.
Taking a deep breath within his air bubble, Henry slipped over the side, the initial shock of the cold water quickly mitigated by the Waterflow enchantment. He began his descent, kicking strongly, the stone pulling him downwards while reducing the water's drag. The world transformed into a silent, blue-green realm of shifting light and growing pressure. Sunlight filtered down from the surface, but faded rapidly with depth, visibility decreasing, the water growing colder, darker. He descended past swaying weeds, ignored the occasional darting shape of a small, frightened fish - apparently, the Serpent hadn't devoured everything. Fifty meters. The pressure here was immense, the darkness almost absolute, pierced only by the faint luminescence radiating from his own enchanted gear and the bubble around his head.
He drew his sword, the polished steel gleaming faintly. Time to wake the beast. Focusing his will, Henry deliberately flared his aether, sending out pulses of raw energy, a beacon of challenge in the crushing depths. He simultaneously projected focused battle intent, the mental equivalent of a roar, hoping to draw the predator's attention.
For a long moment, there was only silence, the oppressive weight of the water. Then, his Mystic Sense, already passively mapping the immediate vicinity, registered a massive presence shifting in the deeper gloom nearby. A colossal shape began to coalesce, gliding leisurely out of the darkness towards him. The Dino Serpent. It was immense, far larger than Sophia's upper estimates, easily fifteen meters long, its serpentine body moving with hypnotic grace, propelled by four large, powerful fins. Its long neck, thick as a tree trunk, craned forward, small, ancient eyes regarding Henry with cold, reptilian intelligence. It didn't rush; it swam slowly, deliberately, as if merely curious about this small, noisy intrusion into its domain, assessing him. Henry felt a chill unrelated to the water temperature crawl up his spine. The way it observed him… it felt less like a mindless beast and more like a calculating predator weighing its options.
He couldn't afford to give it time to think. Feigning nonchalance, Henry also began swimming slowly, almost drifting, angling himself gradually towards the beast, closing the distance while trying not to appear overly aggressive. The Serpent merely watched, its massive head swaying slightly, seemingly unimpressed, perhaps having already gauged Henry's relatively low power level and dismissing him as a minor nuisance.
Closer. Twenty meters. Fifteen. When less than ten meters separated them, Henry knew he couldn't wait any longer. Taking a deep breath within his bubble, he armed one of the E-balls, drew back his arm, and hurled it with all his might. He activated it mentally the instant it left his hand. Simultaneously, he spun around, kicking powerfully, swimming desperately back towards the hidden cave entrance roughly fifty meters away, hoping Daniel and Sophia were in position.
The E-ball struck the Serpent's flank with a faint thump, erupting in a contained flash of blue-white electrical energy. The beast convulsed visibly, a silent roar of outrage rippling through its massive frame. It sustained no physical injury, but the jolt of electricity was clearly agonizing, infuriating. Its slow curiosity vanished, replaced by pure, murderous rage. With a surge of incredible power, it lunged after Henry.
The chase was on. The lingering effects of the electrical shock hampered the Serpent's initial burst of speed slightly, while Henry's Waterflow stone lessened the crushing resistance of the deep water. Even so, the creature was terrifyingly fast in its element. Henry swam with desperate, burning exertion, pushing Sophia's blessing to its limit, but he could feel the immense pressure wave of the pursuing monster drawing closer, closer. He risked a glance back - the gaping maw, filled with rows of dagger-like teeth, was gaining rapidly.
Halfway to the cave. It was almost upon him. He could feel the water displaced by its charge, feel the killing intent radiating from it like heat. When the colossal shadow loomed directly behind him, the open jaws mere feet away, Henry ripped the second E-ball from his belt, armed it, and threw it backward without looking, activating it instantly.
He felt rather than saw the flash, heard the muffled crack of the discharge even through the water and his air bubble. A surge of displaced water buffeted him. The Serpent roared again in silent agony, the electricity hitting its sensitive mouth directly this time. Its fury escalated, becoming something palpable, terrifying. It paused for a crucial second, convulsing from the shock, before propelling itself forward again with renewed, terrifying speed, the pressure of imminent death closing in like a physical wall.
Henry swam harder, muscles screaming, lungs aching despite the air bubble. Thirty meters left! The distance he'd gained was vanishing rapidly. He could almost feel the monster's hot breath, smell its ancient, reptilian stench. No choice. Reaching up, he clawed at the amulet around his neck, pouring a desperate pulse of aether into it.
Instantly, a shimmering, faintly golden shield, like curved glass, snapped into existence around him. Just in time. The Serpent's massive jaws clamped down where he'd been a microsecond before, teeth grating harmlessly against the arcane barrier. Relief warred with terror. Thirty seconds! Henry seized the precious moments, kicking with every ounce of strength, swimming desperately towards the target zone marked on the map Daniel had shown him - a point seventeen meters from the cave mouth itself, calculated to account for the vortex's three-meter pull radius. Within the protective sphere, he twisted and dodged as the enraged Serpent snapped at the barrier twice more, its teeth scraping loudly against the magical energy. Twenty meters! Seventeen! He reached the designated spot just as he felt the amulet's power begin to flicker, its thirty-second duration nearly expired. He had to hold here, wait for the beast to commit.
The Serpent, perhaps sensing the fading shield or wary of the nearby cave entrance, paused its direct assault. It retracted its long neck slightly, gathering itself. A shiver of profound unease went down Henry's spine; the Sense screamed danger!
"Aqua Breath!" Sophia's warning came through the air bubble fractionally before the attack hit. The Serpent unleashed a high-pressure column of water, a focused blast powerful enough to shred steel. The shield vanished. Henry threw himself sideways with a desperate surge of strength, the water column tearing past him, missing by inches, the force of it churning the surrounding water into chaos. Before he could recover, three more columns erupted from the darkness.
"Airbolt!" Daniel's voice, calm under pressure. Three spheres of pure concussive force slammed into the incoming water columns. Even enhanced by Sophia's blessing, the Rank 2 spell wasn't powerful enough to stop them entirely, but it deflected their trajectories just enough. Henry contorted his body, narrowly avoiding being torn apart.
Seeing its ranged attacks thwarted by Henry's unseen allies, the Dino Serpent shifted tactics. Its cold, intelligent eyes seemed to pinpoint Daniel and Sophia's positions near the cave mouth. It ignored Henry momentarily, unleashing a furious barrage of Aqua Breath attacks towards them. Henry saw Daniel frantically deflecting them, his own protective spells shimmering under the onslaught.
Then, the Serpent straightened its massive head, its four powerful fins contracted tightly against its body, and it began to spin, rotating rapidly along its longitudinal axis like a colossal drill bit. The water around it churned violently.
"Careful!" Sophia yelled urgently through the bubble, recognizing the move. "Serpent Spin! It's going to launch its entire body at us!"
No sooner had the warning left her lips than the creature shot forward, a fifteen-meter torpedo of muscle and fury, hurtling directly towards Daniel and Sophia. Even as it charged, four columns of Aqua Breath lanced out ahead of it, seeking to clear its path.
"Stone Shield!" Daniel reacted instantly, thrusting his hands forward, pouring aether into the incantation. A large, thick shield of magically conjured rock materialized directly in the charging Serpent's path. The Aqua Breath columns slammed into it, cracking the surface. The Serpent itself hit moments later with devastating force. The stone shield exploded into fragments, momentarily halting the beast's charge but doing little else. It broke through, momentum barely slowed, looming directly over the two exposed mages, jaws gaping for the kill. At this range, they had no hope of evasion.
Henry reacted without thinking. Forget the plan, forget being bait. Protect Sophia! Launching himself forward, ignoring the agony in his muscles, he drove his sword in a desperate upward thrust - "Thrusting Swords!" - aiming for the underside of the Serpent's thick neck. The blade bit into the tough hide but slid off the dense muscle beneath after only a shallow penetration. The power disparity was simply too great; he couldn't inflict a truly damaging wound. But attached to the blade's tip, activated the instant before impact, was his final E-ball.
The Serpent flinched violently as the familiar, hated jolt of electricity surged through it, its jaws snapping shut inches from Daniel. It momentarily lost focus, paralyzed by the shock just as it was about to strike.
"NOW!" Henry roared into his air bubble.
Instantly: "Airbolt!" Daniel's spell hit Henry squarely, launching him backward, away from the Serpent, away from the imminent vortex. Simultaneously, Daniel crushed the Signal Stone in his hand.
Fifty meters above, Jacobs felt the linked stone in his pouch shatter. "ENGAGE!" he bellowed. He and Lumos plunged into the water, activating their own Waterflow and Air Bubble stones as they descended like vengeful meteors.
Below, as Henry tumbled clear, Jacobs and Lumos arrived, their heavy enchanted weapons blazing with power. A massive blow from Jacobs's greatsword, imbued with his Rank 3 aether, slammed into the side of the Serpent's head. Lumos followed with a devastating overhead smash from his warhammer. The double impact, combined with the lingering paralysis from the E-ball, visibly stunned the massive creature. Jacobs and Lumos immediately kicked backward, retreating from the target zone.
"Whirlpool!" Sophia, seizing the critical moment, thrust the scroll forward, pouring her own aether into its complex matrix, her voice clear and strong even through the air bubble.
The water directly in front of the cave mouth exploded inwards. A powerful vortex sprang into existence, swirling with immense force, the suction instantly grabbing hold of the stunned, paralyzed Dino Serpent. It was dragged backward, its massive body pulled inexorably towards the dark, waiting maw of the subterranean tunnel.
But the creature was incredibly resilient. It fought against the vortex's pull, shaking off the paralysis, its powerful fins churning uselessly against the suction. With a surge of desperate strength, it twisted its long neck, managing to pull its head and part of its upper body free from the main current.
Lumos charged back in, swinging his warhammer, aiming another blow at the creature's head. But the Serpent, no longer stunned, reacted with lightning speed, whipping its head sideways, catching Lumos with a powerful blow that sent the big warrior tumbling away into the darkness, his air bubble flickering erratically. Jacobs engaged again, his greatsword slashing down, opening another bleeding wound on the creature's head, but still not enough to disable it. The Serpent retaliated with a close-range Aqua Breath that blasted Jacobs backward.
It seemed the beast might actually break free. Just as its struggles intensified, Henry, propelled perhaps by a final surge of Sophia's blessing or just pure desperation, reappeared like an avenging phantom. His sword, possibly still carrying a residual charge or enhanced by sheer will, plunged upwards in a final, powerful stab, driving through the soft tissue beneath the creature's jaw and impaling its tongue, pinning its head momentarily.
The searing pain prevented the Dino Serpent from coordinating its escape efforts any further. Its struggles weakened, its body gradually, inevitably, succumbed to the vortex's relentless pull. It was sucked backward, disappearing into the blackness of the underwater cave. But in the final instant before vanishing completely, its ancient, malevolent eyes fixed on Henry. Its remaining hateful will focused entirely on the source of its agony.
"Aqua Pump!" The thought, the intent, slammed into Henry's Mystic Sense a fraction of a second before the attack materialized. A colossal column of water, far more powerful, more concentrated than the earlier Aqua Breath attacks, erupted from the cave mouth, striking Henry with the force of a physical blow.
Agony exploded through his body. He was blasted backward, slammed violently against the rocky lake wall fifty meters away. He felt bone snap, felt the crushing pressure threatening to pulverize him. The water column didn't just hit him; it punched a massive hole through the rock face behind him, the impact triggering a localized collapse. Earth and rock rained down, sealing the breach, blocking any escape back into the main lake.
"HENRYYYYYYY!" Sophia's scream was the last thing he heard, faint and distant through the roaring water and collapsing rock.
Then, the crushing pressure abruptly ceased. He found himself tumbling, not in the cold, murky lake water, but in a different current entirely. Disoriented, bleeding, agony wracking his body, he instinctively reached out with his Mystic Sense. And there it was. Not faint now, but brilliant, overwhelming. The emerald light. He was inside it, surrounded by the warm, vibrant, life-giving flow he had only perceived from afar before. The Lifestream.
It wasn't just curiosity anymore; it felt like the Sense itself, his very being, was compelled towards the core of this emerald river. Despite the blinding pain, he struggled weakly, trying to swim, to move deeper into the impossible warmth. He felt his strength failing, his consciousness fraying. He barely managed to brush his fingertips against a brighter concentration of the light before utter exhaustion finally claimed him.
A blinding, emerald-white light flared, consuming his vision. Suddenly, all pain vanished, replaced by a bizarre, profound sensation of comfort unlike anything he had ever known. He felt suspended, weightless, incredibly at ease. He was still immersed, yet it wasn't water. There was no wetness, no cold, no sensation of drowning, even though his Air Bubble had long since been destroyed. He felt… soothed. Healed. Protected. He dimly perceived that the rock and debris and cold lake water that should have engulfed him after the collapse were held at bay, unable to penetrate the boundary of this mystical flow, as if contained by a thin, invisible membrane. He was alone within the light.
Then, abruptly, the emerald brilliance faded, plunging him into an absolute, silent blackness. Not threatening, but empty, waiting.
A voice echoed, not in his ears, but directly within his mind, warm, resonant, ancient.
"Welcome to the Sanctuary Enclave."