Chapter Twenty

By the time Chesi came to Petra had managed to get her story straight. There was no chance she was telling Chesi that there was a demon helping them. She didn't fully understand it herself, and until she did there would be no mention of their foul guardian.

"What happened? Are we alive?"
"I killed them, we're alive."
"Those skeletons sure didn't help."
"They distracted them while you dealt with most of them. How's your head?"
"Sore, but I can keep going."
"Good, grab your bag."

They trudged through the halls, here and there another golem would be patrolling, or a pit would open up in front of them. It made things more interesting, but Chesi was clearly not doing as well as she insisted she was. Petra expected that there'd be another exit somewhere towards the end, so she decided that continuing inward was the best way to get out.

They finally reached the end of the maze and found its guarded treasure. A small spring coming from the rock. The lower half of the cave had filled with water. It was pretty, the light from Fey sparkling on the gently rippling pool. The walls were painted; the tale of those who built the labrinth emblazoned on it. and above the spring itself was a plaque. It read, in an archaic dialect of common; 'drink and be full of life'.

"Probably means the stuff's filled with all kinds of evil little creatures. you drink it and they start living in you; eating you from the inside."
"Blood"
"There are things that can overpower Nieldic blood. I don't want to play host to some parasite."
"Mom"
"Oh right, your mom works in that department doesn't she? We'd probably be the the least endangered by it of anybody."

~Shut up and drink the water!~
"Who was that?"
There was no reply. The cave was as empty as it had been before.
"Something tells me we should drink the water."
"Probably makes you super-strong or gives you the runs or something."
"I think it means you'll live forever. If your body is 'full of life', wouldn't that mean you'd be absent of death?"
"Immortality. Reason enough for me."
Petra conjured a mug and dipped it into the pool. That annoying, evil sounding voice Sighe in relief, then began chuckling.
"Well?"
"It tastes like water, water that's been in and on old rocks for a long time."
"I'll drink some too; then we should get back to school."
Chesi took the mug and drank. Then both stood up and turned around.
In front of them was the front door; open to the outside.
"Convenient. And what a wonderful and potentially significant little adventure we've had."
"Aren't you glad I convinced you to come?"