15 The Other Side of the Lake

With the frozen wall no longer present to block us, the fox jumped on my leg and, quickly, it climbed up to my neck, tickling me just like he liked to do to me... Unable to hold my laughter, I tried to take it off my neck while still being careful to not hurt it.

"Oh, stop... Please, spare me from this!", I shouted to it, but it continued for a few more seconds, mercilessly torturing me... After I started to feel that my throat was aching from laughing, it returned to the place it loved to stay, by my shoulder.

It was a way of it to show the anger it felt after I threw him through the frozen wall but also to show how worried sick it got about me during all this time... I was really happy to know that he waited for me, even when I stayed trapped for hours.

"I am really glad that you waited for me... Don't worry, I will try to prevent this from happening again", I assured it and gave it some pats on the head.

Cutely smiling, it accepted my head pats and at the same time, it started to eat some of the berries it brought, offering me some... I needed to hunt something sooner or later to sustain my hunger as well, but that would have to work for now.

With the breakfast eaten, I felt better from the fight with the water knights... It was now time to proceed with the adventure, putting the berries that survived the breakfast into my pockets, together with the berries from last night.

I stared at where I would be heading next... The Underground Lake could be seen through the passageway where I was previously trapped... It was a beautiful lake, I knew that, mainly with its glowing blue waters and flying fish.

How that was even possible to happen? It was the sacred place of one of the four elements... I suppose that unbelievable or shockingly strange things should be expected, but this doesn't stop me from being amazed with the sight... And this feeling would only get stronger when we got closer to the chamber and finally entered.

The walls... What walls? They were so distant from each other that it almost seemed like we were inside a limitless room... The light of the glowing waters reached the top of the room, on the ceiling, and it conquered the whole chamber of the lake as a whole...

Everywhere you looked there was only water... The only place where one could stand on solid ground was the few rocks that were by the passageway, nothing more. The greatest thing I ever saw inside that chamber was, however, the creatures flying...

Fishes were in large shoals, flying together just as though the air was their sea... Jellyfishes just floated everywhere, glowing and adding a different color to the lighting of the room... Seahorses would fly past me, just in my front... It was almost as if I was under the seas or in the depths of a lake. Even weed was here, but they were unconventional, attached to the ceiling and going down towards the surface of the lake.

Not everything here was beautiful, however... There was a big fish, long like a snake but fearsome like a dragon. It soon realized the presence of me and the fox and charged after us, with its open mouth, ready to eat us... I would draw my sword to strike, but looking at the scales and the fangs, I thought it would do too little or nothing to help us in this situation, so I just ran...

But to where I would run? There were only that few rocks on the entrance to stand on, nothing more... It was too late to think about that, however, I subconsciously started to run already...

When I realized, I was running on the surface of the lake, as if it was the floor of the chamber. I was impressed and the fox was as well, but we had no opportunity to just stop and keep looking at the lake to discover why... We needed to continue running if we didn't want to become the food of whatever was that creature.

Restlessly, the creature chased us... It didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon... But then a large turtle - or whatever was that creature with those glowing colors over the black shell - charged against the creature and smashed it against the nearest rocky wall. The two creatures then started to fight as though they were already enemies... I suppose that this place should have its own food chain...

Quietly, I enjoyed the opportunity I had to escape together with the fox... But once out of their sight, I looked around the area... This place was still huge. To where we should go now? Well... thinking carefully, the answer to surpass the passage was on the sheet of paper... Was it possible to say that the answer was on the paper again.

If that was the case... Then I guess that the next hint would be related to the other thing mentioned on the paper, purity. But how could purity be related to this... Was it in the literal meaning, with the purity of the water of the lake... Or was it something subjective, related to the way of acting pure, innocent? I could only guess...

"Any ideas?", I asked the fox in the hope it would have some kind of hint to help us both... And it pointed with its nose towards an area less illuminated... With the water transparent the light coming only from the jellyfish "lanterns" nearby... Would the transparent water mean that it's pure water, unlike the glowing waters? It was just a guess but it wouldn't hurt to try...

Walking over the transparent waters then, I sank into the lake... Just as though the pure water did not have the same magical propriety that allowed me to walk over the glowing waters... and slowly, I went deeper and deeper.

I tried to hold my breath to not drown, but it was inevitable... I felt like I was being dragged more and more to the bottom, away from where I could breathe... Soon... I would die, drown in the Underground Lake...