Lapping of water against stone brought Markos back to his senses. His head rested on something soft as he rubbed his eyes. 'What was that?' Shadows gained substance but he couldn't make them out. "Did the lights go out?"
"Give it a moment, you're still disoriented." Iliana's voice was somewhere nearby. Markos wondered what he was lying on.
"You had a strong reaction." Caelyn's voice was closer and sounded like it was at once above and behind him. Markos's hand reached behind his head and felt a knee.
"Am I on your lap?"
"Yes. I needed to stabilize you, this was the fastest way." Caelyn sighed while patting Markos's forehead.
"I don't understand."
"It's a process. You can control the flow of water pouring out of a cup by how you tilt it... you just tipped it too far." Caelyn explained. The shapes become more distinct, Markos saw blobs of light. "You're okay. Just got over zealous. We'll work with you on how to control that too."
"I'm sorry," Iliana's voice trembled. "I should've explained better."
Markos turned towards her voice, the shape of her eyes a fuzzy cyan against the dark. He smiled. "As long as me feinting resulted in helping her recover, it's worth it."
Caelyn placed his hands on either side of Markos's face, warm skin cradling his cheeks. "I've passed you some of my... well, I guess we don't have a term for it. I think we'll call it 'breath' for now— but it's that power we draw from to do magic. We can pass it between us and the world to perform miracles. If we use too much, we die."
"I don't think giving Iliana my breath is a bad way to die." Markos admitted.
"Be that as it may, it's a bad idea. The amount of breath we have is finite." Caelyn's amused face grinned down at him, a blue light fading from the whites of his eyes. "There are some tricks. We're already pushing our limits with the maraium."
"I think I can get up now. I can see your ugly mug." Markos pushed himself up while Caelyn moved back out of the way. Iliana twisted a part of her cloak between her hands but didn't move closer.
"Good. Well, the good news is that we get to take off the armor. It's a mistake to swim with it on." Caelyn ran a hand through his hair, glancing over to Iliana before looking towards the illuminated pool. "I'd strip down as much as you feel comfortable... you can swim, right?"
Markos fought the urge to look over at Iliana at the mention of stripping. "I can. When are we taking the plunge?"
Caelyn tugged the shoulder buckles of his cuirass. "Now, if you're up for it. I'm hoping there's an air pocket or a cave down there."
Markos rubbed at his temples. "Let's get going then. Any idea where the elves are?"
Iliana looked into the distance. "Opposite side of the temple with something else." She shook her head. "I can't make out what it is. I'm not sure how where they are feeds into where we are."
"If we claim the artifact, we accomplish the mission." Caelyn set the clam shell of his cuirass on the ground before staring to unbutton his gambeson. "We could try to talk to them but it's probably best to avoid them for now."
Markos nodded, shedding his armor and gambeson, bearing his chest. He removed his greaves, deciding to leave his boots and pants on. He had no idea of what was at the bottom of the pool. "How are we going to manage the rifles? Unless templar shot is waterproof?"
"I don't like it but we'll have to leave them here." Caelyn sighed, rising to his feet wearing his breeches, boots, and sword belt. He stretched his arms, the large tattoo was more massive than he'd recalled, it extended over his shoulder blade in an interlocking scrollwork that joined to his arm.
Iliana slipped into the water, her cloak, belt and boots folded neatly aside. She followed the steps down until she was waist deep before looking back to them. "Ready?"
Markos rose, checking his own sword belt and the position of the extra knife he kept in his boot. He cracked his knuckles and rolled his shoulders. Sleeping on hard stone and riding made his back stiff but he suspected that swimming would help a bit. He took a deep breath, slightly disappointed that Iliana kept on her dress. He pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded. "Yeah. Nothing like a nice winter swim in an abandoned temple."
Caelyn grinned before following the steps down. Whatever Iliana had done had left the pool's clear waters clearly illuminated. They could see the steps and the shapes of a dais shaped structure in the middle of the pool. The distortion from the top was harder to gauge how deep it was, but in Markos's gut, he knew it was where they needed to go.
Once Markos entered the water, his companions took a deep breath and dove beneath the surface. He scanned the chamber before breaking the surface of the water.
It was warmer than Markos thought it's be. The floor and walls of the chamber glowed like Caelyn's floating lamps. Intricately carved white stone steps lead downward to the dias in the center of the chamber. On the opposite wall was what appeared to be large stone doorway similar in height to the one they entered the temple through. 'This chamber isn't always flooded then. What came through there?'
Deeper they descended. Markos was worried that they'd need to surface for air but he didn't feel the need. He looked toward Iliana questioningly but he didn't watch her attention. She swam easily toward the dais, her dress and hair flowing behind her like the tail of a fish. The dais was empty save for a large spiral carved in the center.
Iliana pointed towards the dais, floating above it as she waited for them to gather around her. Markos remembered how they opened the temple doors and nodded. It seemed like she wanted them to stand on it together. Whatever they sought was beneath them.
Iliana grabbed each of their arms and floated them downward. When her bare feet touched the dais, the spiral filled with light. Weightless, Markos felt the world flip upside down for the second time today.
When he thought to breath, Markos stood on dry white stone. above his were elaborate carvings in what reminded his of a Holy Sword temple sanctuary. The way the ceiling arched upward in a sphere made him think they were beneath a dome when moments earlier they were underwater. In front of them beyond rectangular support pillars were gigantic statues with the faces eroded away to pock marks. He felt the warmth of Iliana's hand against his arm. "I'm starting to get used to this."
"I'd hoped these would be more preserved than this." Caelyn commented as he reach over and smooth a thick strand of hair that plastered across the middle of Iliana's forehead to behind her ear. They shared an affectionate smile, before Caelyn glanced to Markos. "These should be Mara, Velns, and her attendants."
"I can sense it in the center by the statues. Is it another alcove?" Markos looked from Caelyn to Iliana to the statues.
"Possibly. Shall we then?" Caelyn patted Markos's shoulder as he followed after Iliana.
Markos scanned the edges of the chamber but couldn't make out where another entrance nor the light source was. It was lit from above but he couldn't tell if it was the ceiling or something else. 'Is it the floor of the other chamber? How did the elves make this?'
As they moved forward, he heard a soft scraping along stone that set him on edge. He drew his sword and paused. Caelyn flanked Iliana with his drawn as well. Silence filled the chamber and they continued towards the statues with their swords still drawn.
At the foot of the statue was a small alcove large enough for Iliana to enter.
"We'll have to stand out here unless it's bigger on the inside?" Caelyn suggested, turning his back to the statue as he searched for the source of the noise.
Markos felt strange. His brows furrowed as he looked up. His eyes widened as he saw the gleam of white sword sized teeth inside an onyx scaled serpentine maw above them. The body of the giant creature tightened in a coil that he recognized from years of killing rattlesnakes. "Get inside! Caelyn!"
Caelyn cursed as he pushed Iliana into the alcove, his eyes blazing. "It means to eat us."
Markos didn't understand what it was or why none of them had sensed it. 'Saule grant me the strength to protect them.' He braced himself as the serpent launched itself at them with a roaring hiss and a crunch of its jaws.