"We gathered in the ship's cabin, wondering what to do next. "My magic didn't work on him," Seleria said, biting her nail in frustration. "I've seen what my flames can do, but his wounds healed as quickly as..."
"Like Ultras?" I finished the girl's thought.
"Yes... Do you think he also absorbed life energy from somewhere?"
"Perhaps. We need to find out what's written about him in the tomb; there might be a clue on how to destroy him. Aileen, finish your invention as soon as possible."
Suddenly, we were interrupted by the noise and shouts from the shore. We went up to the deck and saw a crowd of local villagers surrounding our ship.
"Oh, it looks like a local support group armed with pitchforks and torches," Katrina nervously peered over the side.
"What should we do?" she asked.
"I'll handle them myself," I replied.
I leaped gracefully off the ship and approached the group of disgruntled villagers. "So, what have you gathered here for?"
"We won't let you destroy the city," a preacher stepped forward. "Everyone may die because of you. We'll sacrifice you to appease the Lord's wrath."
"Yes, yes!!" The crowd, not entirely convinced, still supported the priest.
"Hah, so you think you'll perish because of us? Don't make me laugh. If anyone is going to destroy the city, it's your so-called 'Lord'. We're merely giving you the opportunity to get rid of him."
"How can you puny beings stand against our master? You're fools, inviting his wrath upon the village."
"What does it matter if you live for a week or a year? Do you think living in isolation under his rule is any better? Without trade from the continent, you'll wither away sooner or later."
"Ridiculous! The sea provides us with everything we need, and we must thank the Sea Lord for it!"
"Pf, nonsense! The sea has always provided for the city, even before this 'Sea Lord' arrived. Now you're trembling for your pathetic lives because you can't resist him! He gave us a week to decide? Well, we'll give him our answer in a week's time, and you can cower in your burrows, shaking in fear if that's what you desire."
"Hey, isn't that the lad who lived on the hill?"
"Krito, I believe."
The unity in the crowd began to waver; they started gossiping behind the preacher's back.
"Perhaps he speaks the truth; we should at least give them a chance."
"What nonsense! If you believe him now, you'll all end up fish food soon."
Harod stepped out of the crowd and kicked the preacher. "The lad has spoken his words, and he has a week. Leave the city and let us decide our fate ourselves."
"You'll regret this, mark my words. Soon, all of you will become fish food."
Rubbing his bruised spot, the preacher vanished into the night.
"Is everything going to be alright now?" Katrina asked.
"Why are you worried now? Under his rule, we wouldn't have survived long anyway. Let's trust these young folks. I hope you have more than just inspiring speeches, Krito?"
"Hmm, well, not yet..."
The crowd fell silent.
"But I'm working on it, you don't need to worry," Krito reassured them.
"But how can we not worry? You promised to deal with him," said another person.
"And I will, as soon as I figure out how. It's not the first formidable monster we've faced; we have experience."
By noon the next day, Aileen had finally constructed a large structure on the deck, resembling a bell.
"Phew, I did forge the hull in my laboratory, but assembling all this took me the whole night and morning," she said.
"And how does it work?" asked one of us.
"It's very simple," the girl tapped the iron body, and a resonating sound shook the deck. "The heavy and empty bell sinks underwater through a pipe while air is supplied to it. The used air goes out from the bottom of the bell. We lower it into the water, and then we can breathe inside and dive underwater."
"Wow," Katrina hesitated, "I would love to join you, but... I can't swim."
"Well, I can guess why," I pictured a brave man walking into the water with a walking lightning bolt, "but now it poses some inconvenience."
"Oh, don't worry about that," Aileen pulled a lever on the bell's wall, and a small window opened: "For extra safety, it's better to close these, but you can open them from all sides of the bell, and you'll see what's happening around. You can hold onto the handrails inside and won't drown."
"And how are we going to get it in the water? It doesn't seem that light," I inquired.
"Well, it'll be much lighter underwater, so there shouldn't be any problems, though we might have to adjust its weight while moving sideways... But the main thing is to get it off the deck. So, boys, you'll have to put in some effort," Aileen smirked, looking at Grain, Algo, and Werner.
"And Krito?" Algo shot me a disapproving look.
"Well, someone has to read the inscriptions inside the cave, so I'll stay down."
"Alright, go down, and we'll keep watch in case unwanted guests appear."
They lowered the bell into the water, and it quickly began to sink.
"Keep pumping the lever constantly; it'll allow us to breathe," Aileen handed Leira a leather bag attached to the pipe leading to the bell and jumped overboard.
"Easy does it," Katrina preferred to descend into the water slowly using the rope ladder.
"Take a deep breath, and we're diving," I instructed, making sure Leira fulfilled her duties, and then I dived underwater, pulling the princess along.
The bell sank almost to the bottom, but with the air being pumped into it, it started to rise slowly. We swam under the device and met Aileen there. The bell was half-filled with water; apparently, some air had escaped when it hit the water.
"It's a bit cramped in here," I remarked, glancing at the engineer.
"Well, now they'll pump more air in, then I'll balance the pressure and attach a couple of ballasts, and the bell will settle at the required depth."
"Pfh," Seleria emerged from the water, "So, are we going or not?"
"Hey, can't you all get out of here? I need a couple more minutes to adjust," Aileen pushed us out and focused on the apparatus.
We returned to the surface for now.
"Ragni, have you decided to join us too?" I asked.
"Yes, I can hold my breath much longer, and it will be beneficial for the little ones to learn the history," Ragni nodded toward the dragonlings splashing in the water next to us.
"Oh, so you've decided to take them along?" I inquired.
"Yes, in this cave, the history of the ancient gods is written, and mothers usually bring their children here to honor the memory of their ancestors. So, I don't see anything wrong with it."
"But will they manage?"
"Don't worry about them; dragons inherit many skills from their ancestors from birth, so they won't drown so easily."
"Phew, it's all set. Let's submerge," Aileen surfaced to call us into the bell. "Leira, maintain this pace and don't stop."
"Alright," the girl continued to press the bag evenly.
Katrino, Seleria, Aileen, and I climbed into the bell, and Ragni from the outside began to lower it into the cave. With about three-quarters of its volume filled with air, we had more space inside now.
"Still, I don't recommend staying seated here all the time; it's better to breathe outside, so it'll be easier to breathe inside," I advised.
The weights kept the bell in a vertical position while the dragons slowly guided us into the cave. The wide entrance, large enough for a god-dragon to pass through, led to a spacious room.
Seleria emerged from the bell and conjured a magical light, illuminating the place. The room, which could fit five ships the size of ours, had a smooth, semi-spherical shape. Along the walls were arches with depictions of ancient gods, the entrance, and the boulder behind which I once hid.
"Kurone, I'll read and mentally translate the text; can you transmit my thoughts to the others?"
"Yes, it won't be a problem."
"Alright, I'll start with the first one."
I swam to the panel on the left side of the entrance.
[
Golden lord Miras grand
Creator of all that is.
The world transformed by his hand,
Stone to flesh with boundless ease.
A spirit he became, divine embrace,
To carry on the cycle of his life.
A bridge between realms, blending two in grace,
The spirits' realm and human world so rife.
]
As soon as I finished these lines, the bas-relief lit up with a golden glow. The symbols of the ancient language burned particularly brightly, and the dragon image seemed to come to life.
The Golden God-Dragon had a slightly different body than his brethren, more elongated, serpent-like. He was depicted coiled between two planets. The larger planet below revealed the outlines of continents, while the second planet most likely represented the moon. It consisted of several layers with a fiery core wrapped in a dry, cracked shell, encircled by a layer of raging, ever-changing lands hidden beneath a thick blanket of clouds. These layers shimmered, alternating with each other, and the golden light flowed from the four worlds inside the moon to the four points on the map of Verania.