CHAPTER 27: THE SECRET OF THE LAKE OF SECRETS
Their screams were ruining their voices. Despite falling through the undiscovered depths of the cave Athena somehow knew, deep down, that they’d be safe. Sure enough after seconds in the whirring darkness they were catapulted into what she only knew as some kind of water. Luckily, each one of them landed about a metre away from the next in a kind of messy circle. Resurfacing, Athena gasped for air as the water choked her lungs.
“Is everyone okay?” Emma coughed. The familiar voices of the other four rang out in spluttered ‘yes’’ until Emma was satisfied.
“Where are we?” choked Liam.
“In some kind of river” spattered Tom
“I gathered that much”
“I don’t know” Athena truthfully said, trying to keep her head above the water. “Let’s get a better look” They swam breathlessly to the side and one by one helped each other out. In awe, they were silently stood gazing into the rapidly flowing river and Athena was sure that she recognised it, but the hilly surroundings seemed new.
“I know which river this is!” declared Emma
“You do? Oh how surprising” Tom mocked sarcastically
“It’s a river that runs off from the Lake of Secrets, the Sacred River”
“That means we can’t be far from Ericarni’s lair” Athena speculated.
“Actually, far from it” Emma corrected “the Sacred River runs through the Mainland...so to put it simply-”
“We could be anywhere” Robbie finished
“Yes, I’m afraid so”
“So we’re not in the Puzzle Room” Liam guessed
“Nope, the Portal Key alters surroundings to form a portal through either dark or light, depending on where you are, so there’s no telling when it’s a portal or when it’s danger. It’s just one of its many mysteries.”
“So the sword must be near here” Athena announced
“I assume so; my guess is in the lake.”
“Isn’t that a tad obvious?”
“That’s why we’ll split up again”
“I’m going in the river”
“Athena”
“We have to split up, remember?”
Emma couldn’t argue this time, nor could she the last.
“Liam, go with her” Emma ordered
“Sure” he shrugged
“I’ll take Robbie and Tom to search the surrounding area; it could be anywhere so keep your eyes peeled.”
Everyone split off and Athena and Liam plunged into the icy depths of the river. The river itself wasn’t too deep so they had enough time to hold their breath and look at the same time. However, no matter how far they swam along or rummaged in the wrath of reeds, no glinting sword could be found. Discouraged and cold, the two gave up secretly and hauled themselves out.
“I don’t get it!” said a frustrated Liam “we landed in the lake, it should be there!”
“Well it’s not, we’ll look again later”
“Sorry to shout...I just... want to get back to camp”
“You didn’t have to come”
“But I wanted to! I promise I did, I just miss feeling at home that’s all. Don’t get me wrong, I love helping and we’re friends, but it’s just hard...I just”
