None of them got much sleep before they had training the next morning out in the lake.

The seven of them, not including Gideon of course, stood around the lake in tight wet clothes, squinting their eyes against the bright morning sun.

Nilsa was instructed to dress for water as well, but she at least got to cover herself up in a loose cover up. Unlike her godly friends, her skin could burn from a training exercise, and she was not in the mood to stand around in spandex for a training exercise.

Most of the gods had the same idea. Thorin was comfortable enough, as was Czarn and Caspian, but Alaeca groaned on about how she'd rather do the training stark naked than be in that suit for another minute. Ronan was complaining that his suit was too tight, and Nilsa had to avoid looking at it because he was definitely right. The shorts pressed against every part of him like a second skin. Chryseis looked at the water with twitching fingers, a sight that made Nilsa frown.

"Is Chryseis alright?" She whispered to Ronan, who was trying to shift the shorts in an attempt to open up some room, and was failing miserably.

Ronan didn't bother even looking at his sister, which was to be expected. Nilsa knew he was still angry that she'd suggested hurting him to stop the shadows. "She has a fear of water, drowning specifically."

This came as a shock, but it made more sense than not. At Thorin's game, the goddess struggled the most and had stopped trying to find the hidden emerald after minutes of being in the water. She seemed to be more focused on defending herself against the monsters than anything else, and Nilsa had just assumed it had been paranoia.

"Does Gideon know?"

Ronan nodded. "Thorin's spent years trying to stick her in the water, but she can only last a few minutes before she runs. She doesn't tell us why, but she doesn't tell us anything anyways. I'm not complaining. She can deal."

Nilsa sighed. "What she said was wrong, but have you considered talking to her about it?"

Ronan scoffed. "Don't need to. I already know she would have slit my throat. Since I can't die from it, there's no problem, right? If Rieka hadn't said otherwise, I wouldn't be surprised if some of them went along with it."

"I wouldn't have let them."

His hand found hers. "I know."

A horn sounded from the lake, and the eight of them turned to see Gideon in a large sailboat that floated towards the shore. One man and one woman were already inside the boat, and Nilsa recognized them as two of Rieka's scholars.

"Thought I sensed someone sailing the waters," Thorin called out.

"Well, you won't be on it for long," Gideon called back, tossing an anchor once the boat reached the sand.

The gods piled onto it by a wooden ladder, Nilsa being the last one to get on it. Though it was relatively large, eleven people sitting on the seats inside easily got cramped. It helped when the two scholars got up to sail the boat.

"Where are we going?" Chryseis immediately asked as soon as the boat was moving.

"The deepest part of the lake," Gideon replied calmly, differing much from the slight franticness in Chryseis' tone.

"And how deep is that?"
Thorin answered that time. "60 meters." He reached over to squeeze the goddess' arm when her face paled even more than her already pasty complexion. "You'll be fine, Cies. Nothing is going to happen to you."

The goddess didn't answer, and the rest of the gods took up chatting in an attempt to get her mind off of the deep waters.

Ronan's arm was around Nilsa's shoulders and he used it to pull her close. "I might need your help to get out of these shorts," he whispered into her ear.

Her cheeks reddened but she didn't give him any more of a reaction than that. "I think you'll be fine."

"I beg to differ. At this rate, I'm losing feeling in everything from the waist down. And I mean, everything."

Gideon cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. It hadn't taken long to get to the middle of the lake, and rather than dropping anchor, one of the scholars mumbled something that seemed to be causing the boat to stay in place.

"It's a spell," Ronan explained. "Rieka trains some of her trusted scholars to wield them. It's how we made the obstacles for the games."

"Do you know any?"

"Don't need them."

"Today," Gideon started, "we'll be making an escape."

Czarin raised a brow. "Escape from what?"

The scholars had perfect timing, and on cue, a glittering dome like the one from Ronan's game formed over the middle of the lake. Unlike the darkness of the former dome, this one looked like glas against the bright sun.

Gideon gestured to the dome. "That. Not only does it spread above us, it sinks fifty meters down into the sand. As a group," he smiled when he met Nilsa's stare, "we need to figure out how to escape."

"Do you not know?" Rieka asked.

Gideon shook his head. "That would surely defeat the purpose."

Caspian scoffed. "Easy. I can summon a few bolts and crack this thing like an egg."

"You could," Gideon agreed, "but that's why I'm taking away your powers."

After a few seconds, a collective gasp surrounded the boat. Ronan himself was looking at his palms like they were foreign to him.

Nilsa frowned. "Are they gone?"

Ronan shook his head. "I can feel them, but it's like they've been tucked in somewhere. Like they're hiding."

Gideon stood up from his seat and moved to the edge of the sailboat. "Time to go." With that, he swung his body over the boat and dropped into the water. Czarin was glad to follow, and Thorin had the biggest smile on his face. Nilsa didn't guess he'd been able to be near water much in the past weeks.

Caspian looked over to edge warily, and Ronan had gotten up as well.

"My hair," Caspian whined.

Ronan rolled his eyes and shoved his brother over the boat before jumping off behind him.

Chryseis was the last one standing in the boat, and when Nilsa approached her, she could see the goddess' hands shaking.

Nilsa put a hand on her shoulder and tried not to jump when Chryseis flinched. "Are you okay?"

Chryseis took a deep breath and glanced over the boat. She looked sick. "That looks pretty deep."

"None of us are going to let anything happen to you."

As if to agree, Chryseis nodded her head. Slowly, but surely, she slipped her body over the edge and into the water.

Nilsa sat on the bench to look over the lake. The gods swam around in circles to get used to the water. They could swim like this for hours without getting tired, but it wasn't like they had the time.

Thorin had disappeared under the water. Although the lake was quite clear near the shore, it got dark towards the middle, so much that Nilsa could only see the ripples of the water when Thorin got close to the top. Chryseis seemed concentrated on swimming in one place, and Czarin was laying on her back with her hands out towards the sky.

"What the hell are you doing?"Caspian asked her.

Czarin rolled her amber eyes. "Am I the only one who remembers that we aren't out for a nice little swim? I'm drying my hands. Can't climb that dome with wet fingers." Based on how round the dome was, it didn't look like she could climb anything, but she could sure try.

"You're right," Rieka stated, swimming to the wall of the dome. When she touched it, it was solid under her hands. When she hit at it, it stayed solid and unmoving, the only reacting being a loud bang.

The rest of the gods followed, and while they made zero progress, Nilsa moved over to the scholars who looked over the waters with knowing smiles.

"So this is a spell?" She asked.

The female scholar was a younger woman that looked to be only a few years older than Nilsa but had knowing eyes. "Two, actually."

"One for the dome and the other for their powers," the male scholar clarified. Based on their appearances, almost identical if not for the difference in gender, and how his age looked to match up with hers, Nilsa guessed they were either siblings or closely related.

"But the one for the powers is more like a curse," the female added.

The male nodded. "Harder to brake."

"But easier to find," the female quipped back.

Nilsa spoke, if not to make sure that they weren't going to keep talking for days on end. "Rieka taught you everything you know?"

They nodded in unison. "Yes," they answered together.

"So shouldn't she know how to break it?"

The male answered first. "Yes-"

"-but she'll have trouble figuring it out-"

"-because there's hundreds of possibilities on which spell-"

"-and curse-"

"-we used."

Nilsa looked at them in silence, deciding to politely smile and move back to her bench so they wouldn't give her a headache from their finished sentences.

"Unless she did figure it out on the first try," the male wondered out loud.

"Oh my, don't even put that idea in my head," the female replied.

"That would be horribly embarrassing."

"Tell me about it."

Nilsa was almost glad for the yelping that randomly came from Chryseis, if not to separate Nilsa from the dull conversation.

"What is it?" Gideon asked her from the side of the dome.

Chryseis had never strayed far from the boat, and now she paddled back towards it like an inexperienced puppy. "Something touched my foot!"

Caspian chuckled. "If it was anything, it was a fish."

"I don't care what it is!" Chryseis yelled back, clutching onto the side of the boat.

Nilsa looked over the lake. It could have been a trick of the sun against the small waves, but she swore she saw a coat of glittering scales brush against the surface.

Rieka was now mumbling the same gibberish that Nilsa had heard her speaking during the last challenge. Gideon was next to her, giving her some phrases in the same language that seemed like suggestions. The rest of them spent their time slamming against the dome or splashing water in each other's faces like small children.

Chryseis, surprisingly, hadn't tried to get onto the boat yet but still stayed near in case she felt like she needed to.

Caspian was giggling with Czarin at one moment and then cursing the next, slamming his back against the dome like something had shoved him back.

Czarin raised her brows. "I didn't splash you that hard."

"Something scratched me!" When he laid back in order to show his leg, the word 'scratch' was being used very loosely. Something had sliced him and blood was pouring out of his leg like a waterfall. It was already healing, but it was enough to make the others widen their eyes.

"What kind of fish do you have in here?" Alaeca asked Thorin.

Thorin shook his head. "Nothing that can do anything like that."

Caspian's violet eyes searched the lake and landed on Alaeca. "Did you scratch me?"

"Of course not. What kind of stupid question is that?"

Nobody needed to answer when something large slammed into the dome wall under the surface, right next to where Gideon's legs would have been. The siblings quickly realized the issue and dispersed from the wall like a group of mice.

"Absolutely not!" Chryseis shrieked, her wet hands clawing on the boat in an attempt to board. It was too tall for her to get anywhere, nor could Nilsa help her.

"Gideon!" Rieka yelled as she swam. "What the hell was that?"

"No clue!" He yelled back, kicking something under the water. He hit nothing by the looks of it.

Nilsa's eyes moved towards the two scholars whose fingers ran over their books in panic. "Code red!" The male shouted

"What does that mean?" Czarin asked loudly.

"It means we have no idea what that is and we recommend that you exit the waters!" The female answered.