The big human only grunted.
"Well enough," Cale said. "You follow after Riven, then Nestor. Let's do it."
Wasting no time, Cale mentally prayed to the Lord of Shadows to shield him from the bullywug's goggle eyes and crawled out of the tree line. He moved as rapidly as he could while staying flat to the ground. While the soft earth muffled the sound of his movements, his breath and heartbeat sounded as loud as a warhorn in his ears. With every croak from the bullywugs, he felt certain they had spotted him. But they did not. Covered in mud and sweat, he reached the cypress and sank into the shadows near its bole.
Unable to resist, he spared a glance into the lake. There, deep beneath the otherwise pitch waters, he saw the Fane of Shadows suspended in a hemispherical bubble. Viewed through the water, it looked like a picture drawn deliberately vague. He made out statues, arches, columns, but somehow it still looked insubstantial, surreal. He drew his sword and felt it being pulled toward the water, as though the lake was a lodestone. The shadows bleeding from the blade swirled off the metal and into the Lightless Lake. He knew it wanted to go there. Intuitively, he knew it would take him.
He turned away, determined to see to the safety of his comrades first.
The halfling came next. With skill, he crawled through the muddy undergrowth toward Cale. When he reached the cypress, Cale put a hand on his shoulder.
"Your sword," Jak said right away. "It's worse."
"I know," he said, and signaled Riven.
The assassin moved rapidly across the clearing, a shadow among shadows. When he reached the safety of the cypress, he looked into the lake and his good eye went wide.
"Dark," he oathed. "That is deep."
Cale signaled Magadon. With surprising grace, the guide made his way across the clearing to the cypress. He too looked upon the lake wide-eyed.
"I trust you have some ideas," he said to Cale.
Cale did, but made no reply. Instead, he signaled Nestor.
The big human rolled from the tree line and began to make his way across the clearing. Slowly. He didn't share Magadon's grace or skill.
"How long have you worked with this oaf?" Riven hissed at Magadon.
The guide hesitated a moment before answering, "Not long."
He left it at that.
Nestor stopped about halfway to the cypress.
"What is he doing?" Jak hissed.
Cale shook his head. He had no idea.
One of the spindly-legged bullywugs on the near side of their line shook its frog head, staggered, and croaked. Others croaked in answer. Cale could hear the question in their tone.
Cale held his breath. Nestor, the dolt, continued to move. Cale willed him to stay still. Eyes were drawn to motion, even in the dark. But the big fighter continued his crawl.
The bullywug that had staggered suddenly pointed in Nestor's direction and croaked loudly. Thirty pairs of bulbous eyes focused on the human. The shaman ceased his ritual swaying, stood, and looked in Nestor's direction. Spears were brandished. Loud croaks ran up and down the line. The bullywugs started to hop toward Nestor.
"Dark and empty," Cale oathed.
With nothing for it, Nestor jumped to his feet and ran for the cypress. Thirty bullywugs led by their shaman hopped after. Spears whistled through the air.
Just as Cale and Riven prepared to rush to his rescue, two, then three of the spears thumped into the human. He staggered and fell, disappearing in the mud and undergrowth.
Cale held his ground, strained to see the fallen man but could not. It was as though the earth had swallowed him up.
"Nestor!" Magadon shouted.
The guide started back but Riven blocked him with his blade.
Ten or more of the bullywugs swarmed the area in which the human had fallen and their spears rose and fell. The rest, having heard Magadon's cry, croaked loudly and hopped for the cypress. Their shaman began a rhythmic chanting that Cale knew could only be a spell.
Jak grabbed Cale by the arm and said, "Whatever you're going to do, do it fast!"
Cale knew what he had to do—follow the shadows, the same as he had done his whole life.
He followed the mist swirling off his blade, stepped to the water's edge, and shoved his sword in, all the way to the hilt. The shadows leaking from the iron hissed when they hit the water, as though the blade was hot. For a moment, the lake churned and foam sprayed. A heartbeat later, a depression formed in the water around the sword. A hemisphere as large as a merchant's wagon. A bubble of air. He withdrew his blade and the depression remained.
"Here!" he called. "Here!"
His comrades ran to him, with Magadon covering their retreat with bow fire. The air was filled with spears and croaks. Spears thumped into the cypress's trunk and splashed into the lake.
"Get in," Cale urged. "It will support us."
He was guessing on that last but it proved to be true.
Riven, Jak, and Magadon jumped into the hemisphere, Magadon still firing. Cale followed, and it began to sink.
"Burn me," Jak whispered, as the depression began to descend. It formed into a perfect sphere as the water closed above them.
By the time the bullywugs reached the shore, the lake had already swallowed Cale and his comrades. Looking up though the lens of the sphere, the bullywugs appeared blurry and indistinct. Their croaks, muffled. A few spear tips poked into the water, but none reached within the sphere.
Cale put a hand on Magadon's shoulder to comfort him on the loss of his friend. Magadon looked him in the eyes and gave a nod. He took a deep breath.
"Here," the woodsman said. "Do not resist."
While Cale, Riven, and Jak shared a confused look, Magadon closed his eyes, touched two fingers to his temple, and visibly concentrated.
Cale felt a tickle at the base of his skull, followed by Magadon's "voice" in his head: We now are all linked telepathically, at any distance.
"Nice," Jak said. I mean, nice, he said again, mentally, and grinned.
How long? Cale asked, more and more impressed with the mind mage.
More than an hour, Magadon responded.
Better than handcant, Cale said to Riven and Jak.
The bubble descended rapidly. Its sides felt leathery, though it was perfectly transparent. Below them the Fane glowed eerily, itself contained within a much larger hemisphere suspended in the depths. Try as he might, Cale could see no bottom to the lake. A field of statuary, not unlike the garden topiary in Stormweather, surrounded the temple building itself. Shadows darted amongst the statues.