We proceeded deeper into the jungle after our escape from the Dromaed and made surprisingly good progress over the next couple of days. The ground became less even as we began moving uphill, but even then four people moved a lot quicker than a couple dozen people carrying a bunch of supplies.

I hoped that the ponies in Capital’s entourage would be able to get back home alright, but for now we had to concentrate on getting to Zihlius and stopping Ephemera. Though while I was confident in my ability to confront the backstabbing thief, I was more concerned with my travel companions. Capital was a nice guy, but I couldn’t help but wonder if he was too nice for something like this. I didn’t want to see him hurt by the time all was said and done, and I couldn’t deny we were going into the jaws of danger. Alya was a bit of an unknown. She said she was just a simple merchant trying to pick up seeds, but was that really the truth? I’d been given sweet and innocent stories before only to get kicked into a death trap after someone else had gotten what they’d wanted out of me.

Then there was the one I was the most cautious about. I was leading the way by necessity, seeing that I had the greenseer compass. While I could easily hear Capital and Alya following behind me, there was barely a whisper from Puzzle, and that sent goosebumps down my spine. I couldn’t help but keep looking back to make sure he was still there.

“Least you learn quick,” I remarked, “I thought you'd make a racket for the whole trip.” Puzzle hadn’t been that stealthy when we’d started, but he’d been getting quieter and quieter as we progressed.

Puzzle grinned up at me. “The fundamental principles for sneaking around a jungle aren't all that different from sneaking around in the city, and I'm a quick study.”

So that was it; he was watching and copying how I was moving through the jungle. I guess I shouldn’t have been that surprised, given what he’d shown himself capable of thus far. Still, I had my suspicions that he might be playing me, and only saying he was copying me in order to hide that he had really known what he was doing all along.

“Right, figured you were a big city guy,” I said. “A Freeporter based on your accent, which begs the question of how an urbanite like you winds up out here in the middle of nowhere?”

Puzzle frowned slightly, and some of the pleasantness left his tone. It wasn’t like he was angry with me, just ... like I’d hit a sore spot. “Career change. I decided to strike out on my own and take independent work.”

I climbed my way over some roots and offered a hoof to help him over them. “So why wilderness explorer for a crazy backstabbing nag?”

Puzzle helped me down as we got over the barrier of roots. “Because I thought anywhere was better than sticking around Port Nowhere at the time and Ephemera offered a ticket off the island.” He shrugged. “And I thought it'd be interesting to find this City of Giants and all its fabled gold. It was something to do, and Ephemera was offering a lot of money for my help.”

I pulled off my hat to wipe the sweat from my brow. “So how’d you end up in the ass-end of the world at Port Nowhere?”

Puzzle’s ears flattened to his head. “You could say I got blacklisted after I quit my job. My old employer isn't the forgiving type, so I took the first ship out of Freeport which just so happened to be heading to Port Nowhere.”

I put my hat back on and checked my magic compass. “So you're on the run from a pissed-off boss? You'd think that'd make you more careful about vetting your next client.”

Puzzle grimaced. “It tends to narrow your field of vision when your old boss or the people you pissed off working for your old boss send bounty hunters after you.”

“Ah. I suppose I get that.” Now I had to wonder what sort of people Puzzle had been working with. Freeport has always been a hive of scum and villainy which was sad considering the Council was probably the best government Freeport had ever had. Sure, their rule was pretty corrupt and your status in society was based entirely on how much coin you had, but they were still pretty benign in their rule compared to who came before. They didn’t enslave a bunch of people like the Necrocrats, engage in mass piracy like the pirate kings of old, or impose the kind of strict laws from the despotic and religiously dogmatic rule of the Golden Path.

“Kinda already know all of this,” I told her.

“Intimately,” Puzzle agreed.

Daring waved the issue off. “Just outlining my thoughts at the time. Why people do the things they do in a story is every bit as important as what they do.”

“Something you learned from A.K.?” Puzzle asked with a grin.

Daring smirked back. “Something like that.”

“I made quite a few enemies back in Freeport,” Puzzle explained. “A lot of them being the types with the money and power to make life very unpleasant for those that made them unhappy enough. Which I did.”

I could think of dozen different nasty types he could have been working for—corrupt plantation owners, shady merchants and smugglers, cutthroat mercenary companies, and all sorts of nasty government officials. It wasn’t hard to make unpleasant enemies in Freeport. I should know, seeing that I’d made several myself over the years. “So what'd you do?”

A shadow of his grin returned. “A whole lot of things that would take multiple stories to cover.”

“Break it down to basics.”

Puzzle frowned as he thought the question over. “Theft, arson, learning people’s deepest and darkest secrets, and ruining their hopes and dreams.”

Jeeze, this guy was competing with most of the guys in my rogues gallery for nastiness, or at least for what he was capable of. “Okay, not quite that broken down.”

Puzzle quickened his step so that we were walking side-by-side. “Are you really surprised to learn that I have a colorful history?”

“Nah, I just wanna know who I'm dealing with.” I pushed my way through some bushes, making some small thunder lizards scurry off. “Bringing you along was a pretty big risk on my part.”

If he was the least bit offended by that, he didn’t show it. “Fair enough given the circumstances. So, what caused you to want to come all the way out here?”

I rolled my eyes. “I'm not that mysterious. Ancient city that’s never been seen by a pony who lived to tell the tale...” I pointed to myself. “Crazy adventurer archeologist.”

Puzzle chuckled. “Just wondering if the spade is a spade. No offense, but I’ve seen plenty of people present themselves as one thing, only to be something very different below the surface.”

“Well, with me what you see is what you get.” I glanced back behind us and noticed that Alya and Capital were starting to fall behind. “Hey you two! Keep up!”

“Sorry!” Capital waved to me. “Just enjoying the journey, is all.”

“Enjoy it a bit faster or you’re going to enjoy the business end of a Dromaed spear.” I sighed before turning back to Puzzle. “Anyway, now everything’s about stopping Ephemera. The Dromaed might not want me taking any of their stuff back to Equestria, but we’ll figure that out after we stop Ephemera and see what we’re dealing with in Zihlius. Besides, do you want her getting Ultimate Power?”

Puzzle snorted and held up a branch to let us both pass under it. “Hardly. I'm not sure if she would do more harm to herself or others with that kind of power. Most likely it would be a bit cataclysmic for everyone. Or more than a bit.”

“If there’s anypony who could manage to destroy the world with some ancient magic artifact by accident it’d be Ephemera,” I agreed. “I swear, she has the dumbest luck. But it sounds like we both agree she needs to be stopped first and foremost.”

Puzzle nodded. “I suppose that's why I’m still here. Not like I have much else going for me.” He stared up at the jungle canopy and got a distant look in his eyes. “Like I said—I'm blacklisted in Freeport, Port Nowhere doesn't have anything for me, and I'm not about to work with Ephemera again, so I’m a bit short on options.”

I frowned at that lack of enthusiasm. “Lame reason to help out.”

Puzzle shrugged. “I'm not exactly eager to have Ephemera succeed either. She's trouble and she needs to be dealt with.”

“Yeah, I guess.” I frowned, unconvinced. “Just feels like you should have more.”

Puzzle raised an eyebrow. “Have more what? Motivation to stop her, or wander into this forsaken jungle? In truth, I really don't. Nothing's really worked out for me since quitting my old job. When I signed up with Ephemera I thought there was a significant chance that this job would get me killed—chances that have gone way up thanks to Ephemera—but I thought it’d be okay as long as I got to do something new and wonderful before my past caught up with me.”

Ick, that was no way to live, just waiting for the end. I liked moving forward and seeing what was on the next horizon. Sure, I knew there was a chance that I’d maybe get myself in over my head, but I had no plans on making it easy for anyone or anything to take me down. Puzzle just sounded like he was plodding forward until the clock ran out. “Sounds like you need a new job.”

“So I've been thinking,” Puzzle said halfheartedly.

“Come on, it can’t be that bad.” I nudged him. “You couldn’t have gotten this far from just dumb luck.”

“From what you've seen,” he said. “In addition to knowing how to take care of myself in a fight, I know how to gather information and take care of business in an unconventional manner. I was something of a problem solver for my employer in Freeport.”

I pressed my lips together as I considered his options. “You could make a good archeologist. Or at least a good sidekick, since you’d need a degree to become a full-fledged archeologist.”

Puzzle chuckled and his smile returned. “A sidekick? My, what a prestigious position.”

I grinned back at him. “If you're looking for something new...”

“That is true.” Puzzle was silent for a time, his face unreadable. “I can think of worse jobs. Anything in retail, for example.”

I shivered. “I’ll take regular mortal peril and death traps, thank you. Long as we make it through this in one piece without you doing something horrible or backstabbing me, I'll look over your résumé later or something.”

Puzzle shot me a wry grin. “I’ll try not to disappoint.”

It was hard to argue that it would be nice to have someone who could watch my back. I was a pretty independent pony, but sometimes it could get lonely. What was the point of my exploits if I couldn’t share them with anyone? Sure, I shared plenty of my findings with museums and archeological societies, but that wasn’t the same as having someone by your side finding artifacts and going through all the same times and tribulations you went through.

I almost hated to admit it, but having Capital around was pretty nice. The problem was that I couldn’t imagine he was going to be sticking with me long term. This whole trip was basically his parents’ big expensive college graduation present for their son who really wanted to go on a big grand adventure before he sat down behind some desk and became a good honest government bureaucrat serving Princess Celestia. Puzzle on the other hoof didn’t have that. He didn’t have anything, by the sounds of it. Why not switch gears and do something entirely different if he’d be good at it? True, he might not have the education for archeology, but that was just a matter of learning, like anything else. And I could help him with that; I was a pretty good teacher.

Though I still questioned whether I could really trust him or not. Puzzle looked behind us and frowned. “It seems our companions are going the wrong way.”

“Wait, what?” Capital and Alya were now going almost the exact opposite direction. “Hey Capital! Where you going?!”

The both of them stopped and started looking around as they noticed what they were doing. “Oh my, I thought we were going this way?”

“No, Zihlius is this way.” I pointed in the right direction. “Pay attention and don't split up!”

“My apologies.” Capital chuckled and led Alya back to us. “It seems we were a bit too engrossed in our conversation.”

I shrugged and pushed down my irritation. “Happens. Easy enough to get turned around in the jungle. Just be careful, we don’t need to be losing somepony in the underbrush.” We started back up again, though a few minutes later I noticed that everyone split up and started going different directions.

I stomped a hoof and called out to everyone. “Hey! Stop wandering! We’re splitting up again!”

Alya froze and blinked as she looked around and saw she was wandering off alone. “Aren't we going the right way? I thought I was following you...”

Puzzle scowled as he started scanning the jungle around us. “Okay, this is starting to get suspicious.”

Alya sighed and started rubbed her temple. “I think this jungle is getting to me. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

I double checked the compass to make sure I was going the right direction and then hummed to myself as I considered what might be happening. “One more time. Try and stay with me, and don’t wander off, no matter what.”

Everyone agreed to this and we started back up again. But only a few minutes had passed before everyone began straying from me and getting turned around again. “Okay! Stop!” Everyone did so, and they all started looking around with expressions ranging from consternation to confusion. “Once is coincidence, twice is happenstance, three times is enemy action! Something’s up here.”

“I agree,” Puzzle said. “I’m thinking some sort of magic is at work here. I was very deliberately trying to follow you, but somehow I got turned around. We all did.”

“What could be doing that?” Alya asked.

“I think it’s something the Dromaed are doing.” I snapped out the compass for everyone to see. “Everything I read said that you needed one of these compasses to find the City of Giants. I wasn’t really sure how literal that was. I knew it would show us the way to the city, but I didn’t know for certain if the compass was absolutely needed to get to Zihlius. Given the way you’re all wandering off, I think there must be some sort of illusion over the city that causes people to go the wrong way when they get too close—unless you’re carrying one of these.”

Puzzle gaze swept over the thick vegetation around us. “Assuming you’re going the right way and aren’t getting as disorientated as the rest of us.”

My first instinct was to argue with him, but I had a better way to prove my point. I snapped the compass open and let the emerald arrow point the way.

Puzzle frowned but nodded. “As good as proof as we’re going to get. I’m pretty sure you’re right, but best to be sure so that we’re not going to be wandering the jungle until our food runs out, or more likely, the Dromaed catch up with us.”

“Fair enough, I know I don’t have any plans on dying.” And there was a bit more than that. My instincts were pretty good, but I got a sense that... Well, it was kinda hard to explain, like I was being pulled to where I wanted to go. Maybe it was the magic of the compass, but somehow I just knew where I was supposed to go.

“So what’s our plan?” Alya asked as she started digging up another root for her collection. She’d been doing that type of thing every time we stopped, for whatever reason. “From the sounds of it, only the person carrying the compass isn’t going to get thrown off the trail.”

“Hm...” I rubbed my chin, and an idea struck me. I opened my bags and pulled out some rope I presented to the others. “We can tie your saddlebags together and I can pull all of you along. It’s not the most sophisticated solution, but it does have the advantage of being simple.”

“A fine idea.” Capital slapped me on the back. “As long as we don’t all end up dragging you the wrong way, it should work.”

The others agreed and we went about putting the plan into action.

The plan was working. It took a bit for us to agree on exactly how to tie everything together to minimize getting caught on branches and vegetation and let us move without complication. Not to mention we didn’t want a situation where we would all be unable to move should a sudden emergency pop up. In the end I had three ropes tied to me, and the others were walking in a line behind me. After we got started again I would occasionally get a tug from one of them trying to wander off, but the resistance provided by me pulling them along was enough to snap them out of it. Whatever magic the greenseers were using, it seemed to work on a subconscious level. As soon as it was pointed out to anyone they were steering off course they would snap out of it and get back on the path. It was a bit annoying, but nothing we couldn’t beat.

For a while I thought everything was going to work out just fine. We were making good progress when the ground started to shake with slowly growing intensity.

Capital braced himself against a tree to maintain his footing. “Oh my, is this an earthquake?”

“Oh no,” Puzzle groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Not again.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What’re you complaining a—“

I saw what he meant when several smaller thunder lizards sped past us, and their pursuer stormed its way into our vision: a tyrant lizard crashed through the underbrush, coming right at us in its eternal quest for its next meal.

“Run!” I dropped the ropes before bolting. The risk of anyone getting lost was a lot less than everyone getting eaten right at that moment.

Everyone else did the same as me, and within a couple of seconds we were all running as fast as our legs could take us. Though the one problem with that plan, it wasn’t fast enough. The tyrant lizard was closing on us, and it was only a matter of time before we became its next snack.

“Everyone turn left!” I called out and took a sharp turn left. It was my hope that by breaking away from the herd of fleeing thunder lizards the tyrant lizard would skip us. That plan proved to be a bad one when the tyrant lizard turned and followed right after us.

“Now that just isn’t fair!” Alya cried out through gasping breaths.

“It’s because we separated ourselves from the herd!” Puzzle said as he leapt over a log. “Its instincts are telling it we’re vulnerable!”

“What do we do now?!” Alya demanded. “It’s catching up with us!”

I considered our options and cursed. If it was just me I could fly up and out of the tyrant lizard’s reach. Darn it, even if it was just me and Puzzle we could do the same. If we had time we might even be able to fly Capital and Alya up into the jungle’s branches where that monster couldn’t get us, but we didn’t. I focused around me, trying to see if there was any opportunity to get out of this without getting eaten.

I saw a cave in the distance, but we’d never make it in time before the tyrant lizard caught up. If we could just buy some time to run over there...

“Capital, Alya! Run for that cave over there!” I pointed and then snapped my head to Puzzle. “Puzzle! We need to distract that tyrant lizard long enough for the others to get to safety!”

Puzzle’s face wrinkled in consternation. “Are you nuts?! How are we going to distract that thing?!”

“Improvise!” I looked over my shoulder as the tyrant lizard started closing the remaining distance between us. “We can fly but they can’t. We've got options, but they’re going to get killed before they can reach the cave. It’s time to prove if you’re part of the team, or just along for the ride.”

Without waiting for a reply, I snapped out my wings and took to the air. I took a sharp turn and kicked off a tree to reverse my direction, flying right at the tyrant lizard with its waiting jaws. It snapped out at me, but with a quick aileron roll I dodged out of the way and bucked it right under its yellow eye. It winced, more surprised its prey had attacked it than anything, probably. Puzzle wasn’t far behind me to my relief. He went for one of the tyrant lizard’s ankles and slashed with a dagger. The dagger bit into scales, but didn't go deep. His weapon was designed for cutting something the size of an equine, not taking down a monster like that, so at best he just inflicted a paper cut.

Still, while we did not do appreciable damage, the tyrant lizard’s steps faltered as its instincts failed it. Its prey was supposed to run from it, or maybe go into a defensive stance for those able to fight back. The tyrant lizard was a godless killing machine; it hunted, chased down, and killed its prey. Its prey didn’t charge it and go on the attack.

I took advantage of that hesitation by turning and going for the back of its head. I flipped my body and carried through with my momentum to slam my rear hooves into the back of its head. The tyrant lizard’s head gave, slightly, though lightning bolts of pain shot through my legs from the impact. I kicked off the thick hide of the tyrant lizard to get back into the air. The tyrant lizard tried to snap at me, but Puzzle came in again to slash at the back of its knee. The tyrant lizard snapped out at the object of its latest pain and tried to bite down on Puzzle, but he’d aimed his flight such that his only moment of vulnerability was small before he flew beyond those ravenous jaws.

Puzzle and I fell into a pattern, flying around the tyrant lizard, keeping it off balance by attacking its blind spots, and not letting it fully concentrate on either of us. The problem was that we weren’t really hurting it enough to disable it or drive it off, and sooner or later we were going to wear ourselves out. The tyrant lizard’s own stamina was waning too, but we had to keep doing everything perfectly to not get killed. He only had to get lucky once.

Time passed in a blur, there wasn’t anything to do but concentrate on the fight, timing my quick kicks with Puzzle’s slashing blade. But finally I caught the cave out of the corner of my eye, and our companions running into it.

“Time to go!” I yelled to Puzzle. “Get to the cave, I’ll keep this up!” Puzzle opened his mouth to object, but I cut him off. “Just go! I’m faster than you!”

He must have done the math pretty quickly, because he thankfully didn’t stick around to argue about who got to do the big, dumb heroic thing of holding off the tyrant lizard and escaping to the cave last. Puzzle followed through with his last attack and then darted for the cave. Giving him just a couple of seconds head start, I came around and kicked out with a rear leg to land a blow against the back of the knee of the tyrant lizard before making a sharp turn towards the cave.

While the tyrant lizard momentarily hesitated, but its instincts kicked in at the sight of its prey making a run for it and it started chasing after me again. I pumped my wings as fast as they would go, and bobbing and weaving to avoid branches as I hurtled towards the cave. The tyrant lizard didn’t worry about those branches nearly as much as it crashed through them.

The cave quickly started to fill my vision. Puzzle slowed down as he started entering the cave so that he wouldn’t crash right into something. I, on the other hoof, didn’t have nearly as much of a margin of error to work with as the tyrant lizard’s jaws coming precariously close to my tail. It was only as I passed through the threshold into the cave that I slammed on the brakes. My wings snapped out and flapped to try and break my momentum. I only partially succeeded, though my momentum did come to a bone-jarring stop when I slammed into Puzzle’s back. The impact sent both of us tumbling until we struck the far wall of the cave.

Stars swam in my vision as the world kept spinning even after I stopped. I blinked as I reoriented myself, seeing that I was in a awkward pile with Puzzle who groaned in pain. It was then that I saw a critical flaw in my plan to hide in the cave: the cave’s mouth was just big enough for the tyrant lizard’s head to fit into. That became clear as my whole world’s vision became razor sharp fangs that reached out for me. I yelped, and Puzzle and I scrambled to untangle ourselves and flatten against the wall as the tyrant lizard’s teeth came but scant inches away from us, its hot breath washing over us in waves. The tyrant lizard pushed against the cave entrance as it tried to close that precious gap between us.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone move. Alya stepped out from behind a nearby boulder and tossed one of her potions. Her timing was perfect as the vial landed within the tyrant lizard’s mouth. Noxious green gas erupted from the vial, and I nearly retched from the smell. The tyrant lizard was even less happy with this development, jerking its head twice to pull itself free of the cave’s mouth. Once free, it started violently hacking as it stumbled away.

“Over here!” Capital called out to us from further to the side, his back to a passage leading further underground. “He can’t reach you from over here!”

He didn’t have to tell us twice. We both bolted over to where Alya and Capital were standing. Then we stopped short of the passage to catch our breath after the chase and fight.

“Are you two okay?” Alya asked as she looked us over.

“I’m alive,” Puzzle gasped.

I waved her worries off. “Sure thing, never better. Good throw by the way. I don’t think the tyrant lizard liked that one bit.” The tyrant lizard was still hacking and coughing outside, though it sounded like it would survive in the end.

Alya smiled proudly. “You’re welcome. You helped save us, so it seemed only right to return the favor.”

“I won’t complain about that exchange.” Puzzle drew in a deep breath and then straightened himself.

“Same.” I stared into the darkness of the passage. It called out to me and I pulled out a light-gem from my pack to illuminate the way. “Though now I’m curious about what’s down this way.”

Puzzle snorted and shot me a grin. “We just barely escaped death by a tyrant lizard, and the first thing you want to do is explore some cave that might be filled with all sorts of unknown and horrible deaths inside?”

“Well duh,” I said. “Way I see it, we can just sit here and wait for the tyrant lizard to leave, or we can see what we’re dealing with in this cave. If there is something nasty in here then I want to find it before it finds us, if it’s all the same.” I gave him a wry grin. “Unless you want to go outside and ask big and ugly if he’d let us go our way without being eaten. It might even work if you say please and thank you.”

“We’ll keep that as Plan B.” Puzzle pulled out his own light-gem and hooked it on his necklace. “For now, let’s see what we’re working with in this cave. There might even be a back exit.”

“That’s the spirit!” Capital clapped Puzzle on the back hard enough to nearly make him lose his footing. “Onwards and upwards!”

We headed deeper into the cave, with me at the front. We only traveled for about a minute before we reached another cavern within the cave. Stalagmites and stalactites flanked us as we started exploring. Feeling as if I was being pulled forward, I ended up in front of a large pool of water as black as night. It covered about half the large cavern, and there weren’t any other passages or exits to be seen. It looked like a dead end.

“Looks like we won’t be getting out this way,” Capital observed. “Something of a pity.”

“It’s a bit foreboding.” Puzzle picked up a Dromaed’s skull lying off to one side of the cavern. “Especially considering our company.”

Alya’s gaze swept over the cavern as she too failed to find any exit. “So what now?”

“I suggest we take this as an opportunity to eat and get some rest,” Puzzle said, putting the skull back down. “We should have enough time for that, and this place seems safe enough. If we’re fortunate, the tyrant lizard will have grown bored and moved on by the time we’re ready to move again.”

“That sounds reasonable,” I agreed. Though something was nagging me, even if I couldn’t place my hoof on it. Well, I was going to have some time to think about it. We weren’t going anywhere just yet.

This one poked a small mirror out of the mouth of the cavern to look at what was around the corner. What this one got was a mirror full of tyrant lizard. The beast was perched near the cave mouth, like a cat that was waiting for a mouse to come out of its hole. It’d been an hour since we’d run into the cave and we were all ready to get moving again, but the tyrant lizard didn’t look to be in a rush to go anywhere.

This one sighed and put its mirror away. “Don’t you have anywhere else to be?” this one shouted. “There has to be something else bigger and meatier out there to eat, and we’re busy.”

A deep growl from the tyrant lizard in response resonated to the very core of this one’s being, a peturbing feeling to experience, and yet another reminder of just how big that monster was.

“So it’s just waiting there?” Alya asked.

“Sorry to say it is,” this one confirmed. “It doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere soon, and I doubt it’s going to move unless some kind of prey comes by and grabs its attention.”

“So are we going to wait until that happens?” Capital asked. “We have enough food to wait it out.”

This one shook its head. “We might have the food to wait that long, but we don’t have that long before the Dromaed catch up with us. And unlike us, the tyrant lizard isn’t going to be an obstruction to the Dromaed if they have one of their hristak or greenseers coming along. You saw how Strass was able to just talk one of them into going away rather than eating everyone.”

Capital frowned. “That is a problem, yes.”

“What’s the plan, then?” Alya asked. “We can’t wait here, but no way we’ll be able to get past that tyrant lizard as is.”

This one had a few ideas on how to bypass the tyrant lizard, but they were all risky. “Let me go get Daring. She should know the tyrant lizard isn’t going anywhere fast, and I’d like to hear her thoughts on how we might get out of this pickle.”

The others agreed to this, and this one headed back to the other chamber. Daring was standing at the edge of the water, staring down into its inky black depths. She turned her head when this one approached. “What’s the news?”

“The tyrant lizard is still outside waiting to pounce on us,” this one told her. “It’s got us trapped and it knows it. The paranoid part of me worries this might even be some greenseer trap. They do seem to have some sort of connection with this land and its animals, after all.”

The Do-mare pressed her lips together and her gaze returned to the water. “Maybe. But I’m going to guess that you’re with me about how we can’t stay in this cave forever?”

“I would highly recommend against it,” this one confirmed. “We’re in a race, and it’s going to go very badly for us if the Dromaed catch up with us in this cave. We’ll be able to make a fight of it, but I wouldn’t consider it ideal to fight with our backs to the wall and nowhere to run.”

“You said it.” The Do-mare pulled out the greenseer compass and opened it. Its emerald arrow glowed, pointing forward. She snapped it back closed and started pulling off her saddlebags. “I’ve got an idea I want to try. Hold my stuff.”

“What are you—oof!” The Do-mare tossed her bags into this one’s chest, and before this one could object, dove into the black depths of the underground pool. Soon the darkness consumed her from sight, leaving the surface of almost obsidian water smooth and undisturbed. This one waited a minute before it grumbled to itself. “Well, this is going to be awkward to explain if she never comes back.”

“What’s the matter?” Daring nudged Puzzle in the ribs with an elbow. “Worried someone will think you murdered me and dumped my body in the water?”

“The thought did occur to this one,” Puzzle said. “You have no idea how many times this one has been accused of one misdeed or another.”

“Yeah? And how many times was it true?”

Puzzle only replied with a grin.

This one sat on a rock and waited. This one hoped the Do-mare hadn’t gotten herself killed in some pointless manner, but there was the fact she had come out on top despite the long odds of whatever dangerous thing she was doing before.

About half an hour passed before a light appeared in the dark recesses of the pool, and the Do-mare broke the surface several moments later, gasping for breath. This one didn’t move from its seat and spoke with an even tone. “Enjoy your swim?”

The Do-mare smirked at this one as she bobbed in the water. “Yep, the water’s great. You should give it a try.”

“As much as I’d like to get some relief from the heat by going for a swim, we do have the matter of escaping the tyrant lizard and getting to Zihlius.”

“Great, because you can do both.” She swam forward and pulled herself back up onto dry stone. “Hope you’re a good swimmer.”

“Reasonably good,” this one said. “I did grow up on an island, after all. I take it you found something down there? Unless you’ve just made the world record for a pony holding her breath underwater.”

The Do-mare’s fierce grin widened. “Now that you’re going to have to see for yourself.”

This one pushed itself to its hooves. “Being mysterious, are we? You could just tell me what you saw, you know.”

“I could, but that’d be boring.” The Do-mare wrung the water from her mane. “If you’re gonna be my apprentice then you need to have a sense of adventure.”

“And that includes swimming through pitch-black water underground without knowing where the other side ends up?”

“Well maybe not do that blindly,” the Do-mare said. “It’s not like I went spelunking for kicks.”

“I was hoping you weren’t being outright reckless.” This one gestured at the water. “I’m not even quite sure what possessed you to jump in like that.”

“Simple.” The Do-mare pulled out the greenseer compass and opened it. “This thing is supposed to guide any would-be hristak to the City of Giants, and it’s been pulling me along. It’s subtle, but the effect is there.”

This one frowned as it studied the compass, its arrow pointing right at the water. “So it’s doing more than just pointing in the right direction?”

“Definitely.” She closed the compass and put it back around her neck. “And you've got to think about it from the greenseers’ perspective. This is supposed to be one big test for the hristak. That means putting them through the wringer to prove they’re up for doing the job. The compass led me here, and I got the sense I had to keep moving forward. So I thought about how bravery would be something a hsitak would need, in addition to physical prowess, and then I jumped in to see what was down there. It’s not like the compass would just lead its bearer to a dead end.”

“That’s an awfully dangerous leap of logic,” this one mused. “All sorts of bad things could have happened to you if you were wrong.”

“Sometimes you need to follow your instincts and take a leap of faith.” Daring shot this one a fierce grin. “And I have pretty good instincts.”

“You’re not dead, so there is that.” This one started stretching out its limbs to prepare for a swim. “Though this better be a manageable swim. I’m not inclined to drown myself after coming this far.”

The Do-mare slapped this one’s back. “Danger is part of the business. You should know that.”

We got the others, and thankfully the Alya-mare had a pair of water breathing potions for herself and the Idea-stallion. That left this one and the Do-mare to swim without magical assistance—well, if you didn’t count the fact that this one is a shapeshifter. The Do-mare gave us instructions for how to proceed and, as seemed to be her way, led the way by jumping back into the black depths first.

This one followed not long after. The gem hanging from this one's neck served as the only source of light in the dark depths. The water was cool, especially in comparison to the hot and humid air of the jungle, and it was a welcome relief. This one swam down deeper into the pool, and once this one was confident it was deep enough that no one could see it, transformed into a seapony. The Do-mare managed to traverse this pool without any kind of magic, but this one preferred to play it safe.

This one searched near the bottom of the pool and found the hole in the rock the Do-mare had described. Large enough for this one to fit through without too much trouble, this one pushed forward. The hole continued for a time, and this one wasn’t exactly thrilled when it ran across the skeletal remains of a Dromaed. It seemed not all the would-be hristak succeeded in their quest. That made this one wonder what other dangers must be in front of this one. It would have been nice if the dangers in the jungle and this underwater trip were the only things we had to worry about, but this one doubted it. The hristak seemed to be made of sterner stuff, and it seemed unlikely the Dromaed would warn us off from the City of Giants just due to some old superstitions.

This one reached the end of the tunnel, to no small relief on this one’s part. This one was a good swimmer, even discounting its ability to transform, but there was a big difference between swimming along the beach during the day and swimming deep in darkness underground. This one emerged in a new pool, and transformed back to its zony form before breaking the surface again.

The Do-mare, still damp from having taken another plunge, grinned at this one while sitting on a rock. “About time you showed up. You didn’t get lost did you?”

“Hardly.” This one pulled itself onto the stone of a new cavern. “I just decided to take my time and enjoy the view... What I could actually see, anyways.”

“If you think that’s cool, then you haven’t seen anything yet.” The Do-mare hopped off her rock and motioned for this one to follow. “Come on, you have to see this.” This one opened its mouth, but the Do-mare cut this one off. “And no smart aleck comment about how I can just tell you what’s up ahead. Some things are just better seen than heard about.”

This one decided it would just be best to follow her as she led the way through a passageway. It was a long walk, taking about fifteen minutes before we reached the end of the passage and emerged into the sunlight once again. This one blinked against the bright light and was forced to shade its eyes. We stood on a small plateau of moss-covered stone that overlooked a river valley.

But it was what stood in the center of that valley that caught this one’s attention: poking out from the jungle canopy was a dozen of the Dromaed-style pyramids, each one dwarfing any structure we had seen thus far during our journey and sitting near the river that had carved out the valley. A more careful look spotted yet more pyramids and other buildings nestled between the larger pyramids. The city had been nearly wholly reclaimed by the jungle, but there was no mistaking there was indeed a city here—or at least the forsaken ruins of one.

The Do-mare was standing just outside the mouth of the cave, a wide grin on her face. “So, what do you think? Pretty great, isn’t it?”

“It’s certainly intriguing.” This one’s gaze swept over the valley and Zihlius itself. “Let’s see if this city is worth all the trouble we went through to get here.”

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.