She grimaced, fighting me every step. ‘‘I’m the one who’s supposed to be protecting you.’’

Cyrene watched silently, treading water about ten feet offshore, as I alternately coaxed, pulled, and ultimately threatened Maata into the water. I thought she was going to come unglued when I had to force her head under the water so we could dive. She started struggling with me and probably would have done a good job of drowning me if Cyrene hadn’t come up from behind and grabbed her neck, putting enough pressure on Maata’s carotid artery to effectively knock her out. I slapped my hand over Maata’s mouth and grabbed the back of her shirt, while Cyrene did the same to her nose. We took deep breaths and dived down into the murky darkness of the lake, hauling Maata with us.

She started coming to just before we surfaced, damned near climbing my body in order to escape the water. By the time I hauled myself and her out onto a rocky outcropping, I was exhausted and bruised from the struggle with her.

‘‘Sorry,’’ Maata gasped, crawling backwards to get her legs out of the water. ‘‘I tried; I really tried.’’

‘‘Not your fault,’’ I said, catching my breath. ‘‘I’m just glad I took Cyrene with me to a martial arts class a couple of decades ago.’’

‘‘I was top in the class at the sleeper hold,’’ she said proudly, flipping on a small flashlight, the light from it flickering around our little cave.

And it was a little cave, with a low ceiling that was supported by wooden struts that looked like they’d seen better days. A little twinge of claustrophobia gripped me as I got to my feet and did my best to wring out my clothes. The air was cold enough to make me shiver, but I put my discomfort out of my mind as I looked around.

‘‘There’s the stream,’’ Cyrene said, flashing the light on a small stream that had cut into the earth to empty out into the lake. A narrow ledge ran alongside it, providing a passageway that dissolved into blackness.

Maata lifted her head and smelled the air. It was musty and smelled of damp earth. ‘‘Dragons have been here.’’

‘‘Recently?’’ I asked, looking for footprints in the damp earth next to the stream. There were none.

‘‘No. But I feel it. They are nearby.’’

Cyrene pointed the light up the passageway. It didn’t penetrate the darkness very far. ‘‘Er . . . you go first,’’ she said, shoving the flashlight into my hands.

‘‘Chicken,’’ I murmured, scooting past her to take the lead.

‘‘You’re the one with all the deadly skills,’’ she pointed out, taking up the tail as Maata marched behind me.

We saw nothing more disturbing than rats and a few scattered animal bones before we came to a sharp corner. The stream disappeared into a culvert, the narrow ledge broadening to a more walkable pathway. I stopped, examining something that flashed overhead. ‘‘Someone has strung electric lights here. Should we chance turning them on?’’

‘‘Oh, yes, please,’’ Cyrene said, rubbing her arms against the chill air. ‘‘Anything is better than walking in the dark.’’

‘‘Better not,’’ Maata said. ‘‘Just in case someone is down here.’’

‘‘She has a point,’’ I said, and continued up the path until we came to a point where the passage divided. ‘‘Great. Left or right?’’

Maata smelled the air in both passages and shrugged. ‘‘No idea.’’

‘‘Cy?’’ I asked.

She shook her head. ‘‘The water is deep in the earth here. That’s all I can tell you.’’

I tossed a mental coin and headed up the right path. ‘‘We can always turn around and come back if we have to.’’

‘‘Assuming we can find our way back,’’ Cyrene said in a morbid voice.

‘‘Stop being so pessimistic. It hasn’t been bad so far, and there are lights we can turn on if the batteries die . . . oh.’’ Our passageway came to an abrupt end in the form of a pile of debris. ‘‘I guess we go back the other way.’’

I had turned around and taken a step back the way we came when Maata stopped me. ‘‘We should go this way.’’

‘‘Why?’’

She stood stock still for a few seconds. ‘‘I sense anger. Intense anger.’’

‘‘You think someone is near us?’’ I asked in a whisper, unable to keep from glancing around. There was nothing to see but rocks, dirt, and broken wood from where the supporting struts had splintered.

‘‘Yes.’’

I flashed the meager light on the obstruction. ‘‘That’s all well and fine, but we’ll have to take the other passage. We can’t get through this mess.’’

Maata’s teeth flashed in the dim light. She patted a bit of rock emerging from the debris. ‘‘I may not be good in underwater adventuring, but this is the earth. It knows me and will heed my wishes. Stand back, the pair of you. I’ll ask the earth to allow us to pass.’’

To my amazement, she did as she promised. Cyrene and I watched as she managed to clear a hole at the top of the debris pile seemingly effortlessly, just as if the earth was obliging her.

‘‘It’s too bad you’re a dragon,’’ Cyrene said admiringly as Maata stepped back and dusted off her hands. ‘‘You’d have made a great elemental being.’’

‘‘Some say the first dragon sprang from an elemental being, which is why all dragons have an affinity for one element. I think we can get through that opening if we’re careful.’’

I eyed the hole she’d made at the top of the debris, feeling more than a little bit claustrophobic, but told myself if I could subject Maata to the horrors of water, I could survive skinnying through a small hole deep in the earth.

We made it through unscathed, and continued our careful ascent up the passageway when it became obvious that we were approaching a lit area. I shadowed and crept ahead of Maata and Cyrene, pausing as the passageway made a sharp turn.

Before me was a door, partially opened, and a large collection of crates. I made my silent way around them and peered through the door into a bedroom.

Voices, indistinguishable in gender and identity, were audible through the closed door opposite.