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Macey cringed. Maybe it was a good idea after all to have another person with them who wasn't directly involved.
"Okay," she admitted. "But try and keep back, no matter what happens once we touch the crystal."
The selkie nodded. "Of course. But again, how do we get down there? I don't fancy jumping."
Cam laughed. "Wind Warden, at your service. Who'd like to be first?"
When nobody volunteered, Macey sighed and stepped forward. "I trust you," she told him with a smile. But please don't let me fall nonetheless."
He chuckled. "Stand by the hole and keep your arms close to your body. Call when you're at the bottom, then I'll send the next person down."
She did as he'd asked. Before she could even say something, she was gently lifted into the air. It was strange; she couldn't feel anything holding her, not even something beneath her feet. She'd expected an air cushion or something like that to stand on, but no, it was as if she was floating weightlessly. It was a strange feeling and she wasn't quite sure if she liked it.
She hovered over to her right until she was straight above the hole. She refused to look down. Not that she was suffering from vertigo, but she didn't want to tempt it either.
Slowly, she sank down into the earth, descending through the dark tunnel Jared had created. It was wide enough that she could have reached out to touch the walls, but she kept Cam's warning in mind and resisted the temptation.
She only looked down once the shaft widened and she entered the cave.
It looked just like it had earlier that day, except that there was slightly less water surrounding the pedestal. The tide had to be out, which was a good omen. No drowning this time, hopefully. Flint would feel more comfortable soon, being surrounded by more air than water. She really didn't understand his aversion to water. Sure, it was the opposite element of fire, but her element was water and she didn't feel uncomfortable around fire.
When she landed softly on the stone slab the pedestal stood on, she called for Cam to lower the next one down into the cave.
Amber arrived with a smile on her face. "It's strange to fly without flying," she said to Macey as they waited for the others. "I think I enjoyed it."
Izban didn't look as happy as her, and neither did Jared. Flint had some trouble squeezing through the final bit of the shaft, but he didn't seem to mind his shirt being a little muddy. Rónán whooped as he was lowered down by Cam, obviously not used to such magic. Macey was wondering whether selkies had any magic of their own, besides the ability to shift into seals. She was going to have to ask him later, once their task was done.
Cam himself flew down fast, almost falling, only stopping when he was inches away from hitting the ground.
They all assembled around the pedestal. The stone slab below was just big enough to let them stand on it without getting wet feet. As promised, Rónán stayed back a little, letting the Wardens form a circle around the crystal. It looked just as it had before: beautiful and glistening in the light coming through the hole in the ceiling.
"I'm not sure what is going to happen once we all touch it," Macey warned as she put her hands on the crystal. "Maybe we'll all be in the same place, maybe we'll each have to fight Self-Doubt on our own. Don't forget that you're strong. We all are. We don't have any reason to doubt ourselves. There's a reason we were chosen as Wardens, so let's prove that we can defeat this evil thing."
"Well said," Cam smiled and placed his hands next to Macey's. "Let's show that if you mess with one of us, you will feel the wrath of all seven Wardens."
The others didn't seem interested in doing heroic speeches, and simply touched the crystal.
"What now?" Jared asked, but a second later, Macey was pulled by her navel and pushed into darkness.
Seven stone thrones... she knew this place! Macey got up from the floor where she had landed and looked around for the others. All of them were here, by her side, either on the ground or in the process of getting up while swaying slightly. Izban seemed close to throwing up.
"Is this the place you were dreaming of?" Amber asked in wonder, walking to the nearest stone throne and running a finger over the smooth surface.
"Yes, but back then, there were people here."
This time, the thrones were empty. They were alone.
"Do you think we need to sit on them?" Flint asked, walking to the one next to Amber's.
Macey shrugged. "I don't see why not. Maybe something will happen then? This isn't what I experienced earlier. It was all very different then, shinier and less dark. No room but a tunnel. Well, it wasn't at all like this."
"I'll take the biggest one," Jared shouted and ran over to the one furthest away from where they had landed. Macey laughed when she saw his enthusiasm. It was good to have some humour in this strange place.
She took one on Amber's right. It was made from black marble, the dark stone interlaced with silver-grey strands. She hesitantly sat down on it, but in the end, it was just a chair. A very fancy, stone chair that was in a throne room. She ignored that bit, it was too strange.
Hadn't the former Warden in her vision said that one day, this throne room would appear for them all? She just hadn't expected it to be this soon. And why did they need thrones?
Cam was the last to sit down, looking down at his seat in bewilderment. "It says Camdan on the headrest," he told the others. "But it appeared out of nowhere."
