I gently held on the the soaked fur at the end of Kintes's tail. We kicked our feet and propelled each other through the clear water.

     The tunnel eventually led into a huge underwater cave. There were strange bioluminescent plants and algae all along the floor that illuminated the cave with bright greens and blues. It was beautiful.

     But we needed air.

     We all broke away from each other to search for an air pocket of some kind. The panic in our eyes was clear: there are no pockets of air.

     Deltul was obviously the most desperate, as his face was turning a deep violet. He dove to the bottom of the cave, inspected one of the plants, and put his mouth on the tube leading off the plant.

     As he inhaled, the strange bubble plant shrunk. Deltul looked back to all of us with a large smile. The plants had breathable air.

     We all took breaths at our leisure to any plants nearby. Our heads stopped spinning and our ears stopped pounding with the lack of oxygen.

We swam on...

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The cave was getting darker as we progressed, as fewer plant life grew in these colder waters. With little light and no way to breath fire, we started getting worried again.

It was clear the fourth challenge was ahead, but how can we possibly defeat something we can't see?

We have to go, I mouthed to the others.

Deltul nervously shook his head.

Nota kept watching the pitch blackness in front of our snouts. Zepth's right.

There's no other way forward, Kintes added.

I went first, cautiously pulling my paws back to move forward in the water.

Wait here, I told them before completely entering the solid darkness. Like I walked through a wall of intense fog, the others disappeared from view.

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My golden eyes desperately searched the water for something, anything. It was reflex to know my surroundings.

But there was nothing to see. Panic rippled down my spine. This was the challenge, and something had to be down here with me.

I swallowed my rising fears, knowing the others couldn't stay waiting for me forever. I pushed on, in the direction I thought was forward.

I heard bubbles in the distance. It could be an air pocket, or something exhaling...

But I wasn't going to stay long enough to find out. I swam on, ignoring my instincts telling me to turn back.

Something was in front of me. I couldn't tell what it was, but I could feel it. A single patch of bioluminescent algae barely lit it enough for me to tell what it was. My eyes widened and I fought the urge to scream.

There was a large rib cage buried halfway in the sand. A whole new wave of terror pounding in my veins.

I had to get out now, and I was in too far to turn back. Oxygen was my top priority at the moment.

So I kicked through the water with every screaming muscle, and forced myself forward.

And then my head surfaced, and I hungrily gulped the air. Pulling myself out of the cold water, I rested my freezing body on the warm stone of the cave. It was illuminated by torches along the wall.

I had to send the others a signal that I was alright, and they had to go through. Looking around, there was nothing to use.

So I opened my jaw, inhaled as much as I could, and roared with every bit of energy I could. The walls of the cave shook, and pebbles crumpled down. The cave seemed sturdy enough to hold, though. I just hope the others heard...