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The initial search went better than expected as Lilie lifted all of the water from the pool. While he did not find anything glittering, Ben did see the small hole. Excellent, this must be what the riddle spoke of. He ignored his dripping clothes as he approached the hole with great caution. It seemed he could crawl through it with little trouble, fortunately, although before he could he heard an eerie sound emitting from the golden light. He was certain it was a woman sobbing. Was someone in distress? Perhaps they would be what they were searching for.

The idea of crawling through a secret tunnel reminded him of his youth, long ago when he was a boy that dreamed of adventure. Of course in his imagination the paths were filled with thorns and other danger. He sincerely hoped it would not be the case here as he got down on his knees, using his elbows to move forward. No sooner was he completely in when the ghastly sound of grinding shook him—he was not proud to admit that he had let loose a multitude of expletives that would have earned him a great scolding at home—and remained still. Being crushed to death hadn't been something he had anticipated nor was he fond of finding out whether or not he would survive it. He did not wait to see what would happen as he hastily backed out and found the noise growing in size.

Fortunately the noise stopped. However, nothing in his surroundings had changed. Had Lilie triggered something? Ben took a few steps back as he looked for his mage. No footsteps, no water splashing around, and on honing in his hearing, no breathing, either. 

[color=C0C0C0]"Lilie?"[/color] He called.

There was no response. The only thing he could think was that she had encountered trouble in her search. Scaling the cliff had initially come to mind, but he had to admit that it was mostly a jest. After rolling up his sleeves further, he would climb up to no mage on the second pool. Where in the world had she gone to? Had she gone up without him? He had seen something shining on the third pool, but that had been much too obvious, and no doubt that was the part of the riddle that had warned them. Once he had hoisted himself to the third pool, he was surprised to see the koi fish gone. Something had changed, but why? He swore he saw something moving in the water, but it wasn't until he thought he spotted a spot of white that a horrible thought occurred to him—Lilie had done something to the koi fish and it had dragged her under. 

Ben had dove in without a second thought; in the best case scenario, she wasn't there and he would simply swim back to the surface and continue his search. His initial instinct had proven correct as a multitude of bodies floated around what looked like the pillar that had been previously above the water, with that streak of white belonging to Lilie. It was not until he was closer that he noticed he recognized some of the people around her: his servants, his mages, his Geoffrey, all lifeless. The only movement came from one that still lived and clutching their throats for air, none other than his youngest mage, Noah. A truly disturbing sight and the challenge had every intention to bring Lilie into the club judging by her struggling. 

He had to ignore the other bodies but had found himself avoiding them, joining the girl as he saw what kept her there. A black shark had her hand pinned and lifting it was no easy feat for mortal or even vampire. No, it was impossible for any human, even he struggled trying to push it off her hand. Of course now was not the time for conjecture as he was certain she'd run out of oxygen at any moment, and with one final push freed her. Unintentionally making eye contact with the dying Noah, he mentally apologized as he took a hold of Lilie and swam upwards. The pair broke through the surface, her gasps and coughs a relief to hear. He brought them both to the grass, pulling the girl out of the water completely.

[color=C0C0C0]"Are you alright?"[/color] He asked.