Lili, sword and shield plunged into the depths of the lower lake, leaving no sign of their descent, save for the hazel wand which floated on the surface; a buoy marking Lili's point of entry into the frigid and stagnant water. The Undines tried to peer over the damn in search of their would-be hero but they, like the water which was their home, were trapped above the damn and could not get to Lili to help her.

Meanwhile, Lili had plunged to the very bottom of the lower lake and become hopelessly entangled in the thick weeds on the lake bottom. Struggling to free herself, Lili had used up most of her breath and become totally disoriented in the process. She was trapped and out of air and had no idea which way to swim even if she could break free.

The waters of the lower lake closed in on Lili. Devoid of the spirits of the Undines, trapped in the river high above, the lower lake seemed intent to take Lili's life in exchange, and Lili knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt this time, that this was the end.

Then Lili caught a flickering light out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head and saw a red glow which gradually increased in strength, showing itself to be the tip of Lili's wand, floating on the surface of the water above her! The wand's glow continued to grow until it illuminated the entire lake, and Lili saw that her sword spun in the weeds beside her, just at the edge of her reach.

Lili reached for her sword and used it to cut herself free of the weeds. She spotted her shield nearby, not flat on the lake bottom as she would have expected it to be, but tilted up on one edge, as if it too tried to reach the surface but could not quite make it.

As much as Lili had come to value her gift from the Gnomes, she was close to fainting from lack of oxygen at this point and feared that she would need to leave her shield behind or not make it up to the surface herself. Then she saw the source of the shield's buoyancy. A silver orb lay trapped within the curvature of the shield. A bubble of air!

Lili reached for her shield, careful to keep its concave side facing down so that the air would not escape. She plunged her face into the welcoming bubble and gulped in a huge breath before kicking off from the bottom of the lake and swimming strongly towards the guiding light of her wand.