He must have been concentrating intensely, because his emotion soaked her as if she were caught in a rainstorm. It reminded her of ryuu magic, but while that was intoxicating, this was something more, like drinking lightning and the night sky, their brightness and darkness filling her at the same time. These were Daemon’s rawest feelings, unfiltered, and even though Sora didn’t know the thoughts that lay behind them, this was still the closest she’d ever been to anyone, even him. She wanted to keep drinking in this feeling of being one with somebody else, where it wasn’t just about him or her but about them, together.

I’ll find my way back to you, she thought.

But that would happen only after she finished this mission. So with Daemon holding on to her through their gemina bond, Sora refocused on one thing alone—getting to the trap door.

Instead of swimming through the thick water and using precious energy, she tucked her legs into her chest, released a little bit of air from her lungs, and let herself sink slowly like a rock. She swallowed to clear her ears as she descended deeper into the lake. Only when she stopped sinking did Sora jackknife herself and start swimming to the door.

She grabbed on to the heavy iron ring on the front and planted her feet against the lake bottom, which was as frozen as the ice caves above. She allowed herself a couple seconds of rest. I made it. I defied the Lake of Nightmares. I’m still alive.

But that was only half the plan—there was still important work to do.

Broomstick had invented a super adhesive that was waterproof, and Sora smeared it onto one of the bombs. She glued it right next to the trap door’s top hinge, then stuck another one on the bottom hinge. There were four bombs left on her belt.

Matches wouldn’t light underwater, but thankfully she didn’t need to rely on traditional fuses. Sora swam a safe distance away and commanded the ryuu particles to ignite the bombs on the door.

There was a pause, then dual hisses as the magical flame traveled down the length of the fuses.

One of them sputtered.

Light it again, Sora ordered. The emerald particles obeyed swiftly.

The first fuse was nearly at its end. Sora braced herself. The bomb exploded, and the shock waves threw her backward along the glacial bottom of the lake. For a second, she lost her hold on her gemina bond, and the vision of her power-hungry smirk leeched into her brain.

But then the second bomb went off, and the vibrations from its explosion shook her back into focus.

The top hinge was blasted apart completely. The bottom hinge was only mangled, though, and the trap door itself remained stubbornly in place. Also, the impact of both explosions had knocked most of the air out of Sora’s lungs.