Chapter Twenty Three: The Bottom Of Paradise

It had taken some time but finally, Lysette and Ally were nearing the bottom of the Well. They had both waited so long for it and Lysette braced herself for a heavy impact but instead, simply floated down into the water below, ever so gently.

" Well, I can't say I'm that surprised" Lysette sighed as Ally began giggling.

" You said Well" she continued to laugh which recieved a slight chuckle from Lysette.

As they both gazed at the bottom for the Well, they found a crystallized chamber of sorts with hundreds of tunnels aligning the walls. A bright blue pool resided where they were now standing and only came up to just below the knees. It was quite the spectacle to behold but they were there on a mission. They needed to find the correct path to the water so that Ally could drink from it.

" Which way to go? " Ally proposed a good question, one Lysette simply did not have an answer too.

" I guess we should try go get our bearings a little first and maybe we can find a clue or something that would point us in the direction of it"

They both looked around for a short time but managed to find absolutely nothing of the sorts that would identify where they were suppose to go. Though, after some more time of searching they could hear a faint voice in the distance coming from one of the tunnels.

" I wonder if that's Heika" Lysette thought as she carried Ally to the tunnel which contained the source of the voice. It was one of the thousands of tunnels and looked no different from the rest but they believed it would be worth investigating and began making their way through the large opening and ventured their way through it.

Luckily, the tunnels were illuminated by bright crystals, glowing a beautiful array of different colors. They were able to navigate the tunnel pretty easily but after walking for a few hours, realized that the voice did not seem to get louder..it seemed just the same as it had from the start.

" We may not even be going in the right direction.." Lysette was dissapointed in her lack of ability to track down the voice properly but Ally seemed assured that they would find the source.

" We have to keep going. It has to lead somewhere, right? " and with that, they continued to make their way through the tunnel.

After a long while of walking, they eventually came to a giant opening, a strange and yet beautiful meadow resided within the center of the tunnel and both were completely shocked.

The grass was blue, and from it, sprouted several colorful mushrooms and a wide variety of plants that Lysette had never seen before.

" I'm assuming that this is where the herbs are. Which is unfortunately, not what we needed" Sighed Lysette.

" But it is where Rosha said Heika would be " Ally pointed out, which comforted the old Wolf.

" The problem is, I don't see Heika anywhere" Lysette and Ally looked around but saw no sign of the witch and who they assumed to posses the voice that they had heard.

" I don't understand how the heck you are suppose to navigate a place like this. There are practically no scents whatsoever so it's impossible to track anything" Lysette was an excellent tracker but she found it difficult to find anything down here within the Well.

Just as they made their way to the center of the clearing, a loud rumbling began to shake the entire meadow. Lysette prepared to make a run for it so that she could keep Ally save but as she looked around, she could see that the walls were moving around them. But as she looked closer, she realized that there were not walls, but instead scales of some type. Lysette akined them to resembling a serpent. And just as the rumbling came to a cease, a giant head popped out from the ground, and it was a serpent head, much to the dismay of Lysette.

The serpent was enormous, it's head alone stretched for what seemed like miles, and it's sheer breathe, flung nature around as though a tornado has bursted into the cavern. It's eyes were a deep, bright purple and it smiled widely with is rainbow illuminous scales.

" Who are you to seek the herbs of Gandavar? " The serpent called out in a thunderous tone.

"Um actually..we aren't seeking herbs. We came to seek the water. Cause I'm sick " Ally explained in the softest and most inoccent of voices.

The serpent leaned forward so that it could get a better look at the small child who spoke to it.

" Ahh...well you have ventured into the wrong place. You should have taken tunnel number Eighty four thousand three hundred and thirty two" the serpent explained in a friendly tone.

" We didn't realize they were numbered" Ally admitted.

" Yes, it can be quite difficult to navigate I must admit. But I have been here since the beginning of time and I know these tunnels well" the serpent laughed.

" Could you show us the way? " Ally asked, as Lysette stared on in complete disbelief.

" I can, I have gotten to stretch in quite some time and could use the execercise " The Seperent layed his head to the ground so that it would ne easier for them to climb upon him.

" So your name Is Gandavar? " Ally asked whilst Lysette lept from the ground and on to the serpanrs lower lip, which was several hundreds of feet in the air, before leaping again to the nose.

" Yes, and I am the keeper of the herbs" Gandavar responded.

" I'm gonna call you Gandy. My name is Ally and it's nice to meet you" Ally smiled which made the serpent chuckle.

" It is nice to meet you child. And that is fine with me" Gandy responded as he lifted his head and turned to face the tunnel on the other side of the meadow.

" So why is a serpent guarding herbs? " Lysette finally spoke.

" Well, These herbs are sacred and need to be protected from vermin and parasites" Gandy explained.

" There use to be a whole assortment of creatures that would come to this place and feast upon its boons. And I was placed here, to protect the herbs so that they could thrive" Gandy added.

" Who placed you here? " Lysette asked.

" I do not remember for that was so long ago. But it has been said that I was born of energy and not of any creature. And that it is my purpose to dwell here within the Well" Gandy answered which only brought even more questions to mind as the serpent moved through the tunnels with ease.

" Who told you this? " Lysette inquired, knowing about the Well slightly but having never heard of a serpent.

" I believe it is the one you call " Santa Claus" Gandy answered which confused Lysette even more.

" That...cannot be correct. Are you sure the name was not something else? " Lysette thought of the humans stories of the Jolly creature that would deliver presents to children, knowing that this tradition never made it to the Underworld.

" It was Saint..Saint something" Gandy thought long and hard on this but could not remember.

" There are no saints here either. I'm wondering if they gave you a false name" Lysette knew that whoever told Gandy of his origin, they did not originate in the Underworld. There were far too many earthly references which concerned her.

" Saint Chlorine" Gandy pondered.

" I'm going to doubt that as well " Lysette sighed in dissappintment.

" I do not remember, I should ask my brother..he would know " and with that, the snake changed directions into another tunnel.

" Your brother? How many are there of you? " Lysette was surprised that a collection of giant ancient serpents could reside within the center of the Underwolrd however, stranger things have happened.

They arrive at another large chamber, and this one was filled with what looked to be ancient pottery of some sort.

" Lalafyr" Gandy called out as an equally giant Serpent rose from the darkness of shattered pots, this one was colored orange"

" Who told us of our origin? " Gandy questioned his brother who seemed just as confused as Lysette.

" Admiral Bagel" the serpent answered.

" That can't be right either" Lysette face palmed in defeat.

" I'm going to call you LaLa" Ally shouted at the orange serpent who took notice of the small girl.

" Oh look at you! So tiny! " Lala smiled widely.

" I am taking my new friends to the healing waters. My friend Ally here is very sick and she needs the waters" Gandy explained.

" Well we can't have such a small little thing so sick..you best get to the waters in a hurry " Lala slide his tongue out briefly but it was the Size of almost half of the Lycan Kingdom.

" I agree, we will be on our way" And with that, Gandy turned around and carried them back through the tunnel.