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obviously man-made; somebody had carved a giant symbol into the ceiling. It looked like this:
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    Alfonso recognized it at once. It was the symbol of Dormia.

CHAPTER 6
THE CRYPT
    A LFONSO PADDLED WEAKLY to the far end of the cavern, where the water ended in a small pebble beach. He slumped to the ground and lay motionless on his back, enormously relieved to be alive. He stared at the walls and ceiling of this underground cavern and marveled at how they glowed from below, as if the ocean floor were pulsing with electric light. His eyes then centered on the symbol of Dormia.
Who had carved this and why?
    Alfonso stood up and double-checked that the sphere was still in his pocket. He glanced around the small cavern and noticed an entranceway nestled in the darkest corner. The stone inlay was covered with intricate geometric carvings, and the entrance opened into a long tunnel that appeared to be lit with a long procession of oil lamps. Alfonso couldn't imagine who had lit these lamps or where the oil had come from, but he was too overwhelmed to think critically about any of this. One thing was clear: he was going to enter the tunnel. There was simply no way that he was going back into the water.
    The air in the tunnel was cool and damp, like the basement of a house. Combined with his wet clothes, it made Alfonso shiver. He walked cautiously along the passageway as it angled slightly upward. Once or twice he thought that he might have heard footsteps behind him, and he stopped abruptly in order to listen, but he was repeatedly greeted by silence. His mind undoubtedly was playing tricks on him.
    After he'd walked for about ten minutes, the tunnel emerged into a rectangular room with fifty-foot vaulted ceilings. The room was as long as a city block and empty except for a series of twenty stone shelves embedded in a far corner. A few oil lamps illuminated the room, although the floor remained hidden in shadow. The walls of the room were engraved with a large pictograph, which was repeated many times. The pictograph contained three ornately detailed images: a silver pen, a vine containing many clusters of berries, and a bolt of lightning that was striking a tree.
    Alfonso walked across the room to the stone shelves. Each shelf was stacked with a dozen or so wooden boxes that were a foot long by a foot wide. The boxes were made of sturdy rosewood that gleamed when Alfonso brushed away the thick layer of dust that covered them. He took one box down from the shelf. It smelled fragrant and vaguely familiar. The top of the box was engraved with the same three images that were on the walls. He tried to open the box, but it was locked, or at least sealed very tightly. "This thing must open," Alfonso muttered to himself, as he tried again. This time he pressed with all his might and the lid sprang open.
    Inside the box, nestled securely in a wooden clasp, sat a small glass vial containing a thick, shimmering blue liquid. Two small gold-colored objects that appeared to be seeds were on either side of the vial. Something was weird about the seeds. Alfonso peered closer and let out a small cry of surprise. The seeds were floating about two inches above the floor of the box. They appeared to be completely weightless. He reached into the box and touched one of the seeds with his index finger. It began to vibrate and then spin rapidly. He withdrew his hand, carefully shut the lid, and tucked the box under his arm. "Very cool," murmured Alfonso. "This is coming with me."
    He continued to explore the crypt and was relieved to discover a series of solid-bronze handrails leading up one side of the crypt toward a wooden trapdoor. Hopefully this was a way out. Nearby the closest handrail, a massive slab of wood was lying on the floor. It looked like a giant door that had toppled over. Several long knives were scattered across the surface.
    Alfonso approached the wood slab and saw that the names of dozens of people were carved on it, along with