The Molten Pit.
Without a dragon or beast familiar to the landscape, or a Rider whose markings activate the runes, the passage is nearly impossible to navigate in a timely manner before something on the outskirts snaps you up for food.
Upon leaving the labyrinth with the assistance of the glowing runes, the tall stones of the maze form a ceiling at their furthest point from the trench where they started. The rocks meld to create a tunnel, then onward. The tunnel is one of many that leave the labyrinth, but only two lead onward to the Water Nation's core. The other smaller passages cycle back into one another or serve as dead ends for wanderers to become trapped in. The primary tunnel is large enough to let dragons of many sizes pass and continues for an indeterminate amount of time in the dark. The water that was once chilly to the bone starts to warm up at this point, little by little. A glowing light begins to show details of the tunnel, until it opens up to a sight.
Down below the tunnel entrance, a molten pit bubbles and drips as magma settles and stirs within it. The crash site of sorts is nothing new it seems, as some of the stones further away had begun to grow new coral and aquatic plants, even when so deep in the ocean. Schools of fish and larger predators seem to coexist at this point, hovering above the warmth of the magma but well-adapted over the years, miraculously to live in the near-tropical climate.
The site is nothing natural with the way the magma has not cooled in who knows how many years. It looks like an impact zone, but how it might have happened is another question entirely.
The Rune Tunnel
Once again, there are many passages around this impact zone. Most are dwellings for fish and other life, others are shallow caverns that lead nowhere. The only point moving forward that can fit a dragon is just below the entry point and to the right, where another tunnel begins. Much like the labyrinth, this tunnel is lined with runes that are destined to glow at the presence of an associated dragon or a Rider bearing a mark. The magic grows stronger at this point to allow thoughts to pass freely, echoing and bouncing off the rune walls, letting even air-breathing creatures speak.
The tunnel carries on for a distance before it starts to become an incline upwards at the last portion. A dim, warm light starts to show up ahead.
The cliff base that looms behind the rocky entrance is littered with subtle glowing lights. The structures settled on the rocky terrain were oriental in nature, suspended in the water, no different than if it were air. The sea life flourishes around the rocky edges and buildings, most of which hold a dull glow to their window panes. Down below in the trench, it looks to resemble the molten pit, but the glowing below was more attuned to energy flowing up to its source.
The glowing lights show life in some form. The pagoda-like buildings show promise of human activity... or human-like in the least. As for the dragons... just where are they?
