A deep, hollow gurgle resonated beneath the glassy surface of the underground lake.
The redirected river on the surface had created a powerful siphon vacuum through the northern gypsum fissures.
Now, the subterranean drainage channels were pulling water backward with tremendous hydraulic force.
Thick clouds of white salt-silt, pale mineral crust, and dead calcified algae were swept up from the lake bed.
The swirling current acted like an enormous underwater broom.
It scoured centuries of chalky sediment away from the cavern floor, flushing the debris down the deep southern sinkholes.
Within two hours, the turquoise water turned crystal clear.
Fifty yards beneath the surface, illuminated by the soft azure glow of the spirit-spring, an enormous shape emerged from the rock. Its tallest spikes rose to within twenty feet of the waterline.
