In the Earth Tower, Lakshmi and Skye struggle with a strange staircase that seems to be frustrating their efforts to move up or down, while Lochinvar trusses up the "not-quite-grok" guard animal outside. At last, when Lochinvar comes inside, they solve the problem by having Lochinvar walk in one direction on the staircase, moving them down to the bottom, and then he flies down … after tripping off a lever that apparently "turns off" this particular obstacle, which he finds up at the top of the stairs.

Down at the bottom, there is an overgrown garden with several golden statues. While Skye pokes around some windows, he opens a leafy "window" up a bit, and sunlight falls on a statue of a curious creature that looks something like a creen with butterfly wings and fur. The statue comes to life, and Lakshmi finds herself a new little friend.

They go up the stairs, finding a room with six gargoyles in it, and an urn with six stones. They puzzle over the purpose of the stones and the gargoyles, and at last decide to put one stone into the mouth of each gargoyle. This seems to disarm an unseen trap, and they safely make it through the door to the next room.

In the next room, full of sharp crystal shards, they find five crystal columns, each having a different stone imbedded in it. Touching a column causes it to raise or lower. When they get the columns to the position of having the "coral column" down, and all the others raised, another passageway opens. This one leads into a room filled with a suspended "aquarium" of fish carved from sapphire.