When Blake was well enough to sit up, Theo stood and assessed their location. It was a long hall flanked by glowing blue sconces, hewn of grey, wet stone. The end of the hall vanished in a mist, and he couldn’t see what lay beyond it.

They rested for a bit, and between Theo’s healing ability and the health potion, Blake eventually rose to his feet. Tiberius eventually dried out his fur — not without a good amount of water landing on the rest of them. Theo stood in his new armor, which dried off quickly, leaving only the green-gold scales behind. It fit snugly to his body, almost like it was made perfectly for him. He figured that equipping his usual clothes was a bad idea, as they’d probably only get wet.

Suddenly, Alice was in his face. She pointed a long finger at his chest, coming after him.

“What the hell happened in there?” she said.

Theo frowned. “Like I said, I found a chest hidden in a waterfall. I opened it, and it must have been booby trapped, because the room started filling up.”

“And you didn’t think to consult us before opening the hidden chest in the evil dungeon?” she said, “what happened to being a team? After I shot that bear, you got on my case about being reckless. But then you go and pull this bullshit! Unbelievable. ”

Theo frowned. She was right, of course. “Okay — I got ahead of myself. I’m sorry. Next time I’m going to make a decision, I’ll ask the team first. But then again… I did get the health potion that saved Blake. And this armor. So if we see chests, I think it’s smart to go for them. We’ll just be better prepared next time.”

Alice looked at him and shook her head. Then she threw her hands up turned around. “Hope your new armor was worth it, fish-boy. You look like Walmart-brand Aquaman.”

Theo frowned, then looked down at his scale mail. “Hey… I think it looks cool.”

“Let’s just get a move on. Anyone know what door we went through?” Alice said.

Theo shook his head. “I opened the first door I could find. No luck seeing which one,” he said.

“So at the end of that tunnel, it’s either an evil mermaid, homicidal calamari, or giant crab,” Alice said, “and we have no way of knowing how to prepare.”

“Yep,” Theo said.

Then, from behind them, Blake surprised them with his voice. “No use waiting around then. I feel up to it. Let’s go.”

“You sure?” Theo asked. Blake still looked pale.

He nodded. “I don’t think there’s a benefit to waiting. Besides, my health bar is nearly full. I don’t feel great, per se, but I can fight. And Jess needs us.”

Theo turned to Alice. “Alice? What do you think?”

Alice nodded. “Let’s do it,” she said.

Theo thought for a moment. “We should be smart about this. Last time we set off down a corridor, we wound up waking up the Razorfins.”

“I don’t see any water in this corridor,” Blake said.

“Doesn’t mean there’s not traps,” Theo said, “if there are, we should try and set them off before we move down the hall.”

Blake thought for a moment, then brought his hands together. He summoned mana, which swirled in red light and then coalesced into a metal ball about the size of an egg. He knelt, then tossed the metal ball down the hallway.

It bounced against the stone, sending resigning echoes down the corridor. Just when Theo began to think the attempt was a failure when the metal ball hit a stone tile and released a cloud of green smoke. It curled through the room, and Theo’s Wisdom told him it was some type of neurotoxin.

“Smart,” Theo said. He raised his hand and summoned green mana there, which transformed into thorns. He sprayed them against the stones, releasing two more poison smoke traps.

“Okay. I have the highest Durability,” Theo said, “so I’ll take the lead. Then I think Alice is next and Blake is last. Tiberius can take up the rear. Deal?”

Alice and Blake nodded, and the group set off down the tunnel. Theo continued to spray thorns from his hands, covering each tile they might step on. When he hit a trap, they waited for the smoke to disperse before continuing to move. Still, the acrid smell of the poison gas lingered, and Theo could feel it burning his skin as they walked, making his health energy gently ebb. The walls dripped with stalactites, and their footsteps sent menacing echoes against the stone.

Finally, after setting off three more smoke traps, they reached the end of the tunnel. The next room was still shrouded in mist, and Theo couldn’t hear anything but dripping water within.

He turned around and looked at Tiberius, sending a message between them. Tiberius, can you hear anything in there?

Tiberius stepped forwards, ears perked. He lowered his head to the ground, catching the reverberations off the stone. Theo knew he could Warg into Tiberius now, but hadn’t wanted to try it yet. Why Warg, when they could just talk? Besides, it felt… invasive, to wear his friend’s skin, share a body.

Something big, Tiberius said, underwater.

Theo nodded. He turned to Blake and Alice. “This is it,” he said, “it’s in the next room. Last chance to gear up.”

Alice drew her bow, checked her quiver for arrows. Blake didn’t know how she kept having enough arrows and throwing knives, but she had to imagine that it was magical.

Blake summoned crackling electricity to his hands. It sparked and danced in the dark tunnel, casting writhing shadows across his pale face. “Let’s fry some fish,” he said.

Theo summoned his staff, which appeared in a flash of wind, the runes along the side glowing green. He stepped through the doorway and into the large chamber…

And almost immediately fell into black water.

He looked down. The entire room was filled with water, and the black pool stretched all the way to the other side. Theo could see the door on the other side of the pool, leading into the next chamber. But there was no bridge, no way across.

“Do they… expect us to swim?” Alice said.

Theo frowned. He raised his staff and poured mana into it, using his Minor Magic cantrip to light up the already-glowing runes. Much more efficient than making sparks. The green runes swelled with light, and for a brief moment the whole room was illuminated. The black pool was empty, as far as he could see, but there was indeed a way across: a small ledge on the outside of the black pool, just wide enough for one person to scoot across.

“There,” he said, keeping his voice low, “we go around. Split up. Alice, you and Blake go left. Tiberius and I will go right.”

“Why split up?” Alice said, “it doesn’t even seem like anything is there.”

“Tiberius heard something,” Theo said, “keep your bow ready.”

Alice frowned but said nothing. She crept to the left, keeping her hands on her bow. Blake followed, illuminating each step with his electrified hands. If they could just sneak by the pool…

Theo clicked his tongue and Tiberius followed him along the right side of the chamber. He traced one hand along the stone wall, keeping the other on his glowing staff. The water of the pool was impenetrably dark, and he could see nothing beneath the glass-smooth surface. Mist hovered above the pool, reflecting green light back at him.

“Theo!” Alice hissed. “I think I heard something!”

“Just keep moving,” Theo whispered back.

He clicked his tongue again, beckoning Tiberius to follow. But when he looked down, he was alone on the ledge.

Tiberius was nowhere.

“Tiberius!” Theo hissed, pushing mana into his staff to illuminate the room around him. There was a ripple on the pool to his right, but certainly not big enough for a dire wolf to have fallen in.

Something zapped across the room. He saw a brief flash of light, and looked to the other side of the room.

“Alice! Blake! Something happened to Tiberius!” he said. But there was no response.

He pushed even more mana into his staff. When the light from his staff reached the other side of the pool, the ledge was empty. Two more small ripples echoed on the black pool.

“Guys…?” Theo said. But he was alone.

He looked around the room, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Tiberius, gone. Alice, gone. Blake, gone.

Then he felt it.

At first, it was just a wet feeling on his leg. Like water dripping down his thigh. But when he looked down, he something black wrapping around his ankle, then his calf, then almost up to his waist. Something pitch black and oily, and covered in pink suckers.

The tentacle reached higher, wrapping around his waist

Then, in a flash, it sucked him under the water.