Penelope groaned as she sat up. She’d been too tired to use the bath, so she’d slept in her dirty robe for the second night in a row.
“Isn’t adventuring great!” Jeru had too wide of a smile for how early it was.
“It’s awesome.” Her words dripped with so much sarcasm that even she could taste it as they left her mouth. She stretched and looked across the Dungeon at the other group. “Are they awake yet?”
Jeru sighed. “Contrary to what you believe, my vision isn’t much better than yours and I can only move around…” He moved about five feet away from her. “... about this far from you.” The blue Elf motioned north. “You saw everything I can.”
Penelope sighed. She’d made the trek back to her little stash in 1B and slept there, despite the others making camp in the corner of where 5E, 5F, 6E, and 6F met. Patrick had started making tents, but the whole thing smelled like monster guts, which wasn’t much better than the copper smell that the bugs in the first column had started giving off.
“I guess I should start moving that way.” Penelope looked around at the few resources that she had. “Maybe I should move this stuff closer.”
“There’s a young man who would jump at the opportunity to move your stuff.” Jeru grinned. “I mean, he made a bath for you and wanted to guard you while you were enjoying it.”
“Get your mind out of the gutter.” She growled as she picked up her stuff. “That’s exactly why I’m not going to ask him for help.” She tapped the side of her head. “You know what I think about that subject, and I don’t want to encourage any more unwanted company than I already have.”
“Someone’s cranky.” Jeru held up his hands to ward off her glare. “Okay. Okay!” His lips cracked in a smile, and he tilted his head to meet her gaze.
Penelope looked away the moment his eyes started to lock with hers.
“Why do you glare when you’re not going to hold it if someone stares at you?” The blue Elf turned and shook his head.
“I don’t know? The principle of it?” She sighed. “Can you not be so bored in the morning?”
“I had to spend the last five hours with nothing but my thoughts and your dreams, which could use some work, by the way.” Jeru huffed. “Forgive me if I could use some actual conversation before you run off to fight monsters and demand that I be silent.”
“Don’t you go longer than that with other people?” Penelope eyed the main camp, but no one was stirring.
“They had better dreams.” He grimaced. “How do you dream of nothing?”
“I don’t know. It’s always been that way. I don’t sleep much, and when I do, I rarely dream.” Penelope shrugged as she walked towards 4A.
“You know that’s a recipe for a shorter life?” Jeru waffled his head. “If you want, I could try to poke around in there–”
“NO!” Penelope sucked in her lips and clamped down on them. She glanced at the camp to see if her outburst had roused anyone. Look. I’ve done the messing around with my head thing before. It made things worse, so I’d rather not have to go through whatever it is you’ll put me through and then take however long it will to get me back to where I am now.
“There are lots of different things that weren’t available to you back on Earth.” The older man held up his hands. “Just saying. We’re going to be together for a while. If you want me to try to help, I’ll be here.”
Penelope swallowed. Thanks. Just. Let’s get this floor over with before you start trying to rearrange my mind.
“Will do, mon cap-e-ton!”
Penelope chuckled as she shook her head.
Her chaotic parasite grinned. “See, I’m good at getting you to smile!”
“Sure…” She dropped her load near the outer wall. “Why don’t you go over these monsters with me until everyone wakes up and see if we can’t find a way to make up some time?”
**********
“Four monkeys.” Frederica shivered. She adjusted the helmet that was covering the bald spot on the back of her head. “Why couldn’t it be something less... terrifying?”
“You’re afraid of monkeys?” Dawson scoffed. The young man had decided to rejoin them this morning, much to Judah’s disappointment. “They’re not that bad.”
Penelope sized up the seven-foot-tall monstrosities. From what she knew about the monkeys back on Earth, gorillas didn’t get that tall, but those that came close weighed over five hundred pounds. The monkeys were supposed to be melee attackers, and she couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to get hit by one of their fists.
“The Demon doesn’t look like it has a weapon, so it’s either a poisoner or a healer.” Ula looked over at the blonde. “Frederica, I want you to take it out as fast as you can.” She turned to the Tank. “Oakley, make sure the monkeys stay off of her when Frederica gets clear.”
The young man nodded while the woman beside him groaned.
The older woman turned to their Healer. “Marlow, something is probably going to happen to Oakley with a debuff, so be ready to cleanse it however you can.” She looked at the two Casters. “I’m going to go after the rat. You two try to pick off the monkeys as fast as you can.”
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Ula looked over the group again. “Any questions?” When no one voiced any of the concerns on their faces, she nodded and put her helmet on. “Let’s go!”
Oakley was the first one through the barrier between 6A and 7A, with Ula and Frederica right behind him. The young man roared as he charged the group, only to stop to brace against the barrage of mud that the monkeys started throwing at him.
His shield sagged as the Shadow Healer hit him with spell after spell. There was so much dirt flying that Frederica was having to move in a wide arc to get behind the monsters.
Ula had to back up and help him stay on his feet as the attacks intensified. The rat shot across the square like a bullet aimed for the Casters.
Penelope pointed her wand at the rodent. “Light Torrent!”
For the first time in a while, her first projectile missed.
She had three more, and two of them tore through it, dropping the monster to slide towards her. Penelope picked up her sandaled foot and set it on the creature’s tiny head to stop it from running into them. Penelope twisted her wand to regain control of her first and last projectiles.
Ammonia filled her nostrils. She turned around to see Dawson pointing his staff in the direction of the dead monster, but there hadn't been any spells launched.
“That… that… that…” The young man blinked, his heaving chest stopping him from saying more than one word. “You–that–.” He swallowed. “That would have got you if there’d been two!”
Penelope sighed. She was starting to get too accustomed to restarting if she died. While she didn’t want to have to redo this run, she didn’t have anything to lose other than time, and it was just a matter of reliving things, so she didn’t really lose anything.
“Focus on the fight!” Penelope pointed at the main group. “You’re supposed to be working on the monkeys!”
“Ri-ght!” Dawson blinked and turned his attention to the mud lobbers. “Poison!”
Penelope shook her head and took a few steps forward to get in range, then sent the two
Jeru. Penelope growled. Did you forget to tell me that the monkeys can intercept projectiles?
“Do you have any idea how many monsters I’ve seen?” The parasite grumbled. “And look around you! It’s not like anyone else here is using projectile spells!”
You’re right. Didn’t think about that. Sorry. The irritation she’d started to feel ebbed. “LIGHT BEAM!”
Penelope directed her wand at the monster that had just destroyed her spells.
The beam hit the monkey in the face, but only for a second. The monster rolled to the left, chunking mud at her.
Penelope had to run even though Oakley was screaming out his taunt. The monster was fixated on her, which meant it was her problem. She sidestepped the squishy volley with ease. She’d been dodging projectiles ever since the beginning, and the globs of mud moved slower than spells. Given the distance between them, Penelope had plenty of time to move; unfortunately, so did the monster as it ran from the end of her light.
As more projectiles landed around her, the smell that filled her nostrils informed her that the monkeys weren’t just throwing mud.
Jeru?
“Don’t ask and I won’t have to lie to you. Just don’t step in it!”
“PENNY!!! HELP!” Dawson screamed farther behind her as a monkey chased him. The monsters were locking on to whoever was attacking them, and taunting was doing nothing.
Penelope sighed and moved closer to her target. She was going to have to finish the fight she was in before she could help the other Caster. Given his low Speed stat, it wouldn’t take long before he was run down. When she got within fifty feet, the monkey jumped up on the ceiling, then launched itself at her.
A flick of her wrist was all it took at that point to evaporate its head. It couldn’t dodge while it was in the air. She canceled the spell and started running towards the game of cat and mouse.
Ula was fighting the last monkey with Frederica. The Demon and the third monkey were dead. They were having trouble hitting it because it had ripped off the arm of the dead one and was using it like a club. Its eyes were alert, and it moved around to keep the blonde assassin from getting behind it while keeping the others back with its fist and makeshift weapon.
Penelope left them to the fight and ran after the fleeing man.
“Light Torrent!”
The four projectiles shot towards their target. Penelope didn’t expect them to hit, so she wasn’t surprised when the monkey turned to face her and started throwing mud at her spell.
“Light Beam!” She was close enough that even with dodging, it wasn’t long before she sliced through its neck.
Penelope walked over to where the young man was panting on his back. She started to hold out her hand, but the man was covered in the pungent mud that she was certain wasn’t just dirt.
“You okay?” She could see plenty of bruises under the green glow that was shrinking the wounds.
“I-I-IT TRIED TO KILL ME!” His teeth chattered as he spoke.
It hadn’t been the first time that a monster had attacked the Casters. The moles had abused them on multiple occasions, but all of those times, Dawson had been with the other Casters and hadn’t been directly attacked since Marlow and Penelope had been the more dangerous targets. This was the first time that the young man had been on his own and facing down a monster.
Penelope shook her head, then turned to the main group when she saw the barrier come down. Dawson would live, which was all she could worry about at the moment. The fight had gone faster, just over thirty minutes, but that wasn’t cutting much time off of their previous column.
“Healer gloves!” Oakley held the ice-blue pieces of armor over his head and waved them at Marlow.
“That was rough.” Ula dropped her warhammer head down, put a boot on the bottom of the head, and leaned against the shaft. Her gaze drifted over to Penelope. “What do you think, sweetie?”
“I think they can’t be taunted. They retaliate against whoever attacks them, which makes them difficult to take care of because they chase down their target.” Penelope glanced over to where Dawson was ranting to Marlow. She turned back to the leader and pulled her hood farther over her face so the other woman wouldn’t be able to tell that Penelope wasn’t looking her in the eyes.
“What do you think we should do about it?” The older woman motioned at the rest of the team. “Because I don’t think we can survive many more of those.”
“Dawson and I should focus on the same one. It shouldn’t be able to intercept both of our spells.” Penelope hummed. “If Frederica goes after the Demon and then helps you with the one you’re fighting, then we should be able to whittle them down.”
Ula looked over at where the Healer was listening to the other man rant. “What about the rats?”
“I can stay close and use
“Let’s try that then.” The party leader raised her voice. “We’re going to take a break for a few to let our resources regenerate, then we’re going to do the next room!”
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