Kent was back on her team.

  The black-haired Assassin scowled at Penelope as he got into position, but he fell in place beside Marlow. Patrick grumbled under his breath about how much work there was left to be done but didn’t say anything directly to her. It wouldn’t be until they finished this column that Cecil would be able to tank for her.

  “This one is weird.” Patrick pointed at the Y fork ten feet in. “We’ve not had one yet that has just dead-ended like that.”

  “I’ll light up the forks once we’re inside.” Penelope pointed her wand at the one on the right. “Cover that one, and I’ll see how far the one on the left goes.”

  The wind blew, letting them know it was time to start. Patrick walked in and blocked most of the tunnel with his shield. “Fifty feet, and then it splits again!” He looked over his shoulder. “How far does that one go?”

  “Straight towards Frederica’s group.” Penelope motioned for the others to go that way. “Door on the right about twenty feet ahead. Wait, I see Oakley!”

  The other Tank headed towards them, pointing at the doorway a few feet in front of him on the left.

  “It’s a room!” Circe ran through the doorway. “Pen, get in here!”

  Penelope used to move faster. She was expecting a repeat of 14A, but this one only had a single group in it. The room itself was almost as large as the last one, 700 feet long from 14A towards 16A, while it was almost 400 feet wide.

  The group of Demons was closer to the door Oakley had gone through, forcing her to use three more times to get into range. Against only one group, the fight didn’t seem as urgent, but knowing how quickly the room could fill with more was incentive enough to finish as quickly as they could.

  The Shadow Lancer roared at the Lesser Demons, pointing at Penelope before its attention was forced to turn to Oakley. The two Galecorn beside it lowered their heads as the horn on each of the horse-sized monsters glowed, then released a twister of air in her direction.

  “The unicorn is a Caster!” Circe screamed as she melted into the shadows to get out of the way. “You stupid Demons! Why do you have to ruin cute things for me! Unicorns are supposed to be nice!”

  “Nothing in here is going to be nice!” Penelope oriented herself after she landed from her . Frederica was focusing on stabbing the Shadow, so she turned her attention to the trio of other monsters in the room.

  Big white ducks.

  If it wasn’t for the red horns and sharp white teeth in their yellow bills, they would have looked like pony-sized versions of the animals that she fed bread to at the petting zoo as a kid.

  “Duckum. They’re Healers.” Jeru commented. “Circe needs to take them out first because you’re going to have to hit them over six times to kill them and that’s if they don’t heal and with three of them…”

  They’re going to be healing faster than I can damage them, got it. Penelope looked at Circe and pointed at the oversized ducks. “Circe! The Duckums are Healers! They’re yours; I’ve got the Galecorns!” She to the other side of the room and unleashed a at both monsters.

  A sliver glow covered the equine monster’s gray skin as the Duckums focused their healing on the latest damage.

  Penelope growled as the horns glowed, then blew another pair of twisters in her direction. Thankfully, the Galecorns had to plant their hooves and couldn’t move while they were blasting a twister at her, which made them very easy to dodge, but they shrugged off damage as fast as she could dish it out.

  “Freddy! I need help with these things!” Circe growled as she focused down one of the huge duck monsters. “KENT! Get your lazy butt over there and poke something!”

  Kent glanced over at Patrick, then pointed at the door 600 feet behind Penelope. He yelled something, but it was drowned by the roar of the twisters the Galecorns summoned.

  Penelope again, moving further from the Galecorns and closer to whatever Kent had been pointing at.

  “The next group is here.” Jeru pointed behind her. “Looks like Shadow Caster, one duck, two Galegoyles, and a pair of Blinks.”

  Penelope to her left, putting more space between herself and both groups of monsters. With enough space, she gave herself a moment to take in the new monsters. The Galegoyles looked like the stone gargoyles she’d seen at one of the local cathedrals, except their bodies were composed entirely of swirling air. Penelope took another moment to look at the other monsters, but a moment was all the Blinks needed to close the distance.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  The four-foot-tall, silver-skinned Demon lashed out with its claws, not giving her time to think about counterattacking. Penelope out of the way, moving towards Patrick. Before she could orient herself, pain burned her stomach as the other Blink rammed her with its curled horns.

  Its claws swiped for her face as it leapt up. The shot harmlessly at empty air as it vanished before it could connect.

  “Stand still!” Penelope fired another pair of spells at the monsters. The soft green glow on her chest let her know she was close enough to Marlow that he could heal her, and the pair of Blinks weren’t doing enough damage to be more than irritating, but this was the first time Penelope hadn’t been able to hit something in a while.

  The next surprise attack knocked the wand out of her left hand. The other Blink snatched it up, dancing away as she tried to hit it.

  “ is a pretty nasty skill.” Jeru grumbled. “You might want to focus on something else before things get out of hand.”

  Ding!

  Experience +1.5

  “I got you, you stupid bird!” Circe cheered.

  A grin crossed Penelope’s face. Looks like they’re handling the Healers. I want to try something. She slid her other wand onto her belt only for it to vanish into the hands of the other Blink.

  “Seriously, you’re going to…” Jeru chuckled as he read her mind. “Oh, that could work.”

  The four-foot-tall gray Demon vanished, then her red wand poked at her eye. Penelope towards the other one and activated , but instead of casting it, she held onto it like she did . The bolt of light snaked out of her hand into a ten-foot-long whip. The Blink vanished as the whip cut through the air where it had been, but when it appeared beside her and slashed at her right wrist, the whip in her hand surged into the monster.

  KREE!!!

  Gotcha now! Penelope recast the whip as she sliced through the empty air with the one in her left hand.

  “You’re letting the seeking feature of the spell lock onto the speedsters as soon as they get close! Nice!” Jeru chuckled. “You’re getting a lot better at transforming your spells.”

  Still not as good as . Penelope let the whip in her right hand go. It pulled against her will, streaking towards the nearest Blink, then dissipating into empty air. I can only control this if I’m holding onto it.

  “You’ll get better.” Her parasite promised.

  I just have to survive this. Penelope grumbled as she recast the spell and swiped the whips through the air around her. It became a dance where the Demons would attack, then fade back after getting hit to be healed. Minutes ticked away as she kept the speedsters busy until the pair withdrew so both of them could be healed, giving her a clear shot at the Galegoyles. The elemental monsters charged at her with clenched fists, but three casts of her spell was all it took to drop each one long before they reached her.

  Ding!

  Experience +1.5

  Experience +1.5

  Experience +4

  Penelope glanced over at the first group.

  Frederica stood over the pile of gear triumphantly and pointed her blades at the Shadow Caster. Besides the two Blinks, it was the only monster left in the room.

  A smile cracked Penelope’s face as she turned back to the Demons she’d been keeping occupied. “I’d like my wands back.”

  The Demons threw the wands at her as they fled. Without a Healer, it was no longer a battle of attrition; it was a question of how long until they died.

  Vines burst out of the ground to impede her charge but allowed her to vanish from their grasp. She only needed to get close to the Blinks now, and with them attempting to flee, it wasn’t difficult to get in their path.

  Less than a minute later, it was over.

  Penelope panted as she back over to the rest of the group. The scratches on her face sealed as the warm healing magic flowed through her.

  “Stay alert! There’s still two more groups!” Frederica picked up the green pants and threw them towards the other woman. “You got an upgrade.”

  Penelope scanned the item.

  “It’s better than what I have on.” Penelope glanced around. “But I can wait to change until we clear this square.”

  “Your robe is long enough; no one’s going to see anything…” Frederica sighed. “Fine, we’ll keep it in the bag for you.” She glanced over at the guys. Kent was still over by Marlow and Robert and was the only one of the three who didn’t look winded.

  “I swear, if I had a time machine, I’d go back and stick someone else on your team instead of that lazy freeloader.” Frederica groaned.

  “You think it’d make that much of a difference?” Penelope looked at the leader.

  “I don’t know.” Frederica threw her hands up. “At least I know he hates Dawson, so I don’t have to worry about him stabbing me in the back, but you have no idea how many times I’ve thought about sending those two back to base and sticking Aly and Fairy on your team.”

  “You mean Ailis and Fae-Anna?” Penelope scrunched her brow.

  “That’s what I said.” Frederica shrugged. “But at least out here, we can keep an eye on them. Who knows what trouble they’d get into if they were the top dogs back at base, but at least out here he’s good for carrying the gear.”

  “Alright! Breaks over!” Frederica clapped her hands as she marched over to the others. “As soon as Kent gets the gear gathered up, we’re going to track down the last two groups! Come on, people! We took a break yesterday, so we’ve got to get a move on!”

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