What kind of cosmic mistake is this? A water dungeon in the desert? Of all the sea slug-infested ideas, this is outrageous!

  [You have discovered the [Advanced Underwater] dungeon named [Good Luck, Chump] in the Focloric Plains. This dungeon is claimed by [Hesa’s Talon] and designated faction points have been assigned to the [System] Faction. There have been [1] successful attempts on [10] attempts on [Below, as Above] since its emergence. Do you wish to challenge the assigned [Faction]? Warning - Attempting a [Faction Challenge] on the dungeon will increase the difficulty of the attempt.]

  I'd fallen through the aperture of the dungeon portal and gotten a mouthful of sand, unprepared to brace for land. Flapping around like a beached whale, my lungs struggling with the abrupt shift, I finally was able to pull myself up.

  Richard was sitting on a rock, his slime trail glistening in the ambient light. I hadn't seen him so angry in a while.

  “Did you get this notification about the dungeon?” I asked my slug, unwilling to engage with his anger at the cosmos.

  Richard's eyes swiveled to me.

  You're here already? Maybe you do care.

  I examined the enclosure we were in, trying not to meet his eyes. We were on a beach, but we weren't on an island. Water pressed in on us from all sides, like we were in an air bubble on the bottom of the ocean. Kelp flapped by, and a watery light trickled down from above, waving in some unseen tide.

  A menagerie of animals had traveled through Woodsten once. They hadn't stopped long enough to set up, instead working their way down to Dusridge for some festival. The owner, however, was hoping to draw a crowd down from Woodsten, so he’d pulled out one attraction to show off.

  The owner had called it an aquarium, and this box of water made of [Enchanted] glass held brightly colored orange fish with long fins unlike anything we pulled out of the Heltenic rivers. Even the ocean fish that were brought in from time to time hadn’t compared to the strange fins and bright colors of the aquarium fish.

  This dungeon space was the reverse. Richard and I sat in the aquarium, with the fish swimming around eyeing us. A blue and silver fish the size of my torso hit the enclosure, making the magic shimmer.

  "Uh, do you think the barrier's going to hold?" I asked nervously. Had it shrunk, or was it my imagination? Not that I couldn't deal with confined spaces, but this dungeon seemed to have a kink for closing in on us.

  You should challenge the assigned Faction.

  I glanced at the slug and shrugged, accepting the challenge.

  [Quest Granted: [Below, as Above] Faction Challenge

  You are challenging the [System] faction assignment of this dungeon. Difficulty level moved from [Advanced] to [Legendary]. This dungeon has had [0] successful attempts at [Legendary] difficulty. Rewards will be appropriately adjusted upon completion of the dungeon.]

  "What the hell did you sign us up for?" I said, reading the new quest prompt. "I'm going to die in here."

  You were going to die in here, anyway. You barely survived a [Basic] dungeon with a seasoned [Adventurer]. This dungeon is a killer.

  I turned to Richard, my hands reaching for him. I've never had such an urge to squish the very life out of the little guy.

  Tandy, Ash, and Meredeath appeared, floating down from a portal as though their presence was a gift from the gods. What the hell? Why did I end up ass over teakettle, and they get gently lowered like prized pottery?

  The island—I didn't know what else to call it—expanded threefold with their addition.

  "Where's Pops and the princess?" I asked, brushing myself off. No one had to know the cost of my entrance to the dungeon.

  "They'll be along, or they won't," Tandy answered, looking around at our new situation.

  "I'm hoping they won't." Meredeath's dark eyes had nothing to do with her makeup. With her arms crossed and clothes slick with pond water, she looked a bit like a cat that had been left out in the rain. The desert heat long abandoned, this reality was cool, almost cold.

  I stopped myself before pointing out that if she'd taken Tandy up on her weaving skills, Meredeath too could be the proud owner of a Woodsten cloak, aesthetic be damned.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Ash had gone over to the wall and knocked against it with his knuckles.

  "Stop!" Panic overran common sense. The magical bubble shimmered faintly, and unlike my mind imagined, nothing bad happened.

  "You okay, Cole? I was just trying to figure out what the bubble's made of." Even as he spoke, Ash was hyper-focused on the material of the bubble. His nose was within a couple of inches of the barrier as he knocked harder against it.

  "Will you cut it out, man?" The words came out harsher than I had intended. All eyes swiveled to me, looking for an explanation. "It expands," I said lamely. "It could contract. This is a dungeon! It could kill us in a blink."

  As though to emphasize my point, a giant fish floated by, full of razor-sharp teeth pointed outwards, with thin wiry fins that looked ready to spear as much as to swim. The fish was four feet long, and two glassy eyes watched us.

  "This is obviously the spawning ground, which is neutral territory." Ash took a couple of steps away from the barrier. "But if it bothers you that much, I'll just back off."

  His words rang true with my [Dungeon Delver] skill, but something kept tingling at the back of my brain. This was not a safe space, or not nearly as safe as Ash thought it was.

  "Yeah, come away from the wall. That nasty fish watching you looks a little too hungry." Tandy thankfully backed me up. "Besides, I'm not sure what a spawning area is, but Leo caused the root canals to sprout in the mouth of our first dungeon. So I'd say, based on our experience, nothing is truly safe when you get into one of these."

  Three forms appeared overhead, slowly floating down.

  Argin, her grandfather, the chaperone and the lady glided to a gentle rest as our enclosure expanded.

  "I didn't think you'd join us," Tandy said dryly, looking at the group. I guessed something had happened.

  The two nobles looked worse for wear. Their dresses had snags, pulling at the embroidery and tearing at the beaded lace. Neither spoke, unwilling to meet Tandy's eyes.

  "Not like we had much choice in the matter," the grandfather muttered. "It was get ripped to shreds up there, or down here. We both wanted to live a little longer."

  I clapped my hands together sharply, eyeing the giant ox carcass that was floating down above our newly arrived guests. All of their eyes swiveled to me.

  "Move," I commanded sharply, pointing to our latest incoming guest.

  [Your Mom’s Party] scattered, sensing the doom in my voice. Even the old pops and his granddaughter made an effort.

  “Holy cow!” Ash yelled as the ox hit with a wet plop.

  A smattering of entrails smacked the princess, causing her to shriek. Blood splattered across her dress, the girl stood up, her body clenched as though she couldn’t imagine the horror of what had just happened to her.

  For a second, I thought she was going to run headfirst into the ocean herself.

  I stepped forward quickly, trying to avert disaster by picking a chunk of intestine from her hair. She looked at me a whole different disgust coloring her expression at the idea that some mere peasant touched her.

  I shrugged, stepping away.

  Tandy poked at the ox, a haunch falling away from the bone smelling of cooked meat.

  I guess we know what's for dinner.

  Richard was the worst.

  "What is this place?" The elder of the two ladies asked, the white collar looking ridiculous in the middle of the dungeon. She'd walked up to the wall of our underwater terrarium and sniffed at a fish with a long, swordlike nose with rows of serrated teeth as though the fish owed her an explanation.

  "Haven't you looked at your notifications?" Meredeath asked, voice heavy with fatigue. She sat unceremoniously in the middle of the enclosure.

  The woman looked horrified, and for a moment, I worried we'd done something wrong, before she opened her mouth and dispelled any semblance of intelligence she might have held.

  "Notifications are for peasants." The woman's nose couldn't have gone higher if she'd tried.

  I don't know whether it was a cruel irony of fate, but the fish she'd been examining picked that moment to strike. Two long jaws came through the protective barrier, snapping on either side of her neck, yanking her backwards into the water.

  Before I could even think of moving, the water filled with blood. She drifted, head floating on a ribbon of white lace, with a look of indignation before shimmering silver fish descended, ripping her apart.

  Ash looked at me, face green, as the truth of how close he'd come to death when testing the barrier.

  The enclosure wobbled a moment, everyone drawing into the center next to Meredeath watching as it shrunk by a few feet in diameter.

  "We are so screwed," Argin's grandfather said in a gruff voice. For once, I agreed with the man.

  The emerald lady started snuffling, hyperventilating in the tight ribs of her corset.

  "Cole, how are we going to win this one?" Tandy's quiet voice cut through the snuffling. I looked at her, as unsure as she sounded.

  A large shadow was cast over our enclosure. We all looked up to find a long, serpentine creature with large paddle fins swimming over us. Sharp teeth grinned in its two-foot-long snout. Its eyes examined us with wary intelligence as it floated in the water, long tail slithering through the water. It wasn't a fish. Instead of scales, it had a tough-looking leathery hide.

  I triggered [Identify] on the creature.

  [Mosas - This creature was once common in the ancient Focloric inland sea. Known for its sharp teeth and quickness, it can easily cut most creatures in half with a single snap.]

  That wasn't helpful. I could tell all of that just from looking at the creature.

  I think you're finally going to get some practice dying.

  For once, I didn't bother arguing with Richard.