With a quick glance, I checked to make sure Argin and Leyla made it back into the barrier. The two women looked like drowned rats, soppy and unhappy. It took everything in me to try not to meet Meredeath's fiery gaze. What could I say? I'd messed up.

  The rope that'd been tangled up in the Mosas's fins was floating free. I swam over, grabbed the loop and put it over my head.

  Looks like she's got you tied up, boy. Richard's phantom commentary burbled in my head. He had to be [Immortal]. Just around the next fluttery seaweed.

  Idly I wondered if I could drag the SCMMOO myself. As though to mock me, the [System] applied a [Chilled] debuff, warning me that continued exposure to the cold would cause death.

  With other options dwindling, I scanned the now empty sea for our last hope, the Tuli Monster. The fish that had been feasting looked at me hungrily. Several smaller fish darted off into the safety of the kelp forest. The majority lingered before shifting through the water like liquid mercury. I followed, hoping they were leading me to the Tuli Monster. Almost haphazardly, they darted forward and then edged away from anything they deemed a threat.

  I followed, the kelp parting to show me a sunken Tuli Monster, its ominous eye bar still split in two. A small crab picked at the beast’s fins but overall it was still intact, protected by its reputation. I swam towards the beast, ignoring the small fish as they contemplated the monster. I didn't have the luxury of waiting for the next meal.

  Ironically, the rope fit perfectly around the beast. I looped it around its long mouth and pulled it through the sand until it stretched, pulling tight just before the widest part of the amphibious monster, right before its eyebrow. With a double yank, I gave Meredeath the prescribed signal that she was to work her magic.

  I couldn't see her through the surrounding seaweed, but I felt her hesitation. I double jerked the rope, careful not to pull too hard, not wanting to yank her into the soup. We didn't have time to second-guess ourselves. This was a time for action.

  The rope lit with a reluctant green fire.

  I swam free when my calf stung. Looking down, I found one of the small fish latched onto my calf. It looked like it'd dislocated its jaw to latch on like a lamprey. Reaching down, I grabbed it, trying to pull the little jerk off. It dug in deeper, a faint trickle of blood escaping the wound. Suddenly, the surrounding school of fish didn't seem so harmless. I kicked, swimming back towards the enclosure, not giving an Everbear's tit about the Tuli Monster. I needed to get out of here.

  As though sensing my weakness, another fish clamped onto my ankle. Its teeth grated against bone, and I was able to kick it off in anger. The school had turned, watching the proceeding. My bleeding left foot left a large trail of blood. I swam for my life as the bloodsucking assholes decided I was edible. Thrashing, I figured out that if I knocked them free fast enough they didn't have time to suction on. But it was a losing battle.

  I kicked hard, trying to escape the hundreds of fish. The oversized leeches were just waiting for the right moment to attach. Several went for my back, a place I couldn't easily dissuade them from. My health was dropping with each set of teeth latching on. Was it the [Chilled] effect slowing me down or the blood loss?

  I could see the barrier, and my world focused down on two things. The throb of my body as the fish sucked at each heartbeat, and the two dots of green fire that were Meredeath's eyes.

  I would not die here.

  I gave up on brushing them off and focused on swimming for the enclosure. Each kick felt like I was moving a mountain as my muscles burned. I had dozens of bites, and each one throbbed rapidly with my heart. The cold, harsh water on my gills kept me grounded. I could do this.

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  My hand slipped through the barrier.

  Suddenly Ash was grabbing me, yanking me into the humid enclosure. They'd brought the fire back out to warm Leyla and Argin. The three of us huddled around the magic fire, the fish slowly dropping off me like wool during a shearing. My [Gelatinous Regeneration] started pumping my health as the [Chilled] debuff fell off.

  Leyla took an extensive study of me. Her hair plastered against her skull made her ears stick out comically. Her once regal dress was in tatters. She looked more like a lost teenager than a groom seeking scion of a wealthy family.

  Catching my returned evaluation, she lifted her chin and looked away.

  "You've really got this almost dying thing down, don't you?" Argin interrupted our mutual evaluation, her teeth chattering as she spoke. Argin’s linen robes had been fit for the desert, but she was suffering as they did little to retain heat.

  "It's kind of my thing," I said, trying to play it off like this dungeon hadn’t been my worst nightmare come to life. I plucked the last fish off my chest. It left a round hickey right next to my purple nipple. I certainly couldn’t judge anyone’s state of dress right now.

  "My pops may have grabbed the [Weaver], but you’re both fascinating." She spoke like the apprentice of an [Archmage] with an underlying agenda. I stiffened my back, unwilling to be a bug under her magnifying glass.

  "I'm just another [Adventurer], we all figure out how to survive."

  This time, the two ladies exchanged a look.

  "Argin, what would you say the survival rate of an [Adventurer] is in their first year in Cersapil?" Leyla spoke the words in a soft tone, as though she already knew the answer. She was also giving me an appraising look, as though I were something special.

  "The survival rate of first years is what? Twenty-five percent? It's higher if the idiots don't blunder into dungeons alone." Argin's voice was calculating. The two ladies stood in silence before Argin continued. "Of course, those [Adventurers] are the second, third, and fourth offspring of nobles with the finest training Cersapil has to offer."

  "What can I say? [Your Mom's Party] is good." I tried to deflect; I didn't want either of these two trying to collect me. We were just a good party. "Besides, Meredeath's the star." And thankfully, that was true. I turned my body to reveal Meredeath in all her death magic glory.

  Meredeath's hair stood on end, her eyes blazing, and at the end of her rope was a fiery Tuli Monster. The water around the beast glowed green as though its bones were the northern lights. An ancient, terrible god returning to haunt the depths.

  The oblong body of the creature floated before us.

  "Are we ready?" Meredeath's tight voice was unnaturally monotone and deep. I couldn't keep my eyes off the beast. There was something off about it, but I couldn't put my finger on it. It lithely moved to the side, facing away from us like a seahorse ready to escort our SCMMOO carriage.

  Argin folded up the magical fire, stuffing it in some sort of magical sack. I grabbed the party's packs as Ash stood by the SCMMOO.

  "Go for it ," I told Meredeath, as though I had some sort of authority with the group.

  She didn't hesitate. The undead Tuli Monster moved forward, dragging the SCMMOO across the sand. We were very confidently going in the opposite direction of the World Snail.

  "Meredeath, can we slow down a bit? The SCMMOO is rubbing the harness." Ash interjected.

  Meredeath gave Ash a melting glare.

  "Your complaint is that the harness is chafing?" Our movement slowed as her magic dimmed for a moment. "Anything else?" She asked through clenched teeth. Sweat covered Meredeath's face. For the first time I could remember, her eyeliner ran down her cheeks.

  "No, I'm good," Ash squeaked, before I could say anything. Damn it.

  We inched forward foot by foot while I drew up my courage.

  "Meredeath?"

  "What, Cole?" Her voice shook with effort.

  "The World Snail..."

  "What about it?" she snapped.

  "It's in the other direction."

  Everyone in the enclosure held their breath waiting for her response.

  The only answer we got was the quiet brush of sand on SCMMOO while the orb scooted to the left.