Murky water enveloped Alex, pressing against his Orb-of-Air. His breaths came fast and shallow as a moss-covered tentacle tightened.

It constricted—squeezing—whipping him back and forth. He fought the pain that built in his gut and reached for whatever it was that had him, and pulled.

What was it?

His head turned in every direction, searching frantically for his attacker.

Down there.

A hulking…thing loomed in the depths, like a giant underwater mound of congealed moss, vines and roots. Details were murky, but it was nearly twice Claygon’s height and almost double his width. Multiple broad feelers writhed around the creature, resembling a monstrous squid.

Alex recognised the creature from Magical Botany.

A Crich-Tulagh.

Near-sapient mounds of plant-life that fed on everything: they basked under sunlight like normal plants, used their tendrils to absorb nutrients from the earth, or wrap around trees to squeeze the sap out.

They even crushed beasts and sucked their juices for nourishment.

Their bodies were spongy but resilient, and were always saturated with whatever water they lurked in, making them difficult to burn. They were tough. And because of their unique magical physiology—lightning actually empowered them.

He needed to break its grip.

“Shit!” Alex swore, working his hands between his torso and the slippery tendril. He flexed, beginning to force it open while he called Claygon.

He looked around for his golem, and couldn’t see him…but spotted something else. Small creatures were rising from the bottom of the bog; he couldn’t see them clearly through the clouds of mud, but they were smaller than he was and were swimming toward him with jerky, erratic movements.

Clenching his teeth, he strained against his captor, fighting to pry the coil loose.

The grip loosened and the creature paused, as if in surprise. Alex used that pause to push with every bit of his strength, grunting, pushing outward, until the tendril slackened further-

Squelch.

Pain gripped him, the monster redoubled its hold, crushing down on his force armour, his ribs. His breaths grew shallower.

‘Now, Claygon!’ Alex called to his golem.

A giant, four-armed form surged through the muck, slamming into the Crich-Tulagh in a concussive wave of murky water. The plant-creature let out a sound that was a cross between gurgling, bellowing and sloshing as it threw its bulk against the powerful golem, aiming to coil him in its tendrils.

Rrrrrrp.

Claygon’s four-arms snapped out, grabbing the tendrils and ripping them like wet paper. He stalked into the plant monster’s reach, took the base of the runner holding Alex, and tore it away at the root.

There was a dulled roar as the muck whipped up around the two struggling titans, and the grip on Alex’s waist went slack. He slithered free of the twitching, dying tendril and—gritting his teeth—clawed his way back to the surface.

He blinked as the Orb-of-Air around his head broke the water.

Chaos greeted him.

Another Crich-Tulagh was writhing on the opposite side of a land-bridge, whipping Khalik above its head while Najyah dove, clawing it again and again. She shot away from the reach of whipping tendrils while Theresa leapt on the creature, slashing it repeatedly. Grimloch was in the water, his teeth tearing at the plant-monster’s left flank.

Isolde floated above them, conjuring iron spikes and blasting them into the creature’s right side.

Smaller monsters surged from the water from all directions, some lurching toward Meikara. Hogarth and Svenia were on a land-bridge, tearing into them along beside Brutus, while Thundar fought his way through the horde toward Alex, his mace smashing small bodies as he pressed forward.

Beast-goblins.

The creatures looked like beast-goblins, but each had odd, vine-like growths wrapping them, and rot had replaced much of their flesh. Their movements were jerky…erratic, like marionettes under the control of a drunken puppet master.

“Alex!” Thundar roared. “I’m coming for you, buddy!”

Alex swam toward the land-bridge as creatures popped out of the bog around him, then suddenly, a small hand grabbed his ankle. Instinctively, he kicked it but The Mark blasted him with interference, stealing his concentration and slowing him in the water.

Soon more hands reached out, clutching his clothes and potion bag, dragging him under. Alex couldn’t let himself panic, he had to shake off the interference or these creatures would drown him. He focused and pushed his body forward like he’d seen Grimloch do, then swam as hard as he could through the plants and muck. His strength almost got him to the land-bridge, but he was being overrun by too many of the small monsters. His head broke the water.

On the land-bridge Thundar was roaring, cutting through the creatures like a scythe through wheat. He looked like he was poised to jump in the water, but Alex held a hand up as he treaded water.

“Wait!” he cried. “Don’t come in! There’s too many, they’ll just drag you down too!”

The minotaur paused and Alex reached into his bag—now filled with foul water—feeling around for his potion bottles. His fingers flipped through them until they found what he was looking for.

In a swarm, the little monsters pulled him beneath the surface again as he fished out the bottle. He inhaled, dismissed Orb-of-Air, popped the cap between clenched teeth then discarding it, emptied the Haste Potion down his throat. Alex felt the world slow down around him.

Then he went to work, grabbing the little creatures’ and rapidly plucking them off his force armour. He kept treading water, as the speed of his kicks doubled, creating greater force, driving him back to the surface.

As soon as he broke the surface again, he began swimming with everything he had, shooting through peat and muck until he touched muddy land. Thundar reached down and dragged him to his feet with one hand, while striking beast-goblins with the mace in his other one.

“Thanks, man!” Alex cried, taking some deep breaths. “There-”

Sccchnk!

A cry from the second Crich-Tulagh tore through the bog.

Khalik had chanted a spell and spikes burst from his earth armour, piercing the tendril coiled around him, sending plant-juices spraying through the air. A heartbeat later, Theresa slashed her swords across the base of the tendril, shearing it but also sending the prince plummeting. He struck the monster with the spikes on his earth armour.

From all around, Alex heard the mysterious voice roaring in rage.

“Filthy creatures!” It shrieked. “Intruders! Interlopers! Ruiners!”

“Oh, you go to every hell that there ever was!” Alex roared back before turning to Thundar. “I got these little bastards! Go help stop the other big one!”

The minotaur nodded, leaving Alex to push through the muck. With a yell that came from deep within, he used his enhanced speed to pluck beast-goblin-after beast-goblin by their limbs, and toss them back into the water to disappear from sight. They flew through the air so quickly, that at times, it seemed like the sky was raining little monsters.

As the horde on land thinned—Hogarth, Svenia and Brutus kept tearing apart the remaining ones, while Meikara hung back and blasted any looking to crawl from the water with mana bolts. In the distance, Alex noticed a tremendous turbulence then suddenly, pieces of green Crich-Tulagh churned to the bog’s surface.

Claygon had been tearing the creature apart below, but the one on the other side of the land-bridge wasn’t faring much better. Theresa’s swords were carving away at the creature’s spongy body, while Grimloch had chewed through much of its left side. Numerous metal spikes were protruding from it, and Khalik kept the pressure on, blasting it from up close with a hail of sharpened stones.

Then Thundar was there, shooting mana bolts then—drawing a massive knife, he struck true—cleaving the creature in two.

“No, no, no!” the voice cried as the Crich-Tulagh shuddered, and collapsed on its side. “No! No! My babies! What have you done?!”

A heartbeat later, the rest of the plant-monster Claygon had been fighting split the water’s surface, sailing high in the air, then dropping: a round, shredded mass of dead plant material struck the bog, spurting murky water everywhere. Most looked like overcooked greens.

“Curse you!” the voice shrieked. “Curse you all!”

“Get out of the water!” Isolde shouted, then began chanting a powerful lightning spell.

Everyone scrambled to get to a land-bridge as she lashed out with twin orbs of lighting, shooting them straight into the marshwater, blasting everything near with a jolt of electricity. She’d arced the orbs away from the land-bridge, but the remaining beast-goblins weren’t so lucky. They shuddered when sparks of electricity tore through them.

“Light them up, Claygon!” Alex shouted.

A series of explosions followed Isolde’s spell. Boiling water shot through the air in a geyser, raining down on the beast-goblins. The stench of boiled flesh and rotten vegetation soon rose within a cloud of steam. Alex immediately recast Orb-of-Air around his head, and took a deep breath of fresh air.

The attackers were reduced to burnt corpses and shredded plant matter floating on the bog’s surface. Meikara took in the destruction, then looked at her teammates with a crooked grin. “I’m glad you’re on my side!”

A howl echoed from every direction. “Bandits! Reavers! Away with you!” The words retreated in the distance.

“Make us!” Alex shouted, glancing over at Khalik. “You okay?”

The prince growled. “I’ll be better when I break whatever that is out there over my knee.”

“Get in line.” Alex looked toward the hill in the distance. “Let’s get going, maybe we can find it on our way.”

Giving Claygon instructions, he and the rest of the team pushed forward along the land-bridges, moving with speed, but also with care, just like Baelin had taught them. Below, Alex could feel Claygon churning through the bog until-

Splash.

-the massive golem broke the water’s surface as the bog grew shallower the closer they got to the hill. The terrain was firmer, less boggy. Still, there’d been no sign of their attacker, but in Alex’s mind, there was no question that it was lying in wait nearby.

Najyah screeched suddenly, drawing Khalik’s eye.

The prince swore, pointing to a massive clot of moss floating near a path ahead of them. “Najyah warns that the mound is moving, it looks like another Crich-Tulagh!”

He began chanting an incantation as his teammates quickly reacted. Alex searched his bag for a booby-trapped sensory enhancement potion; sleeping potions wouldn’t work on plant-monsters, but this one would. Grabbing a good sized rock, he tossed the potion through the air launching it toward the mound.

Whoooom.

Claygon charged his fire beams. Alex cocked the rock back, tracking the potion as it soared through the air. He also activated The Mark. This was going to be a difficult shot: he’d need it to guide his aim.

Alex whipped the stone forward with all his strength, skill, and enhanced speed when the bottle was near the mound. The rock sped toward it, reaching it mid-mound and connected, shattering the glass.

Boom!

Potion-mist sprayed through the air, falling on the third Crich-Tulagh.

Alex glanced up toward his Aervespertillo. “Hold your breath, then scream and fly away!”

The summoned creature drew in a breath and swooped down, screeching above the plant monster, then soaring away from the fumes. Air vibrated around the bat-like creature; the screech slammed into the plant monster and it writhed from the water.

Then a swarm of spells hit it.

Iron spikes, mana bolts, and Khalik’s acid stream all struck the creature as one. Then it was Claygon’s turn, hitting it with all three fire-beams. Steam billowed from the water-logged creature as the beams dried away the liquid. They’d done their job: parts of the plant monster ruptured, and what was left of it, collapsed. The team moved past the steaming remains.

The bog remained quiet while they rounded the large hill.

“There,” Alex said, pointing ahead.

A massive cave mouth yawned open in front of them—more than twenty feet high—surrounded by fractured rock. It looked like the stone used to block the entrance had been pushed aside.

Alex reached into his bag and grabbed a slumber potion and a booby-trapped flight potion, just in case.

He looked up at his summoned monster. “Go! Scout ahead and screech if anything’s moving in there!”

The bat-like creature gave a low cry then swooped into the cave while the team formed a line. Khalik sent Najyah on ahead too.

“Let’s get some light going and get in there,” Alex said. “If something’s in there, we don’t want it having too much time to plan an attack on us.”

The rest of the team prepared; forceballs were cast for light, and everyone steeled themselves.

For the second time in a year and a bit, The Fool of Thameland entered a dungeon.

But this time, he was ready.