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    The scouts took a long break to make sure Target would be in fighting shape for whatever they found next. Punch and Bean took turns standing upstream of the others, holding Target’s shield up to deflect any more jellyfish. Shtorrr guarded the other sides of the group, stomping on dungeon monsters that wandered close. Target let them know when he was ready to move on.


    The scouts moved onward in an altered formation: Target, Shtorrr, Bean, Punch. Punch kept a squinted eye out behind the group for threats to the rear, but nothing arrived before the group reached a portal.


    “Portal!” Target called back.


    “Hold up!” Punch jogged to the front and traded the shield to Target. “I’ll go after Shtorrr this time, you enter after Bean.” Target nodded in confirmation, so Punch patted Shtorrr on the arm. “Lead us through, Shtorrr.” Shtorrr stepped through the portal. Punch followed three heartbeats later.


    Punch flew backwards out of the portal and collided with Bean, knocking them both to the ground. Target swore in surprise. Bean caught her breath first and cried out in muffled pain, jaw broken. Target knelt to help her, but switched to Punch when the man coughed up blood. Target tried to roll Punch onto his side, so as not to drown in his own blood, but Punch screamed in agony.


    “Bean!” Target said, “You got any heal candies left? I know you hoard them, Punch really needs one!”


    Bean held her jaw with one hand and fished around under her leathers. She pulled out two tiny yellow pills. “Last. One.” She grunted, glaring at Target. Target scoffed in clear disbelief, but took one of the pills from the slingwoman. Target fed one pill to a nearly unconscious Punch while Bean took the other.


    The pill slowly infused healing into Punch while Target stood guard, glancing nervously at the portal every few minutes. Punch’s breathing lost most of its gurgling irregularity, and Bean’s jaw clicked back together, leaving an ugly bruise.


    Bean continued to glare at Target. “They’re mine. Queen distributes them to us all equally.”


    Target shook his head, exasperated. “We keep you safe from most things. As long as you are free with them in a voided emergency, I don’t bleeding care how many you have. I didn’t ask one for myself, did I?”


    Bean looked away, still glaring. After a minute, she asked, “Think Shtorrr is alright?”


    Target responded slowly. “Normally… I would say it’s probably doing better than Punch, but… If it’s not out soon, it’s probably dead.” The two remained silent after that.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    An hour later, Shtorrr nearly shocked Target to death by stepping out of the portal. The troll looked awful. Pockmarks covered its skin, green blood leaked from multiple bites and cuts, and it was missing its right arm at the shoulder.


    Bean recovered from the surprise first. “Shtorrr! You’re alive!” She tensed as if she wanted to run up to the troll. “Are you alright?”


    The troll limped forward and sat on the ground. “Yes.” It said.


    “What happened?” Target asked.


    “More jellyfish.” Shtorrr said. It gave a long sigh and closed its eyes. “Red jellyfish.”


    Target and Bean looked over at Punch, who was still unconscious. “Was that everything?” Target asked.


    Shtorrr shook its head. It gestured to its missing arm. “Ice.” It gestured to a large bite in its side. “Squid.” Finally it gestured broadly at its skin. “Acid.” Shtorrr hesitated, then added, “Maybe fish.”


    Bean tried to piece together the story. “So, you entered the dungeon floor and hit red jellyfish right away? You must have punched Punch back through the portal. When you came to, you fought an ice squid that tore off your arm? Maybe an acid squid?”


    Shtorrr shook its head. It pointed at its missing arm again. “Woke up. Stuck.” It shrugged. “Ice clams.”


    Target picked up the thread. “You woke up with your arm stuck in ice, then an acid squid attacked?” Shtorrr nodded, so Target continued. “Then the squid tore off your arm?” Shtorrr shook its head and mimicked ripping its own arm off. Target shuddered. “You tore your own arm off! To fight the squid?”


    Shtorrr shook its head. Target was starting to lose patience with the troll’s reporting ability. “Then why?”


    Shtorrr opened its eyes and looked right at Target. “Squid Dead. Everything Dead.” It gestured to its missing arm again. “Stuck.”


    “It tore its arm off so it could leave the floor and get back here.” Bean explained to Target. She turned back to Shtorrr. “That must have hurt.” Shtorrr shrugged.


    “Bean. Target.” The three scouts turned as one towards Punch. His face was drawn with pain, but he spoke clearly. “Survey the floor.”


    “What?” Target and Bean said together.


    “Shtorrr said everything is dead. Go now so we…” Punch closed his eyes and took a slow breath. “… don’t have to come back when its full.” Punch opened his eyes and glared at the two scouts. “Now.”


    Target glanced at Bean with a raised eyebrow. She shrugged. After a few seconds, Target shrugged too. He hefted his shield and marched through the portal with Bean right behind him. On the other side of the portal, they cautiously looked around. The dungeon floor was grey, several inches of rushing water on the ground. After a breath, the water slowed and reversed direction, pulling at their feet. The water drained away to reveal grey stone marred by a long crack. A thick sheet of ice covered the ground under one of the branches of the giant vine. Broken clam shells and colorful monster pieces dotted the ice.


    The pair circled around the dungeon floor, following their normal protocol. The water rushed in and out a few times as they walked. A couple of fruit fell from the vine, but the spawned monsters just hid from the scouts. When they reach the giant vine next to the portal, they moved to the center of the dungeon floor. Bean made a queasy sound.


    “There’s its arm.” She said.


    Target verified that the arm was, in fact, frozen in solid ice, then looked away. “hmmm.” He said. The two scouts killed a snake that got to close, then headed back to the portal. Shtorrr had moved to sit next to Punch, squinting upstream. Target and Bean reported the contents of the dungeon floor, then Shtorrr carefully scooped Punch up with its one arm, and the scouts walked back to the bandit camp.