They had run less than 50 feet out onto the thin rocky path, and already Shelby and Thimble were both down 30 health. The dragon assailing them with damaging water crashed through the inky lakes, surfacing only to drench them and knock them around. Thimble gritted his teeth and made one last move to dash forward, but he was toppled over at the knees as a surge of water bowled into him.

  Shelby caught his hand before he fell sideways into the lake and dragged him back onto the slippery stone. Every second their health dropped by another point. In less than a minute they would both be dead. Shelby yelled out over the sound of rushing water, "We have to go back!"

  Thimble glared at the pink glow streaking through the water for a second before he nodded. The dragon had assumed they would be running further in and sailed over the path far in front of them, but the twin spouts of water it created didn't reach them. They quickly used the distance that mistake created to double back and sprint towards the pond riddled cavern they had come from.

  The surge of pink light inside the lake raced towards them, easily gaining ten feet for every five they travelled, but they hadn't made it very far to begin with. The monster slammed into the thin rock beneath Shelby's feet and it shuddered from the impact. A spray of water lifted Shelby into the air, but she kept her eyes on the path and landed with minimal stumbling. One mad dash later and they both sat with their backs against a rock wall, watching nervously for combat to end so they wouldn't die from the dungeon's status affliction: Seahowl.

  There were a tense twenty seconds where the dragon paced along the lake's edge and searched for them. Every second, their health dropped another point, and Shelby was well below one quarter of her health now. But, thankfully, the dragon eventually wandered away and their natural health regeneration activated, offsetting the damage. They waited in silence as a supernatural wind prickled their skin and dried out their sopping wet clothes.

  "That sucked," Shelby said with a huff as her debuff dropped off.

  "Indeed," Thimble replied, resting his arms and chin on the rim of his shield as he waited.

  "I don't get what we're supposed to do," Shelby said.

  "What do you mean, 'supposed to'?"

  "I mean how are we supposed we get past it... or fight it..."

  Thimble laughed, "You're so confident in yourself. You think you're supposed to win here... in a fight against a predator living inside the perfect conditions to ambush us."

  Right... he doesn't know it's a game, Shelby reminded herself as she stared over at him. She sighed, "I'm sure there must be something we can do."

  Thimble smiled wryly to himself, "Perhaps. We can't get wet, but it attacks with water. We need to get across, but it's faster than we are. I don't even think we could heal even if your bat was with us, it only stays out of the water for a moment."

  "Then why are you smiling?" Shelby asked, poking him on the shoulder repeatedly.

  "We've beaten some awfully ridiculous monsters before. What's one more? You always think of something."

  Shelby wracked her brain, trying to think of what that something was. They hadn't hurt it at all. Maybe that would distract it? That didn't seem very fair to characters that couldn't attack from afar, so how were those players supposed to get past this? It messed up once when it thought we were running forward...

  Shelby stood and stretched her shoulders out. She didn't think they could beat it, but maybe they could trick it for long enough to get past. Plus we can always run back if things went wrong, can't we? She explained her plan to Thimble, who nodded along slowly, "I noticed it likes to move ahead of us to cut off our movements. Maybe we can trick it into moving way ahead like it did before. Then we'll pretend to retreat, and maybe it will try to cut us off from behind. When it does that, we can run forward and make some progress!"

  "Worth a shot, I suppose," Thimble said, getting to his own feet.

  They lined up at the edge of the twin lakes and looked for the tell tale glow of the dragon. Shelby scratched her head as she leaned out over the lake, "I wonder how it knows where we are... If we tip-toe would it let us by?"

  Thimble shrugged, so Shelby carefully walked forward, trying her best to step silently. Thimble waited with a smirk at the edge of the water, and called out to her when the water started to glow, "I don't think that worked."

  Shelby darted back as the dragon slammed into the stone. She had seen this trick before, so she was able to escape the wall of sloshing water by leaning back over the opposite lake, but she still got splattered by the ensuing downpour. She walked back out onto the safety of the shore with a dour expression and waited 20 seconds for the dragon to grow bored again. Thimble patted her on the back, "I think we'll be running. You just shout when we need to change directions."

  They lined up a second time and Shelby pointed forwards into the darkness, "Ready! Steady! Go!"

  They took off running. The dragon snaked through the water towards them, its trajectory slowly arcing towards their frantic footfalls. Shelby lagged behind Thimble by ten feet to keep an eye on the pink comet. As it zipped by her, she yelled out, "Reverse!"

  Thimble slid to a halt and then turned his body entirely around with a tight pirouette. He fell forward onto one hand as his foot slipped, then kicked off and shoved himself forward towards Shelby. The dragon erupted from the water fifteen feet behind the tiny mouse, and although he was peppered with wet beads, almost all of the initial splash fell short. Shelby was ready, and followed the dragon's emergence with a nocked arrow. She fired as it reached the apex of its flight and the arrow hit home for 15 damage. That may as well have been no damage at all, considering it had 6000 health, but she had to try something.

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  The dragon made a squeal of displeasure as the arrow pierced its skin, but it landed just as forcefully as it had before on the opposite lake. Shelby was already turning to race after Thimble as they jogged towards the shore they had come from. Sure enough, the dragon streamed alongside them and then darted ahead to catch them with a blast of water. Shelby gave the command and they turned back to sprint further down the narrow path. Progress!

  They were taking two steps forward and one back, but it seemed to be working. Shelby got off another shot as they lured the dragon into a third feint, and it seemed to have taken damage at some point in between her attacks. Its health was down to 5960 of 6000. She had hit it for 30 total with two Measured Shots, where did the other 10 come from?

  Shelby didn't have much time to consider that particular mystery as she turned to bait out another missed attack. Their plan was effective, but Thimble was still steadily losing health as his fur was flecked with drops of water. As they turned to take another sprint towards the exit, Shelby pushed ahead of him and called back over her shoulder, "My turn to play sponge, you call out the attacks!"

  She didn't look to see if he agreed. They were starting to feel like a truly cohesive team and she was sure he was watching the water already. A few seconds later, he called out, "Now!"

  Shelby pivoted on one foot and lunged back in Thimble's direction as she felt water drizzle over the back of her neck and ears. She shuddered, but she wasn't caught in the wave! The shore they had come from was barely visible through the veil of darkness. We're nearly there! We can make a break for it!

  The small exit was visible now, and Shelby thought they might even reach it before the next exchange, but it was better to be safe. She grinned as she caught sight of a gently ascending path inside of a ragged hole punched through the cave wall. She tagged out with a now dry Thimble as they turned back a final time, then watched his cloak flutter as he put of a burst of speed towards the exit. The dragon flittered through the water a little closer to the surface this time, and she could see the angry red cones on its back splitting the surface. That's new...

  "Wait!" She cried, "Turn back now!"

  Thimble faltered as the dragon pushed up through the water next to him and slammed up onto the path with a crash. Its eyeless head swiveled towards him. A roaring hiss filled the cavern as water surged up all around it. The water funneled into the space in front of the dragon as if it were creating a whirlpool in mid air. Waves frothed and sputtered as they condensed down into a tight, furious sphere. Shelby clumsily drew an arrow and fired a botched Measured Shot into the monster's back, but it didn't make a difference.

  The path was slightly curved where they were stopped, and Thimble was a few degrees closer to the monster then Shelby was. She watched in horror as Thimble raised his shield and was blasted backwards by a narrow beam of raging water. She ducked as it swept over the path and it threw her ears flat against her head. As she reached back to tear her hair out of the stinging torrent, she glanced to the side and saw Thimble tumble head-over-heels into the lake. As she reached instinctively towards him, the dragon heaved itself off the stone path and tore into the water after him.

  Shelby didn't hesitate to jump in right behind. She sliced through the cold water like a knife and locked eyes on her tiny friend plummeting through the dark. She kicked furiously towards him, extending a hand and grasping him by the wrist. His eyes shot open in shock, and a huge bubble burst from his mouth. She drew him in and wrapped her arm around his shoulder, then turned to face the gigantic blur of white and red barreling down on them.

  Thimble's shield was still in his hand, thankfully, and he braced against a strike from a powerful claw. The impact alone drove them down a dozen feet into the abyss. Thimble's health flashed down to the halfway mark under his icon in Shelby's peripheral vision. The dragon coursed by them then laboriously circled below to come around for another strike. We aren't getting out of this alive if that happens again...

  Shelby kicked backward as hard as she could, pushing them closer and closer to the surface as the dragon ascended in a haze of pink light. Thimble's free hand dug into Shelby's side as it drew close, but he was still holding his shield out with a determined glare. Shelby took one last kick and then waited for the monster's form to resolve. The moment she saw it clearly, she urged Mallow to use Unravelling Toxin.

  The tiny creature twisted on Shelby's shoulder and its leaves stood on end. A small green dart rocketed through the water and embedded itself into the soft, wavy skin of the dragon's arm. A massive red "600" ripped itself free from the dragon's back and briefly illuminated the water around them in an eerie glow. Shelby gripped Thimble's arm tight and desperately kicked away from the dragon. It stopped and thrashed in the water, sending a ripple of force up against them, then finally turned and flitted away. I'll take that!

  They breached the surface a dozen feet out from the pathway and breathlessly paddled towards it. Shelby heaved Thimble up onto the stone and croaked out, "Run!"

  He ignored her order and pulled her up by her shirt. She splayed out on the slippery path for a split second before she snapped out of it and screamed at her body to move. She scrambled up and bolted after Thimble. The water had started to glow again only a few seconds into their mad dash, but they made it! They hurtled into the thin tunnel and didn't stop moving. The sounds of water surging up and pouring into the cave echoed behind them, but they were safe. Only after the sounds of the water died down did Shelby dare drop to her knees.

  "We... did it!" She tried to yell, but it only came out as a hoarse whimper.

  Thimble flopped over onto his back beside her and laughed hysterically, saying nothing.

  A long minute later, their health was back to normal, and all that remained of the lakes was a trickle of water winding down the cave floor. Shelby's heart was still racing, and she had sprawled out on the floor with Thimble.

  The familiar sound of Tara typing away slipped into Shelby's ears, and her roommate's weary voice followed, "That was intense, Shells."

  "Yeah..." Shelby forced into whisper chat.

  "I think you're gonna be okay now."

  "Yeah... wait, what do you mean?"

  "Like, you'll be fine with the rest of the dungeon."

  "Why are you saying this now?"

  "I'm going to bed, that's why," Tara said with a yawn.

  "Wait, don't go. I need you," Shelby said as she sat up.

  "Nah, you can do this. You definitely need some more training, but that can wait. You do your dungeon and I'll talk to you tomorrow. I have a busy day planned anyways. I should have gone to bed hours ago."

  Shelby huffed, "Okay, I guess..."

  Tara laughed, "You're doing good! We're almost there!"

  "Are you sure you don't want to stay? Staying up all night is nothing for you!"

  "Ha, I'm sure. Love you Shells. Show that wolf who's boss!"

  "I will... love you Tara. Night!"

  "Night night."

  Tara's clicking went silent as she dropped off the line. Shelby felt a nervous shiver claw up her spine but shook it off. She would be okay. Right?

  She nudged Thimble and he groaned, placing his hands over his eyes and turning away from her. She nudged him again, "Come on sleepyhead, we still have to save those people."