“What kind of a spell for Ra is that?!” Dale demanded.

  I could feel it. I twisted my weapon and in the dapples of sunlight from the holes above, my sword shimmered. I looked at Ynec. His bow did the same thing.

  “Ynec!” I yelled, “Shoot her again!”

  Hosu hissed as Ynec knocked an arrow, her mouth geared up for another shriek but Ynec was quicker. He launched the arrow. It glimmered as it stroked through the air and slashed off Hosu’s lips. The look on Hosu’s face. She screamed in agony with what was left of her mouth.

  “All our attacks should hurt her now! This spell turns our normal damage into radiant damage! It’s specifically made to hurt ghouls like her.” Hosu slashed at me with her claw, I ducked and rolled behind her, then sliced into her leg. Another shriek as she fell to her knee, with her good leg, she kicked me backward. She flared angrily at us, her hair standing on end and her claws wriggling off her fingers. I steeled myself as Ynec shot another arrow. It pierced her chest. If her heart was still beating, he might have hit it.

  “Dude!” Dale cried, “What the hell?! You’re hurting my new girl!” He stomped his hoof and pointed his horns at me. He charged. I looked at Ynec and told him, “Don’t stop shooting!”

  Hosu attempted to get closer at Ynec but he simply dodged her attack, rolled farther away and shot another arrow.

  I prepared for Dale’s charge, I used my sword to block the first one. My blade collided with his godly horn and I shoulder checked him to move out of the way. He geared up for a second go and this time came even faster. He had his head down, focusing on his horns connecting with me. I took a step back and stuck my foot out. He tripped and fell. I turned my attention back to Hosu.

  I ran toward her and sliced her arm off. She threw a weakened jab and I got her other arm. Her mouth expanded until it was big enough to bite my head off. Although the skin had been ripped off by an arrow, she grew new teeth in the flaps that remained. Hosu lurched. I felt her lips wrap around my head but she stopped. I slashed her stomach and flung myself backward, Ynec had shot an arrow right through her mouth flap. The arrow had acted as a seal, making her unable to fully close her maw.

  Hosu let out more painful wails and ran toward the tiny pool of water again, “Fill her full of holes! She’s trying to recover again!”

  Ynec shot at her but her movements were too fluid. She no longer ran but slid along the floor.

  “Stride!” I yelled, “Level two!” I booked it toward her at a high speed. Dale composed himself and got between me and Hosu. I slid on the gravely earth. The loose sand and the propulsion from the speed spell helping me gracefully dodge Dale by sliding under his legs. I pulled myself back up and kept running. I leapt over Hosu, skirted to a stop, and turned around. My sword was up ready to fight her. I was the last defense before she hit water again. I lifted my sword up and sliced down on her skull. With amazing timing, she split herself in two a quarter inch before my blade connected. I felt no contact as I ran my blade through her. My blade clanged against the floor as both halves hopped past me on one foot. One half jumped into the lake and the other followed.

  “Fuck!” I yelled.

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  I lunged over and stabbed the water but had no clue if I was hitting her. Nothing happened. I stabbed the water but she didn’t come back up. I pushed myself up and Dale had his arms up.

  “What the fuck, dude?!” Dale said, “I had a good thing with her! She didn’t speak.”

  “Come on, Ynec,” I said, “We best be getting on.”

  “We fight Dale?”

  “We can’t hurt him.” I glanced at Dale, “We’re out of here Dale. You suck, buddy.”

  “Water lady?” Ynec asked.

  “She hasn’t come back and she’s gravely injured,” I said, “We’ll risk it.”

  “Fine,” Dale said, “Leave! And take Hosu with you. I’ve got a biblically accurate angel in my messaging scrolls and let’s just say eyes aren’t the only thing they’ve got a lot of.”

  “Disgusting.”

  I leapt into the lake feet first. I felt the cold sting of the water as I fully submerged. I opened my eyes and looked around. No sign of Hosu but that was not likely given she was in water. I began a froggy stroke but felt a strange rush around my body, like a new tide. I felt this tide dragging me back out of the hole I had just leapt into. Quickly, the suction power turned extreme. I was sucked back upward and flung into the air of the clearing, I attempted to spin but landed on the cave floor.

  “I don’t think she’s gone,” I said.

  Ynec took his arrow and pointed it at the hole, waiting for the ignoble Hosu’s return. I placed my sword and shield up. The normally serene lake water began bubbling.

  “Baby!” Dale said, nervously, “You’re here! Don’t tell me you heard anything I just said! That would be eavesdropping.”

  Water shot from the tiny entrance like a geyser. It slammed into the roof and sprayed onto all of us. It did not stop.

  “You fucked us, buddy,” I said to Dale.

  “Where to go, Egen?” Ynec asked.

  “Uhh,” I looked around. Hosu’s geyser was filling the room up with water.

  “Stop!” Yelled Dale as the geyser created a thin layer of water up to our ankles, “Babe, stop! You’re ruining my pad! It took forever to make this place this awesome.”

  I muttered, “You left a bloated corpse here.” A spray of water shot directly at the wood carving hung above his bar that said, “Man Cave.”

  “BABE!” Dale yelled, “I got that carved by monks! You’re acting like a bitch!”

  Oh that did it. The intensity of the geyser exploded and the water rose at our waist in no time.

  “Egen…” Ynec said as the water reached chest level. Dale was desperately trying to save his collection of cool rocks that had been placed in the center of the room, the one that looked kind of like a star instantly fell off and sank to the bottom.

  “Babe, please! I’m sorry! But this angel, they have like… forty holes! You only have six! Surely, you can understand?”

  We began to float up with the water.

  “We’re going to die if we stay here,” I yelled over the rushing water.

  “Can’t go through entrance,” Ynec said, “Water too strong.”

  I looked up, the natural skylights in the ceiling. None of them were very big.

  “Do you think we could squeeze through those gaps?” I asked

  “Maybe.”

  We were quickly approaching the roof. Dale was swimming under us trying to save the ‘Man Cave’ sign but it was swept away through a mysterious current that kept it out of his reach.

  “Here!” Ynec found what looked to be the biggest gap. The dapples of sunlight expressed themselves through about three feet of rock. Ynec handed me the bow and quiver and climbed the remaining rock wall. He started arm first, slacking his torso as the next step was to enter with his head. He gripped onto the other side and began to pull. The water was starting to reach him, and me too. The added buoyancy at his waist helped him pull himself up and get a grip of the other side of the cliff. He dug his way further in and I attempted to push him up with his feet.

  His muzzle peeked through the other side. He could taste the daylight. With that, he scrambled up the remaining wall and turned around. I handed him his bow, his quiver, and my sword. My shield rested on the bottom of this watery bachelor pad. Ynec reached in and grabbed my hand. The water had stopped rising, Hosu was more focused on torturing Dale.

  Ynec pulled me up but as I attempted to burrow myself further up the cliff, I was interrupted by a sharp tug that brought me down into the water.