==========

  [Sigurd]

  The first thing that stood out in the swamp was the noise, an absolute racket many times louder than the forest on floor two. The ambience of the swamp was intense, fast-paced and urgent, whereas, in the woods where silence was prevalent, it was eerie, slow-paced and more sedate, although still with an overwhelming sense of danger. Here the noise was ubiquitous; a symphony that never let up.

  Insects buzzed and flitted around inside Sigurd’s vision. The midges swarming, like tiny hate filled clouds that bit them. Swatting at them had no effect and Lorelei had even tried to burn them to ashes, but it was an endless task that just drained her mana. The blighted creatures had no end to their numbers, and so the group just had to deal with it. Ignore it as best they could. At the end of their first five minutes on the floor Sigurd had just one conclusion: swamps sucked!

  On a patch of hard, dry ground, the group stripped down and had Lorelei dry their clothes. Slipping back into a nice dry shirt was heavenly and Sigurd savoured it, wishing he had had this luxury for many of his previous delves with his old group.

  They stood around for a while as the group took stock of their situation.

  After jumping down the waterfall, they had waded through the thigh-high water to stumble upon this solid refuge. Like a sandbar in the ocean, it seemed to extend a way, blocking off the rest of the floor from the entrance area, protecting them and giving a chance to prepare to explore the swamp. Water lapped over the raised ground in places, but it effectively separated the two areas.

  Soon Kael returned from a little scouting trip along the edges of the sandbank and the group gathered around to listen to what he was saying.

  “Ok, so, the cave end is too far away to see from here, the trees and swamp block my view, though I can see what I assume is the wall curving down from above.” He said, pausing a moment to let them respond. Seb motioned for him to continue.

  “Um, as you suspected this embankment arcs around the waterfall and provides a barrier to the wildlife out there, I didn’t find anywhere where the waters connected through. I’m certain it is intentional, and as such we should probably be especially wary of what’s lurking in the water. If the dungeon is giving us a chance to prepare, then this is most likely much more dangerous than the previous floor.” He continued, gesturing off into the depths of the swamp where a splash could be heard off in the distance. It’s subdued sound echoing around.

  “Ok, makes sense, I suspect you’re right on that.” Seb replied.

  “Great!” Jackson mumbled sarcastically.

  “About the floor itself?” Seb questioned.

  “There are definitely some vicious scavengers and predators that won’t be afraid of taking a bite out of us, over that a way I found a… well its easier just to show you.” He motioned for them to follow him.

  About 20 metres around the embankment, he stopped and pointed to something in the murky water.

  “Where?” Sigurd asked, confused. As far as he could tell the man was pointing to the swamp in general.

  “You see the mangrove?” he said, Sigurd nodded in affirmation. “Ok come back five metres and off to the left by one. There’s a clump of algae, see it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Ok, do you see how under it is a white shimmer, yes? There, that’s it, it looks like a skeletonised creature and judging by the mass it was a fairly large creature.”

  “Ah, yes. I see.” Sigurd responded, not seeing what Kael was noticing at all. Kael noticed that.

  Kael sighed. “Look, give me your rope.” When Sigurd did, he took a broadhead bolt, tied the rope to it and fired at the water. With a soft splosh and dulled thud, it impacted the clump, kicking up a small spray of water. Carefully, he pulled back the thing stuck to the end.

  Dragging what Sigurd could now see was a carcass to the shore, the group gathered around it with morbid intrigue.

  It appeared to be a large water fowl of some sort. About the same size as a turkey. Scraps of flesh like pretty pink ribbons clung to the emaciated bones with thin silvery tendrils. Like little strings, they pulled taut as Kael lifted the carcass frow the water and gravity took hold.

  Dumping it on the bank, he flipped it over, exposing the damage that had been done. It was empty, not in a sterile butchery way though. The carcass had been eaten, picked clean and devoured leaving barely a scrap clinging to it. Even the bones held little pick like marks.

  Kael split it down the middle to get to his bolt and impaled on the broadhead of the bolt, right through the belly, was a short, stocky fish. About the size of large mango but significantly flatter, it flapped around in desperation, the wound would kill it that was sure.

  The fish had a reddish, pink belly and a permanent frown looking face etched into its bull-like head Its mouth opened and closed with a gulping noise as it breathed in air in its struggle.

  “I guess this is what strips the dead to the bone then.” Jackson said with an uneasy laugh.

  “Let’s get a look at his weaponry then.” Kael asserted. Gripping the fish firmly with one hand, he took a finger and peeled back its lips exposing the teeth that had caused such destruction. A series of interlocking teeth that, fit together perfectly filled its maw, like scissors.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Get me a stick.”

  Sigurd looked around absently, nothing within sight though. Someone else found one and Kael, prising open its jaws, slid the stick in and waited. The fish clamped down, slicing through the stick as if it was made of cheese.

  With a high pitch yowl, Kael jumped back. Dropping the fish back into the swamp as he went. It was promptly devoured by others of its kind. Sigurd’s eyes returned to Kael, he was missing the tip of his forefinger. The fish had somehow got him, but he wasn’t sure how.

  Regaining his composure, Kael spoke. “You know it doesn’t actually hurt that much. I think the real danger lies in not noticing you’re being eaten.” He said staring at the missing tip of his finger. Only about a half centimetre was missing so it could have been worse.

  “You know you deserve this, you fool.” Jenna said, fondness clouding her stern tone. “Come here” she beckoned. She examined the wound and shook her head wistfully.

  “I think the teeth are so sharp that they just sheared straight through and that’s why you felt no pain. Since we don’t have the tip, I can’t fix this. You’ll have to wait for a flesh mage to fix it. I’ll stop the bleeding though.” She muttered to herself before letting the magic flow.

  “God damn it” he said wincing at the missing tip.

  “At least it was the forefinger, it should have no impact.

  “How so?” Sigurd asked. “I would have thought it was the most important one?”

  “A common mistake, but wrong nonetheless. It’s the pinkie finger that is most important, it is essential for a lot of our precision grip and strength without it you’d find life getting much harder. If you think about it, you can write without the first finger, it’s not so hard to compensate by shifting all your fingers up” She replied informatively.

  Kael ran a series of tests to confirm if he could still use his daggers as Jenna had said. He could, and quite impressively too.

  “Uhm, where was I? Oh right, the swamp. Well, I guess we found the fish responsible for the clean-up, but I think that may be the least of our problems. Judging from the sounds we’ve been hearing and the glimpses I got. I’d take a gamble that there are bigger predators in these waters, far bigger.”

  As if to illustrate the point, a giant splash sounded behind them. Sigurd whirled and saw a flash of gold slip below the surface and the water darken - as though a cloud had risen to the surface – obscuring whatever it was.

  “Well that’s ominous” Lorelei snorted, amused.

  “That and the giant lizards”

  ==========

  [Dungeon]

  As it turned out, they were correct about the piranhas being the least of their problems. They set off from the firmer ground at an easy pace not long after Kael had had his finger fixed as best they could. Comfortable, yet wary, they walked through the pools, trees and grasses. The swamp had that unnerving quality to it. The noise, the humidity, the general ambiance was enough to unsettle the stomach and they seemed to be feeling it.

  Veteran adventurers they may be, but it seemed to me that they were just as prone to emotions and weakness as the rest of their race.

  As they traversed the swamp, they stumbled in hollows, tripped over branches and roots, got bitten by the piranhas and bugs and had the calamitous luck to run into a goliath tiger fish as they were crossing one of the deeper pools. A pretty miserable run of luck.

  They had stumbled through one of the last marshy areas before the initial mangrove treeline, tiredness creeping in as the swamp fought to slow them down. The mud, grasses and water clinging to them and dragging them down with each step. Not literally of course, that would have taken a far larger investment of mana.

  They had paused before the pool, exhibiting caution, a wise trait. At some unspoken signal, Jackson had entered the water. Being the tank, he seemed to lead these situations, going headfirst into the unknown.

  As the water rose to chest level Jackson had panicked. I had no idea why the rising water level had incited such panic, but it wasn’t good for him. Seconds after his flailing began, the fish struck. A darting bite, wrapping its maw around his side. The metre-and-a-half-long fish, weighing nearly 65 kilos struggled to fit the three centimetre-long teeth around the man’s waist, but it managed. Like a carpenter hits nails into wood, the teeth sunk through the armour and pierced his flesh, crushing down with bone grinding strength. I was glad I had bought them, they seemed to be an excellent choice.

  Jackson yelled out profanities, screaming in pain as the goliath thrashed, trying to rip out the chunk of flesh it had claimed.

  In a few moments more though, it had given up and abandoned its prey, backing off into the deeper, murky hidey holes of the swamp. It would wait until the meal lost its strength before coming after it again.

  Sebastien, Kael and Sigurd charged forwards, determined to save their tank from the attack. Though it was over long before they got there. They dragged him backwards though, getting him out of the danger to the higher ground on which the mages were standing.

  With Jackson being clad in plate armour, the fish couldn’t rip out a chunk of his side, but it had punctured the plate in several spots, cutting him badly and perforating the flesh. Getting the plate off took them a few minutes, but it was necessary to help him. They wouldn’t be able to see the damage under the plate.

  The vicious fish’s dagger like teeth had struck him deep good before it had disappeared into the murky depths, leaving them questioning its existence.

  It took a healing potion and a spell from Jenna to get him properly healed. A large injury but nothing that was really life threatening or that serious, adventurers seemed to get tougher and tougher with more delves and so even without any healing the man would have been fine.

  The group peered into the water, suspicious and cautious. I doubted they would brave enough to try this pool again. I wouldn’t have been eager to test it and I doubted they had the nerve.

  Sure enough, they skirted the pool and took the long way around. An unnecessary excursion as it was doubtful the fish would attack them again.

  Goliath tiger fish generally preferred fast moving waters in which to ambush prey. With the power they possessed, they would wait in the calmer pockets of the turbulence for wounded prey to tire from the forces that bashed them around before they struck. The ambush tendency they had was perfect for the dungeon and getting them to accept the slow-moving nature hadn’t taken much work. The system was quite helpful in adjusting tiny things to help creatures fit within the dungeon.

  It had got in and out, striking hard and leaving in perfect health. I was pleased at this. A very good monster for the dungeon and if it had struck at someone not wearing plate it might have been a different story.

  Once Jackson was up and calmed down, they pressed on and soon they had found the middle of the swamp and the various mangroves I had cultivated there.

  They explored it briefly, stumbling across one of the chests. Unlike before, they had not spent anywhere near as much time cataloguing the ingredients that could be found, I think they felt rather uncomfortable with the level and wanted to move on as fast as possible.

  They missed the snake and the hidden zone: it was fairly well camouflaged after all, but I had almost hoped to see it.

  Stumbling out the other side, they disturbed one of the arapaima, sending it jetting off and jumping away, startling them.

  “Woah!” one of them said, I missed who.

  “What was that?” Jenna said.

  “No idea but it was a big one, think that’s what got you Jackson?” Kael questioned.

  “Nah, didn’t seem to have the teeth for it. I reckon there’s another big beastie or two hiding down there.” He said.

  They gulped. I laughed.

  “Great”

  As they stood on the outer groups of mangroves, they spotted the exit – as well as one of the alligators.

  “That would be them giant lizards you mentioned Kael?” Lorelei asked.

  “Yep, fearsome looking aren’t they. At least they aren’t in the water.” He replied, perfectly timing it for another alligator to emerge onto one of the far islands.

  “You had to jinx it didn’t ya?” She said, grabbing him round the head and rubbing his scalp with a knuckle.

  “No, I’m sorry Lore, sorry.” He said waiting for her to release him before dancing away and smacking her on the back of the head gently.

  “You rat…!” She said angrily before catching Sebastien’s side glance. He seemed to be the leader that was for sure.

  “Hey Lore, at least we know they go into the water now!” Kael said. She stuck her tongue out at him instead.

  “Scamp,” she muttered.

  Collecting themselves, they moved out keeping an eye on the waters, but it seemed their luck had turned for the better as they didn’t encounter any of the tiger fish, snakes or arapaima, though they did get nibbled upon by the piranhas a bit.

  Advancing towards the ‘lizards’ as they called them, they struck them down with ease. It seemed on their feet they were much more competent.

  They collected some prizes for killing the alligator, I had tied them to the islands, letting them defend them and move around the water a bit and so the prize would only be able to be gained by defeating the alligators, or at least risking a confrontation.

  They left it at that, the other alligators were basking on the dryer ground and the group seemed to have no desire to stick around the floor to get their loot.

  Though they were often ambush predators, the way I had set them up to defend the islands reduced their effectiveness to an appropriate level I thought. If the big man had been in trouble with a tiger fish, then the alligator would have been big trouble indeed in the water. Still, I didn’t want to restrict them entirely and so they would still be in the water about 40 percent of the time. Good luck to any that stumbled across them. It was how the game was played though, they knew the risks.

  Soon after defeating the alligator and gaining their prize they exited the swamp, descending the stairs with a glee that seemed to exude out of them. Happy to leave the swamp behind

  We’d see how much longer that lasted with the rainforest coming up.