The corridor did round the collapsed ceiling as we took the next left. As we’d walked we decided rather than risk further bridges we’d stay to the left wall as much as we could. Now, we all moved more cautiously, trying to keep quiet (Lo’Kryn Stealth: 6+2=8; Cambrin Stealth (armor disadvantage): 6/8+0=6; Ceylas Stealth: 14+3=17). Ceylas paced ahead of us and I could see the way she tilted her head as she listened, peering forward through the shadows.

About twenty feet on she paused and Cambrin and I closed the gap to reach her. She lifted a hand. “There’s something ahead,” she whispered.

“What is it?” my own voice seemed to echo slightly off the walls so I dropped my head closer to her’s before adding, “What do you see?”

The corridor we’d been walking along had been about two feet wide against the ten foot channel of slushy water. As I peered at what had caused Ceylas to pause I noticed thick copper piping blocked the path ahead. Leaning against the pipe, fallen from their hinges, were a pair of iron gates that were row upon row of rusted bars. They look like they’d once blocked the path to a section of tunnel that had an arched ceiling. The walls of the corridor dropped to angled edges before flattening into the water-filled channel. The whole section continued about thirty feet before opening into a dank room. Sunlight streamed in from the distance, creating a sparkle of brightness that obscured true sight, especially with eyes sensitive to the variations of light.

“If I were an alligator this would definitely be where I’d be hiding out.” Ceylas’s sharp eyes were peering into the changing light.

I suddenly wasn’t so sure we were the right people for this. “If we go in there it means getting our feet wet. I thought we wanted a high ground, not a monster lair.”

“Who is to say if it is even within its lair at this time.”

“Right,” Ceylas added. “We made enough noise coming down here that it probably ventured out earlier to hunt us down.” She swallowed and I could tell she didn’t really believe what she was saying.

“Regardless,” Cambrin said, drawing his javelin over his shoulder. “This is the quest that has been given us. We can but try.”

“What will happen if we die?” Since I wasn’t really Lo’Kryn, I was Nik, safe at home in my bed, probably, I wondered if dying here would mean waking up there. Then again, dying here could mean never waking up. And what would happen to Lo’Kryn? His body really was here, maybe. I’d be getting him killed.

“It’s just one gator.” Ceylas drew a dagger into one hand and lifted her other as if ready to conjure her magic. “If we can kill giant toads and spiders we can take down a single alligator.”

We all stood, gearing ourselves up for facing whatever might be hiding in the room beyond this channel. Suddenly a scream pierced the air. “Damerin!” a woman’s voice cried out.

Cambrin, Ceylas, and I all froze for a heartbeat before I jumped into the slush of knee-high water, staff gripped tight in my hand, and waded forward as fast as I could move. I heard Ceylas curse behind me before she and Cambrin also leapt down.

The water was moving against us and with Cambrin and Ceylas both so much shorter than me they were having a hard time keeping up. The snarl of a creature and the thwack of weapon on scale urged me forward.

“Damerin, get up!” The woman’s voice echoed down the corridor and a heavy slosh of water heralded the movement of something very big ahead of us. “Taymore, can you help him?”

I dashed down the corridor. The shifting water around my legs slowed me slightly but I drew on the energy within me to push faster, past my endurance, to breach the room (Step of the Wind). In a heartbeat I took in the scene.

A half-elven woman, battleaxe in one hand and shield in the other, stood in heavy chainmail. Her lips moved as she spoke an invocation I couldn’t hear. She faced off against the alligator that reared from the water with its fangs snarling in her direction. Behind the alligator, a tall dark-skinned man slammed a mace into some kind of giant mosquito. A blue-skinned man crouched beneath the creature. His hand was still resting on the leg of his compaion. A splatter of blood cascaded over him as the body of the creature dropped into the water with a splash.

I darted forward, positioning myself to the rear of the alligator across from the woman as she slammed at it with her battleaxe (Battleaxe: 19+5=24; damage: 7+3=10; wrathful smith: 1d6=5) (Alligator Wisdom Save: 1 - failed = frightened). My quarterstaff was slippery in my hands and threw off my balance as I swung down at the alligator (Quarterstaff: 3+4=7) but I let the off-kilter strike power an elbow following through behind the wood to slam against the beasts rear, finding the tender joint (Unarmed: 16+4=20; damage: 3+2=5). It snarled, twisting it’s whole body as it thrashed.

“Cambrin! Ceylas! We need you!” I shouted back, hoping they’d be able to move quick through the sludgy water as the beast swung its fangs toward me. (Bite (fear disadvantage): 1/4+8=9) I lunged back out of the reach of its snapping jaws as it whipped its tail out at the blue-skinned man (Tail (fear disadvantage): 18/7+8=15). It slammed against the man’s armor, forcing him to brace himself against his companion but not seeming to cause any real damage. It snarled, hissing at us as we surrounded it.

The strange giant insects buzzed, their wings grinding against each other. One darted down on the half-elf woman (Blood drain: 11+5=16) but she turned the armored parts of her body toward the insect and lifted her shield to fend it off. The other two, still had their proboscis dug deep into the flesh of the dark-skinned man. He groaned and turned pale as one drank its fill, its abdomen swelling further with the man’s life blood. He crumpled to the floor again. “Taymore!” the woman cried out, “he needs you.”

The blue-skinned man, dark hair mixed with the crimson blood of the insect his companion had killed, had a stern look on his face. The second of the two insects that had been harrying his friend drew back. A tongue darted from the end of the long protrusion that served as some kind of beak and it turned, glaring at the man. It darted forward (Blood drain: 3+5=8) but the man battered it away with the hand he’d used to heal his friend.

From the corridor I heard the sloshing of water as my companions waded through the slush. I glanced at Cambrin as he lifted his javelin in one hand and threw the sharp-pointed weapon at the alligator’s heavy hide. The weapon lanced through the air in a smooth arc and found a point in the groove of the alligator’s neck. It penetrated (Javelin: Crit! 20+3=23; damage: 6+3+1=10) several inches into the beast’s flesh, then disappeared, reapparing in Cambrin’s hand as the gnome continued to push forward through the water.

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Beside him, Ceylas stopped, water sloshing around her belly. Her eyes were wide as she took in the scene before her but without more than a heartbeat’s hesitation she charged the spell in her hand and thrust it toward the alligator (Eldritch Blast: 17+5=22; damage: 10+3=13). It slammed into the beast’s side, digging deep into the flesh. The alligator thrashed, snarling and hissing as it whipped from left to right trying to defend itself.

The blue-skinned man, Taymore, reached out for the creature that had tried to attack him. He gripped it hard in a fist. Electricity coursed through the insect and it spasmed with the blue chains of lightning that surged through it (Shocking Grasp: 12+4=16; damage: 1d8=7). The man dropped it, letting its still charring body fall into the water as he turned back to his companion. He used an arm to hold the man’s head above water but the dark-skinned human was unconscious and still bleeding from his wounds. He thrashed slightly, his breath growing more and more ragged (Death save: 7. 1st failure).

“No, Damerin!” Taymore cried, “You hold on my friend, hold on.”

The half-elf woman spared a glance at her companions. The strange insect continued to buzz around her. She ducked under it, lifting her shield to ward it off. “Radanta,” she snarled, as if losing her temper with the bug. A blast of radiant light burst from her (Word of Radiance: Constitution save 13; damage: 5). The alligator snarled, turning away from the light. It continued snapping, unharmed (Constitution save: 12+3=15), but the insect let out a piercing scream as it burst into searing white flame (Constitution save: 10+0=10) and dropped into the water.

The alligator’s teeth were turned in my direction and I rammed up into its mouth with my quarterstaff (Quarterstaff: 9+4=13) but narrowly avoided having the jaw of the beast snap down on the wood, or perhaps even my arm. I drew back and struck at out its face with my fist (Unarmed: 19+4=23; damage: 2+2=4).

It turned in the same motion, snapping at my arm as I drew back from the blow (Bite (fear disadvantage): 9/11+8=17). I felt the graze of the teeth brush my knuckles as I moved out of the way, barely. My breath caught as it angrily swung around to thrash me with its tail. I grunted as the tail slammed into me, bludgeoning across my side (Tail (fear disadvantage): 14/20!+8= 22; damage: 1+7=8). Its raspy scales scraped my skin and the weight hit me heavy (Strength save: 16+3=19) but I managed to hold my ground, keeping my feet beneath me and shoved the tail away.

Just a few feet from me the blood sucking insect that had its snout buried deep into their unconscious companion’s flesh pulled back. It hissed, blood seeping from the proboscis. Its tongue darted out, tasting the crimson fluid as it turned on Taymore. It lunged forward (Blood drain: 19+5=24; damage: 1+3=4) and burried into his skin. He cried out in pain. Sensing his weakness the other insect dove at his neck (Blood drain: 20!+5=25; damage: 1+3+3=7) digging in deep.

Cambrin was still wading toward us through the water. It was easily up to his waist and his movement was slow as he dragged his water-logged clothing forward. Still unable to reach my side he flung his javelin at the alligator (Javelin: 8+3=11). The slosh of water hit his side as he aimed and the throw went wild, arcing over the alligator’s thrashing head and dropping harmlessly into the water several feet behind it. Again, the weapon reappeared in his hand.

Ceylas inched forward too, wading through the heavy water. She stopped at the entrance to the room and glanced around at the remaining foes and the three strangers. She kept glancing between the two insects and the hulking alligator as if uncertain what to target. Eventually, she thrust forward her hand, fingers sparking with the navy flicker of her spell. It arched forward in a weave as if it, too, were uncertain of its target. Then it fizzled out as if she’d lost focus (Eldritch Blast: 1+5=6). She swallowed, her eyes still wide and uncertain.

Taymore, gaze fixed on his friend despite the two insects leeching his own life’s blood, reached out and lay a hand against the cheek of the dark-skinned man. “Damerin,” he whispered, “come back to us. We need you.” A golden light seemed to flow through Taymore into Damerin who gasp as breath filled his lungs again.

Taymore, looking weak, smiled and slumped as Damerin sat up. “Tay?” the man cried. He struck out at one of the creatures with his mace but pulled the attack at the last minute as if he’d grown afraid he might hurt his friend (Mace: 1+4+5). Distraught at his own failure he muttered under his breath, “Leighus.” A soft glow of energy filled Taymore’s chest and he drew a breath of relief as color returned to the man’s skin (Healing word: 4+3=7). Together, the two rose to their feet. The insects, proboscis still stabbed deep into Taymore’s skin, clung to his flesh.

The woman, seeing her companions both in rough shape, seemed deeply concerned. Her attention was split between the alligator and the blood suckers that appeared to be posing a significant threat despite the frailness of their bodies. She clipped her battleaxe to her belt and raised her fingers to twirl a divine sigil in the air. From within it an orb of white flame appeared and blast toward one of the two insects (Sacred flame: Dex DC 13; damage: 7). Seeming completely oblivious to the spell cast in its direction the creature exploded into a splatter of blood (Dexterity save: 7+3=10 - fail). The half-elf dropped her hand back to her hip and drew up the battleaxe again, focusing her defenses on the alligator.

I caught the whole thing over my shoulder but the alligator was actively harrying me so I kept my attention as best I could on the giant beast. The water around my knees made it hard to move. I ground my feet and swung hard with my quarterstaff. The alligator shifted at the last second and the blow rattled down the humped spines of its back (Quarterstaff: 1+4=5). Pain radiated up my arm.

Flexing my still stinging fingers I bent low and brought my fist up in a hard uppercut (Unarmed: 14+2=16; damage: 4+2=6). My hand crunched into the soft flesh under the alligator’s jaw. It reared back, snarling and hissing.

Sharp teeth snapped out at me (Bite (fear disadvantage): 8/17+8=16; damage: 7+2+4+5=18). I felt the bones in my arm crunch as it bit down hard, gripping me in its vice-like jaw. I howled in pain, feeling it shudder through my whole system as the creature picked me up in its mouth. I caught a glimpse of Ceylas’s horrified face as my vision faded. I was hanging on the edge of consciousness, my body burning with pain, feeling every rend of flesh as the alligator swung around with me in its mouth. It lashed it tail at the half-elf woman (Tail (fear disadvantage): 11/18+8=19; damage: 2+4+5=11) and she grunted as it slammed into her chest. She fell back as the weigh of the tail knocked her to the ground.

The one remaining insect sucked deep from Taymore’s flesh and he groaned in pain (Blood drain (auto damage): 1+3=4). With a shout of fury, Cambrin raced the remaining feet to the side of the alligator and thrust his javelin at the creature’s belly (Javelin: 15+3=18; damage: 1+1=2). Ceylas followed up with a blast of navy energy into where the javelin had just penetrated the skin (Eldritch blast: 19+5=24; damage: 5+3=8).

The blue man gripped the insect that still hung in his flesh. His fingers glowed and sparks of electricity pulsed through the creature. It sizzled and crackled into dust (Shocking grasp: 19+4=23; damage: 5). He turned an anxious gaze on the woman. “Fenlyn!” he cried, crossing to her side.

Damerin, torn between his companions, seemed to hesitate. He too, limped to his companion’s side, dropping to his knees beside her, but as he ran he thrust a hand out and cried, “Leighus.” A beam of warmth burst through me (Healing word: 3+3=6). I gasped, feeling the alligator’s teeth still clenching my skin but the shadows of near-unconsciousness faded.

“I’m okay,” the woman muttered, rising to her feet as she warded off her friends. “We have to take this monster down.” She snarled, howled a battle cry and swung hard with her battleaxe into the skull of the alligator (Battleaxe: 15+5=20; damage: 3+3=6 +Divine Smite: 7+8=15). The blade of her axe lit up with radiant power that pulsed into the creature as the axe cut deep into its cranium. Its jaws clenched around me and I winced but, taking advantage of the alligator’s discomfort, I wedged my quarterstaff between its jaws and kicked out with both feet (Quarterstaff: 12+4=16; Unarmed: 15+4=19: damage: 7+2+2+2=13.) The thrust tore the jaw of the creature where the axe had weakend the bones of the skull and it slumped, me still in its mouth, back into the water.