Chaney and the moon cat silently stalked the troll and the bandit man with the spear. Chaney really didn’t want to try and ambush the troll bandit, but the moon cat thought they had a good chance to catch the spearman if they stayed nearby.
The spearman and troll had found themselves blocked by the underground river and the lava tunnels. Chaney had expected them to backtrack and continue searching, but the spearman had walked back and forth along the path between the two, speaking occasionally to the troll. The two bandits were back at the edge of the underground river, gesturing at the water and the stone walls around them. To Chaney’s surprise, the troll began to slam its fists into the stone between two branching tunnels. After a few minutes, a huge chunk of stone cracked and fell to the floor. The troll picked it up and heaved it halfway into the underground river.
Water slammed into the boulder and nearly swept it away, but a stream of water was pushed out into the adjoining tunnels, right towards Chaney and the moon cat. The two bandits followed the water at a jog, cheering as though this was some victory. Chaney and the cat retreated at a run to find side tunnels in which to hide.
When the stream of water reached the lava tunnels, the flash of steam partially caught the spearman, burning his arm and the side of his face. He screamed and backpedaled, colliding with the troll. The troll pulled the spearman back from the expanding cloud of steam. Chaney and the cat also had to back away from the uncomfortably hot steam. The mist filled the nearby tunnels and it became difficult to see the bandits.
After a long wait, Chaney crept forwards again to be sure of the bandit’s position. The water from the underground river was a few inches deep and seemed to be making progress by cooling the partially molten lava on the tunnel floor. The troll was standing protectively over the spearman who wrapped torn cloth around his head. The bandits didn’t look like they were about to move, so Chaney retreated back down his tunnel.
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Punch cursed himself as he wrapped the remains of his last shirt around his face. The steam hadn’t destroyed his eye, thankfully, but his right ear and neck were very painful. His right hand was worse, having been closer to the source of the steam. Punch considered eating his last heal candy, but… He had told Shtorrr that there were none left. It wouldn’t be good to make it question it’s loyalty right now. Punch thought. The bandages should hide the healing pretty well, but I’ll need to pick the right moment to take the candy, when Shtorrr isn’t around.
The two bandits waited, watching the water flow past, until the steam billowing out of the lava tunnels slowed down to warm drifting cloud. With a groan, Punch got to his feet. “Let’s go.” He regretted speaking, as the motion of his jaw pulled at the burned skin on his neck. Shtorrr led the way into the slightly-cooled lava tunnels.
The water didn’t take a clear path through the tunnels and branched often, but Punch and Shtorrr chose to follow the thickest branches of the stream. Punch was pretty sure that the central caverns for each set of tunnels was slightly downhill. His plan had been to follow the water right to the central cavern and climb out. After ten minutes, the two bandits followed the water to a “T” at the border of the acid rain tunnels. The tunnels were made of compressed peat, but Punch was pleased to see that the sideways rain continued across the threshold and had apparently been cooling the nearby wall of the lava tunnels. The stream of water on the ground branched again, split between the acid rain tunnel and the other branch of the lava tunnel. Punch decided to take a short break to stand in the cooling sideways rain.
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When the break began to feel indulgent, Punch forced himself to continue moving. The tunnel floor dipped lower and the stream of water branched less often. The bandits moved more quickly and soon reached the central cavern. The water pooled near the middle, where several patches of ice clams grew. Dungeon monsters were continuously spawning and Punch was glad that the steaming water pushed back most of the smoke from the piles of dead, burning monsters.
“You go up and clear the space around the tunnel.” Punch ordered. Shtorrr nodded and jumped up to grab one of the icy roots. It pulled itself up and through the portal. Punch pulled out his last heal candy and ate it. He would have waited longer, perhaps until the bandits made camp outside the dungeon, but the pain of his burns was becoming unbearable. It should be fine. Punch decided. Sajaa made sure to have people look for tunnels or dig down on every floor. Shtorrr will just have to smash a few monsters, then it will come right back. Punch tried to reassure himself. His plan to make a solid path through lava tunnels was looking more like a desperate wish than a plan from a second-in-command.
By pure luck, Punch shifted and leaned nearly out of the path of a swinging metal hook. The hook clipped the back of his head and sent him stumbling away. Disoriented, Punch almost lost his grip on his spear. Instead, he spun around and swung his spear in a large semicircle to force the attacker back. The steam filling the room made seeing difficult, but…
Punch got his spear up between himself and a large black cat with too many legs and forced it to the side. It yowled in anger but managed to rip into his arm with its claws. Some of the dungeon monsters noticed the fight and began to move towards the spearman. Punch stabbed out with his spear, missing the big cat but forcing distance. The healing energy from the candy was working on his burned hand and fresh cuts, but the hand still wasn’t very helpful in controlling the spear. The cat disappeared in the mist, so Punch circled slowly, continuously stabbing out with his spear to kill or deter the advancing monsters. The young man with the metal hook stepped out of the mist, clearly visible for once. Punch’s instincts screamed at him and he ducked under the leaping cat. An ice lizard took advantage of the moment and bit Punch’s calf.
Punch screamed in pain and smashed the butt of his spear down on the lizard. More dungeon monsters swarmed in and Punch fought desperately to keep from being pulled under. The man and the cat took every opportunity to ambush the spearman as he stabbed and swung with his spear. Punch survived the onslaught for three reasons. First, the monsters had no coordination and continually blocked or interrupted each other. Second, the constant ambushing made the man and cat somewhat predictable, so Punch managed to land a large slash across the young man’s stomach, taking him out of the fight. Third, Shtorrr crashed down on the swarm of monsters, crushing many of them and clearing away more with its huge arms. Shtorrr picked Punch up and threw him at the gap in the roots that led to the portal. Punch scrambled up the rough volcanic stone tunnel and onto the ice that always coated the ground around the vine on this floor. Shtorrr arrived a moment later and the pair limped through the portal to the exit floor.