“STOP…” I screamed as another pillar of water rose out of the water and slammed down on me, washing me a meter or so away from where I was standing.

 

“Splashing me,” I finished, muttering under my breath. The smaller, child-like humanoids laughed and swam away, hiding behind the sirens and their army of aquatic animals. The first time we encountered the smaller women they’d caught me off guard, and their water magic nearly washed me off the platform.

 

After that, I stuck as close to the middle of the platforms as possible, to prevent any accidents from happening. The water spouts and waves weren’t strong enough to carry me straight off the platform, just shove me around, and make me wet.

 

I wiped the water off my helmet’s visor, and stared at the small group at the far end of the pool, splashing and playing.

 

“Can we please shoot them now,” Dusty growled. The bears were all sopping wet after being splashed so many times. They didn’t get pushed around as much as I did, but that didn’t mean they enjoyed the experience.

 

“Fucking yes! I just want to get out of here!” I growled across the command network.

 

“I’ve got it,” Spooky snapped, his rifle already in his hands.

The women apparently had some idea what the rifle could do, because they gasped as Spooky leveled his weapon. Even if they wanted to scatter, they didn’t get a chance as the heavy rounds tore through the little group, removing the last obstacle before we reached the top.

“I’m out,” Spooky reported.

 

“I figured,” I grumbled. “That’s why I wanted to avoid using the rifles if possible. This last group just seemed to be focused on delaying us, and I was getting tired of it.”

“Do you think they were trying to get us to open fire on them?” my second in command asked.

 

I took a break from trying to flick my hands, trying to get the water out of the joints in my armor, and thought for a second. “It’s definitely possible. If they’ve been watching our progress, they’d know how powerful our weapons are.”

 

“How would they know we have limited ammo?” Dusty asked.

 

“It wouldn’t be that hard to guess,” Spooky replied. “If we had unlimited rounds, we wouldn’t have to default to melee weapons, we’d just use the rifles.”

 

“We fell for it,” Heavy muttered.

 

“That might be true,” I said. “But on the other hand… fuck them. I don’t want to sit around playing games with every group we meet. I’m willing to exchange a couple rounds for a group, as long as we don’t completely exhaust our supply. I’d like to keep a couple shots available, in case we run into something we can’t easily bash into submission.”

I glanced around, making sure we didn’t miss anyone before I hopped across to the next platform. Although water was pouring down from the final pool, creating a curtain of water between us and the far side of the pool, there was an arch positioned in the perfect position to redirect the flow right next to my platform. It created sort of a doorway in the wall of water; It was a nice effect.

 

Once I passed through the arch I found myself at the bottom of a long, curved staircase. I waited until the rest of the team made the final jump, and stacked up around me, before I started slowly creeping up the staircase.

 

At the top was another pool, not a big surprise. However, this one was right against the wall, which meant it was the last section. The boss arena.

 

Assuming the boss wasn’t another siren, I probably wouldn’t need the audio muffler anymore, so I switched it off. The sound of water pouring into the pool below filled my ears.

 

Unlike the other pools there were a series of bridges, allowing us to traverse the area freely, and something that looked like an altar suspended over the far side of the pool.

 

As I stepped off the stairs I caught a flash of color up by the altar.

 

“Spread out,” I ordered, eyes locked on the elaborate structure.

 

As I watched a woman slithered out onto the oversized altar. She had a long snake-like lower half, covered in pink tinged turquoise scales. She smiled directly at me as I slowly crept around the perimeter of the pool.

 

“Welcome to my temple!” she declared as she raised four humanoid arms, each one holding a wicked looking curved knife. “It’s been awhile since I’ve been so entertained by a challenger. You’re pretty impressive for such a little thing.”

“Gee, thanks,” I replied. “I don’t suppose that means you’ll let us through without a fight?”

“Hardly,” the woman smirked. “Actually, Talia told me I shouldn’t go easy on you, no pulling my punches.”

“Do you regularly pull your punches?” I asked.

 

“It depends on how well the adventuring team is doing by the time they get here. It’s very rare that someone dominates as hard as you have,” the woman said. “I hope you’re ready for a real fight.”

“Bring it on!” I yelled back, accelerating my pace and trying to get to her before she could carry through with whatever she was cooking up.

 

I was far too slow. The woman dropped one of her knives, then sliced her palm with the opposing blade. She held her hand over the water, letting the blood drip down into the pool below. As soon as the two liquids met the water surged, rising up, twisting. The column of water grew until it was over ten meters tall, then it sprouted a pair of massive arms, and even a rough head.

 

The elemental slowly turned and looked directly at me. It raised one of its tree trunk sized arms into the air, then swung it down on my position.

 

“Shit!” I yelled, as I threw myself out of the way. The arm smashed down on my previous position, shaking the ground and pulverizing the tiled floor.

 

I jumped to my feet, just in time to dodge a pair of knives sunk into the ground where I’d be laying just seconds before. Stumbling back, I pulled the axe off my back and stared in disbelief at the snake woman who now sat coiled just a meter away. She was fast.

 

“Awww… I wanted to try and finish this fast, just like you like to do. Guess we’ll have to do this the hard way,” she laughed. She flicked one of her wrists with almost casual indifference and the massive water elemental turned away from us, and towards the team. “My summon will ensure we’re not interrupted. Shall we play?”

“I don’t play around,” I growled, stepping forward. “I fight to win.”

 

“Oh, feisty,” the woman laughed. When I took another step forward she lashed out with two of her knives, weaving them together like she was performing some sort of deadly dance. I considered trying to just muscle my way in, smash through her guard, yet when I stepped forward I saw her third knife hand twitch. She was waiting for it.

 

As my eyes sank down, focusing on her third knife, the woman lunged. She sprung forward, using her tail like a spring to propel her forward like a spring. It was so fast that I barely had time to think. I couldn’t dodge out of the way, so I did the only thing I could think of, I stepped into it. I caught one knife on the handle of the axe, and grabbed the other with my left hand.

 

I knew this was what she wanted, I could see it in her sparkling eyes and sly smile. That third knife was primed to strike the instant she saw an opening, so I didn’t provide one. I took another step forward and slammed my helmet directly into her face.

 

The visor shattered at the impact, causing the woman to stagger back. I pushed the attack, bringing my axe down while she was still reeling. To her credit she did recover enough to get one of her knives in the way. It wasn’t enough.

 

The knife shattered and my axe sunk into the arm she’d brought up to protect her face. It didn’t cut all the way through, it had lost too much momentum from striking the knife, but it was enough to cripple her.

 

I started to pull the axe back, intending to take another swing, but before I could she discarded one of her other knives and grabbed the axe handle. Even though the blade was still embedded in her flesh, sizzling and burning her, she didn’t let go. I was still yanking on the weapon, trying to dislodge it when I felt a sharp, familiar burning feeling in my abdomen.

 

My armor was strong enough to deflect a magnum round at point blank, yet the knife had cut through it like it was made of butter.

 

I grit my teeth, trying to ignore the immense pain in my gut and let go of the axe. My right hand clamped around the hilt of the knife before she could withdraw it, and smashed down on her arm with my left. I may have used more strength than I planned, because I heard a snap at the impact.

 

The women’s look of smug satisfaction fell away, replaced by one of the surprise and pain.

 

“You like my axe?” I growled. “Fine. We'll trade.”

 

I ripped the blade out of my side, probably causing even more damage than the original stab, and with a single sharp motion brought the knife across her neck. Her eyes went wide, and she clutched at the wound, but it was too deep. She writhed on the ground for several seconds before finally laying still and dissolving into several motes of light.

 

“Good trade,” I gasped.

 

“Ummm…. Boss?” Bob called. I winced, held my wound, and turned towards him. Spooky was standing behind him.

 

“Where are Heavy and Dusty?” I asked through ragged breaths.

 

The two bears looked at each other. “About that…”