The Poisoner was on the other side of the shield.

  The purple glow around Bradley as well as the return of his wheezing let them know he was fading faster than Caleb could heal him.

  “Back away from the door!” Penelope moved all four of the over the Tank as she touched the back of his shoulder. While the shield was bulky, it wasn’t so large that it could fill the four-foot by seven-foot opening. There was almost an entire foot of space between the shield and the door. There was plenty of space to get her projectiles through, but not enough for her to see what was on the other side well.

  The barrier on her left was cracking under the bashing of the Wulf on the other side.

  Six little ones left. At least I know where one of them is. Penelope glanced over at Circe. “Shoot anything that tries to get in here! Caleb! Help me hold him up!”

  The shield vibrated as a monster rammed it. The scratching of bug legs let her know that something was trying to get through on the ceiling. All four of her lights winked out as a Flou fell on top of them.

  Ding!

  Experience +2.5

  “INCOMING!” Penelope recast her spell, giving them more light, but not fast enough to stop the hairy Wigon from getting into the room.

  Bradley dropped to a knee, the top of his shield arcing back towards them as a pair of Chom ran up the shield and vaulted over it. The Wulf charged forward to ram the faltering barrier again, which forced Penelope to make a split-second choice about which monster to kill next.

  She almost faltered when a pair of glowing red eyes met hers. The way her stomach turned, she knew she’d been poisoned, but she also knew that she couldn’t one-shot the Poisoner. She ignored the gnawing in her stomach and dropped the balls into the Wulf.

  Ding!

  Experience +2.5

  “Keep that barrier up! Light Torrent!” She turned around and caught a claw across her face. Flinching away from it saved her from getting pecked by the beak behind it.

  Ding!

  Experience +2.5

  The shield fell against her back as Bradley let go. He dropped to all fours, sweat dripping off his forehead as he vomited.

  “Just die!” Penelope smashed three of the projectiles into the chest of the blue-feathered Demon. The other Chom lay dead behind Caleb, with the Wigon on top of Eldri, biting down on her left arm.

  Ding!

  Experience +2.5

  “I’ve got this!” Circe stuck the tip of an arrow against the monster’s head and fired. “GET THAT THING!”

  Ding!

  Experience +2.5

  The shield clanged against the wall as the Shadow Poisoner threw it away from her.

  Penelope rolled forward, a dagger slicing through the air where she’d been standing. The last projectile hit the Demon in the face as she popped back up on her feet.

  “Light—”

  The Demon leapt at her, grabbing her by the throat with one arm and stabbing at her ribs with the other. Penelope caught the Shadow Poisoner’s right hand with both of hers, but she wasn’t strong enough to push it back as it drove her into the wall.

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  The impact exploded stars over her vision. She focused through the fog and lights, then kneed the Demon in the groin.

  The glowing red eyes focused on her. For a moment, Penelope thought it was going to scream, then it laughed.

  An arrow hit the Demon in the back, then another, then another. The grip on her throat was loosening, but the turmoil in her stomach grew faster. Sweat poured down her face as she realized that it was trying to take her with it. Her lips struggled to speak, but the words couldn’t slip through the Demon’s grasp. Her lungs burned as she tried to breathe. The Demon released the dagger and fell against her, its hot breath against her face as she slid down the wall.

  Ding!

  Experience +6

  The air tasted sour as the Demon’s grip fell off her throat. It was still air, but Penelope choked as she pushed the corpse off of her.

  “Are you okay?” Circe kneeled next to her. “Penny! Can you hear me?”

  “Be…hind…you.”

  The Wulf had stopped slamming into the barrier, padding out of the room, and charging through the open door.

  Circe couldn’t get her bow up in time, but she did get her arm up as the canine crashed into her, which saved her neck from its teeth.

  “Light Torrent.” Penelope wheezed, letting the projectiles streak into the monster’s side.

  Ding!

  Experience +2.5

  Soft lights glowed along the edge of the room, letting her know that all the monsters were dead.

  Penelope closed her eyes as she settled against the wall.

  “That could have gone better.” Jeru felt her forehead. “We need to get you to Marlow ASAP. That was a nasty bug it gave you.”

  I’m already feeling better. Even just thinking the words sent Penelope into a coughing fit.

  A dull green glow covered her body. Penelope turned to the Healer and held up her hand, the effort drawing another coughing fit out of her.

  “Save it for them.” She took a step towards the door as the light vanished. The effort it took to move left her exhausted before she could get more than a few steps down the hall.

  Why is this worse than last time?

  “You’re exhausted.” Jeru sat down next to her. "Plus, you drank a Healing Potion while it was going on last time.” The blue Elf frowned. “Which dulled the effects.” He poked her cheek. “If you just stay here, you’re not going to get any worse, but it’ll be hours before it works its way out of your system.”

  Penelope leaned forward to get up, but Jeru put his arm in front of her. She knew she could move through it, but the sight of a limb still stopped her motion.

  “Just stay here. Once the boys get the corpses off the girls, someone will go get Marlow, and he’ll get you fixed up in a few seconds.” He moved in front of her before she could argue. “Even if you walk on your own, you’re saving how many seconds because of how slow you’re moving?”

  Penelope leaned back against the wall and winced as the floor released the scheduled blast of air. As long as she kept her breaths shallow, it didn’t hurt as much, and her stomach didn’t threaten to force its way out. The slight spinning of the tunnel went away as long as she kept her eyes closed. The chills running down her arms as well as the sweat clued her in that she had a fever.

  It didn’t take long before Circe bolted through the doorway. The younger woman slapped the wall on the other side of the tunnel to steady herself, then skidded to a stop. She had to jog backwards a few steps so she could lean in front of Penelope.

  “Penny! Are you okay?”

  Penelope realized at some point she had laid down on her side. She nodded, though the motion felt like she’d been thrown on a boat in a storm.

  “Get Marlow.” Penelope clamped her lips shut and curled into a ball.

  “Is she okay?” Eldri walked out of the door with Caleb behind her. Bradley had been stripped of his armor and was shivering with one arm over each of their shoulders.

  “She’s not as bad as Bradley.” Circe popped to her feet. “But she needs Marlow.” The brunette took off in a sprint down the tunnel.

  “I don’t get it.” Eldri shifted the larger man’s weight. “Bradley got poisoned before, and he got better right away when you healed him.”

  “Deathcurse.” Jeru snapped his fingers. “It’ll compound any status ailments you have on you when the Poisoner dies.” He looked over at Bradley, then down at Penelope. “Marlow doesn’t have , but without the poison, you should feel better. We just need to make sure you don’t get another status effect before it wears off.”

  Penelope closed her eyes instead of relaying the information to the others. Thinking made her feel sicker. She hoped that she would fall asleep so she could wake up cured.

  There was one thing that the latest fight was driving home.

  She hated Poisoners.

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