"All of you, spread out! Weapons ready!"

  My command is heard as everyone moves a fair distance from one another. Swords are drawn and a single crossbow is loaded. Henry's eyes scan the surroundings, his superior perception helping locate incoming toads.

  "The lake! There's more coming from the lake!"

  We turn our attention to the lake rather than the river beside us. Two of the fat grey amphibians leap out in a spray of water. Billy and I are their targets. I move much faster than before, reacting before the toad has its mouth all the way open. The thing's head is sliced down the middle in an instant, steel cutting through it like butter.

  Billy's foe doesn't get much further than my own. Even with one eye, Billy is a competent warrior in his own right. His sword thrusts into the back of the giant toad's maw. I watch as he quickly retracts the blade before the beast has a chance to close its mouth on him.

  "Hah! These things are too slow to catch us, Captain Dirk!"

  "Focus, Billy. Do not get complacent."

  Nodding his head, the one eyed boy turns his attention back to the sloshing lake waters. Henry is staring down at the lake intently. He's muttering to himself, as if he isn't sure of what he's seeing within the cloudy waters.

  The sharp twang of Henry's crossbow being fired is followed by a disgruntled croak. Unseen by everyone but Henry, a toad's punctured corpse floats up from the side of the shore. It was hidden beneath thick green algae.

  "Henry? Are there any more you can see?"

  Henry squints at the water for a few moments before answering. He reloads his crossbow as he does this, ensuring he isn't caught without an armed weapon.

  "I'm unsure of the numbers, but there are at least three more coming up from the deeper area. I can see the algae getting pushed aside as they swim."

  "Get ready, boys!"

  Tanner looks a little nervous, as he has yet to actually confront one of the monsters. Billy looks a bit over confident, but his usual bravado is tempered by my earlier warning. Their faces twist with fear and excitement as the surface of the water is broken by three big toads.

  My sword flashes like lightning as I swipe the blade through a toad. It falls onto the pile of dead amphibians at my feet. They're so big that the pile is actually getting to be an obstacle. I use my boot to push some of the corpses back, my eyes darting to my allies.

  Tanner is doing remarkably well despite his inexperience. The boy cuts the toad's leg as it jumps toward him, and before the overgrown frog can attack again he's stabbed it through its fleshy middle. He's looking more confident in his abilities now.

  I hear another sudden squelch as a crossbow bolt is fired into the head of a toad. Billy crawls out from inside the toad's mouth, his body covered in slimy mucus. He lets out a disgusted retching noise as he picks up his fallen sword.

  "What happened?" I ask, impatient.

  "Billy got too cocky, and almost got gulped by that toad," Henry supplies.

  "I wasn't being cocky! It was just faster than usual, that's all."

  "The details aren't important--can you still fight, Billy?"

  Billy moves his arms and swings his sword a few times to check if he's in fighting condition. He nods his head with a slightly pained grin. I'm sure he must have a few bruises at the very least, considering he was just nabbed by a gigantic toad.

  "I'm good! Just a few bumps is all."

  "There's more!" Henry shouts, frantically reloading his crossbow.

  This wave is unlike the others. Five toads leap from the water in a splash that drenches the front line. Two of them are aiming to consume me, but their rivalry means they're less effective. I roll to the side just in time to watch the two toads slam down where I was standing moments prior. If they hadn't been bumping into one another mid air, I might not have made it.

  My sword whistles through the air as I swing at the toad closest to me. It lets out a despairing croak as its guts spill onto the sand. The other one leaps right over its rival's corpse in a bid to swallow me whole. I'm momentarily distracted when I see Billy scrambling to get away from his opponent. He was hiding how injured he really was, as his swings are weaker than usual.

  The cold wet embrace of a toad's mouth envelops me while I'm distracted with my worry for Billy's safety in this battle. The crushing force of the giant amphibian's mouth is painful, especially when the thing tries to swallow me into its stomach. I've lost the right angle to use my blade, so I let go of it and pull out my dagger from my belt. It slices, shallow cuts making the process painfully slow.

  I can hear shouting from outside as I whittle the toad's throat down. It bleeds, grumbling and making unpleasant noises all around me as I cut it from within.

  With a wet tearing noise, I slip out of the toad and into the lake. It had started to retreat back into the water. I stand up in a hurry to help my allies. The water is up to my waist as I assess the situation my team is in.

  "Captain Dirk! You're okay!" Tanner says, tears streaking down his face.

  Behind Tanner I can see a limbless toad, its body having been mutilated during what I imagine was a hard fought battle with Tanner. A glance toward Billy reveals the boy made it out without any obvious injuries. He looks exhausted, though. He's leaning on his sword like a cane. Henry is standing next to a toad with a pair of crossbow bolts sticking out of its body.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  I start trudging my way out of the water. We have to be ready in case more of these damned things show up. It would be disastrous if we were taken by-

  River water sprays upwards as a particularly large greenish grey toad emerges. It leaps from the river, not the lake. My water logged boots slow me down as I move up the sandy shore. Time seems to pass in slow motion as I watch Henry's face shift from relieved to horrified. The green tinted toad's mouth is descending onto the poor man.

  "Henry!" I scream, causing Billy and Tanner to whirl around in alarm.

  Adrenaline pumps through my body as I hurry toward the goliath of a toad. It doesn't look too bothered by whatever Henry is doing to struggle within its mouth. My dagger is raised as I stumble toward the damned thing. Tanner and Billy both rush to engage the creature, brandishing their swords.

  Tanner slices off the leg of the beast. His face is pale as he watches it leap using its remaining back leg. Its arc isn't perfect, and it lands on its side on the river's edge. Billy reaches the thing as it tries to wiggle back into the water.

  Relief threatens to overwhelm fear as I watch Billy reach the bloated toad. He thrusts his sword forward, much like he did with the first frog he killed. The strike lands dead center. The massive toad slumps partially into the river, its body lifeless.

  "I-I got it, Captain Dirk!"

  Water and mucus drip off me as I rush to help Billy haul the dead toad up onto the riverbank. We get it out of the water and Tanner helps Billy hold it steady as I cut open the thing's stomach with my dagger. No one is speaking as we hold our breath, hoping to god Henry is ok despite having been fully swallowed.

  Finally, in a gush of blood and viscera, the toad's stomach is torn open. I see Henry's boot and grab it. It takes two of us to pull him out of the damned corpse. We manage to get him out and I feel my blood run cold as I look at his chest.

  Roughly in the center of his torso, there's a bloodied stab wound.

  His eyes remain closed. Henry isn't moving.

  Tanner and Billy are deathly quiet as we all stare at Henry's corpse. I can hear gagging from my right, as Tanner stumbles to the river's edge and loses his lunch. Slowly, I turn to look to my left, at Billy. The bastard is standing there as still as a statue. Tears are rolling down his mucus stained cheeks. Not an ounce of pity is in my heart as I ball my hands into fists.

  "You fucking bastard."

  Tanner is too busy vomiting to react to my words. Billy looks at me like he's a kicked dog, the shock and fear in his eyes infuriating me further.

  "You killed him, you stupid fuck!"

  "I'm sorry-"

  My knuckles connect with Billy's jaw before he has a chance to finish whatever drivel he was spouting. The bumbling fool stumbles backwards. I don't let him even think about running, as my other hand grabs ahold of his collar.

  Tanner has stopped retching into the river. I can hear him saying something behind me, but I don't bother listening as I swing my fist again. This time my strike connects with Billy's gut. He heaves as the air is knocked out of his lungs.

  "Why? Why did I even bring you?!"

  This time I didn't keep ahold of Billy's collar as I hit him. My fist connects with his nose as I loosen the grip on his tunic. The blow makes quite the satisfying crunching sound, and he's sent tumbling backwards before falling on his back.

  I can feel myself get grabbed from behind. The grip is shaky and unsure, but it prevents me from jumping onto that bastard Billy. I turn to see Tanner holding me by the arms from behind. He's shivering as if he's ready to pass out, but he's restraining me nonetheless.

  "Let go of me!"

  "N-No! You have to calm down, Captain!"

  Rage surges through me as I twist and thrash in Tanner's grip. He tightens his hold, surprising both himself and I as he keeps me from breaking free.

  "You want me to calm down?! That son of a bitch killed my second in command!"

  "I know!" Tanner shouts back, his throat raw.

  "Then why, huh? Why should I have to calm down?"

  If I wasn't so pissed I'd probably disapprove of my conduct right now. I don't care at the moment, though. I've just lost the most reliable friend I've ever known. All to some idiotic boy's worthless overconfidence.

  "B-Because the three of us are all we have right now."

  The pain in Tanner's voice manages to get past my fury. I hate to admit it, to stop punishing Billy for the shit that he's just done, but I have to calm down. My muscles relax as I shut my eyes for several long moments. Tanner doesn't let go of me as I do this, but I can tell he's not holding me as tightly anymore.

  Even if I think Billy deserves a beating for killing Henry, I can't continue to injure one of our fighters. Especially not when there's only three of us remaining.

  ~

  Watching the three soldiers set aside their differences, I wonder if perhaps I should just cut access to Green Valley entirely. The people keep getting themselves killed here, and I don't have a good reason to make creatures so aggressive. I could just cut myself off from the outside world and use an air vent to breathe, or just use some mana to make some kind of air producer.

  It would probably get a bit boring to make myself into something simpler, but my entertainment is hardly worth the lives of people who don't wish me any harm.

  "We should move into the forest. Now that we've lost Henry, we can't rely on him to spot threats in the water," Their leader, Captain Dirk, suggests.

  The other two on the team are a mess. One's been beaten to the point of a broken nose. The other one is pale, and is unsteady on his feet. Their leader is the one in the best shape, but even he looks a bit worse for wear. He's busy pulling his sword from the body of a dead toad.

  "Will we really find the devil, Captain Dirk?" The pale one asks.

  Demon? What are they talking about? There aren't any demons in my dungeon.

  "We have to. I have a feeling once we kill the demon who made this place, we'll be remembered as heroes. Dungeon conquerors, no, demon slayers."

  So apparently these people do in fact wish me harm. Now I'm presented with a dilemma I wasn't expecting--do I adjust the dungeon to be inviting and pleasant for everyone, or do I keep this level of danger to ensure those who want to hurt me don't get a chance?

  Sure, some innocent people may get hurt or even die because of my dungeon, but the humans already know this place isn't a theme park! I witnessed several humans on the surface discussing the dangers and all they know about my dungeon, so they know what they're getting into when they enter.

  I suppose it is still possible no one would be able to hurt me if I didn't have hazardous monsters guarding my dungeon. I'm encased in a lot of stone, and little vents are the only direct route to me. Everything I've witnessed so far says nobody is equipped to handle me as I am now.

  Except, there's that nagging worry, that something I don't know how to deal with exists.

  If there is something--or someone--that can threaten me even while I'm buried deep beneath the earth, then my monsters will just keep them busy for some time.

  But that time the monsters will buy me is better than nothing.

  So I'm going to keep making hostile wildlife, and the dungeon will be a dangerous place.