“I don’t like this.” Rafael glanced behind his shoulders as their cars got smaller the farther they walked. “What if we need to make a quick getaway?”

“Tell Ezekiel to run straight for the cars.” Derek checked his phone.

It amazed Rafael how calm Derek sounded. There were no higher level creatures anywhere, which had to be a good sign. Then again, they might all be waiting in the shadows. Or invisible. Who knew with higher level creatures. Rafael again glanced at the disappearing cars, hoping Quetzal would be fine in there. They wouldn’t be too long.

When Evelyn stopped and closed her eyes, Rafael waited patiently. He wouldn’t interrupt. Both he and Evelyn pretended like neither one was there. Rafael was on the end, with Derek next to him. Tyler was a few paces away from Derek, and Evelyn was on the other side of him. They were figuring this out. And for now, that looked like quiet acceptance that bordered on ignoring each other.

Evelyn opened her eyes, scanning the horizon. “Not far now. Just… there. That building. They’re all eating a deer.”

“Is this close enough to teleport Ezekiel?” Rafael asked Tyler.

Their game master shrugged. “I think so. I’m waiting to sense a warning, but so far, nothing.”

Rafael gave a noncommittal shrug before he closed his eyes. He tried to concentrate, like Tyler had coached him. Sense the connection. Despite him being two states away, Rafael sensed Ezekiel. Despite his closed eyes, Ezekiel’s character sheet popped into view.

Ezekiel landed on the ground with a grunt. Rafael opened his eyes, feeling the worry in an instant. They were outside the bubble, and though they didn’t see any creatures, Ezekiel was still in danger. True, the bubble gave little protection to his lower-level cleric, but Rafael tried not to think about that.

Ezekiel got to his feet, brushing himself off. “You found them?”

Evelyn pointed to the abandoned house. It looked like something built in the eighteen hundreds and hadn’t been lived in since. “There’s four of them in there.”

Tyler turned to Ezekiel. “Saber-tooth tigers are pack animals. It might be advantageous to have another friend by your side.”

Ezekiel placed his hands on his hips, squinting at the house. “I’d always appreciate some friends, but it makes me uncomfortable to put them in danger.”

Derek turned toward Evelyn. “Don’t bring in the princess. She’s too important.”

“Let’s see what I can do on my own, first. I just need to kill one and take its tooth, right?” Ezekiel asked. Tyler nodded, and Ezekiel lifted his hands into a thumbs up position. “Should be great.”

Rafael wasn’t sure what that meant. None of this seemed great, but it was also Ezekiel.

No, wait. He saw it in the slight drop of Ezekiel’s smile. The way the cleric’s hand shook as he ran it through his curly hair. Rafael would’ve chalked this up to pre-fight nerves, but something was nagging at him. Ezekiel started toward the rundown house when Rafael caught his arm. Ezekiel glanced at him, which was enough for him to realize what this was. The anticipation, the anxiety. Wererat. It was taking hold of his overly optimistic character, and for the first time in Ezekiel’s life, he was anxious about the outcome and pretended like he wasn’t. This wasn’t Ezekiel in the slightest.

Rafael turned to Derek. “Get Milo here. The two of them together have a better chance.”

“I’m fine,” Ezekiel said.

Rafael stared at his character, and the cleric sighed, then studied his hands. His fingernails had turned the color of a decayed corpse. Ezekiel curled his fingers into a fist and glanced at Derek. “Perhaps if Milo gets here sooner, we won’t need to call in my princess. I’d rather not have her outside the bubble.”

Derek nodded, then closed his eyes. It didn’t take long for Milo to appear. The mana fusor braced himself, glancing around. “Ah. Fascinating. Princess Clarissa might get angry.”

“What? Why?” Derek asked.

“She wanted to keep the meditation going to watch Ezekiel, but I don’t know if she can with me not there,” Milo said.

Evelyn smiled, shaking her head. “You underestimate Princess Clarissa.”

Ezekiel pointed to the house. “There are three saber-tooth tigers in there. I just need one of them. Can you distract the other two?”

Milo pulled out his crossbow. “I shall drown myself in yarn and become a toy for those kitties.”

Ezekiel frowned. “What?”

“I don’t know. Keep walking. I’m only sort of good at badass lines,” Milo said.

The two headed toward the abandoned house. When they got close enough, time slowed down, and words appeared.

Make a stealth check.

The d20 didn’t last long in his palm. Rafael wanted to get this over with, but perhaps he should have rolled it better. Horror filled him as the die landed on a two. The +1 did nothing to ease his fear.

Derek’s swearing helped him realize time had resumed. Derek turned toward him. “Please tell me you got better than a six.”

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Rafael’s face dropped, and he didn’t need to answer. Ezekiel froze on his way to the house before waving his hands in front of his nose.

“Eze-” Milo was cut off as Ezekiel let out a sneeze so loud it caused a flock of birds to rush out of a tree. Rafael winced, then glanced at Derek. His friend stared right at him, the slightest smirk on his face.

“Less than a six, I guess.”

“Sorry,” Rafael said.

Derek shrugged. “It’s the chance of it all. We’ll figure something out.”

Rafael was so used to Nick’s scathing critiques that this was different. A nice different. Tyler gave him a thumbs up. “It was one bad roll. Let’s see what the others bring.”

This one brought three saber-tooth tigers to the broken window, their jaws covered in blood from a recent kill. Their fur was a golden brown, though Rafael was far more focused on their teeth. It was in their name, after all, but seeing the long teeth in real life brought a different experience.

Rafael didn’t know how the others got so used to this. He hated waiting on the sidelines while someone else fought battles.

Milo whipped out his materials to make his cannon. “This might take me a minute.”

Ezekiel had one hand on his medallion. “I just need to kill one.”

Time slowed down again.

Roll for initiative.

Rafael gave the dice a good shake before letting it drop. It landed on a sixteen. He should have gotten that roll at the beginning.

When his weapons and spells showed up, he realized he must have rolled the highest. He needed a lot of damage right from the get go, because he wasn’t sure how well Derek rolled.

Rafael mentally picked spiritual weapon, a spell he missed while at a lower level. He could cast it with his action, and use it for his bonus action, so he picked the saber-tooth tiger closest to him and rolled the dice. Thirteen with a +4 on the first one. He pumped his fist in the air when a d8 appeared. Thirteen hit. Though, with the +4 that was seventeen. He’d have to keep that in mind.

The d8 landed on a five. The +2 gave it a nice seven points of damage, but he missed Hraktar.

Time resumed, and Ezekiel held his hands out in front of him and gave a low chant as a burst of light filled the open air. Light formed into an astral projection of a book. The lead tiger leapt out of the window, snarling right before Ezekiel pushed his hand forward. The book shot toward the tiger.

“Knowledge is power!” Ezekiel shouted as the tiger yelped in pain.

“Let me know when you want Princess Clarissa to come,” Evelyn said, looking nervous.

Rafael couldn’t look at her. “It’s the first round of fighting. We’ll see.”

The tigers rushed Ezekiel. Rafael winced. He watched almost in awe as the cleric dodged the first two tigers, who tried to jump at him. The last tiger caught him with their claws, cutting into his arms. Rafael grimaced as Ezekiel’s hit points plummeted to fifteen.

“How about now?” Evelyn asked. Rafael didn’t answer her, and he felt Tyler’s eyes on him.

Milo was busy preparing his cannon, glancing at Ezekiel. “Hold on, buddy. I’ve got this!”

“Take your time!” Ezekiel tried to sound calm, but something about having three cats surrounding him made him uncomfortable as he gripped his bleeding arm.

Time slowed down, and Rafael already knew he would use his bonus action for his spiritual weapon as long as that thing was floating around. For his main action, he mentally scrolled through his options. He couldn’t do range attacks with all of them this close. He didn’t think a command spell would work, since the tigers didn’t know the language. Instead, he looked at his health points and knew he needed more. He was a cleric, after all.

He chose cure wounds for himself and a bonus action of his spiritual weapon. For curing his wounds, he rolled the d8 and felt lucky to have it land on eight. With the +2 for his modifier, and the added three bonus for being a life domain cleric, he was pleasantly surprised to see Ezekiel’s hit points fill all the way back to twenty-eight. Sometimes he forgot why he loved being a cleric.

He then grabbed the d20 and was happy to see it land on thirteen again. Though his luck ran out when the d8 landed on a one. The +2 bumped it to a three. Well, it was better to get all his hit points back. Maybe.

Time resumed, and gold mana filtered into Ezekiel’s arm as he searched the tigers for the one he hurt earlier. Ezekiel moved his hand to make the astral book smack down on the lead tiger’s head. The creature, distracted, didn’t notice the book bonk his head. With a hiss and a spit, the tiger glared again at Ezekiel.

The three tigers again attacked with teamwork. One tiger missed, but two tigers bit down, breaking both Ezekiel’s arms as he shrieked in pain. Rafael hissed in sympathy as Ezekiel’s hit points dropped to five.

“Rafael?” Evelyn asked.

“Wait. Just… wait.” He was glad Ezekiel had healed himself.

“Alright, kitties.” Milo held his cannon and his crossbow. “Mommy’s ready for you.”

Evelyn glanced at Derek, who shrugged. “It’s what my character would say.”

Tyler rolled his eyes. The crossbow wasn’t glowing, but the cannon was. A burst of energy smacked into the unhurt saber-tooth tiger. His crossbow shot true, smacking the other unhurt saber in the butt. Both yelped, then turned around, snarling at Milo. He lifted his cannon and the crossbow. “Kill that one fast. Okay?” Milo said.

“On it,” Ezekiel rasped with his two broken arms. Time again stood still, and Rafael mentally chose the cure wounds option. Those five hit points made him nervous. The die landed on a five. With all the modifiers, as well as his class, he got an additional ten, making fifteen hit points total. He could never accomplish this without being a cleric. That much was certain. He then attacked with the spiritual weapon. Nineteen was bound to hit the leader of the saber-tooth tigers.

The d8 bounced a few times before landing on a six. The +2 gave a nice eight points.

Time resumed, and Ezekiel once again caused golden mana to flow through him. Hopefully, with the other two sabers distracted, he wouldn’t need to heal himself every round. His mana points were running low. The saber snarled before the astral book smacked the tiger across the face. Ezekiel panted, but smirked. “Knowledge is still power.”

The leader snapped at Ezekiel, but he dodged it. The other two sprinted toward Milo, who was prepared. He dodged the one, though the second gave him a nasty claw mark against his back. Milo dropped from twenty-eight hit points to thirteen.

“Milo?” Ezekiel asked.

“Just kill that creature!” Milo steadied his cannon and crossbow at the two tigers. The crossbow missed one, but the other got a face full of white mana blast. It yelped in pain, pushing it back five feet.

On Ezekiel’s turn, Rafael rolled for spiritual weapon and got a seven. With the bonus, he was pleasantly surprised to see a d8 pop up in his vision. Even less so when the d8 landed on a two. With the +2, it was at least something.

He chose sacred flame, hoping he could double damage this turn, but the roll of the die was not in his favor. The tiger must have rolled a better dexterity save.

Time resumed, and the book smacked the tiger in the face. It snarled. Ezekiel created a fist full of flames and shot it toward the tiger. The creature dodged it at the last second, growling at Ezekiel. Faster than anyone could notice, the creature slammed his paw into Ezekiel’s face. The cleric stumbled, his hit points again plummeting to five as blood poured down his face.

“Rafael?” Evelyn asked.

Milo dodged one tiger, but the second smashed his claws into Milo’s chest. He was bleeding badly, his hit points stabilizing at one.

“Call in Princess Clarissa,” Rafael said. Part of Ezekiel’s skull looked cracked, the entire right side of his face bleeding. Milo tried to shake off multiple stab wounds to the chest. Evelyn closed her eyes and concentrated.