Milo lifted his crossbow at a tiger and shot, but it dodged the bolt. Milo followed up by lifting his cannon and shot the tiger in the face once again. It yelped, part of its fur catching fire as the blast forced it five feet away. That tiger looked the worst of all of them.

Clarissa materialized into existence, looking prepared. She waltzed in before throwing her hands up, her head toward the sky. A bear roared, and everyone was up eight hit points.

Rafael wasted no time. He picked spiritual weapon again to attack the saber-tooth tiger.

The d20 landed on a fifteen, and he waited for the d8 to appear. Once it did, he gave it an extra loving shake for the hell of it, and it landed on a seven. He made a mental note not to tell Derek, in case he introduced him to other dice superstitions.

The tiger snarled at the book before it smacked its jaw, cracking it. The tiger tried to claw at Ezekiel, but the cleric dodged it easily.

One tiger snarled at Clarissa. She waited, almost patiently, as it made its claw attack. She backed away, and it smacked into a cactus. It shrieked in pain as Clarissa smirked.

The tiger Milo damaged the most snarled at the cannon before pouncing and biting down hard on Milo’s wrist. With a crunch, the mana fusor’s arm broke, which was enough to make his eyes roll up into his head and collapse to the ground, his hit points falling to zero.

Derek sighed. “Well shit. At least Princess Clarissa got here in time.” Which was immediately followed by a scream of happiness as Derek threw his hands in the air. “Nat twenty!”

Milo groaned as his eyes fluttered open. He didn’t look as excited about waking up, but at least he was conscious.

Clarissa pulled out her scimitar and tried to stab the tiger nearest her, but it dodged her attack, snarling.

On his turn, Rafael tried to hit the creature with sacred flame, but once again the roll must have been too good. Instead, he rolled for the spiritual weapon, which managed to hit. He got five all together, which wasn’t bad, but Ezekiel really needed to kill this thing fast.

With another smack on the face, the saber-tooth tiger finally staggered. Blood oozed from multiple wounds. Rafael couldn’t help but feel bad for the creature.

Until another saber-tooth tiger appeared out of nowhere, snarling at the group. Derek shoved his hands in his hair, eyes wide. “Ah, shit. Another one?”

“If we play our cards right, once Ezekiel kills his, Princess Clarissa can cast entangle on the rest and we can make a break for it,” Evelyn said.

With renewed energy, the hurt saber-tooth tiger pounced on Ezekiel, biting on his shoulder in the same place the wererat bit. Ezekiel’s hit points dropped to two. Rafael winced, glancing at how much mana he had left for spells.

“Ezekiel?” Clarissa’s voice was pitched higher.

“I… I…” Ezekiel grabbed his shoulder, staggering. Rafael winced, seeing the grey-colored fingernails growing.

The new saber tooth snarled at the three saber tooths. The last two tigers tried to claw Clarissa and Milo, but both missed, causing the new saber-tooth tiger to snap at them again.

Milo touched his stomach, and his hit points lifted to nine. It wasn’t a lot, but it was far better than one.

Clarissa ran over to Ezekiel, gold mana weaving in and out of Ezekiel’s shoulders. His hit points lifted to twelve, and he seemed to take a deep breath. He reached out, touching Clarissa’s hand. “I… should marry you.”

Despite time freezing, Rafael could not waste a moment. He chose his mace, then rolled to attack. It was a nine, and he held his breath, hoping for damage. A d6 appeared, and he let it out. It landed on a five, which wasn’t bad. It was hit points. He then rolled for his spiritual weapon and stared wide eyed at the number five. That wouldn’t be enough to hit. He felt crushed, desperate to kill this creature.

Time resumed, and Ezekiel pulled out his mace, slamming it against the tiger’s shoulder. It shrieked, stumbling away enough for the book to sail by his face. The creature was still standing, barely. Another attack by the book would have helped. He was eager to leave. Having that fourth saber-tooth tiger wasn’t something to mess with.

The incredibly injured tiger tried another swipe, but it was so weak Ezekiel could have stood in place and it would have missed. Rafael had his hands in his hair, feeling useless. He needed to be there, helping them fight.

Clarissa didn’t notice one tiger sneaking up behind until it had clawed her back. She gasped, stumbling forward with her torn dress. It was the first attack she received. All her extra hit points disappeared, and she dropped to twenty-three points.

The new saber-tooth tiger pounced on Clarissa, biting her arm. She gasped in pain as she dropped to fourteen hit points. The other saber-tooth tiger pounced on Milo. He tried to dodge it, but the teeth on these creatures were large, and he got a nasty scratch across his leg. Milo staggered with three hit points. He scooped up his crossbow before using his other arm to aim his cannon at the saber-tooth tiger. The blast of energy just missed the creature, and Milo gasped, holding his leg.

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“I can’t cast entanglement without us getting trapped, too,” Clarissa said.

“Focus on the new one. I’ve almost got this one,” Ezekiel said.

She nodded, then started chanting in a way that sounded like a wolf’s howl before fire erupted from underneath the new saber-tooth tiger. It yelped as its paw got hit. It did not look happy.

Time slowed down, and the d20 appeared again in Rafael’s vision.

“Come on. Come on, please. Give me a good double hit with the mace and the book.”

He laughed in joy as the ten plus three dissolved and gave him a d6. He then pumped his fist again as it landed on a six. The +2 would give him a nice eight points of damage. But would it be enough?

He rolled for the book and sighed when it landed on a seventeen. This could be it. This had to be enough. He rolled the d8 and winced when it landed on a one. The +2 was nice, but he wanted it to be enough. Please, let this be enough.

Time resumed, and Ezekiel smacked the mace down on the tiger’s jaw. It stumbled, blood pouring from the open wound. It turned back on Ezekiel, dazed, but growling, when the astral book dropped from above and bonked it on the head. The saber-tooth tiger yelped, then collapsed to the ground.

“Dead? Dead!” Ezekiel said. “It’s dead!”

No one heard Rafael’s cheer. It blended way too well with a different creature’s shriek from behind them.

They whipped around to see something coming in fast from the air. It was black, with thick, leathery wings. The body, though far away, looked as though it was sucking the light from the air.

Tyler let out a breath. “Shit. A shadow lycos. Ezekiel, get the tooth, then we’ve got to leave. We’re not surviving this encounter if we stay.”

Evelyn winced. “What level is it?”

“Way past level three,” Tyler said.

The other tigers were distracted with the shadow lycos headed straight for them. Ezekiel knelt and grabbed the tooth of the dead saber-tooth and pulled. Grizzizzik made this look so much easier.

Make a medicine check.

Rafael winced, then rolled the d20. It landed on a two.

Ezekiel struggled with the tooth, but it wasn’t budging. The shadow lycros got closer.

Rafael turned to his friends. “I rolled bad! Someone help Ezekiel!”

Milo stumbled next to Ezekiel, dagger in hand, as they tried to extract the tooth. Rafael moved toward Ezekiel and Milo to see if he could help.

Tyler held up a hand. “Don’t interact with their world.”

The warning was strange, and Rafael put his hands in the air. “He’s getting out a tooth.”

Milo was twisting with his tools as Ezekiel tugged.

“Oof, I didn’t roll much better,” Derek said.

Clarissa tried to distract the other saber-tooth tigers, though they were plenty distracted with the shadow lycros. The lead saber-tooth bore its fangs at Clarissa, and she kept a hand open, glaring right back at the tiger.

“Don’t do anything you might regret.” Clarissa’s voice was soft, staring at the tiger. It growled at her, and she kept her hand up, tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry.” With an incantation, Clarissa lifted a hand. Thorns and weeds shot out of the ground. All three saber-tooth tigers were caught in it, struggling and yelping.

The shadow lycros slammed down on the saber-tooth corpse Ezekiel and Milo were working on. Wind whipped at their faces as the creature lifted into the air again, holding the corpse.

Rafael stared, trying to see. “Did you get the tooth?”

Ezekiel held up a hand, a perfect tooth in his fist. Milo placed his tools behind him in his inventory. “Let’s call that a win and get the hell out of here.”

“Evelyn with me. Derek with Rafael. Go as fast as you can. Now.” Tyler didn’t need to tell them twice.

Rafael backed away, glancing at the sky as he watched the shadow lycros tear the carcass in half with its claws before flying around. The cleric placed the tooth in his inventory, scrambling to his feet. “Go! Go now!”

There were still three saber-tooth tigers and a shadow lycros. Thankfully, the entanglement would keep the tigers occupied, but the high-level creature was a different story.

“Princess! Change into a horse, take Milo, and run toward the car!” Ezekiel said.

Clarissa turned her head to look at him. “Why not you?”

“Come back for me. By the time you do, Tyler and Evelyn will be in the car!” Ezekiel said.

Clarissa simply nodded, changing into a black war horse. Milo stumbled over to her. Of the three, the mana fusor looked the worst.

Time stood still, and Rafael was confused. His options showed up, but this time Ezekiel chose them. Rafael raised an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah, that makes sense.” Ezekiel used his second to last mana slot for a guiding bolt. Ezekiel was aiming for the shadow lycros heading for them. All they needed was to distract the creature long enough to get away.

Hopefully, that was all they needed.

Rafael shook the d20, holding his breath. It landed on a nineteen, which made him relax. If he didn’t get to roll for damage, he would have been scared.

Four d6’s appeared in front of him, and he grabbed them all, caging them in his two hands and giving them a good shake. He wondered if this was how Alejandra felt playing Hraktar sometimes.

The four dice landed, and he watched the green numbers all add up. Nineteen. Nineteen hit points all together. There’s no way it would touch this higher-level creature, but they were trying to distract. That was all. Make it to the cars.

Time resumed, and Ezekiel whipped around to face the shadow lycros. Clarissa the horse galloped toward the car. Evelyn, Tyler, and Derek were not far behind. Ezekiel started an incantation, holding his hands out in front of him before slamming his wrists together. A huge, bright white energy shot out of his palms as he kept chanting, keeping an eye on the shadow lycros.

The guiding bolt smacked the flying creature, making it stumble mid-air. Rafael and Ezekiel didn’t even bother staying to see if it fell. They sprinted as fast as they could, the cars a good quarter mile away from them. Clarissa and Milo had reached the cars first. Milo got off and Clarissa was already back on her way toward Ezekiel as Tyler, Evelyn, and Derek almost reached their cars.

“You go with Clarissa,” Rafael shouted to Ezekiel. “The three of you get in Tyler’s car.” He glanced up at the shadow crossing the sky. “Get in there and drive off as fast as possible. It’s better for the three of you to stick together.”

“And you?”

“I’ll be right behind you in Derek’s car,” Rafael said.

Clarissa ran up to them, and Ezekiel climbed on. They were about to turn when the shadow lycros slammed into the ground, glaring at the three of them. Rafael skidded to a stop, wide eyed. The shadow lycros was a completely new creature from CCNC, not based on any earth mythology. It was the color of black shadow, from its wings to its body. There were way too many teeth in its jaw as it stood on four legs. A forked tongue flicked out, with four red eyes staring unblinkingly at them, two on each side of its face. It had the look of a demon dog, except there were no ears or tail. No floppy ears to make it cute, or tail to wag. It growled at them, and Clarissa gave a skittish whiney.

Which is when something small and blue on the ground caught Rafael’s attention, heading for the shadow lycros’ back.

“Ah, shit. No.”