Derek covered his face. “Shit. Shit shit shit. Milo drops to the ground almost too quickly, keeping out of sight.”

“Grizzizzik moves toward the side of the window, but enough to see what’s going on,” Nick said.

Tyler nodded, then glanced at his notes. “Make a stealth check, both of you.”

Nick picked up his d20 and rolled it. Eighteen was fantastic, and he even had a +6 for stealth. Sometimes it was nice being a rogue. “Twenty-four.”

“Nineteen,” Derek said.

Tyler nodded. “Through a mixture of skill and desperation, you can decide which one has which, you blend into the night. You watch, Grizzizzik, as Pippa walks over to Bob and fills more traps with mana.”

“Can I tell what traps she’s filling with the mana?” Nick asked.

Tyler pointed at him. “Make an arcana check.”

Nick rolled the d20, and was pleasantly surprised to see it land on an eighteen, since Grizzizzik’s arcana had a +0 modifier. “Eighteen.”

“You’ve been studying hard as an arcane trickster, and you’re picking up on some things. You understand everyone has a certain number of spells per day, and Pippa is taking a bottle of red mana in order to cast this spell for the enchantments. The most you know is red does sometimes deal with fire. With all this together, you…” Tyler hesitated, then rubbed his mouth before continuing. “You realize they’ve been waiting for you to try something like this, and this room is full of dangerous mana traps.”

“Shit. I…” Nick hesitated, not sure what Grizzizzik would do. Nick closed his eyes, concentrating. Would Grizzizzik tell Milo this? He could almost see it in his mind’s eye. The rogue glancing at a cowering Milo, wondering if it would help the mana fusor to admit Pippa was waiting for them to do a heist. “I… don’t tell Milo anything.”

Derek let out a breath. “Probably for the best.”

Tyler reached over, grabbing the miniature of Pippa and removed her. “Pippa finishes what she’s doing and leaves the room.” Tyler put the miniature back behind his game master cover, making footstep noises.

“‘Come on, Milo. Let’s get back to the others,’” Nick said.

“‘Is she gone?’” Derek asked.

“‘Yes, she’s gone.’”

“Milo whimpers like a child before avoiding every window as they journey back to the group.” Derek grabbed the two miniatures and moved them back. “Milo tells everyone what they discovered.”

Rafael rubbed his chin. “‘We should go save him.’”

“‘Not our mission,’” Nick said.

“‘I know what it’s like to have little control,’” Rafael said. “‘If we can break this enchantment, we should.’”

Nick rubbed his forehead. “‘Akshi is so much stronger than any of us. It’s why we’re doing a stealth mission instead of busting down the door and going after him ourselves.’”

“‘I understand, but… it hurts that I can’t help him.’” Nick wasn’t sure if Ezekiel said that or Rafael.

Nick couldn’t look at his old friend. “‘We heal you first. Then we help this man. The full moon is next week. You… can hardly stand as it is.’”

Rafael still didn’t look at Nick, instead distracting himself by grabbing a chip. There was another moment of silence as Nick waited. He sensed it. Everyone could. Ezekiel said something else, but Rafael didn’t want to say it. He ate the chip, staring at Ezekiel’s minifigure.

“Rafael?” Tyler prompted.

He closed his eyes, sighing. “‘We’re not here to attack Akshi, either. He may be your enemy, but he’s also your… nemesis.’” Rafael winced, then glanced at Nick.

Nick dropped his gaze. “‘Don’t call him that.’”

“‘Have you ever thought that maybe you could—’”

“‘No.’” Nick knew Grizzizzik wouldn’t want to hear whatever Ezekiel said.

“‘You’ve never talked about his—’”

“‘I’m not interested in your cleric bullshit.’” Nick’s voice morphed into his usual Grizzizzik voice. Hearing it out loud made him realize how eerily it sounded like the rogue. “‘The only value Akshi has is when he’s dead. Permanently. But we’re not strong enough for that yet, so we focus on getting the sword for you. Then we’ll come back later.’”

“‘Grizzizzik, you need to rec—’”

“‘He never looked my way unless I showed a skill he could later exploit.’” Nick’s voice dropped even though Grizzizzik’s grew in volume. The rogue didn’t scream because they were trying to do a heist, but his tone was still dangerous. “‘He was never there. Never any sort of—’” Nick couldn’t do it. The code word was too ridiculous. Nick grabbed a d8, holding it between his middle finger and his thumb as he spun it with his pointer finger, trying to calm his anxiety down. The familiar ache between his eyebrows clued him into how dark his glare was getting. Grizzizzik kept ripping into Ezekiel, and Nick couldn’t roleplay it. It was an unspoken rule among their characters. No one referred to Akshi as Grizzizzik’s father unless they were ready to get an earful from the rogue. It was more dangerous than mentioning Hraktar’s heritage.

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Nick moved his jaw around, letting Grizzizzik finish his spiel for Ezekiel before he stared right at Rafael, giving the final insult. “‘Shouldn’t your cleric self be turning into a monster this close to the full moon? To be honest, I’d rather deal with the monster.’”

“‘Enough, Grizzizzik,’” Alejandra said.

“Before Grizzizzik says anything more to aggravate the entire group, Ezekiel holds a hand up to stop him from insulting Hraktar,” Rafael said.

Nick again spun the d8 in his hands. “Grizzizzik complies, but still glares at Hraktar, the insult clear on his face, even if he doesn’t say it out loud.”

“So, what’s the plan?” Tyler asked.

“We know Pippa and… Bob are in there. But still no sign of Akshi,” Derek said. “‘Does Akshi have a nightly sword cleaning routine he does?’” Derek asked as Milo.

Nick winced, knowing that Grizzizzik was getting more nervous, and therefore more snappy. “‘He’s the crime lord of Osvoroth. He doesn’t have a daily schedule that people can keep track of. His schedule is unpredictable for this very reason.’” Nick shook his head again, knowing Grizzizzik felt antsy. “‘We have five people on our team. We just need one stupid sword. I say we charge in there, alert Akshi to our position, and battle him. I’ll sneak the sword away from him while he’s distracted.’”

“‘How do you intend to sneak a sword away from someone while they’re fighting a battle?’” Milo asked.

“‘Because he’s an idiot who relies too much on spells and shit,’” Nick said.

Evelyn shook her head. “Princess Clarissa, her annoyance at Grizzizzik growing the more she listens to his voice, finally snaps at this and gives the back of his head a slap.”

Tyler smirked. “Uh, okay. The smack was hardly anything, so you don’t have to roll for it.” Tyler froze, then the smirk disappeared. He tapped a finger against the table before picking up his d20 and rolling it behind the screen. The silence was almost suffocating. Tyler turned a few pages in his notebook before running his finger down the page. He then glanced up, no smile on his face. “What else are you doing?”

Derek covered his head in his hands. “Not even a clue to what that was?”

“Sorry,” Tyler whispered. “They won’t let me.”

Evelyn grabbed a bit of her hair and started playing with it. “‘Well, we’ve got to do something. Let’s track down Akshi. Grizzly Bear will be much happier if we figure out where his fa—’” Nick gave Evelyn’s foot a soft smack with his own, “‘—nemesis is.’”

Nick glanced at Walt, even though he didn’t want to. It was the first time he acknowledged his father was listening in. Thankfully, he remained on the couch with his book.

“‘Should we split up again?’” Alejandra asked.

“‘No,’” Derek said. “‘No one splits up now that I know she’s here. Also, Hraktar? If I ever start heading straight to that succubus’ arms again, I need you to punch me as hard as you can.’”

“‘Um… what?’” Alejandra asked.

“‘That woman makes me do things I wouldn’t otherwise do. To save me from the embarrassment that will most likely happen, please knock me out.’”

“‘Uh…’” Alejandra trailed off.

Nick sighed, picking up Grizzizzik’s minifigure. “If we go around the other way, will we see different rooms?”

“Yes. There’s a top floor, too,” Tyler said, his eyes closed.

Nick shrugged. “I guess we start looking.”

Tyler nodded, opening his eyes. “Alright, so you go around, searching for Akshi.” He slowly moved their miniatures around the house. “And… you see much of the same in every room. Lights on, perfect furniture, perfect everything. Not a spot of clothing on the floor, nothing that looks like this house has been lived in for years. It is simply… there.”

Tyler stopped moving the miniatures, all of them congregating toward the front of the house. He sat back down, rubbing a finger against his forehead, glancing at the others.

Nick covered his face, almost feeling how anxious Grizzizzik was.

“Did they check the top level, too?” Rafael asked.

“As best they could. Still nothing.” Tyler clasped his fingers together, looking like he was holding something back. Something paining him greatly.

“Alright, well,” Nick glanced at his figurine of Grizzizzik. “My character paces, trying to think.”

Tyler nodded, then pointed at him with his two pointer fingers. “Make a wisdom saving throw.”

“For… why?” Nick asked.

“You’ll find out.”

“Shit.” Nick picked up the d20. He gave it a roll, then glanced at his sheet. “Twelve, thirteen, fourteen. I rolled a fourteen.”

Tyler checked something behind his game master screen, then nodded. “Grizzizzik, you feel something at your feet, starting to lock you in place. You stumble in your pace, and it shakes off. But the feeling lingers, and a deep dread enters your heart.”

Nick covered his face, his heart pounding. “‘He’s here.’” Nick rubbed his head, trying to hold in the terror before dropping his hands. “Grizzizzik immediately pulls out his rapier, searching the darkness for Akshi.”

“Do we roll for initiative?” Alejandra asked.

Tyler shook his head. “Everyone make a dexterity saving throw.” He tried to act calm, but he was not calm at all.

Nick winced. Akshi was so much stronger than them. It would not take much to be a total party kill. That was the last thing they needed right now. He picked up his d20, watching it tumble before landing on an eleven. He winced, doing a quick count on his fingers.

“Starting from the top of the table here, tell me your numbers,” Tyler said, pencil in hand.

“Twenty-one,” Derek said.

Tyler wrote it down, then pointed at Rafael.

“Eleven.”

“Thirteen,” Nick said once Tyler pointed at him.

“Nat one,” Evelyn whispered, to hisses of worry around the table.

“Seventeen,” Alejandra said.

Tyler finished writing them down. He then picked up a ton of dice and gave it a good shake. Evelyn covered her face, trying not to panic. The suffocating silence returned, broken by the many, many dice clattering on the table. Tyler did some quick calculations, then wrote something down on the notebook before sighing. “Out of the shadows, Akshi appears. For the briefest moment, everyone sees something that makes your stomach drop. The sheaths on Akshi’s back that usually hold his swords are now empty. As you take this in, he points his finger at Grizzizzik. Electricity slams into Grizzizzik’s chest, then breaks off and hits Milo and Ezekiel, before finally hitting Clarissa and Hraktar.” Tyler shoved his hands in his hair, staring at his notebook. “Ezekiel, Clarissa, and Grizzizzik take thirty points of lightning damage, while Milo and Hraktar take fifteen.”

“Shit, shit, shit,” Derek said.

Nick watched as Grizzizzik’s character sheet shifted. The hit points dropped to zero without him touching it. “I’m down.” Nick covered his face, keeping in a shuddering breath. “Grizzizzik is already down.”

Tyler’s face crumpled as he flicked over Grizzizzik’s figurine. “Now we roll for initiative.”