It was a dream come true for Derek to go to sleep after finishing a successful CCNC session to wake up the next morning and start another. He still had a date with Emma on Sunday, and Pippa would no doubt retaliate. He hoped Akshi wasn’t alive by then, or he definitely would retaliate.

Almost everyone was here. Even with Alejandra and Rafael stopping to drop off Quetzal, they were happily talking with Milo and Hraktar. The doorbell rang, and Derek went to answer it. He smiled as he noticed Nick behind Evelyn. “You came! Two times in a row!”

His friend shrugged. “I’m as surprised as you are.”

“It didn’t take that much convincing. I told my dad Rafael thought of a cool session for CCNC. Honestly, dropping his name anywhere near my dad has its advantages, even if it makes little sense,” Evelyn said.

“Because you were the one who suggested it,” Nick muttered.

“Well, we were waiting for you guys. Should we head out?” Derek glanced behind him to see everyone hanging out on his couch.

Tyler texted something on his phone. “It’s a bit of a drive. Rafael, do you want to just follow us?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Alejandra didn’t look at anyone as she tucked some hair behind her ears. “I can go with my brother. It’ll make more room in the van.”

“Okay, go ahead.” Tyler slipped his phone in his pocket.

They split up between Rafael’s car and Derek’s minivan. Grizzizzik remained in the trunk, perfectly happy to be by himself without a seatbelt.

The ride was quiet. No doubt pre-battle nerves. Despite doing this right after Ezekiel cured himself of lycanthropy, they didn’t know what they were up against. It felt amazing knowing Ezekiel wouldn’t randomly change into a wererat at a bad dice roll. No doubt they needed the experience, but this felt far more like a mission for information. They needed to discover what the creatures at the bubble border were doing while trying not to stumble out of the bubble.

“Is… there a way to make sure the bubble is more solid where we’re going?” Derek asked.

The druid glanced up, frowning. “A solid bubble?”

“Yeah. If what Calawit said was true, there’ll be a few higher level monsters frightfully near us, protected only by a flimsy bubble. I don’t want us to roll bad and end up stumbling out there,” Derek said.

“That’s a good point.” Tyler glanced behind him, meeting Clarissa’s gaze. “Can you do anything about that?”

Clarissa shrugged. “I’m not sure. This is a strange manifestation of mana to create this bubble, but if we are close to it, I can study the property of the bubble closer.”

Milo’s eyes brightened. “I can join you!”

Derek leaned forward, glancing toward the sky. He half expected a dragon to be circling the sky, but he didn’t spot one. The group fell silent again.

He heard something, he wasn’t sure what, but it sounded like someone said something. “What?” he asked.

Tyler glanced over at him. “I didn’t say anything.”

“Did… someone else?” Derek glanced in the rearview mirror.

Evelyn frowned, exchanging glances with Clarissa. “Nope.”

“Not me,” Nick said.

Derek sighed. “Alright, well, sorry. Must have misheard.”

The silence settled again, and Derek kept driving. They were well beyond town limits. Grizzizzik jumped, and Derek was pretty sure if Grizzizzik inherited any characteristics of earth snakes, a thin layer of his skin would have settled onto the ground.

Ezekiel glanced over at his shoulder as Grizzizzik clutched his heart, breathing deeply. “You okay?”

“Fine.” It came out of Grizzizzik more like a grunt than anything.

“What happened?” Milo asked.

“Nothing. Nothing.”

Derek frowned and glanced in the rearview mirror again. He couldn’t see Grizzizzik since he was sitting in the trunk, but he noticed Nick had a smirk on his face.

“Slow down. We’re approaching the bubble,” Clarissa said.

Ezekiel peered out the window. “Can you see it?”

In response, Clarissa lifted a hand and pointed toward the sky. There was an opaque quality to the sky that took Derek a few seconds to get used to. Once the seconds passed, he realized he wouldn’t get used to it, but he could pretend.

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He pulled off to the side of the road. He had specifically chosen a road that people rarely used, and if anyone did, they would figure a group of kids were hiking.

“Hey, do you see that?” Tyler asked.

Derek followed Tyler’s gaze until they saw an enormous pile of rocks a quarter of a mile away from the road.

“Are your game master abilities sensing anything there?” Derek asked.

Tyler gave him a dry look. “Game master abilities?”

“Still pretending you don’t railroad us occasionally?”

Tyler snorted, then glanced again at the pile of rocks before his small smile vanished again. “If I am railroading you all, then please understand that the more I look at this, the more dread I feel. Something… terrible is happening over there.”

That was all the lead Ezekiel needed. Rafael and Alejandra had barely pulled over when Ezekiel moved forward, ready to search this out. They moved forward as a group as the sun warmed them up.

They got close to the pile of rocks before Derek hesitated and let the characters go ahead.

“There is a magic here,” Clarissa whispered.

Evelyn frowned, then glanced at Derek and Tyler. “I don’t have detect magic prepared for her.”

“That’s also a lot of stone.” Derek glanced at the pile. “The spell doesn’t work for a lot of stone.”

Ezekiel turned toward Hraktar. “Can you move these rocks?”

The fighter nodded before picking up a few rocks like their weight was only a slight inconvenience. Hraktar placed a hand on the main pile as he kept working through them before a hole revealed itself. Darkness was within.

Hraktar glanced up at the others. “Anyone claustrophobic?”

“What do you see down there?” Derek asked.

“A tunnel that leads off to somewhere.” Hraktar touched the insides of the tunnel. “Some sort of creature made this recently. Possibly magic, but that’s not my area of expertise.”

Clarissa knelt next to Hraktar, frowning. “I… don’t like what I feel in here.”

Grizzizzik folded his arms. “Would you like me to scout ahead?”

“Take a buddy with you,” Ezekiel said, glancing at him and Milo. “Just in case.”

“Do you feel an evil?” Milo asked Clarissa.

“It’s… not happy.” Clarissa hugged herself.

“You want to take the lead on this one?” Milo asked Grizzizzik.

The rogue lifted his hood, not looking at Milo. “I should always take the lead on stealth missions.”

Since Derek didn’t get prompted to roll, it meant Grizzizzik’s roll would be for both of them. Grizzizzik slipped into the hole, and Milo followed him. Once they were gone, Derek glanced at Nick. He held up a one and a three, which he assumed meant thirteen. It would hopefully be good enough for what they needed. Derek didn’t feel anything at all from this development, so he wasn’t sure what to expect. Clarissa was quietly pacing, keeping her eye on the opaque bubble covering the sky.

Make a perception check.

Derek grabbed the d20 and shook it. It felt odd shaking a die without giving it a healthy pre-roll, but he could only hope for the best in this case.

It landed on an eleven, and with a +3 from his bonus, it gave him fourteen. It might be good enough, but he also didn’t know. Once again, he glanced at Nick, holding up a one and a four. Nick held up a one before raising nine fingers. Derek raised an eyebrow, impressed.

From below, they heard Grizzizzik’s voice. “Come on down. You might want to see this.”

Ezekiel dropped down the hole. Clarissa followed, then Hraktar soon after. There wasn’t too much of a drop, and it looked like they had to do a bit of crawling.

Derek glanced at his friends. “Should we follow?”

“How big is it? Do you think it’ll get too crowded?” Alejandra asked.

“Some of us should stay up here, just in case,” Tyler said.

Rafael looked at the ground. “I’ll stay up here.”

“So will I,” Alejandra said.

Derek was far too curious. He moved forward, dropping the few feet into the hole. He shimmied down a passageway that moved onto the top of the stairs that lead down into a ginormous room. If he had to compare it, it looked like some sort of mad scientist’s lair. He could already see Milo checking out some gizmos on the table.

Derek started walking down the stairs, trying to be careful. The stairs were jagged, and there was no handrail to hold, like someone carved them out of the rock. He was certain magic was the only thing holding this room up, which gave him an uncomfortable thought. If the creature casting the spell decided to stop, the room might come crashing down.

Despite that thought, Derek still moved forward into the room. Tyler, Nick, and Evelyn walked down the stairs carefully as everyone else spread out in this evil lair.

Roll for investigation.

Derek glanced at his character, who had pulled out his magnifying glass. He grabbed the d20 and gave it a good shake, trying to will all the good energy of a nice pre-roll into the dice without actually doing it.

Four. Even with the +6, he wasn’t sure what Milo could get from a ten.

Milo brought his magnifying glass closer as he picked up a piece of metal. He turned it over, frowning as he tried to sense what it was. Derek waited, arms folded, as he watched his character.

The metal piece glowed. Milo frowned, flipping it back around as he tried to study it. “This is mana infused.”

“What kind of mana?” Derek asked.

Milo frowned, watching it grow brighter. “An attempt at black mingled with green. Whoever did this stabilized the necrotic powers into something… living. Not undead. I’m thinking… poison? Poisonous.”

The metal plate vibrated, glowing with a dark green aura. Milo frowned, holding it an inch from his face.

“Drop it, Milo,” Clarissa said. “Please, just drop it!”

Milo didn’t listen. “It’s not poisonous itself. Look at me, I’m not sick.”

Derek glanced above Milo’s head to see his hit points still at full. The metal plate continued to vibrate until it leapt out of Milo’s hands. Metal from all over the room came together, forming a pile in the middle.

“Ooooh shit,” Tyler said, backing away.

“What? What is it?” Evelyn asked.

Derek clawed his mind for the answer, remembering the large list of monsters they had left. A metal pile coming together would have to mean some sort of construct. That narrowed the list down considerably.

Metallic clinking filled the air as the pieces formed together, starting at the base, creating a thin tail. Derek’s eyes widened as he backed away from the middle of the room. It started out slow, then got faster as the metal pieces clicked into place, forming a huge snake-like body. Black and green flames filled the place where the eyes were supposed to go, and it opened its mouth to hiss, revealing sharp fangs, it’s hood shimmering. It was a three-foot-long snake, completely made of magical metal, which meant one thing.

“Hraktar can’t hit it,” Derek whispered, glancing at the fighter.

“Shit.” Nick rubbed a hand down the side of his face. “Grizzizzik’s spells only do small amounts of damage.”

“It’s just one creature,” Tyler said.

Panic seized Derek’s chest as he gave Tyler a horrified look. “Don’t jinx it.”

That was all he could get out before time froze.

Roll for initiative.