Derek watched the dice clatter on the invisible table. Eight total. Derek closed his eyes, already wishing for a dice jail to stick this thing in. He was not rolling well, and that wasn’t good. With Hraktar out of the fight and Grizzizzik limited, they needed all the help they could get.

The cobra hissed, sounding like a leaking car as it slithered toward Ezekiel, pouncing to bite. Ezekiel easily leapt out of the way, and Derek sighed in relief. Clarissa muttered an incantation, holding a plant in her palm as it lit on fire, growing into a blade as she moved forward toward the snake. She slammed the fire blade into the metal, sliding it easily into the snake. It shrieked in pain.

Grizzizzik moved forward, chanting an incantation that sounded different. It was dark and more chaotic. He shot his hand forward, and a spike hit the snake’s forehead. It shrieked as it curled into itself.

Hraktar moved forward, no doubt figuring out what he could do with attacking the snake. He was studying the creature when the wall next to him moved. Hraktar spun around, facing the wall, and watched as a huge rock that would have looked like a boulder to anyone else but Hraktar leapt out of the wall. Faster than Derek could react, the rock formed into a human with two enormous fists, two legs, and another rock for a head. It slammed a fist into Hraktar’s gut, and the fighter grunted as he was thrown, landing flat on his back. His hit points went from forty-seven to thirty-four.

“Shit. There’s another one,” Tyler said.

Derek fought the desire to grind his teeth. “I told you not to jinx us.”

Evelyn pointed at the uneven stairs. “We need to get back up the stairs. If we need to make a quick getaway, that’s the best way to do it.”

Tyler nodded. “I like that idea. We’ve got to remain out of the battle.”

For Milo’s turn, Derek had him building a cannon and use a bonus action to make his crossbow a magical, arcane weapon. He wouldn’t be able to hit anything this round, but the next round he’d be a powerhouse. Hopefully. He chose ice type damage, as he was pretty sure the constructs were immune to poison.

Milo tapped his crossbow as Derek ushered Nick and Evelyn up the stairs. They needed to be careful on those stairs. Milo started working on making his cannon. Ezekiel held his hands out, and light appeared, creating a book. With a flick of his wrist, the book shot toward the creature made of stone, smacking it across the face. The creature didn’t have a mouth, but bits of rock fell off its face.

The cobra leapt forward, digging its metallic fangs into Clarissa’s forearm. She grunted, stumbling back as her hit points dropped to twenty-nine.

“Oh, that’s not too bad. That attack is, what, six hit points?” Derek glanced at Evelyn.

“I also succeeded a constitution saving throw. I don’t want to know what might happen if I failed it.”

Clarissa tried to stab the cobra, but it hissed, metallically slithering away from the flame blade. Grizzizzik ran next to Hraktar, doing the same mind spell he performed on the snake. Once again, there was a touch of chaos to Grizzizzik’s words.

“Does his incantations sound different to anyone else?” Derek asked.

Evelyn shrugged. “A little.”

“More… crazy sounding, right?” Tyler asked.

“Yeah.” Derek glanced at Nick, who said nothing. He simply rubbed his chin, staring at his character. The sliver entered the creature’s mind, and it stumbled, but not too far. Hraktar scrambled to his feet, then tried to punch the creature. Derek didn’t know if Alejandra realized the creature was literally a rock, or if Hraktar didn’t have a high enough intelligence to figure it out himself, but Hraktar grunted as his fist contacted stone, and it wasn’t a good grunt. Derek kept his eyes on Hraktar’s hit points, but they didn’t budge. At least they had that going for them.

The rock man grabbed two rocks from the ground and threw them at Grizzizzik and Hraktar. Both of them, though surprised, caught them. The second the rocks settled into their palms, they blinked out of sight.

Derek’s stomach churned. “What were those?”

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“Uh…” Tyler stared at the place where the fighter and the rogue were. “Jump stones?”

That couldn’t be good. “Shit.”

“The distance shouldn’t be far. They only have a range of five hundred feet, and they can’t be teleported into solid stone.” Tyler glanced around.

“Five hundred feet?” Nick slowly turned his head toward Tyler. “Would that be… outside the bubble?”

Tyler’s gaze shot in his direction. The rock man tried to go for Milo, but Ezekiel stood in front of him to give the mana fusor more time to make his cannon.

Clarissa held out a hand. “Nobody catch any stones he throws!”

The rock man tried again to throw a rock at Ezekiel, but he dodged it, and it missed Milo, too.

Tyler had his phone out, tapping something before plugging one ear as he placed the phone against the other. “Rafael? Can you hear me?” Derek was by Tyler as they stood on top of the stairs. He could hear Rafael cutting in and out. “Can you see Hraktar and Grizzizzik? Are they outside now?”

The rock man slammed his fist into Ezekiel, and he dropped to the ground, gripping his shoulder.

Time froze, and Derek grabbed the dice. These were just minions. It’s what he kept telling himself. They probably had low hit points, though considering they were metal and rock constructs, their AC had to be high.

He chose his cannon, and it landed on a twelve. The +5 was an enormous help, and he was relieved to see two d8s hovering above him. He wanted to get that rock man and hit him hard. He pumped his fist when he got a seven and a five. That was a lot, and he wasn’t done yet.

He chose his crossbow again and rolled for the bonus action. The crossbow expert feat was the best. He rolled, and it landed on a sixteen. He smiled, seeing the number reach past twenty, and waited for the d8 and the d6.

He rolled and got eleven total. That indeed felt nice.

Milo stood up, holding his crossbow in one hand and the cannon in the other. He shot the cannon first, the ball of white mana smacking into the construct’s chest, forcing him back five feet. A streak of blue smacked the rock man in the shoulder before he had time to recover from the first attack. The rock man buckled. Some rock that made him look bulky and intimidating tumbled off. Milo had hit him hard, which was what they needed, considering two of their companions were missing.

Tyler sighed, turning off the phone. “Rafael and Alejandra can’t see them anywhere. Can you sense Grizzizzik?”

Nick shook his head. “No. He’s not fighting, though. I haven’t been prompted to roll for anything.”

Evelyn rubbed her upper arms. “I don’t like this.”

Ezekiel snatched his book out of the air before slamming it down on the snake’s head. Derek was pretty sure if the snake was actually alive, it would’ve given it a good smack. Instead, it was metal, and it made a clanging noise with a small dent in the hood.

“Well… great.” Ezekiel stumbled back enough to be within range before he lifted his hands, muttering an incantation as he touched his medallion. The iron cobra hissed at him, prepared for anything, except for an ass whoopingly large amount of radiant fire to smack into it, severing the lower half of its body from itself.

Derek nodded. “Nice.”

“They look to be on their last leg. Once they are dead, we’ve got to find Hraktar and Grizzizzik.” Tyler’s eyes darted toward the opening.

The cobra tried to bite Ezekiel, but it was an easy dodge for the cleric. Clarissa went in with her flame blade, chopping off more of the cobra’s body. It hissed and vibrated as it struggled.

The rock man slammed his hands into the ground before giving Milo a shove that knocked him across the room. Milo hit the wall before collapsing to the ground, coughing as he lost twelve hit points. Derek winced in sympathy.

Time stood still, and he rolled for his concentration, which he passed. That was good. He liked arcane weapon. It gave him a lot of damage, and they needed that.

The constructs were almost dead. He picked the cannon for action, then the crossbow for bonus action. The cannon he landed on a natural one, which made him wince. The roll for his crossbow was on a nineteen. At least something of his would hit.

He grabbed the d8 and the d6, giving them a good loving shake. Five and three. Not too bad. Would have been better if his cannon hit, but they couldn’t have everything.

Time resumed, and Milo scrambled to his feet. His breathing was far more labored, but he shot off a ball of white mana that smacked into a bookshelf, immediately incinerating the books in a perfect ball shape. Ezekiel gasped at the sight of burnt books, clutching his medallion before spinning on Milo with gigantic eyes.

“My bad.” Milo blew his hair out of his eyes before he shot the rock man again with an ice bolt. It smacked into his gut, lodging there. The rock man would not like that. Derek doubted many people did.

“Nick!” Rafael shouted down the hole. “Grizzizzik and Hraktar! They’re outside the bubble! There’s a creature there trying to kill them!”

“Shit.” Nick ran down the tunnel. Derek’s heart rate spiked as Tyler ran after him. Tyler would know how high a level the creature was. They had to be almost done with these constructs.

Ezekiel, still shooting Milo a glare, forced his book down hard on the cobra. It gave a final hiss before the black and green fire left its eyes. He then pointed his hands toward the rock man, muttering a quiet prayer before completely incinerating him with holy flames. Ezekiel dropped his hands, turning toward Milo. “Once we get Hraktar and Grizzizzik back, you’re atoning for this grievous mistake.”

Ezekiel headed toward the stairs as Milo stared at the bookshelf. “We don’t even know what books those were.”

Derek and Evelyn walked into the tunnel so it wouldn’t get too crowded. Milo followed. “Considering what this place was, it might have been some dark magic or mana manipulation that would have been better to be destroyed.”

“We’re talking about this later,” Ezekiel said.