I help Laura to her feet.

She groans and rubs her head. “Are the spiders gone?”

“Yeah,” I say as I lead her over to a small boulder to sit on. “We killed ‘em.”

“That was close,” Jesse says. “You failed two death saving throws.”

“I did?” Laura asks, her skin pale.

The sleek-haired man shifts his weight and rubs his chin, and I have to remind myself that he is 12-year-old Sam in a grown man’s body. “Would she die in the real world if she died here?”

“This is the real world, lad,” Malcolm says. “It was fortunate I healed your sister before she… well…”

While his words sink in, I stare at the giant spider carcasses for a silent moment.

“This isn’t a game,” I say. “Laura almost died. This place is dangerous.”

“That’s why we should go home,” Gary says in his naturally gnomish high-pitched voice. “Malcolm, please send us back.”

Malcolm nods. “First thing in the morning. My staff needs to recharge.”

During the fray, I hadn’t noticed the elegant staff Malcolm held in his hands. It was nearly as tall as him, made of smoothly carved wood, and had diamond shaped designs at the top.

“Before we do anything else,” Malcolm says. “We should take a short rest; let Aulorian and Ander recover from their wounds.”

Gary eyes Laura and nods.

Troubled by Malcolm’s words, I lift up my shield and stare into its shiny surface. Reflecting back at me is a stranger: a very tall, handsome man in his late twenties with wavy blonde hair, a strong chin, and a pronounced Adam’s apple. I shake my head. “My name is Jake, not Ander.”

“Yes, well…” Malcolm clears his throat. “You’re in Ander’s body, and he has a backstory, alignment, bonds, and enemies in this world. You see, when I used to live here, I never saw dice appearing above people’s heads. But now, it seems that using the game to plane shift here has caused its magic to weave within my world, causing it to include the characters that you all created. It’s truly remarkable.”

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“So, our characters could have their own families in this world?” Laura asks, her eyebrows raised.

Malcolm nods. “I think so.”

Sam laughs. “Well, that’s something the rest of you will have to worry about. Not me. Wruce Bayne’s parents were murdered when he was a boy.”

“Just like Batman,” Jesse says.

“The Shrieker!” Sam corrects.

Jesses laughs, waving a dismissive hand.

A soft breeze blows over the rolling hills, and shadows grow taller as the sun approaches the horizon. Gratefully, the putrid smoke rising from the spider carcasses blows away from where we sit.

“What caused the earthquake and spiders to appear?” I ask.

Malcolm rubs his short beard. “I don’t know.”

“It could’ve been a random encounter,” Jesse says. “Happens all the time in D&D.”

“Perhaps,” Malcolm says. “I worry…. I made some enemies before I plane shifted to your world. It has been three years. I hoped they’d forget about me.”

“You made enemies with giant spiders?” I ask.

Malcolm chuckles. “No. My enemies could’ve sent the spiders.”

“And you made quick work of them,” says an unknown voice. “Perhaps I should’ve sent ogres.”

I jump to my feet, searching for the source of the voice. Malcolm’s wide eyes dart left to right.

Suddenly, a man appears out of thin air about ten feet away from Malcolm. He’s human (because now I need to specify that), bald, has a long white pointed beard, loose red robes, and a black eyepatch over his left eye.

“Sergor!” Malcolm says.

“Zauramesh wishes retribution on the thief who stole his staff,” Sergor says.

Malcolm tightens his grip on the ornate staff. “Zauramesh? You work for him now?”

I instinctually start pulling my sword out of my sheath. Sam readies his crossbow. Laura, still injured, hides behind the boulder she was sitting on. Gary pulls out a wand. And Jesse… raises a guitar-looking thing?

“I see you’ve made some friends,” Sergor says with a smile. “Let’s say we keep this between you and me.”

Dice appear above all of our heads. Mine says:

Initiative 13

Sergor's die says:

Initiative 22

He acts before the rest of us, mumbling some strange words, and a 10-foot magical wall made of vibrant red energy surrounds him and Malcolm. I can still see through the wall, and Malcolm looks terrified.

Sam shoots a bolt at the wall, and it bounces off. I stab it with my sword, and it doesn't penetrate, as if I were trying to stab a sidewalk.

Gary takes a step back. "There's nothing we can do at our current level about a wall of force."

Malcolm speaks an incantation, but Sergor waves his hand, and Malcolm's spell cancels out. Malcolm curses and looks for a way out, but the magical wall is smooth, tall, and unscalable.

Sergor strolls over to Malcolm, grabs him by the arm, says some magic words, and then POP!

They both vanish. Then the magic wall vanishes.

Gary, Sam, Laura, Jesse, and I gawk at each other in silence.

Our dungeon master is gone!