It is not yet time for you to go forth, Cumulonimbus. Soon, though, you may get your wish. The nations will test us and we will need to respond appropriately. They are young and foolish, eager to test powers which have not moved in force in decade. I weep for whichever nation would be so bold, or so foolish, as to inspire our wrath first. – Letter from the Voice Nimbostratus

“What do you think Xavier, does she make the cut?” Andre sounded eager, clearly anticipating a positive response.

Andre, Xavier, and Sahar were watching through one of the priestess’s scrying orbs as Rebecca put Asher through her final test. The woman was being forced to answer questions about the dungeon, Guild Protocols, and potential dangers while also running through an obstacle course. The course in question was comparatively simple: a pair of balance beams, some stutter-steps, a five-foot wall, and some hills. That didn’t make her achievement any less impressive though, as she easily answered even the trick questions the other four had come up with.

“My greatest fears have been assuaged.” Xavier admitted, “That isn’t to say I don’t have any additional concerns, but nothing that would defend keeping her from joining us.”

Sahar’s bright laugh was quick to respond, “Xavier, dear, you’re being a worry wart. We appreciate that, it makes sure we don’t get too excitable, but it is time to admit that we just got lucky. She was exactly what we needed if we wanted any chance of continuing and we were exactly what she needed. The Ascendant Solarus provides a path.”

For a moment there was silence as the three of them continued to watch the young woman’s progress. She barely seemed winded, an impressive feat considering the woman had no Ki to empower her. That had been a concern for a little while, but Asher had made it clear that she had no interest in reducing her Mana reserves for the advantages of an enhanced physique. She had decided to pursue an alternative solution after talking to someone called Bob.

“You…are not incorrect Sahar. I’ve been trying to find a flaw because the situation is simply too good. I still worry about her being green, but you and Rebecca have assured me she has proven her metal. She has done far better than it would be fair to expect and earned her chance.”

“Thank you for seeing reason dear.” Placing an arm around his shoulders, she gave him a half hug before turning to Andre, “Let’s go give her the good news!”

The last image they saw before Sahar allowed the illusory image to fade away was the laughing face of a fire-haired woman as she correctly answered the last question from atop the courses low wall. Even Xavier couldn’t help but smile a bit at the pure joy put on display before them.

#

When Asher returned to camp, she had found a small feast being prepared. Alejandro masterfully watching over multiple cook fires while directing a number of the Adventurer Society recruits to help him along. A small group setting up some kind of magic ritual that appeared to be creating music. A pair of individuals chopping and mixing fruits with water into some kind of punch.

Before she could really take in the view, Sahar had approached. “You’ve worked hard these last days Asher, and we could not be more impressed with your efforts. Green Dawn would like to formally invite you to join us for our dungeon dive into the heart of The Blighted Basin.”

As soon as she finished, Amir, Ada, and Reiss had leapt from behind nearby rocks yelling congratulations Ashers way. The adventuring party had let the three know what they had decided, causing them to lead a small gathering of maybe a third of the recruits into hiding. The group had been eagerly anticipating her return and were quick to join in.

Taking a moment away from the food, Alejandro approached Asher. “You did great Kiddo. Really showed us how determined you were. You deserve this.”

Andre, caught up in the moment and unable to stop himself, scooped the girl up in a massive bear hug, “Knew you could do it!”

When Asher asked about the feast, finding it hard to believe this was all just for her, she had learned it was apparently tradition to hold a feast for the recruits on their full day in the dungeon. Rebecca would be leading them back out the following morning, something which had caught Asher by surprise. Nobody had warned her that what she had just done was going to be the final test, and according to what she had originally been told she still had one day left before the training was over. Apparently, changing the schedule like this was a fairly common Adventurer Guild training tactic. In a career where the worst days were what would make or break someone, it wasn’t good practice to only check what a recruit was like at their best.

The reveal that she would soon be splitting ways with almost everyone she knew in this world was harsh, but she had been quick to congratulate the three cadets on their own achievements. When they returned, the three would be receiving their team assignments for the duration of the training and each had received a position as a team leader. Something that greatly increased their chances of leaving their training with an F+ Rank.

That had been the beginning of a fantastic night of feasting and drinking. Alejandro was powerful and capable enough that they could all let their guards down in even such a dangerous place, and the group took full advantage of that fact. The party had gone on for several hours, but had quickly broken up when everyone was reminded of how busy they would be the next day. No one could afford to stay up too late and be tired while traveling through the dungeon the next day.

#

When Asher had woken up the next morning, Rebecca and her charges had already left. Balam had apparently gone with them, offering to aid Rebecca on her return to the Dungeon Entrance as a thank you for her help with Asher over the last week. From what he had told her last night, his particular brand of magic was unlikely to be very helpful in the confrontation they were expecting. With his particular abilities, he would easily be able to catch back up with them in a day or two with little risk.

Alejandro had been in the process of taking down the half ring of tents and had grunted a greeting before motioning toward the cook fire with his head. There she had found a final gift from them, along with a breakfast of flapjacks. There were no notes or messages, all of the goodbyes had been taken care of the night before.

Now, less than an hour later, Asher found herself back at a place that had heralded her turn of fortunes. A simple wooden sign with a large warning written on it. It felt like she was living an entirely different life when she approached this time. Surrounded by allies that she had every intention of making friend. Rested and prepared for what was to come. Being here by choice rather than circumstances.

She was fully outfitted for a dungeon dive, wearing the gear that had been her gift from the friends she had made during her week with them. A bandolier outfitted with a number of potions and useful tools, all protected by basic enchantments. A small dimensional bag capable of holding everything that had previously been in her backpack (along with a small tent). A simple set of padded armor underneath her combat robes.

Green Dawn had also made contributions to her gear. At her waist was a simple wand, barely more than a stick with a small crystal grown in. It was made of Ash wood and would supposedly help her better interact with other sources of mana. Something that, while not particularly helpful now, would one day be helpful while counter spelling, creating rituals, or taking apart existing magical constructs.

On the opposite hip was a simple steel dagger, enchanted to withstand channeling her lightning magic. Something no one in Green Dawn anticipated her using heavily, but had insisted on providing her just in case. It wasn’t just for fighting they had said. In their own words, a good dagger was a useful tool in many situations.

Defensively, they had provided her with something they called a barrier glyph. The thing would exhaust her mana in less than thirty seconds, but for the duration it would provide near absolute protection against anything they would find in this dungeon. Beyond the unsustainable mana cost, the item had an hour-long cooldown period to avoid damaging the carefully carved runes across its surface. An item that was the definition of last resort.

Below them, the group watched the lava pools covering the entrance to the land bridge out into the lake. Somewhere down there was at least one Certilia matriarch, the first challenge they would take on as a team. Something that Green Dawn did not consider a threat, but saw as potentially problematic to defeat.

“Alright Asher, we’re going to have you sit back by Veronika dear. Hopefully we can defeat this monster today, but more important than that is learning to work as a team. Vee has a role very similar to your own, so just do what she does. And, no matter what, retreat if I tell you to leave.” Sahar’s voice was still kind and open, but had taken on a tone of absolute command.

“You’re the experts Sahar, I’m more than willing to simply follow your lead and learn.”

“The party should be fine without you.”

Veronika’s tone was cool and distant, but Asher had slowly learned that was just how she talked. The woman could come off as unfriendly, even mean. In reality she was simply blunt and uninterested in most small talk. That could change quickly if someone brought up monster hunting or trade, but neither was a subject Asher was particularly knowledgeable in.

“Take this as a chance to practice your new style,” The icy woman continued.

In addition to all the equipment, Green Dawn had also provided her with something they called a Style Manual for a fighting style called Surging Tide. Sahar, being a priestess of The Ascendent Solarus, apparently kept a large collection of such manuals in her dimensional bag for exactly these sorts of circumstances. A tool to provide guidance to someone struggling on their path. According to Sahar, this style would eventually allow her to use larger and larger amounts of mana at faster and faster speeds as a fight continued. This would allow her to maintain a continuous, overwhelming, and building offensive.

Asher hadn’t had any time to really study the style, but Sahar had led her through the most basic exercise. The core technique was to constantly cycle her mana through her body in such a way that her mana would respond more quickly when she began a spell, due to the mana already flowing at comparable speeds. Something that Sahar had compared to momentum in the physical world. Currently, maintaining that movement required constant attention from Asher. When she mastered the style though, she should just be passively maintaining a faster flow of mana throughout her body.

“Sounds like a good plan Veronika. No time like the present right?”

A large hand clapped down on her shoulder as Andre boomed out a laugh, “Exactly! Looking forward to seeing what you can do Asher. Give me a story I can tell my little girl!”

#

The group cautiously approached the shore, paying respect to the various pools of lava that broke up the pseudo-beach. Before they had started their approach, Andre and Xavier had activated some kind of glowing green tattoo on their biceps that looked vaguely like a large cat. When she had asked about it, Veronika had explained it as some kind of support spell Balam had given them before he left that would grant a slew of physical buffs to the two men.

The majority of the beach was formed from a combination of larger, shale-like stones and fine grains of reflective sand formed from obsidian. In other areas, larger chunks of obsidian formed cover for the creatures that called this area home. Small, reptilian heads occasionally poked up, looking their way curiously as they approached the largest of the molten lakes.

Access to the rest of the lake would be difficult without passing within a half dozen feet of one or more of the tidepools, as Asher had taken to calling them. They served as a natural barrier to the land bridge going out into the center of the dungeon, and each was the territory of at least one of the powerful Matriarchs. The only sure way through, without risking a blast of lava in the back, was to kill one of the hyper-territorial creatures.

Sahar and Xavier kicked off the fight. To begin, Sahar sent out a wave of golden energy that left small lights floating over the heads of the surrounding Certilia hatchlings. When the golden energy passed over the tidepools, a number were left with far larger markers hanging in the air above the molten stone. No more than one per pool, but varying in size.

“The larger the light, the stronger the creature’s soul is,” Sahar explained as Xavier began approaching the nearest of the lights.

The light Xavier chose was within the average for the submerged beasts’ markers, perhaps on the slightly smaller side. It was also closer to the edge of the pool than many of the others, and began to sluggishly approach as Xavier neared. In response, the elvish man raised his hammer, which began to glow with an amber light.

With a wordless shout, he brought the hammer crashing to the ground. Some magic must have been at work, because the weapon cratered the ground with force far beyond what Asher expected. At the same time, the matriarch came flying out of the lava pool. She cleared the edge by a good ten feet before crashing to the ground before the group.

Asher expected the beast to begin attacking them immediately, but instead it remained paralyzed. The creature seemed as surprised as Asher was by its sudden appearance, and it was only in the resulting lull that she saw the thick pillar of glassen stone that now protruded from the tidal pool. When Xavier had struck the ground, he had forced the earth beneath their opponent upward and flung it out of the powerful protection provided by the monster’s natural habitat. In the time it took for Asher to figure all this out, the rest of Green Dawn had already sprung into motion.

“Grasping vines!”

At Andre’s voice, thick roots erupted from the ground. Each would immediately begin to smoke and char when they came in contact with the searing scales, but he scrunched his brow and pushed more mana into the spell. Tens, then hundreds of long, thin roots forced their way out of the ground and began to wrap the monster like a cocoon.

A large barrier of light erupted from the ground and enclosed the group as Asher heard Sahar shout, “Blessed Dome of the Guiding Lights.”

Instantly, Asher felt more energized than she had before. Like she had just drank an entire pot of coffee and all of the caffeine had just hit her at once. Her staff began to glow with a faint, golden light and she instinctively where to hold the focus to best hit her target. One of the Certilia hatchlings barreled forward, intent on attacking them, only to slam to a stop at the edge of the dome. No matter how much it scratched, it couldn’t seem to find purchase and the barrier remained impenetrable.

Rock began to climb the monster’s feet as Xavier clenched a fist in front of him and grunted out, “Stone Tomb.”

Quickly the stone, which appeared to be some kind of granite, covered the entirety of the Certilia’s six legs and even seemed to bind its tail to the ground. Heavy lumps of rock connected by finer gravel and sand formed something like a crust and reinforced the roots as they burned away, keeping the massive reptile still.

Asher was quickly reminded of her own role when she heard Veronika muttering beside her and felt an intense cold that temporarily drove away the dungeon’s heat. A large spear, easily 8 feet long, appeared in Veronika’s hand and she sent it flying with incredible strength at the monster in front of them. According to Andre, she used a combination of ice manipulation spell and pure, brute force given by her completed Ki Channels to throw her spears with greater power than even he could have mustered. She hadn’t believed it until now.

The spear slammed into the monsters shoulder, instantly knocking the beast over. A deep puncture appeared at the point of impact, and blood fountained from the creature. The skin immediately around the injury blackened as the spell flash froze the flesh, and beside her Veronika tsk-ed.

“If we were anywhere else that entire limb would have frozen solid. Curse this place and its incessant heat!”

Asher could only do her best to suppress her surprise and begin preparing her own spell, trying her hardest not to let the woman know how shocked she was. She barely had time to fire her first Thunderbolt, overcharged and empowered to break through the Matriarch’s formidable defense, before the creature’s form was covered by a mound of rock and roots. The end result was something that looked like a lightning struck burial mound, and Asher couldn’t help but be impressed by how easily they had defeated such a monster.

Only for the mound to begin to shake.

Like a whale breaching the surface, the creature almost seemed to fling itself headfirst out of Andre and Xavier’s trap. The stone almost seemed to glide off its scales, while the plants burned away. Neither able to keep a grip on the beast.

“Bad news, Sahar. I think that thing is using its Lava Magic to melt the rocks. Then it just swims its way free. Must take a decent amount of mana, otherwise I am assuming it would have broken free immediately instead of waiting until we proved ourselves a threat. The thing is basically immune to my ability to hold it down unless we drain it dry of magic though.”

Xavier didn’t sound panicked as he said this. He continued to project an air of calm capability, same as ever, and his face remained impassive.

“Just keep slowing it down Xavier, give Asher and Veronika do their job!”

Following Sahar’s response, Xavier went rushing forward at incredible speed. Hidden behind his large tower shield, every step seemed to shake the ground. Rock crept up the man’s legs and quickly encased him in thick plates of stone armor. To his side, Andre joined him while bark seemed to emerge from his skin to armor the giant bull man as well.

Andre snapped his whip forward, wrapping it around the matriarch’s neck and dragging her downward. Meanwhile, Xavier seemed to sink into the ground only to be flung into the air by a large pillar emerging from beneath him. In the air, his armor seemed to grow larger and larger around him before he came hurtling down. With one massive, stone limb he reached out and slammed into the beast’s neck in some kind of reversed clothesline.

As the monster’s head struck the ground with a shriek, her head was entombed in the earth below. The bulk of Xavier’s armor flowed on top of their opponent to further weigh her. Meanwhile, Asher and Veronika continued to blast the beast with charged Lightning Bolts and Ice Spears while Sahar began to chant.

“May the spark of inspiration guide us. May light reveal their tricks. Reveal what might bind us. Divulge the path forward. Let the Solari Descend!”

With the final word, Sahar slammed her staff into the ground and a small sun appeared above her. For a moment, light shined from everywhere around her and banished every shadow, only for them to slowly return while the sun split horizontally along the center. With a feeling like every one of her secrets was revealed, the blazing orb revealed itself to be a massive, burning eye of golden light.

Instantly, Asher could see the matriarch with perfect clarity. Even her head, which should have been buried deep in the earth, was visible and she could see the angry reptilian gathering superheated stone in her mouth. The spell gave Xavier and Andre just enough time to throw themselves backward before a stream of magma erupted from the earth and covered the ground where they had been standing.

Despite the warning, both were covered in heavy burns that had burned through Xaviers stone defense, let alone Andre’s bark armor. Asher only got a glance before the defensive spells began to reform, but it was enough to see melted flesh and even some exposed bone. Despite the terrible damage, they both let out barely more than a grunt and quickly prepared to re-engage as soon as the matriarch’s attack ended.

Powerful light emerged from each of the men and Sahar as the priestess closed her eyes and shouted, “Healing Light!”

Asher couldn’t allow herself to be distracted though. She didn’t know by what mechanism Sahar’s spell told her, but she knew when the monster’s attack would end. She also knew that would be an opportunity to attack the matriarch without the protection of her thick scales. Asher began charging a Lightning Bolt, knowing she couldn’t let such an opportunity pass. Veronika did the same beside her, creating an even larger ice spear that seemed to radiate the cold of a winter night deep in the tundra.

Then she had an idea.

“Veronika, let me see your spear!”

Without waiting for a response, she ran in front of the intimidating weapon. As she approached, Asher silently outlined her plan to Bob in the enhanced mental speed of Overcharge.

Hoping for an affirmative response, she telepathically asked “Will it work Bob?”

His silent response came back immediately, “Yes, mistress. If Veronika is, indeed, using Ice Spear-”

She tuned the rest of what Bob said out. She felt a little bad about it, but knew time was of the essence. She reached forward to touch the head of the spear, ignoring Veronika’s shout of warning, and winced in pain as the cold instantly bit deep into her hand. Despite that, she forced herself to remain in contact and cast her second Intermediate spell.

As she fed her mana into the frozen construct, she began to debate in her head. The lava from the monster was slowing down, but she still had time. She could continue to feed mana into the spell. But how much was too much? Could she end it all in one hit if she dumped all her mana into this? Or would that just leave her manaless and useless for the rest of the fight?

In the end, the time she spent debating made her decision for her. The Matriarch's attack was quickly coming to an end and she was out of time. She had put a lot of mana into the spell, but only maybe a quarter of what she could have. Backing away, she nodded to Veronika and let the woman know she was good to go.

Without giving her a second glance, Veronika immediately prepared to throw the spear. They both knew that Ashers had, which she had long ago lost feeling of, must be in bad shape. Despite that, the other woman couldn’t waste the opportunity that Xavier, Andre, and now Asher had suffered to give her.

Moments before the matriarch ceased spewing magma, Veronika flung the spear with all the strength her arms and magic could manage. It was perfectly timed, entering the beast’s mouth just as the melted rock previously protecting it disappeared. The Spear stabbed into the roof of their enemy’s mouth, melting as it came in contact with the thing’s flesh.

At the same time, even the monsters superheated body could not protect it from Veronika’s magic. Ice quickly spread from the wound they had inflicted and froze the things mouth shut. The final result was something like a crystal muzzle, forcing the beasts mouth shut.

Then the Electropulse Enchantment activated. Trapped inside an enclosed space, the spells power was concentrated far beyond what would normally be possible. With a scream, the beast’s body froze while lighting ravaged its nerves. Sparks ran along its face and arcing burn scars began to creep out of its mouth, growing like some kind of parasitic vine expanding beneath the skin. One eye boiled and burst.

Then the creature collapsed.

If it wasn’t for Sahar’s spell, Asher would have thought they had won. Instead, she could feel that the creature was still alive. It wasn’t even as hurt as the visible wounds would imply, just stunned. And very unhappy.

Veronika immediately bombarded the thing with a rain of small icicles. The individual attacks were significantly less damaging than her earlier attacks, but a crust of ice quickly began to grow over the monster and she could feel frostbite beginning to dig its way into the creature’s flesh. Meanwhile, Sahar took the brief calm to begin throwing orbs of light at the rest of the team.

The burning pain that occurred when she was hit with the orb was what made Asher finally look at her hand. A golden glow was slowly marching across blackened flesh and replacing it with healthy, pink skin. The pain of the healing was intense, and she couldn’t help but let out a groan.

“Sorry dear,” came Sahar’s calm response. “I am having to replace the area wholesale, and the new nerves can be raw. Especially with all those microscopic ice crystals from the still frostbitten bits poking them.”

Biting back her pain, she quickly called back, “No problem Sahar. No point complaining about what has to be done. Sorry everyone, if I’d put a bit more mana into that spell, we’d be done by now.”

Veronika shot her a look, giving Asher as much concentration as she could without relenting in her spell casting. “Not your fault. None of us knew how much that spell would hurt it. Better to save some mana for if it didn’t work.”

“She’s right dear.” Sahar began speaking more quickly as the matriarch began to struggle against the foot thick sheet of ice Veronika had built up. “Let’s see how smart this thing is. Andre, Xavier, try to bait that big breath attack out of her again. Failing that, try to force its mouth open. If we can manage either, Veronika and Asher can finish this fight.”

All she got in return was a grunt from Xavier and a boisterous laugh from Andre before they went charging back toward the monster. As they approached, the party watched the Certilia’s scales begin to glow cherry red. The two got there just in time for the ice shell to explode outward, blown away by the pressurized steam being produced beneath.

The beast bellowed out, in a combination of rage and fear, before it began slowly attempting to back up. Instantly the party knew it was trying to retreat into the lava, escaping from its attackers. From there, it could freely attack them with its breath or attempt hit and run strikes. Something that their team was not prepared to deal with.

Andre flung his whip forward, wrapping it around the creature’s forepaw. From there, he threw it to Xavier who immediately plunged the hand holding it underground. When he pulled the hand back out, the handle of the whip remained below and tether the monster. In an attempt to reinforce the weapon, Andre wrapped the whip in roots that quickly quintupled the tether’s thickness. He then pulled an axe from his belt and continued the charge.

Xavier’s, meanwhile, had reached the matriarch. Along the way, he had again applied the growth spell to his armor and by the time he reached her towered head and shoulders above the massive monster. Grabbing the beast’s neck under his armpit, he planted his feet and began attempting to drag her away from safety. The beast’s massive front claws proved highly effective at ripping chunks from Xavier’s armor, but they never found the man himself within and the rends quickly closed back up.

Andre approached the matriarch’s grappled head and began attempting to force her mouth open. Even at his impressive size, he was only maybe twice as big as her head and found himself struggling immensely against the monster’s jaw strength. Then she attempted to bit him.

Instead of entirely retreating, Andre stuck his arm in her mouth. Right as Asher was crying out in fear and confusion, his bracer rapidly expanded. Within moments, a pillar of wood was forcing the monster’s jaws apart. Despite that, cracks were quickly appearing in the pillar while the edges were smoldering. Andre, seeing his predicament, removed his arm from the wood and backed away as the matriarch forced her mouth shut and shattered the pillar into kindling.

With a twist and yank of her head, along with a second application of her scale heating spell, the Matriarch pulled her head out from Xavier’s grip. She then chomped onto the arm of the giant, armored form and used a superheated claw to cut it off. The monster then turned her head and lunged toward the arm.

Seeing the danger, Xavier ejected himself from the back of his giant form. He was much reduced in size, being only twice as tall as his normal self, but Asher could tell that he wouldn’t have been able to maintain that giant size much longer anyway. It was much to draining, and made him to easy of a target for the matriarch.

Xavier had been careful when he exited the armor, leaving the massive hunk of stone precariously balanced. With the loss of mass from him exiting, the entire statue was left to crash down onto the matriarch and once more drag her to the ground. Capitalizing on the moment, Xavier began to sink the monster into the earth.

Andre called out to the rest of the team while the reptile was briefly distracted, “She’s not taking the bait! I don’t think she’s going to use the breath attack again even with both of us in front of her! We have to force her mouth open.”

Asher and Veronika could only continue to send in spells to support their teammates, doing their best to slowly whittle down their opponent. Neither had any spells that would be particularly helpful in tying up a monster like the matriarch. Nothing that could buy Andre and Xavier the freedom to force the monster’s mouth open without letting her simply retreat into the lava.

Then Sahar stepped into the melee.

Sensing she had a plan, Andre and Xavier immediately surged forward. Each grabbed hold of the monster and began aggressively burning Mana and Ki as they held the massive reptile in place. Andre grew four massive vines from the back of his armor, using them as extra limbs to tie down and grapple their enemy. Xavier created great stone chains and cuffs along the matriarch’s body. He linked the restraints to his hands while he sunk his feet into the ground and began hauling at his captive.

“A cage of one thousand lights. The banishment of one thousand nights. A ring to contain the beast. The might of the monster leashed.”

Xavier and Andre struggled to hold the Matriarch in place as Sahar chanted, taking powerful blows as to protect their teammate. With the completion of her spell, the woman’s weapon blazed like the sun and a halo floated above her head. Great wings of white light expanded behind her, spread wide as if to cover the sky. Then she struck the monster in a spearing lunge.

Instantly the wings folded forward and grew, wrapping around the Certilia Matriarch. The halo grew until it encompassed them both and a constant beam of light flowed from Sahar to the monster along the staff. With a sound halfway between a bell and a shattering mirror, the feathers fell away from the wings and floated into the sky above them.

Then they lanced downward in a rain of white.

As they fell, they transformed. Each one elongating into a great spear that pierced through the matriarch. When the spell finally ended, Asher realized that each one had pierced the, which was now a large white circle on the ground surrounding the monster. The result was a mass of light beams forming an hourglass shape with the matriarch pinned in place at the neck.

Despite apparently being speared through, as far as Asher could tell the spear had done no damage to their enemy. The spell was entirely meant to trap and contain, with no energy wasted on actually hurting the target. It would hold the thing in place, but even this spell couldn’t last forever.

“Asher, Veronika! Prepare your spell!” Turning toward Andre and Xavier, Sahar continued, “You two, get its mouth open! Now!”

Reacting quickly, Xavier retrieved Andre’s whip and threw it to him. Then he smashed his hammer into the monster’s nose, forcing the reptile’s mouth open for just a moment. In that instant, Andre cracked the whip between its jaws. He then flung himself onto the matriarch’s back and threw out a vine to catch the end of his whip before hauling backwards with all his might.

At the same time, Xavier gripped the monster’s jowls. Digging thick stone fingers between the gums and cheek, he grunted in effort while hauling downward. Realizing it wasn’t enough, he quickly began sinking himself into the earth. Each inch forcing their enemy’s lower jaw downward.

The matriarch wasn’t accommodating enough to simply let them do this. It couldn’t move, but its magic was still available. From what Asher could feel from the ring would prevent any spells the monster cast from leaving its border, but that didn’t protect the two men who were inside the barrier with it. Quickly the scales returned to cherry red, and then the heat of the scales went even further.

The edges of each scale began to melt into rivulets of superheated material that dripped down onto Xavier. Spikes erupted from the center of the scales and impaled Andre from below. Flames rose up from the newly opened gaps between the scales and began to lick against both men. The matriarch pumped more and more mana into her spells and the heat quickly began to cook them.

While Sahar worked to heal the men’s wounds and keep them alive, Asher and Veronika prepared their strike. Asher pumped every bit of mana she could without passing out into her Electropulse Enchantment while Veronika applied some kind of enchantment of her own to the spear’s head.

The result was something like a heavily stylized ballista bolt with two stacked rune on the head. The first, Veronika’s, looked something like a sideways S with circles at either end and a diagonal line crossing through it. A cloud of frost constantly poured from the glowing blue and white rune, granting the ice forged weapon a mystical property. Meanwhile, Asher’s glowing yellow-grey rune, the Sky’s Eye, caused a constant stream of sparks and static to run along the length of the frozen spear.

Veronika telekinetically lifted the weapon, unwilling to directly touch the thing and allow the lightning to jump to her. She took four steps back, and then charged forward. As she ran, Sahar paused her healing to cast a new spell in Veronika’s direction. The spell was a bolt of light that sank into Veronika’s skin before leaving her glowing faintly and creating a halo above her.

Veronika flung the spear.

With a silence that belied its power, the spear flew forward.

It struck the matriarch, who released a keening wail. Xavier and Andre leapt away, fleeing the golden ring as quickly as they could. Both were flung the last foot by a blast of heat erupting from the monster, but that wasn’t enough to save the matriarch.

The ice that grew from the monster’s mouth this time encased its entire head and even crept down her neck. The lightning followed the same paths it had before, growing them out into a tangle of black marks that worked their way down her neck.

On its quest to reach the ground as quickly as possible, the lightning passed right through the matriarch’s heart.

With a final shutter, the creature died. Its gruesome, impaled body a trophy to their victory.

Beside her Veronika collapsed, “Congrats on beating your first field boss kid.”