cleaned of troll blood, vaulted upward, and brought the point of the blade straight down. “Ow, fuck!”
With a burst of white sparks, her dagger slid off the beast, which rose to its feet with a growl. Its fur now shone the same blood red as the magical veil. It lowered its head and snarled at Justin.
“For—San Francisco!” He threw a fireball without even a moment’s hesitation. It was better, he decided, to strike before it started to charge and with that in mind, he grasped Lyle and dragged him sideways out of the doorway. In their wake, the door banged closed and locked them in the room. “Typical,” he muttered.
The fireball, however, also had no effect. The bear’s fur took on a sickly green hue and he began to worry that it was gaining power.
“Lyle, don’t!”
It was too late. The dwarf was gone and the bear thrashed and twisted to try to reach him while he kicked and punched. None of his attacks—like those of his teammates—seemed to have an effect on the animal’s health bar.
Its fur began to glow blue again and Zaara readied herself.
“Zaara, wait!” Justin called. “Use a spell this time. And Lyle, punch it.”
“If ye say so,” the dwarf called enthusiastically. A moment later, Lyle yelled, “Ow! Still nothing.”
Zaara’s fireball, however, had done the trick. The bear bellowed in pain and sparks skittered across its fur. It rolled on the floor to try to put the fire out and heaved itself to its feet. The fur glowed red and Justin aligned the colors with their style of attacks.
“Lyle, I think it’s you now.”
“You said that last time,” the dwarf complained but that didn’t stop him. He took two running steps and, with more balls than Justin could imagine having in five lifetimes, punched the bear in the face. The creature reared with a shriek and its fur changed to green.
“Now, Justin!” Zaara yelled.
This time, when he attacked, he knew there was only a short window. The animal had begun to sway on its feet as he sprinted. Only a few more steps, only a few more, he told himself desperately. It began to sag and he stabbed his sword forward and up with every ounce of strength in his body.
His pixelated body, of course. Although he’d be pleasantly surprised if he woke up and found out that he’d somehow become ripped from his e-workouts.
He had no more time to think about that as the bear fell and he was thrown to the floor with a clatter of teeth. The creature pinned his legs as its fur faded to black and he couldn’t squirm free. It took both Zaara and Lyle to heave the carcass to the side enough for him to get out, and when he did, his legs were covered with blood.
“Ew,” he said with vehement distaste. The door clicked open and he limped to it.
“What, you’ve never butchered an animal before?” Zaara looked at him like he was crazy.
“I thought you were in training to be a noble lady,” he told her grumpily.
“A lady can’t cure ham? Skin a rabbit?”
“This world is weird.” Justin shook his legs on the expensive carpet, pleased to see Sephith’s riches getting ruined, and smiled at the ceiling. “Well, the good news is that one of the anchors is gone.”
With a rumble and a crash, the door collapsed and was replaced by a blank wall. All members of the party stared at it for a moment, thankful that they’d stepped clear moments before.
“Huh,” Lyle said finally. “I’ve never seen a dwarven door do that before.”
“You don’t say. Okay, which next?” Justin covered his eyes, spun in a circle, and pointed. “Eeny, meeny, miny…whoops, pointing at the fireplace. Moe.” He strode to the door he’d selected. “Is everyone ready?”
“Ready.” Zaara nodded. “Blue for magic, red for fists, green for blades.”
But when he opened the next door, all they encountered was a wall of shimmering peach fire. A click and a creak behind him made him whirl as the door on the opposite wall also opened to reveal the same fire inside.
“Zaara, can I borrow your spare dagger?”
She handed it over silently and he stretched gingerly to poke the dagger into the flames. As he had expected, the tip protruded through the opposite door. He withdrew it and handed it to her. “So it’s a portal.”
“It’s a portal to nowhere,” she said. “And if two of the points are in there, how are we supposed to get there? You can’t go