The monster reared up, and a spout of green venom began to bubble up from the great poison sacs that hung beneath its jawline. It was preparing to spray us with a blast of burning venom.

Letting my gun drop and hang by its strap, I flung up my hands into my Force Barrier mudra and was satisfied to feel the spell take effect instantly. The barrier was thin and nearly invisible, but it was as strong as steel. The monster’s venom splattered harmlessly against the invisible shield and began to drip downward. The cobra, roaring in frustration and not understanding what had happened, flung itself against the barrier and rebounded, stunned.

I grunted with the shock of the impact, feeling the barrier begin to crack.

“Jeremy, you need to summon a monster to fight it. Belinda’s hurt!” It was Selena, who had used the time I’d bought us with the Force Barrier to leap forward and grab Belinda, dragging her back toward the mouth of the cave and putting the rest of us in between her and the monster.

“What’s wrong with her?” I asked as the cobra slammed into my Force Barrier again.

“She hit her head when she fell,” said Selena.

“I’m fine,” Belinda croaked, struggling to sit up. She didn’t look fine.

I needed to buy us some time. Astrid’s werewolf form was flickering under her skin, but I didn’t want her taking the cobra on in a one-on-one fight. She could get seriously hurt, and I wasn’t going to allow that. It was time to up the ante.

“Selena, take this,” I yelled, throwing my gun to her. “I’m going to drop the Force Barrier. As soon as I do, both of you shoot at the cobra to buy me time to do a bit of summoning!”

The cobra had backed off a little way, stunned from smashing itself against the barrier. Astrid and Selena took up crouching firing positions, one on either side of Belinda, who was sitting up but looked dazed. I took a breath and prepared to disperse the Force Barrier spell.

“Ready?” I shouted. “Three, two, one, now!”

I dropped the spell and Astrid and Selena opened fire. Storm Spheres blazed from Selena’s enchanted MP5, and three staccato volleys of regular ammo blasted from Astrid’s AR-15. The monster reeled as the bullets thudded into its chest, then screamed as lightning scorched its foul hide, but it didn’t fall. Instead, a sudden cunning light shone from its eyes.

As I began my summoning process, turning my focus on my Summoning Sphere, I saw Astrid moving like with the speed of a practiced marksman, letting her empty ammo clip drop to the ground even as she grabbed a new one off her belt and snapped it into the gun’s mag well.