Allistor willed his spear from his ring and gripped it in his left hand.  He cast Levitate and let go of the weapon as it floated upward a few feet.  Using his good hand to motion at the weapon, he turned it to face the frozen monster, then sent it shooting forward.   His aim wasn’t great, but the heavy rebar spear slammed into the side of the snake’s head and sank deep.

The stun wore off, and the ophidian’s head fell back to earth, the weight of the spear tilting it to one side as it fell nearly three stories.  The impact with the pavement pushed the spear deeper into the snake’s body, which began to curl and uncurl in a frenzy.

Helen fired again, this time up into the tilted head from underneath, the round from the hunting rifle entering the underside of its jaw and exploding out the top of its nose.

“I think it’s dead!  The movement is just reflex!” She called out as she stepped from behind the truck door and took a few steps toward the monster.

Allistor knew better.  There hadn’t been any kill experience flashing across his interface yet.  “No!  Stop!  It’s not dead yet!” he screamed at her, his voice hoarse from pain.  Even the breath he’d taken for that shout sent pain screaming through him as his ribs poked into his internal organs.  Or at least, that’s how it felt.   He reached out, trying to cast his new Barrier spell on her.  It seemed to take forever, but a shimmering of the air in front of her told him it worked.

Helen froze, heeding his warning.  She raised her rifle again, but she never got to fire.  The snake’s tail exploded out of the brush at the side of the road, showering Helen and the truck with twigs and leaves before it slammed through his shield into the woman and crushed her against the side of the vehicle.

Allistor cursed as he saw her fall limply to the ground, not able to get enough breath for a scream.  He cast Flame Shot without even thinking, sending a ball of flame smashing into the monster’s face and open mouth.  He pulled one of Meg’s napalm grenades and tossed it left-handed at the thing’s head.  It shattered, and liquid fire engulfed the front four feet of the ophidian’s head and body.

Seconds later, it stopped thrashing and the expected experience points flashed before his eyes.  A quick glance at his party icons showed that Helen was hurt bad but alive.  He produced and drank a health potion as he limped around the truck to her.   The pain was lessening, but he was pretty sure he’d suffered internal damage.  He cast the heal Nature’s Boon on himself as he moved.

Helen lay unconscious next to the rear wheel of the truck.  Her arm was clearly badly broken, sticking out at an odd angle.  Her head was bleeding, and blood ran from her mouth as well.  She was breathing, but just barely.