[h3][color=orange]TEAM CARROT[/color][/h3]
Lily's mouth hung open as the...whatever the hell that was started to drag its way out of the circle. She was stunned beyond reacting, but when a forked tongue lashed out bare inches from her face, she lunged backwards, remembering at the last second to keep her hand pressed to the circle's edge. Only one thought was clear in her head beyond blind panic.

[color=f0c0f0][i]Spook, I am going to [b]kill you.[/b][/i][/color]

She snapped back into awareness as something disgustingly wet and sticky red flew past to land on the head farthest from her. Lily's indigo eyes widened in utter confusion as she slowly traced the flight path from the equally baffled monster to Meryn. Meryn, standing alone and defenseless, as all three horrifying heads swiveled to stare directly at her. 

The redhead barely registered Telio fleeing—[color=f0c0f0][i]smart man[/i][/color]—but what she did register was the shudder that went through her palm, still pressed into the dirt. It was almost like a sucking sensation, pulling her deeper, as Telio's footsteps retreated into the woods at speed, but when the pull on her hand subsided, the energy she'd felt thrumming through her hand was somehow dimmer than before. The creature pulled a second leg out of the void, and Lily didn't have time to ponder the specifics as she yelled at the rest of the party without turning her head.

[color=DDA0DD]"Don't just stand there, [i]do something!"[/i][/color]

Her other hand slammed into the ground before she had time to think of what might happen. For once in her life, she didn't worry about how she looked—she bared her teeth in a snarl, dug her previously-perfect nails into the dirt, and pressed down on the edge of the circle so hard her forearms trembled. Lily wasn't particularly strong, she wasn't particularly fast, and she was hopeless with a fancy sword, but if magic needed willpower? That she had in [i]spades.[/i] And maybe there was a bitter edge to it, maybe in the darkest nights doing the darkest things all she had left was an ember of resentment to keep herself going, but gods [i]dammit[/i]—she might not be able to call storms, but she could be a force of nature if she had to. She refused to bend, refused to break, and some jumped-up monstrosity of a garter snake was [i]not[/i] going to push her over the edge.

Little by little, Lily's hands sunk into the dirt with the sheer pressure she was putting on them, and she refused to back away or give into the instinct that was screaming 'RUN, NOW, VERY FAST AND VERY FAR PLEASE.' She leaned her full weight on her hands, and then pushed even harder, her driving thought that she was [i]not[/i] going to let some teenager get eaten alive if she had anything to do with it.

The beast faltered. The night-black circle slowly, painfully slowly contracted by a scant inch. She couldn't wonder if it would be enough. It had to be enough.