Darmae, seeing the number of hostile combatants, realized it was too much for her. Even if she killed John in the next few seconds, she’d have an alligatorman and skeleton to deal with. This was all John’s fault, she seethed angrily. If he had just taken out the gator like he was supposed to, a boy and a green thing would be no trouble at all. Now all his power would be used against her...oh! That power could be used against him instead! The elderly woman spread her hands out and lifted her arms into the sky, as if she was carrying a giant ball. She yelled a single word: “amplify!”

Suddenly, a bright white light briefly blinded everyone in the room for a moment. Caleb was briefly disoriented, Rainbow was confused, and John felt powerful. Even with these drugs, this much power shouldn’t be possible. This was how he would kill Darmae! Or it would have been, if he didn’t feel a sudden spike of pain as well. At that moment; John realized just what the old woman’s spell did; it boosted the effects, both positive and negative, of any substances or magic in their bodies. He would have to fight the pain though, for Caleb’s sake.

Byures must have figured out what the spell did as well, as the massive creature was roaring in pain. “Please help him!” Caleb shouted to Roger as he briefly stopped to look at his pained forest companion. In the heat of the moment, Roger nodded, digging through his medical bag for ingredients. Based on the troops he had scared earlier, it had likely been gnomish poison that had struck the alligatorman, so this would be his best chance of survival. Gathering and mixing the various herbs and flowers from his garden with a mortar and pestle, he instructed Byures to lie down. 

“No! Not until she’s dead!” Byures exclaimed despite the pain.

“Please! I’m a doctor, this will save you” Roger responded.

The alligatorman looked over at Caleb, who had asked the skeleton to save him; there was no reason for him to lie about something like this. Despite himself, Byures did as he was asked. Roger wasted no time, asking the titanic creature to eat the creation that the doctor had just made for him. The alligatorman assented, eating the powdery substance; he was amazed to feel the pain decrease only a few seconds later. That boy had good people with him...but why was he tired? Byures yawned, leading Roger to quietly inform him of what was happening. “I truly am sorry, but that medicine will put you to sleep for a while. Don’t worry, you’ll be okay.”

Byures lacked the energy for anything more than nodding before he dozed off. Roger grabbed his sword and stood up again, ready to defend or attack as needed. Most likely it would be an attack, as he saw a horrifying scene; Caleb had tried stabbing Darmae with the dagger, but the old woman was holding him up by his stabbing arm with a vice-like grip strong enough to make him drop the weapon. Her other hand was aimed straight at the boy’s face, with her hand just about to unleash a spell upon the child...