“I can’t get through!” It was Katie’s turn to panic now. She pounded against the metal barrier with her fist, the sound echoing down the tunnel like the banging of a gong.
Penny cradled Ronan’s still, bloody form in one arm and rained spells down on the advancing homunculi. Her continued barrage chipped away at them, a finger here, an arm or leg there, small chips of stone from their torsos and heads. She forced them back until their sheer numbers overcame her defenses, and she sent a fireball at them, scattering them like panicked stone monkeys. The already thin air of the tunnel grew thinner as the flames devoured what was left of their oxygen, and Penny reluctantly extinguished the flames, allowing the homunculi their slow second advance.
They were going to die down there.
“Penn
