Ko, Katsuki, Emiko, Rin, and the outer space aliens described in this story are from the Science Fantasy novel, They Left Magic in Their Wake, by Marilyn Peake. The magical bomb items are also from this novel. The strange colors, the hunk of burning metal, and the changes in fruit that appear later in this short story are elements from H. P. Lovecraft’s story, The Colour Out of Space, which is currently in the public domain.
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Adelina walked into her third session at Dave’s D&D Cavern & Watering Hole ready to do battle, first with her low self-esteem and then with the monsters in their D&D campaign. Sitting between Katsuki and Emiko, she turned one way, then the other, to show them her back. “Look. I’m done hiding.” Rather than covering up the stunted faerie wings on her back, she was wearing a sporty black tank top gathered at the back in a way that clearly displayed the wings sprouting from her shoulder blades.
Katsuki placed a hand on Adelina’s shoulder. “That’s the spirit. I’m proud of you.”
Emiko squeezed Adelina’s hand. “I’m proud of you, too. You look awesome.”
Adelina’s wings fluttered, resembling a fish beached on the shore, flopping around, struggling to breathe. However, she looked stunning overall. Her blue eyes, accentuated with shimmering blue eye shadow, sparkled in the light. Having applied blush and lip gloss and painted her fingernails black, she looked quite attractive.
The guy who was dressed as a Yeti for the third day in a row gave Adelina a thumbs-up. She smiled, then quickly looked down at her character sheet, pretending to study it. She still felt embarrassed that she’d thrown a D20 the day before that had landed in his beer. It was nice he’d fished it out without complaint, but she blushed just thinking about it.
Max looked up from arranging things behind his screen: the gorgeous dungeon master’s screen featuring a snow-covered mountain ringed in clouds with dragons flying overhead. Today, he was dressed as a steampunk character: black-and white striped vest, tan pants, brown cloak, crazy-looking gears and watches on his arms and wrists and wrapped around the large black hat on his head. “All right. Let’s get started. We’ll continue on from where we left off yesterday. And same as yesterday, we’ll use magical items that are approved for use at RinthCon. When we last played, you were all inside a cave, searching for monsters you could hear making abominable, horrifying sounds off in the distance. Their growls echo against the crystalline walls.” He turned to Quinlan, an alien from outer space dressed as a tiefling, having wrapped and twisted the tubes on his head until they resembled horns. “Quinlan, you’re leading an expedition toward the sounds, rather than away from them. You and the other members of your group feel that you need to protect the outside world from whatever lurks in this cave. Make a stealth check. Also, let me know if you’re going to use any magical items. Let’s make this medium difficulty, so you’ll need fifteen or higher.”
Playing as a dragonborn sorcerer, Quinlan picked up a red D20 streaked with silver. “May I add what’s been referred to as a sunspot bomb?”
“Sure. Excellent idea! That will intensify empathy in you and your entire group. You’ll be better able to understand things about the creatures you’re trying to find.”
Shaking the D20 along with a sunspot bomb, a glowing yellow ball smaller than the tip of a child’s pinky finger, in his cupped hands, Quinlan tossed them into the middle of the table. The D20 landed in a forest on the map; the sunspot bomb landed on a mountain. “Ten.” Quinlan studied his character sheet. “Seventeen with my Dexterity modifier.”
Max absentmindedly adjusted a gear on his wrist. “Fantastic! You and your group move forward into the cave. You see shadows on a wall that suggest the kind of monsters you’re dealing with. The effects of the sunspot bomb show you a creature resembling the Minotaur arguing with something that looks like the Chimera. It strikes you as important that the Minotaur has the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man, while the Chimera is a lion at the front, a goat in the middle, and a dragon in the rear. Both are grotesque combinations of creatures.”
Removing his hat, Max placed it behind his screen and ran a hand through his hair. “Adelina, you’re next. I’d like you to do a perception check to see what you can understand about the argument these creatures are having.”
Adelina brightened. “Sure.” Fumbling in her dice bag, her face blanched. “Umm…I seem to be missing a set of dice. One of my favorites! They were dark green with a swirl of purple, and they sparkled.” Looking up, she noticed everyone staring at her, unsurprised, like they expected this kind of thing from her. Swallowing hard, she dropped her concerns, offering a wide smile instead. “No matter. I have lots of dice. So, what I’d like to do…I’d like to include a rainbow bomb in my throw.” She looked at her friends from Japan. “When it comes to these powerful little items, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, I guess. I’m also going to use your naming system for these kinds of magical items. From now on, they’re…bombs.” She smiled once again.
Rin waved his hands in front of him. “No, no, seriously, you don’t have to do that.”
Adelina pursed her lips. “No. I insist.” Continuing to search her bag, she loosened its ties. Grabbing a handful of minuscule glowing stones and placing them in her palm, she looked for one with rainbow swirls. Succeeding, she dropped the others back into the pouch. Then she reached for a purple D20 on the table. Bungling the attempt, she sent the die careening across the table, along with the rainbow bomb.
The lights flickered. The room turned to dusk. Weird colors, pink and purple in shades no one had ever seen before, coated everything in an eerie hue. Fruit on a snack tray at the edge of the table increased in size and intensified in color. Apples grew to the size of cantaloupes, turning the most brilliant and surreal red anyone had ever seen. Bunches of grapes grew like purple globes on full-fledged trees. Then, suddenly, all the fruit withered and collapsed, seeming to rot from the inside.
As for the rainbow-swirled dice, it glowed hotter, then became a burning hunk of metal, melting through the table and dropping to the floor. But when the D&D players searched under the table, they found nothing resembling the bomb or the metal hunk that had replaced it. Steam rose from the spot where it had landed, then vanished into the dusky pink-and-purple air.
Emiko gasped. “Adelina. What have you done?”
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