Bruce, who had been shaping a net out of long habit, dispersed the ink with a small flick of his fingers. The net had not been needed. Kael and Theron had read the situation correctly and reached the creature first.
"Good," he said. "That worked."
"Hard to read the timing the first time," Kael said. He was breathing slightly heavier. The fire-lance at that concentration had cost him more than a normal fireball. "If I'd hit it during the roll, the fire would have done nothing. The spines deflect it."
"You can see them deflect heat?"
"You can feel them deflect heat. The spines aren't just shaped wrong for being burned. They're built to spread incoming energy outward. Like a shield. I'd guess they evolved here against ambient heat from the heat dungeon's spillover, or from the realm's natural radiations."
"Useful to know."
