The beetle was a solid chitinous creature about the size of a football that looked like a roach with much sharper mandibles. It spread its wings and prepared itself to launch toward them.Ollie pointed his staff at it and a small bolt of fire blasted out of it and shot the creature backward.“Go and get help, warn everyone to take shelter in their homes!” Michael yelled at the young squire that was with them as he drew his sword and shield.“Michael, I have an idea,” said Ollie as he blasted two more of the creatures with small bolts of fire.“Shoot,” Michael was walking toward the well, preparing for the thousands of legs he heard scrabbling up it and the hundreds of wings he was hearing start to flutter.“Do the fire thing on your shield and sword and hold them in front of yourself and brace.”Michael complied, taking a forward leaning stance as he channeled the divine will of the gods into flames that encircled his shield and kissed his sword.Ollie made a circular motion with his staff and twisted his wrist at the same time and very suddenly a circle of giant roaches was roaring toward Michael. They flew into his burning shield, immolating themselves and falling to the ground squirming and writhing for a few moments before settling with their legs in the air was scorched piled of chitin.Michael kept his shield up, but was forced to use his sword to strike at several that managed to get around it until he formed a set of barriers that funneled them more directly into his shield where they would burn to death. Luckily, the beetles seemed to be mindless, and after just a few moments of them flying through the portal that Ollie had created into Michaels shield they were all dead.Ollie dismissed the portal and stumbled a bit. He was drenched in sweat and panting, relying on his staff to keep from falling over.Michael skewered one of the bugs with his sword and examined it more closely. The color (...)