"Ready?" Rhiow asked. She trotted to the wizard's knot that would enclose the spell on itself, putting her front paws at the edge of the circle as she sat down.

She hadn't read a spell with another wizard in a very long time. Rhiow felt a sudden joyous thrill at that, her spirits lifting despite how badly she worried about Dean. "Let's begin."

"This is a hemispherical solid-state matter repellent barrier with an open-ended time parameter," she said with her wizardry behind it, and the universe sat up to pay attention.