[Luz, meanwhile, is depending on all of this to go smoothly with her magic. She'd gone through the whole trouble of setting everything up just so, and she had to make sure that it all went off without a hitch. She checked and rechecked, then mounted the staff and lifted off just as she heard the approach in the underbrush.

The first wave came upon the vines and were snagged, first by Elliot's spikey ones and then the ones behind were bound tight by Luz's, which, while diminished from their usual towering strength, were still able to trip up the skeletons pretty badly. That wave started to wane, but she could hear the continued march that alerted her that there were plenty more coming.

"We better be ready for these next batch!"