279
Woodlouse warfare
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"Somnolencia salchicha sabrosa," you cry, brandishing your wand fiercely.

A surge of magical power flows through your body, down your arm and out through the wand. A shower of golden sparks races down the corridor raining down onto the three beetles.

Each beetle glows gold for an instant before slowly rolling onto their side and then their backs, six legs waggling gently in the air.

"You didn't kill them did you?" asks Daniel.

"No - how could I? Such magnificent beasts. That was a sleeping spell. Look you can see their legs are still moving."

They must be dreaming some pleasant beetle dream, perhaps of cantering through a leafy carboniferous glade, as their legs make little wiggles in the air.

"Let's get past them before they wake up."

You and Daniel step over the sleeping beetles, being careful not to tread on their trailing antennae.

You descend a spiral staircase now and the air is getting dank and stale. It can't be long before you arrive in the dungeon.

At the bottom of the staircase it is pitch black.

You raise your wand and the tip emits a faint golden light, just enough to see by.

You almost wish you hadn't.

Revealed by the dim light of your wand you can see the floor and the walls are completely covered in woodlice. Millions upon millions of them cling to the damp stone slabs that make up the corridor. Millions more cover the flagstones, waving their little antennae. Others have curled up into balls and are rolling around irresponsibly.

Do woodlice even have eyes? You don't know but when you turned on your light they all seemed to turn and look at you.

"Arthur, what should we do? There are so many of them!"

"Don't move a muscle Daniel" you say in reply. "I have an idea."