Once they finally figured out where he was the issue became how the hell to free him from his rather unpleasant dilemma. Because right now attempting to cut him out of the existing trap without giving him a few incredibly particularly painful personal perforations was easier said that done. They tried just smashing him free, but as you can imagine when the glass started sliding downwards they had to stop that in a hurry. Then Errol pulled out some modelling clay he kept for one of his hobbies (he refused to specify which one, though it seemed to everybody it would be harmless, and Mibbet and Rosalind started to mould some earth magic in the area around the waist area forming a little basin that was then wadded out with the clay to allow for chipping away at the glass. (Errol lost the game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, I’m a princess and I aint doing that, so he drew the lower half as they carefully started to chip away at the glass prison Sir Leeroy was trapped in.

It got a little easier of course once they got to the point where he was free enough to drop into the sand below, which to everybodies relief freed him up enough to finally readjust his tassets. (Nobody needed to see that though Rosalind was fairly sure that had Mz Melchitt been about she would have been happy to volunteer for the task, which showed that poor Sir Leeroy really did dodge a bolt on that one.) But they still couldn’t completely extract him as the pinch was just a tad too narrow, giving the poor guy temporarily the worlds most uncomfortable corset (which given the history of corsetry really is saying a hell of a lot and none of it is good,) pending their return to town where hopefully some craftsman could figure out a way to extract him without a very unsuccessful magic show being reenacted. (the great Hoodunnit, escapologist and stage magician had attempted to be sawn in half on stage by his lovely assistant, which would have been an amazing trick had she not ten minutes before the show found out about his affair with the prop lady. Who had also just found out about the lovely assistant about ten minutes before that. Apparently the reassembly part of the trick went a little bit wrong after somebody swapped out the dummy saw, and somebody else rigged the drop out fake legs just before the performance. The pair pulled a vanishing act at about that time, and lovely assistant and stage manager held a lovely wedding to each other just over the border a few weeks later.)

Instead they settled for shaping a large stone ring around the glass, which while it weighed a tonne and did make him look a tad bulky in the midriff regions would still take a solid hit without torturing him with the rough approximation of an hourglass figure (further verifying it really was no corset.)

That done it was time to look for a way back up onto the gantries to try to get to the controls and turn them back on.

************************************************************************

Mandy the Sand Witch paced nervously, she had had a vision a few days ago, she didn’t know where from, but it appeared to show her death at the hands of these intruders. She was in no hurry to take that particular trip, so as you can probably imagine she was doing everything in her powers (all of them) to make sure they never made it to her. Not that that was a lot mind you, her and her ancestors presence had somehow knackered up the old traps over the centuries, the sand blocking passages was barely even slowing their stride, and her most deadly attempt so far had been a giant hourglass for Pete’s sake. But now she was getting increasingly desperate, and desperation is a great moral loosener, and a balm for the creative mind.

She was starting to remember that sand could very easily become glass, and glass was sharp, pointy, and if done right really really deadly indeed. So now the question was what would you do to survive? She remembered her vision once more, running from her pursuers, who were armed to the teeth a giant crushing, grasping hand reaching out and seizing her, then darkness. There was nothing scarier to her than that, so she started to shape long sharp glass javelins, razor sharp blades. Anything that could mutilate, mangle or maim, and while they started making their way back up she set them all up as best she could. Admittedly a lot of them were a tad too obvious but when your deadline could be a literal dead line you do what you can and hope and pray that it’s enough.

She had even managed to shape a giant glass boulder, covered in spiky little nubbins, alongside a matching track that she was particularly proud of, though whether or not it would work rather than getting stuck at the first twist in the track remained to be seen. Then that done she carefully retreated back to her little hideyhole, a comfy little nest of her own creation all the way back in the deepest, darkest depths of the facility, and lay in wait. She hated what she was being made to do, but her survival, and theirs was riding on her getting through this. She really could not afford to screw this up, not now. The divine energy was draining, and it was needed, desperately.

From somewhere in the gigantic maze of tunnels leading up to the gantry ways came the sounds of spitting and cursing, the tinkle of broken glass, more swearing. (If Mandy’s mum had been around she would have tracked them down and washed their mouths out with soap by now, or given the amount of traps they had survived already maybe not.) As her pursuers drew closer, and she saw her vision starting to come to life before her eyes, it was too late for her, but maybe not for them..... Weighing up what she was doing carefully, and planning to draw her opponents away no matter the cost she started to run.