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The long limbs of whatever was on the other side of the portal started snaking their way out as it got wider and wider. John didn't know if it was from one creature or many. He didn't know what it was or where it was coming from.
It wasn't what he had been trying to do in the slightest. But it was what was happening.
He stumbled back away from the ever widening portal.
His mind spun trying to think of something, anything, to try and slow the portal's progression. He couldn't think of a quick way to close it but he had to at least try to limit how many of the monsters on the other side were to get through.
Quickly he tried a spell that had stopped a number of different portals before. It had little effect but it did seem to slow down a little.
One of the monsters managed to pull itself through. It had half a dozen of the long limbs that had been forcing their way in. Which made him shudder at how many of the creatures that meant were on the other side, just waiting to force their way through.
It was a dark color that his brain couldn't parse beyond dark. Something about it made his brain protest making out any of the details of how it looked.
But at least it it was slow moving and didn't seem overly interested in attacking him. It was almost as if it was having as hard a time grasping his world as he was at grasping it. He didn't care though, since it was giving him time to try something else.
Which he quickly did. Something that at least somewhat resembled the spell that had gotten him into the mess he in originally.
That had more of an effect on the portal. It stopped growing even if it still didn't shrink.
Another one of the creatures got through the portal. He thought that it was bigger than the first but it was still hard to tell with whatever was going on with the magic. This one seemed even more unhappy about its new location than the first one had. It stumbled around a bit and made a horrible noise that was as hard to understand to John's ears as its appearance was to his eyes. He wanted to collapse to his knees in pain but he didn't. He had to close the portal before any more of them got through.
Only before he could try anything else the larger monster dove back through the portal, the smaller following close on its heels. Then the portal disappeared, leaving the room as if both it and the creatures had never been there at all.
John gave in and collapsed to catch his breath.