When the box grew dim, the light surrounding us grew dim as well and the overwhelming odor of rat pee came back. The sound of something outside of the light cast by our spells shifting and moving came back as well.

“T-Up. Skinny.” Tanya said. “The storage boxes should be just ahead about 20 feet. If we’re still going to do this, let's get on with it.” I heard the girls shifting behind me, closer up and glanced back. They both nodded so I started forward again. Each step I took closer caused a greater degree of movement from the nest that was still just outside our lights. Movement we couldn’t see but could hear. I could almost feel it on the back of my neck. The hairs somehow standing up in the tension.

“I hate rats! I hate rats!” I could hear Janet muttering behind me. “Dr. Pepper! Dr. Pepper. I hate rats.”

“Shh!” Tanya said. “Be careful. Pay attention.”

We moved closer to the nest and the place where I’d left the tubs packed with food and water. Thinking about it I wondered if we really needed the stuff now, we had all of those Potions of Sustenance. We’d gotten about five feet closer to the boxes of stuff and could just see the nest when the first rat showed itself. It looked like an ordinary street rat, black fur, big yellow teeth, long whiskers, except that this one was about the size of a golden retriever. Its head poked out of a black hole, that was about chest high on me, that we couldn’t see into, and then if flopped down onto the ground. Its pink paws had inch long claws on them that were covered in what looked like mud but probably wasn’t. It stank. The Eau de Rat quotient spiked and then spiked again as two more rats on the same size plopped down onto the floor beside it. They had large, pendulous bellies that rubbed on the floor as they crouched, looking up at us. One of them was obviously female and, obviously nursing, since her dugs were leaking milk out onto the floor.

Over their heads was displayed their information:

Giant Rat, Level 5, 26 HP, Giant Rat, Level 5, 30 HP, Giant Rat, Level 6, 32 HP. The momma rat was the weakest.

“Tanya!” I said.

“Right!” she said. “Ok, Monsoon you tank them. Everyone concentrates on hitting the one on the left if possible. Move to the middle after that one’s dead. We’ll finish up the right one last. Janet, crossbow ready?”

“Ready,” she said.

“Monsoon, you good?” Tanya said.

“Yeah,” I said. “Let’s get this party started.”

The rats stayed crouched but started to move apart. The middle one and the right one moved off to the right, while the other one, the momma rat, moved left.

I started pounding on my shield with the pommel of my sword. “Here ratty! Here ratty!” I called, not sure how you taunt a rat. Not sure how you taunt anything really since I’d only done it in games. I wasn’t even sure if taunting was a thing in the real world. Just then I heard the sound of both crossbows firing. The rat on the left suddenly sprouted two quarrels, one in the hindquarters on the side facing us, the other in its front arm. It squealed so loud, I thought I was going deaf for a moment. The other two took that opportunity to charge me, the biggest one launching himself at my chest, while the other one was going for my Doc Martens. Well, what used to be Doc Martens.

I met the one aiming for my chest with a shield bash. I felt the weight of the rat hit my shield and then just stop, and fall to the ground. It knocked me back about a couple of feet. It also threw off my planned response to the low one. I originally was planning on booting it while also stabbing it. Too much, I know. Instead, the kick changed to a step backward, but I got lucky with the stab. More by accident than by intention, my sword penetrated its chest, not deep, but enough that it stopped its charge.

I saw that their HP’s had both gone down. Giant Rat, Level 5, 25/30 HP, Giant Rat, Level 6, 28/32 HP. The big rat was slightly stunned, the other rat was taking stock, so I glanced over at the other rat. Giant Rat, Level 5, 19/26 HP. ‘Crap,’ I thought. I hoped that the girl’s crossbows would do more damage.

While the two rats were out of it, I charged the momma rat. She was also taking stock, still screaming over the bolts she’d been hit with, so I was able to catch her by surprise. I slashed down at her and hit her, but this, unfortunately, left my back exposed to the other two rates. Also, unfortunately, I only did a point of damage and now had a rat clawing at my back and, another on my leg. The one on my back swiped me with his claws and bit me to doing a total of seven points of damage. The other rat did the same but somehow missed.

I was over-leveled for the rats, my hit points were enough that I could have probably taken on the rats by myself, but pain still hurts. I yelled and tried to bash the rat on my back with my shield, but couldn’t hit him. Fortunately, there was a support pillar about five feet away and so I ran for it thinking I could smash the rat against it. It bit me and clawed me again. My running and shifting threw him off and he missed with the bite, but got me again with his claws, doing another seven points damage. The other one clamped onto my leg and bit me in my upper thigh, doing another five points of damage. That made 19 points of damage. Not much compared to my total hit points of 185, but that was almost a quarter of Janet’s and Tanya’s hit points. I couldn’t let the rats get at them. And I’d run away from my healer. Crap!

But I arrived at the pillar and basically just threw myself at it. I felt the rat on my back scrunch, a warm stream pooled on my back where it peed on me, and I did damage to it, stunning it at the same time. I was able to brush him of using the corner of the pillar while it was still stunned. I glanced at it, Giant Rat, Level 6, 18/32. ‘Wow,’ I thought. ‘Ten points of damage.’ The other rat, still clinging to my leg, bit and clawed me again. Somehow, he missed with the bite, but his claws worked and did another four points of damage. 23 points of damage. I yelled, ok, I screamed again, and pounded away at his head with the pommel of my sword. He was too close and, on my leg, to stab him with the sword and it was too awkward to try and strike him with the blade.

I hit him once on the head, doing no damage. But it prevented him from biting me. He clawed me though, doing only a single point of damage this time. I pounded him again, this time I hit doing seven points of damage. I hit him hard, stunning him for a second. So I pounded him again twice, just as fast as I could strike him. Both times I did real damage to him since he was stunned and helpless. Four points and then I hit him with what must have been a critical hit in a game because it was way above the damage that I’d been doing earlier - 16 points. Enough to kill him. However, the other rat was back into the fight.

At the same time, I could hear the girls fighting. The momma rat stopped squealing and attacked. I heard Tanya cast her force bolt spell. It hit doing damage. Judging by the squeals, pretty good damage. In the meantime, Janet dropped the crossbow and drew her machete. The rat leaped and tried for Tanya, but met Janet’s machete instead. Unfortunately, it more blocked than cut. It barely registered damage, but it did keep the momma rat off her friend.

The momma rat’s back was to me, so I took a shot at her. Once again, stupidly turning my back on the other rat. This time I hit her, but not for much damage. In the meantime, the other rat leapt and latched onto my back again. It couldn’t strike me with its claws because it was using them to cling to my leather armor, but it bit the heck out of me. Sixteen points of damage. I felt its incisors digging into my flesh, its tongue rasping across my neck.

“Crap!” I yelled. The girls and the momma rat both looked at me. So I stabbed her again. Doing six points of damage. I kept my sword extended, trying to keep her from moving, trying to pin her to the floor, and started yelling, “Hit her! Hit her now!”

Janet did it. She stepped forward and sliced down with a tremendous, overhand strike. Her machete hit and followed my sword down into the momma rat, slicing deep into her shoulder. It was enough, I saw the light fade out of the rat’s eyes.

Just then the rat on my back struck again. I guess because I wasn’t moving while trying to pin the momma rat to the floor, it was able to both bite and claw me. But its claws got tied up in the armor and couldn’t get free. The bite hit and hurt like heck, but did surprisingly little damage. Only two points. Once again. I threw myself back into the pillar, only this time the rat was wise to the maneuver and dropped off before I could pinch him between it and myself. I slammed into the pillar and stunned myself. The rat dropped down between my legs, curled up there like a dog expecting scratches. Its head’s level was about my mid thighs. Then the rat took another bite out of my thighs. However, it missed, but was able to connect with its claws for six points of damage. It was basically just curled up between my legs. I looked up and there was Janet. Thrusting at the rat. Thrusting at my groin.

“Ah,” I screamed. But it didn’t phase her, her machete hit doing five points, pinning both the rat and me to our locations. Just then I heard Tanya’s spell going on again. It hit doing three points. I screamed again. No one wants magic going off next to their Johnson.

I dropped my sword and just started punching the rat in the head. I was beyond thought at this point and just wanted the damn thing dead and away from my jewels. I struck it, it bit me doing eight points of damage to my thighs. I screamed, well yelled in a manly fashion again and struck it again. I missed again, it bit me again doing two points of damage. Janet rammed her machete deeper into it, doing eight points of damage. It glared up at me, and so I struck it again. Finally, I hit it and, finally, the thing died.