The Narrator- down, down, down in the dark...

Down under thousands and thousands of tones of stone, earth, and rock, deep below the star-strewn heavens, rooted beneath the far-reaching sewers, in a place rarely traveled by even those of an adventurous nature, blood-spattered, and shrill screams filled the cavernous atmosphere, fear, confusion, and hate filling the air with a heady musk, a scene of carnage illuminated only by massive glowing crystals set into the ceiling playing out as if a gruesome play.

A host of furred creatures with thick bald tails were doing furious but fruitless battle against a larger, less numerous, yet greater foe, throwing themselves with both great terror and wrath at their opposition all to no avail as they were felled by the dozen by the mighty scythes of their foes' weapons.

Possessing large whiskers, elongated snouts with protruding buck teeth, and digitigrade legs tipped with claws, it was no falsehood to claim that these creatures resembled upright anthropoid rats, having the hairless snake-like tail, the twitchy abrupt mannerisms and even a pension to randomly chew things they found.

The furred creatures when hunched over in their standard way of bearing only came up to about an average man's chest in terms of height, and while they were certainly bestial in appearance, the rat-like creatures were also clearly sapient.

Mortal cunning and persistent stubbornness shone in the twisted expressions of the bipedal demihumans as they wielded clubs, blades,and spears of bone and sharpened rock. The intelligent creatures trying their hardest to deter the powerful individuals they were currently confronting from advancing further into their lands.

These 'ratmen' were called the Rattervahn, or simply the Vahn.

It was one of the oldest sapient races to walk this world, a species that at the peak of its power many thousands of years ago had dominated almost two-thirds of the worlds surface and sizeable chunks of the tunnels and caverns below, only to fall prey to overconfidence and be crushed under the combined forces of the other surfaces dwellers, the crescent faith being the head of this temporary alliance.

Since then, the once proud and prolific race had been reduced to scavengers and warring tribes, their unity shattered along with their faith, their messiah and leader the crowned rat, falling in battle against the physical incarnation of the moon god Salaar and his host of Paragons.

Scattered and leaderless, Rattervahn no longer walked the surface under the light of day for fear of death, being seen as evil savages and little more than particularly sharp-witted monsters.

Of course, the ratmen had earned this reputation through much violence, mercilessly killing anyone they came across who was not prepared for their ambushes, the rat-men hating the surface dwellers as much they were hated in turn.

This time it was a little different however, the rat-men were not ambushing or attacking so much as holding their ground and defending ferociously, looks of zealous grit filling the Rattervahns beady black eyes as they fought and died to protect the last fragments of their beliefs, squeals of pain turning into snarls as any Rattervahn mortally injured threw away all self-preservation and clawed and grabbed at their foes even as they bled out.

Yes, the land and cave in which the rat-men were feeding their blood, second by second, was sacred.

It was the resting place of the only piece of their great savior that remained.

The skull of the crowned rat, also called the messiahs crown, it was a powerful relic and the only remaining tie the Rattervahn had to their once-proud heritage.

It was an item of massive religeous importance to the Rattervahn, they would not tolerate invaders on their sacred realm or threats to the last tie to the past.

It was such an important item that if the clan that guarded the skull were to have been informed of the invaders before they arrived, an enormous army composed of multiple tribes would have gathered just to protect it, all grievances between tribes being put aside in deference to their messiah.

But the Iron horns, the clan responsible for protecting the skull and the vault of precious treasures it was kept in, had gotten no such warning. Instead, they had been attacked swiftly, with great precision and deadly momentum, the invaders carving their way steadily towards the heart of the realm despite the ratmen's best efforts.

They had tried to attack from the shadows multiple times, but every instance had failed with less and less Vahn returning from each attack, the true threat and scope of the invaders becoming readily apparent with consecutive battle, the losses incurred from these surfacers, while painful, was inevitable.

So bitterly, the clan known as the iron horns with their remaining military forces lured the killers into a wider cavern in an attempt to overwhelm the powerful adversaries with numbers, hoping to kill or otherwise punish the fiends in an attempt to drive away their far more powerful opposition.

The mere six surface dwellers however wrecked their defensive positions with utter ease, pushing the Vahn to the limits as they were forced to retreat and regroup over and over again, their leaders flummoxed and enraged by this happenstance.

Two of these higher-ranking Rattervahn, a larger black one wearing what looked like a long carved human skull with horns, a sleek inscribed hauberk, and rough leather pants with a hole for the tail, loomed over his kin, wrath clear on his features. While the second more shrunken rat, instead wore a large gaudy quantity of bone necklaces and teeth bangles over brown rune dyed robes, a staff embedded with bone etchings and hanging charms clutched in one wrinkled paw as he leaned on it heavily, his fur being discolored and grey showing obvious signs of age.

The two ratmen growled as they watched their subordinates get mowed down by the enemy, the two rodents standing behind the lines of their twitching warriors, eyes narrowed with anger, frustration and more than a little worry.

"The surface striders march-stamp-kill towards us, problematic-bad-foolish! They should not disturb-befoul our sacred-precious lands!!!" the bigger rat with the skull mask hissed in an erratic snarl while flexing his claws, his voice surprisingly deep and base for a rat, "I should fight-claw-tear these ape-human-enemies myself!!!"

The abnormally large Ratterrvahn went to step forward eyes intent on the battle before him, the many corpses of his subordinates decorating the floor filling him with rage and a desire to kill, but the big rat was stopped when the smaller more embellished grey rat beside him lifted a paw to grasp his furred shoulder, his voice frail yet able to command respect even then.

"No no! Time not right! Time not yours! You have your duty they have-own theirs! You could not beat-kill-rend blasphemer-sun walkers as you are now!"

"But elder-shaman Vangling!!!" the grimacing ratman growled, "they slaughter-butcher-eviscerate our clanmates! I cannot simply ignore-forget that-"

"You can! First fang Worgraak!" the wizened rat replied in a sharp voice, the frailty in his words gone, "and you will or all is lost-destroyed! do not forsake your holy duty-role as protector and caretaker of the Messiah, these surfacers are far too strong for you-us- *ACK*!!!"

The old rat wheezed heavily in a sudden bombastic fit as his age clearly caught up to him, body overexerted in its excited state, the elderly rodents stance crumbling slightly as he hacked raspily into the contours of his robes, the slight stain of blood being visible, dripping sluggishly from the cusps of his sleeves.

The gray ratman rasped and wheezed on for a little longer before he regained some manner of control, took a deep if shaky breath, and leaned on his staff. His eyes weary, but clear and full of purpose, turning to face the troubled expression on his taller counterparts' snout.

"Your illness is accelerating elder..." Worgraak stated simply to the older rat. "perhaps you should join the noncombatants and retrea-"

Shaman Vangling swung about in a single swish of his robes, anger in his eyes directed at the taller ratman, not for an instant allowing that sentence to continue any further.

"You would have the chief of this clan stand aside while duty calls!? To join the women and the squalling pups in their scurrying while our sacred responsibilities require me!?" the old rodent spat, " Insolent! My health will hold! Now go get-recover the messiah..." Vangling finished harshly, his breathing still uneven as the ancient rodent looked back to the ensuing slaughter.

There was a pause before a muttered "Hrrrrr! Yes, Cheif..." was grumbled aloud, Worgraak beginning to turn away, parts both anger and concern mixed into the skull-wearing rodents tone.

His worry and fury was no less despite the shaman's scathing words, both the red vital fluids of his people staining the stony ground and the ever more frail form of his chieftain catching in his eye.

"Duty..." Worgraak hissed quietly, it was a loaded word, one that Worgraak was not always certain on.

Worgraak was the current first fang, which meant that he was the primary servant and caretaker of the messiah's crown, selected for this role due to his outstanding ability and skill.

He was charged with protecting the skull and serving any deemed to be worthy of the skull. Something that had never once happened in all of the thousands of years the skull had left's its original owner's neck, the skull never choosing anyone as the new messiah.

His duty essentially, was to defend the skull at any cost and to find the second Messiah who would lead them out of the age of dark and back to the surface to crush their enemies.

It was heavy responsibility that Worgraak normally took in his stride with pride, but not today, not when he knew what fulfilling his duties here and fleeing with the crown would mean.

It would mean leaving all his clanmates to die, all save for the pups and the females, something that did not sit well with the ratman.

While most Vahn tended to be entirely focused on their own survival and fortunes, the iron horn clan was not, they had a duty to the messiah, their clanmates and the hope that they could restore things to how they should be.

Thus it left a sour taste In Worgraaks mouth to abandon his brethren.

Perhaps hearing the bitterness in Worgraaks voice and knowing the turmoil that was surely raging inside him, the shaman Vangling after a moment of hesitation, clenched his gnarled paws into fists before turning to grab the shoulder of the departing ratman once more, his words frail again, but this time touched with a soft edge of deeper meaning.

"Take care of yourself... pup, I hope you find-serve-follow the Messiah well, may any surfacer that opposes you wither-perish under their stolen sun."

Full well knowing this was likely the last time he would ever see the old rat ever again Worgraak responded in a more subdued voice.

"Fair well old man, may you find the messiahs embrace welcoming-warm."

The two rats shared a short moment of understanding before they simply nodded and parted ways, Worgraak sprinting off in the direction of the vault, a small detachment of his Ivory guard tailing after him, while the shaman turned back to the nearing fight, the runes on his robes lighting up with a soft glow, a spell being weaved for the upcoming clash.

Worgraak disappearing into the many tunnels behind him, the shaman without conscious thought drew up multiple gilded magical circles from years of long practice, the spirits of the caves he had sought communion with many decades ago in his youth adhering to his call, the spirits gossamer forms whipping around him, eager to influence the physical realm.

He rarely did this anymore, as the strain from harnessing the spirits worsened his deteriorating condition, but in this fight he would surely need their aid.

This would be a fight with a time limit, his body could only handle so much before it gave out on him.

It was part of the reason he was staying here and fighting, soon he would die regardless of whether he fled selfishly or upheld his responsibility. Vangling was ancient for a Vahn, a true rarity among the ratfolk having lived for well over 80 quakes. So it was no surprise his health had begun to wane and worsen this cycle, the illness slowly stripping him of his ability and power.

It was not fully gone but it was severely weakened.

Twitching in trance, a host of flame-like wisps were now darting around him, the spiritual companions having been summoned from beyond the great dream, Allowing Vanglings mind to enter into a state of hyper concentration as he worked to bridle the capricious spirits, the material world barely registering anymore to his esoteric senses even as it warped to his will, spears of bone and gristle gradually growing out of the earth and stones around him as if they were grass.

Gleefully, the shimmering wisps that were spirits, dove one by one into the old rodents body, the runes on his robes glowing a little brighter with each wisp absorbed into his slight frame, the bleached growths spurting out of the earth faster and faster.

Unable to be shaken from his single-minded casting, not even the garbled gibberish of a human shout and the consequent bolt of lightning that struck his wards could distract him.

Vangling was old and shriveled, this much was true, but he was still a master shaman and a simple attack spell could not hope shake him from his trance until his spell was done.

Eyes snapping open, the wrinkled grey shaman and chief, lifted a claw and pointed at the dangerous humans, the weapons of his remaining allies glowing silver as his blessing washed over them, making the humans pause in their assault, the Rattervahn likewise stepping backward momentarily, many of them panting hard while the humans barely seemed puffed.

"Our chief is here!!" some of the ratmen called in open relief, recognizing the spell on their weapons, while others instead growled grimly with low squeaks, "finally, maybe we can bleed-gut these ape-pigs a little now..."

Nodding briefly to some of the nearer ratmen as they gathered around him, Vangling continued to chant and mutter under his breath. Against ordinary foes, he would simply direct his warriors, but with such potent adversaries, he needed to get directly involved.

Vangling stepped forward to eye the enemy. As he knew already, there was six of them in total, two of their number seeming weaker and more unsure than their human fellows, clearly being given a less strenuous position in the back of the humans shifting formation, an observation that might be useful provided he could capitalize on it, which he doubted he could, the other four humans more than making up for their companion's weakness.

Vangling watched as the bigger of the two dark human males? advanced towards him to take the front of the human formation, a smaller human with thick golden face whiskers right beside the giant. Vangling narrowing his eyes at this sight, these two humans had done the majority of the crushing and skewering of his clanmates, but while they were very fearsome, they were not what the old rat was most wary of.

Behind these frontline fighters was the real threat, the magic casters.

Vangling could taste the burn of foreign essence on his long pointed tongue, the two- no three human females at the back judging by the smell, were casters, he was sure of it.

He already knew what one of them was capable of, that big red-haired female having jumped over the giant's shoulders earlier in a single bound only to fry a dozen more clans rats with a bolt of pure sky wrath before retreating behind the front line.

The other two females however Vangling wasn't so sure about, he had not yet seen them cast any magic, but he knew they were surely magic casters.

Which essentially made this into a three-on-one fight, his clan rats while brave and full of zeal would be incapable of helping him here.

The odds were not in his favor, he would not win this fight, perhaps in his younger days, he might have been able to triumph alone, but weakened as he was now...

Vanglings paws tightened on his staff at the thought, it was unfortunate that out of all the pups born in the last century (besides one other), he was the only one capable of sorcery in the Iron horns.

Another fully recognized shaman fighting by his side might have made winning possible even with his failing health.

Shamans and casters overall had been in steady decline for centuries, once they had been wide spread among the Vahn, now they were lucky if a single talented pup was born in a hundred thousand litters.

A side effect of the source of their faith and strength waning in power.

"If only the messiah was with us in the flesh," Vangling breathed aggrievedly.

He knew it was a pointless thing to say, as if the messiah was still whole, the Rattervahn would not be cowering in the underways but would instead be ruling over the surface as its kings and queens.

But no, they instead were defeated, un-unified, and sapped of their strength as they struggled to survive in the hostile barren tunnels.

Vangling clenched his jaw In a moment of weakness, habitually looking towards his favorite bone charm, the one hanging from his staff in the crudely carved image of a smiling face, a gift from Worgraak many many years ago when the first fang was still but a pup.

It was a poorly constructed charm and would never be able to serve as its creator had intended, but Vangling felt pride and nostalgia when he looked upon it.

The charm was the first sign that Worgraak as a pup had shown for having talent and promise towards the arcane ways. The pup had not had the aptitude for being a shaman, but even then the existence of the charm spoke of his innate magical talent. The charm being an item Vangling had kept and treasured despite its creators later pleading for it to be thrown away.

Reaching up and taking it into his paws, the old rat whispered under his breath "Goodbye my son..." Slowly running a claw over the roughly made and lovingly worn charm, a tenor of regret running in his stiff heart that he had not said more to Worgraak before he left.

Blinking, Vangling frowned at his brief distraction before clenching his long gnarled claws around his staff, his gleaming aura and spears of bone shifting restlessly around him.

This was not the time to dwell on regret...

Eyes still shining silver, the elderly vermin returned his attention fully to his confidently poised enemies, baring his worn-down teeth in a snarl, the humans readying themselves in response as they sensed another wave of attacks.

If nothing else, Vangling would make these vile surface-dwelling thieves hurt a little for their invasion, their hairless bodies being utterly repulsive to him.

Male, female, Dark skin, white skin, ab-human, pure human, to him, all types of human looked the same, "disgusting."

Muttering that single word, the aged rat man breathed in deep through his elongated nose, controlling his lungs carefully as to not trigger another fit. The wizened rat letting out a shrill screech in the next instant that sent the nearby and still living Rattervahn into a berserk frenzy, the old rodent unleashing all of his withheld spells at once.

If the Iron horn tribe clan had to lose here, then they were going to do it bloodying the human invader's snouts.

For this was their duty and offering to the messiah.

"IN HIS NAME!!! CHARRRRRGE!!!" Vangling screeched, his voice stripped of any signs of illness as he and his remaining clan's rats descended on the humans with all the fervor of blood starved lampreys, the animated almost serpentine bone spears swimming through the earth like eels alongside the rodent warriors growing larger and thicker with every passing second.

This was their last and final offering to their god.

Joel- shortly before

"Check your left Ferra!"

*Ka-BOOOM!*

"Mmmm, I got them..." Ferra whispered having scorched the ground in front of her as well as the Rattervahn inhabiting it to smithereens.

"Jadiira on your six!"

*Bzzzt* *Zap!*

"Whoah close one! thanks for the callout K!" the Amazonian redhead saluted, wiping the dust that was all that remained of her last victims onto her leggings.

"Ulric take the ones on the right!"

"REEEEEEEEE-" *crunch!*

"Hmmph, right." the hulking khaddaran grunted flicking brain and gore from the head of his axe as he advanced aggressively.

"and I've got the ones on my side."

Kale luchidor Foostgoft whipped his rapier about at lightning speeds, impaling or otherwise skewering his ratty opponents with meticulous ease, gradually hacking out a path forward.

Joel was once again stunned by what he was seeing, Team Clairvoyance was truly exceptional, superhuman in the way that they fought, the ratmen being churned up and spat out like unwanted husks.

He wasn't doing too badly himself, bringing down a fair number of the monster rats on his own, but he could not hope to keep up with the more experienced adventurers as they carved a bloody swath through the hordes of swarming ratfolk for Joel and Tiaahn follow up on.

The clear difference in skill and power between them made Joel wonder if he was more a burden to them than an aid on this journey.

A journey that had been rather uneventful up until now.

It had been what felt like four entire days of walking, the occasional and quickly resolved fight, and keeping watch since they had left Octaal city to enter the dungeon, four grueling days of nothing that even Joel's excitement at entering the dungeon could not entirely dismiss.

They had long since left the sewers to go deeper, the monster spawning pit being located a fair distance below it.

Joel had expected more fights and hostile opposition to their incursion into the depths, but his expectation was not met. instead, the caves and tunnels were eerily quiet, only distant echoes and the sounds of falling stones accompanying the lack of hostilities or even fauna.

The caves were barren and seemingly devoid of life, only very rarely small pigment less skittering bugs and pale flapping eyeless creatures appearing to remind Joel that there was indeed wildlife down here in the dark.

Kale had said that it was a good thing they had not seen a lot of wildlife as coming across large amounts of flora and fauna underground guaranteed that there was something large, vicious, and dangerous nearby feeding on it.

The only threats they had faced up until now, was the possibility of getting lost, one or two stray groups of dire rats, and a few bands of a new hairless subterranean species of rodent that Kale called Scabbers, ugly hamster-like creatures that as their name suggested were often covered in large scab like scales.

The scabbers while apparently very likely to carry disease, were otherwise harmless, according to the mustached Kale, the beasts more often than not preferred to scavenge and eat mold rather than hunt, each herd that spotted the traveling humans fleeing swiftly.

All of that of course, was before they had entered the dungeon, that was a different story altogether.

Now that they were inside it, they were constantly fighting creatures vehemently determined to keep them out.

Aside from the swarming pests to be found here, the dungeon was really not what Joel had expected.

It was sadly underwhelming.

Joel had heard about the terrible miracles that dungeons could be, places full of danger and intense mana, yet also laden with exotic mineral wealth, a sanctuary for unique beautiful specimens but also an insane monsters den, the birthplace of legendary artifacts nestled among the unmarked graves of fallen heroes.

Dungeons were meant to be the ultimate adventure for any ambitious explorer, but this one was none of those.

It was empty, bleak, and the field of condensed mana that should have filled the air was practically absent barely being any denser than outside of the perimeter of the dungeon.

It had been disappointing to Joel, the dungeon was almost as unremarkable as the caves and sewers above it, save for three things.

Firstly the architecture/layout which was styled in a strange almost impossibly smooth way, alien runes and script illegible to Joel covering much of the walls, which Kale and the other members of team clairvoyance stopped regularly to record.

Secondly was the large glowing crystals that protruded out of the ceiling providing enough light to see without using torches, Joel had been excited at first thinking it might be the legendary material known as soul stone. But the normally quiet Ferra out of all people had corrected that enthusiasm, explaining that it was not soul stone but rather Hyphax, a common crystal in the depths, that while having some value for its glowing qualities was hard to carry around in large enough quantities to make any worthwhile profit.

Joel knew of Hyphax, of course, it being used everywhere in Octaal city as a relatively cheap lighting source, but he had never seen it in its unprocessed state. So It had disappointed Joel to discover this was its true raw appearance, one that was annoyingly close to the more prized substance of soul stone.

If he had found any deposits of the desirable mineral while he was in the party, it would have netted him some of the credit and claim to the mineral wealth, which surely his father would approve off.

The third and last notable thing was also the most unpleasant and presently relevant, it was the swarms, the innumerable milling hordes of chittering angry rodents that walked on two legs, attacked in waves, and wielded crafted armor and shoddy weapons.

From his noble studies about Octaal city's history, he knew that the dungeon here was simply called the rat trap due to its large populations of both ratmen and more mundane giant rodents.

And the name was surely a fitting one, he had seen nothing but ratmen, rodents and more ratmen since he entered the dungeon, as well as a large number of the more typical vermin species found closer to the surface.

Other creatures like trolls did live here too in this dungeon if his studies were accurate, but they were the minority, vastly outweighed and outnumbered by the coursing swarms that would pick even a mature trolls flesh clean in a minute.

No wonder the sewer above never seemed to run out of dire rats, they simply migrated from down here to the higher levels.

Joel grunted as a ratman with a missing front tooth lept at him, its stone club raised high, the young man stepping to the side to avoid the rats attack before twirling his maul around him and catching the creature low in the jaw hammering its head into a nearby stalactite with a crack.

The fur-clad foe dropped to the ground with its skull crushed inward as Joel breathing hard, took stock of himself and his company.

Besides him, the blonde Tiaahhn battled away, clothing looking a little worse for wear and her breathing rapid as she exerted herself, sweat beading on her brows as she fought, the hovering tendrils of water around her lashing out occasionally to eviscerate or grapple any rats that approached.

Tiaahn was doing a good job of managing her side but Joel was still prepared to jump in and help at any moment, he knew from much observation just how weak and tired out Tiaahn could become if she used her magic for sustained periods of time, he didn't want his best friend and ally to get hurt, especially since she seemed to have forgiven him in part for earlier.

Joel felt his expression twist a little as he recalled his past error in judgment, another rat crushed under his maul as he pondered this.

It had been his fault for being careless with his remarks, he had forgotten that Tiaahn had always hated any sort of reminder to her fathers or stepmother's existence, apologies being an abrasive reminder of what she hated.

Joel knew that Tiaahn hardly spoke to, or of her parents, preferring to ignore them altogether, almost never returning to her ancestral mansion where they lived, instead, hiring out rooms in the guild or elsewhere for her dwellings, spending most of her time in the guild on lesser more mundane requests when Joel wasn't there.

While Tiaahn loathed her parents, especially her stepmother, Joel knew full well that her father loved his daughter, the freedoms Tiaahn now enjoyed with the adventurers guild and the rather uncouth behaviors unbecoming of a noble lady that she readily displayed, only being possible because her father had allowed it after much arguing with his more malicious and restricting wife.

Joel still remembered the promise he had made to her stern dad all those years ago, to take care of her, he did not know how far he was meant to take that ambiguous promise but he would surely keep it in a literal sense.

While she had yet to accept his apology, which he doubted she ever would directly due to her negative association with them, she was, after the past few days of traveling, far less snippy and passive-aggressive towards him.

She had probably forgiven him by now.

'Perhaps later I can try to-' "oops!"

Joel stumbled as he stepped on a pool of blood, his feet sliding out from underneath him putting him briefly off balance.

Almost immediately an opportunist from the savage ratmen swarm darted over, spear leveled to plunge into Joel's undefended flesh, two others following right behind it, jaws hanging open in eager murderous glee.

"For the love of Pulvarse!" Joel cursed as he struggled to right himself in time.

Still off-balance, and with no time left, Joel lifted his maul up to act as a makeshift shield blocking the first ratman's hasty stab but having no space to block the two others.

"Kill-slay! Yes-yes! My kill!" the closest unblocked ratman squeaked in a broken and unpleasant voice, spear lancing towards Joel's face.

He didn't have any time to dodge it, so he did the only thing he could think of in that moment of high tension.

He lifted his right hand off the maul and tried to catch the spear speeding towards his face.

His ploy to literally save face was successful if, at a painful cost, the spear had lodged itself deep in his forearm with Joel managing to hold the haft still with just that hand.

The surprised rat-man responsible for Joel's injury after a confused squeak tried to pull the weapon back out to no success and increasing desperation, as Joel, his injured hand bleeding, glared at the struggling rodent.

"Cursed vermin," Joel spat before wrenching the weapon out of the rat's paws, pulling the creature off balance into its still charging brethren, knocking them both over as the second thrown rat-man tripped up the third.

That still left one more Rattervahn though, the mottled one he had been staving off with his maul.

Seeing that its opponent was wounded and only could use one hand, the last standing ratman pressed the advantage, seeking to overpower Joels single-arm, managing to slip its spear past when Joel misjudged an angle.

'I can't catch this one!' Joel thought in alarm already trying to step out of the way but knowing he was far to slow, the splotchy rodent grinning toothily as it sensed its victory...

*SWOOSH!*

The splotchy ratman's grin faltered as it blinked, reaching up to touch the base of its nape, its paw coming away red before with a shocked expression its head slowly slid off from its neck, the headless corpse following its cranium to the stone floor a second later, revealing a panting livid looking Tiaahn, serrated tendrils of water thrashing around her.

Tiaahns anger did not lessen as the slain rats body leaked all over the floor instead she seemed even angrier, her ire undiluted even as her face flushed, looking distinctively ruffled as she barked "Don't get killed Joel, you big lug!"

Joel straightened before slowly pulling the spear from his injured hand with a wince, making sure to stuff it with a premade plug he had purchased for just such an occasion, his eyes never leaving Tiaahns even as his free hand bandaged his wound.

There was certainly anger in Tiaahns eyes, but also worry and concern as well, it looked like she truly had forgiven him.

Likely hearing the disturbance, Kale called back from the front, "Is everything alright back there? Don't hesitate to call out for help or to move into the center of the formation if things are getting too heated."

"Yeah, thanks Kale" Joel replied shortly before he swiveled back to the distraught Tiaahn with a smile, saying in a light voice.

"I won't die, at least not while I have a reliable companion by my side."

Tiaahn flushed again, slightly flustered and not from anger this time, "Don't be stupid..." the girl murmured under her breath as she pursed her lips reticently.

She might have said that, but Joel could tell she was pleased with his words, especially since she looked up an instant later while still flushed and asserted, "your hand, its hurt, give it here." The slight girl holding out her palms expectantly.

"What? rIght now..." Joel said glancing around at the many ratman swarms still nearby, the vermin only kept back because of the epic bloodbath team clairvoyance was making behind them.

"Yes right now! how do you expect to fight like that?" Tiaahn gestured to Joels useless bandaged arm, "what are you going to do? hold your maul in one arm as you clamp a dagger between your teeth?! hmmph! pass it here!" the blonde girl demanded with a forceful tone.

Tiaahn could be really blunt when she cared.

His expression sheepish, the two of them retreated to the center of clairvoyances shifting formation, before Joel offered his bandaged arm to the blonde noble who promptly seized it, took a deep breath, and sent a small trickle of her summoned waters into the bandages.

Tiaahn was no priestess and had no particular gift for healing, but having lived as an adventurer for more than a couple of months, she had picked up a basic understanding of healing others with magic, having already used it extensively anytime Joel got an injury during a fight larger than a papercut.

She wasn't nearly as good as someone like Ferra behind them, but Joel appreciated her efforts.

The skin closest to the tear in his forearm twitched as cool sorcerous water flowed over it, the flesh very slowly beginning to knit back together as the magical matter of the water gradually fused with his bodies innate energies, soothing the irritated flesh.

The healing was not instant, but it was certainly effective if given enough time. Normally during combat, it would be useless given how long it took for Tiaahn to fix things, something that almost all healers were guilty of, but with Kale and the others here to support them, it was not a worry.

Only the very best like Ferra the pyre cleric could heal people on the fly during combat, the particularly gifted and highly favored of the gods such as archpriests being the only other ones able to employ similar techniques.

But then, even those mighty priests and brilliant geniuses could rarely cure disease, plague, and other more malformed aberrations, those being the direct domains of divine intervention.

So the fact that Tiaahn could heal was outstanding, given that hardly anyone could actually do it at all, and that she was more or less, untutored on the subject.

With his pale friend's palms clasped over the wound, patiently working away on incrementally repairing the damaged meat of his injured hand. Joel, after about an awed minute of watching clairvoyance go to town on the ratmen, turned to look at Tiaahns focused and unaware features.

Joel did not usually spend much time like this looking at Tiaahn uninterrupted, normally he was too busy fighting, talking, or doing some otherwise noble-related thing, that occupied his attention. Tiaahn being a trusty ally and valued friend that didn't need his attention all the time.

'Although he had a certain feeling that she'd enjoy more of his attention' Joel smiled ruefully, not that his father would ever permit such a thing.

So an opportunity to study his friend's features, to 'really' look at them was rare without him compromising his house's honor.

Joel studied Tiaahns face first, her skin was pale and would not tan no matter how much she moaned about it and sunbathed during midday. Her facial features, the nose, the curve of her face, and the corners of her eyes were delicate and soft, a single small mole marking the side of her neck, the only thing marring her otherwise cherub-like features being the slight hood under her eyelids and the small crease between her brows, both things having developed from the much frowning the girl did.

Despite that, when her eyes were closed she looked younger than she actually was, looking more like a strangely proportioned pretty 11-year-old girl than a 15-year-old woman.

It was an illusion that would be shattered the moment she opened her eyes, for her crystal blue eyes were cold and flinty when staring upon most, and only lukewarm when looking upon those she respected or liked.

Only Joel really saw the other more amicable sides to her.

Hand still tingling and rats still splattering around him, Joel moved onto examining other aspects of Tiaahn's character.

'Tiaahn had always been...' Joel paused, 'not short, but slightly smaller than most, her body being petit save for her...' Joel averted his eyes slightly '...save for her breasts...' Joel looked away again before swallowing, his mind briefly going in an inappropriate direction before he forced it back on track.

Bust excluded, Tiaahn was relatively humble in the rest of her womanly assets, her hips while effeminate were not particularly pronounced and she lacked the other abundant curves that many men liked, the term 'waif-thin' possibly being something that could describe her.

Tiaahm was both smaller and slimmer than most other women save for those who were actively starving, which probably had something to do with her being kept in a cellar and not fed months at a time during earlier parts of her life.

While it was sad, and Tiaahns physical growth had suffered for those events, she had still come out of it pretty fine if all things were considered.

It was unusual for Joel to just look at Tiaahn as not a comrade or a friend but as a man looking upon a woman. But then he was 16, and the human body would not be denied its occasional hormonal stirrings.

It was when Joel was beginning to get uncomfortable with looking at Tiaahn, that she finally stirred and her eyelids flicked open.

"All done I think," Tiaahn nodded looking a little more drained than before, her golden locks bobbing as she began to unwrap the bandages on Joels arm with recently practiced movements, stripping off the last wrapping and placing it in a small bag on her waist.

Joel lifted up his hand and flexed it before testing his grip against his maul, it wasn't at full strength but it was workable, only a reddened patch of itchy, slightly sore skin remaining where a gaping wound had been before.

"How is it?" Tiaahn asked with a slightly tired air as she packed away the medical plugs Joel had used, "did I get it?"

Tiaahn was looking earnestly at him so Joel looked up at her and clenched the fist in question, "It's good I can fight again now."

Tiaahn's expression grew pleased briefly before it became serious a second later.

"That's great! because I think they are coming again."

Joel spotting extra movement gripped his weapon, and alongside Tiaahn turned to face the developing threat.

The previously declining numbers of the inhuman ratfolk, scattered and broken seconds ago by clairvoyance, were already rising once more as the upright beasts gathered to crowd only meters away from their position, hissing, growling and in general showing their hostility though slavering jaws and furious squeaks.

Joel felt a little apprehensive as the rat swarm stilled itself and festered scant meters away. But apparently, he was one of the only few to feel that way.

"I think we have upset them..." Ferra muttered while the furred ears on her head flicked and her human-looking nose twitched, detecting further movement beyond the visible horde, her slitted eyes narrowing, "they smell angry..."

"For sure they are!!!" Jadiira chuckled as she wiped more dust from her blade in the pause between combat, predatory satisfaction written all over her face, "I've cleared out at least a seventy of the furry boogers by now in the last five minutes alone."

A second later Kale's jolly voice rung out as the older man studied the shuffling enemy.

"Yes! I think you gals are right! Hah!" Kale laughed merrily while brandishing his bloodied rapier and pointing, "and it looks like our hairy hosts are finally getting serious! I can see their big shots dawdling over there!"

The mustached man gestured with his rapier towards the back of the ratman line up, larger more distinct rodent forms being just barely visible at the edge of the crystal hyphax lighting, one being particularly large as it wore its horned bone helm.

"Do you think those creatures have any idea what we are looking for?" Ulric asked in his base voice, the large man squinting warily at the rodent leadership.

"Maybe," Kale mused while tweaking his gleaming stache, "but I wouldn't count on it, not to mention none of us speak innane squealing."

"But some ratmen do speak Seul" the big man rumbled in return.

"True, some can," Kale nodded at the mention of the most common language between all races, the language the two men were speaking now, "but considering what lengths we had to go to find even the remotest of clues, I doubt the savages would know what they had even if they do happen to have one."

Joel shifted in place as he handled his hammer, he didn't know what the older men were talking about, he knew that they were looking for something but he didn't have the slightest clue what.

"Hmmm... Thin the herd and catch the leaders then?" Ulric queried quizically

"Yes, if possible," Kale said approvingly, "they might know something useful."

"Well, lets get cracking then," Jadiira quipped chirpily behind the two men, her body tensing before she lept into the air over Ulric, form lit up by a wreath of surging brilliance as she quite cheerfully directed a stream of pure white lightning into the ratmen in front of her, the beam of energy sent coursing over a wide swathe as Jadiira easily moved it along with a single finger.

The flash of arcing fury was swift and the rodents in the path of the devastation had no way to react beyond trying to shield themselves behind their primitive weapons. The rodents defensive efforts being useless as the bolt pierced through, striking the vermin forcing them to fall writhing to the ground, flesh and fur dripping away from their bones as the mass of ratmen was cooked in their own hides, their charred bones falling to the earth a second later.

Over thirty ratmen had been killed in an instant by that one attack.

Joel blinked than blinked again, that was perhaps the most powerful spell he had ever seen, Tiaahn was likewise silent next to him as she goggled.

Unaffected by the intensity of her own spell, the redhead amazonian inquired in a relaxed tone, smoke and steam still rising from her victims remains.

"Anyone else?"

The vermin around the scene of the massacre shied away from the dauntless women, beady eyes shaking as they trembled fearfully.

"Jadiira you weren't supposed to scare them," Kale reprimanded, he and Ulric again taking the vanguard, the middle-aged man shaking a finger at the powerhouse of a woman, "If the leaders run off, there is no way we are catching them down here."

"You also are wasting alot of mana," Ferra chipped in with a murmur as she came to stand next to Jadiira, tail flicking behind her, "you should save it for the harder fights."

"Killjoys" Jadiira sighed before smiling and dismissing her aura of electricity, "Alright, I'll reel it in, but personally I think we won't have to worry about 'all' of the leaders fleeing."

The fearsome female lifted an arm towards the vermintides commanders. One of the figures was gone, the large skull wearing ratman having disappeared, but the other smaller figure was still present and was getting closer as it limped forward.

It was of course another ratman, but this one stood out vividly from the rest.

It was a small, noticeably shorter ratman, hunched over heavily from age, its fur was a bleached ash gray, and it was visibly bald on some parts of its exposed frame.

Upon its body, it wore heavy brown robes that looked to be made out of a soft leather, these robes being emblazoned with some of the same symbols that marked the walls, numerous articles of tooth encrusted jewelry covering the wizened creature, clearly marking it as an individual of some prestige among its kindred.

In its left claw, it clasped a crude but openly magical staff, a gnarled piece of petrified wood encircled by rings of bone and dangling charms that rattled as the ratman moved.

"A shaman," Kale breathed taking up a runners stance, weapon pointed forward, "be ready for anything my young friends," Kale addressed Joel and Tiaahn with a quick turn of his head, "shamans can have all sorts of nasty tricks up their sleeves."

Joel nodded in response, he had heard of shamans but he was not versed in their actual abilities, he just knew that they were magic casters thet called upon spirits to aid them during battle.

He was all for letting Clairvoyance handle the magic-user, because other than dashing their brains out with his hammer or throwing flasks at them, Joel had no way of dealing with anything sorcerous.

'Tiaahn excepted of course,' Joel thought, briefly glimpsing through his narrowed eyes at the concerned girl.

Fully visible now, the shaman lifted its head and glared at them, round eyes gleaming silver, a faint ripple passing over the surrounding Rattervahn causing a stir, the rodents high squeals and jittery movements slowing and becoming more focused, even as a slight shimmer developed over their various spears, clubs and axes.

"It can bless?! and maybe enchant?!" Ferra hissed, gripping her weapon, "Kale this is no novice caster." The Jacouat ab-human continued, "I think we have a real fight on our hands."

"I think you're right," Kale agreed, a wary look beginning to develop on his face, "everyone Delta forma-"

In the next instant, an ear bursting screech shook the cavern walls, stones and dust falling from the ceiling, the shaman now hobbling rapidly was shrieking madly, contempt and hate strong upon its elongated features as it sped up, eventually dropping down to all four limbs as it charged, the ratmen in front of it parting to the sides before following their rushing leaders example dropping into a quadrupedal stance as they sprinted after him, weapons held between their jaws.

"Delta formation! NOW!" Kale bellowed, all levity gone from his voice, only pure professionalism and experience coloring his tone.

Joel and Tiaahn dropped into the back middle half of the formation as the others stepped forward to take the head.

They had discussed this formation, something that Kale insisted they learn and adhere to when he called it out. It was designed to keep them out of the thick of the fighting when things got too hard for the lower rankers.

Joel didn't like being kept out of the front lines but he knew when he was better off elsewhere. And this single charging shaman gave him one such feeling.

"They are just charging? that can't be their plan, it-" Kale began only to cut off halfway as bone white four foot thick things resembling snakes burst out of the earth, traces of magic obvious on them as reality warped slightly around the monsters, each serpent being easily longer than three human beings stacked on top of each other.

And there were over twenty of the pale creatures, each one surrounded by a host of sprinting ratmen.

"Ferra get us a ward!!" Kale barked, expression growing very serious.

"I'm doing it!" Ferra growled uncharacteristically in response, her face set in concentration.

"RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHhhhhhhhhh!!!"

The screaming swarm of rats, bony serpents and the shaman shrieked in unision as they galloped towards them, the sound making Joels head spin as his vision began to blur, the screeching peel being mind-bogglingly intense.

"Aghhh! I hate these kinds of mind spells," Jadiira complained bitterly, her voice no longer full of smug confidence but rather frustration, "interrupts my own damm spells every time!"

'This is a mental attack?!' Joel reeled back, barely being able to stay upright as Tiaahn gasped and began to collapse beside him, only kept standing by his supporting arm.

"Ferra!!!" Kale called out urgently as he covered his own ears, the mind-altering scream taxing the normally dapper man.

"Ive almost got it!" the slight ab-human woman scowled as she made a series of complicated gestures, multiple maroon spell circles forming in the air around her, the cat woman's ears leaking blood as she fought off the effects of the mental incursion while casting a spell.

Kale at that moment looked back behind him, not at the casting ab-human but instead at Joel and Tiaahn, a worried expression on his face before he turned back to face the front.

Joel grimaced internally at this as he cringed in place from the shaman's assault, the older adults were not worried for their own safety but rather that of Joel and Tiaahn.

They clearly saw them as just kids and frustratingly, right now Joel felt like one, he full well knew that if it were just he and Tiaahn on their own fighting these things they wouldn't stand a chance, but that didn't stop him from wanting it to be otherwise.

It was a change from how his father treated him, but one he still didn't like, he wanted to stand on his own two feet fighting side by side with these greater warriors, not cowering behind them as they became his shields.

"The ward is up, his mind attacks shouldn't work anymore!" Ferra cried out tiredly before slumping into Ulric's nearby arms, utterly exhausted.

The rat horde and the white worms were almost upon them before Ferra had finished her casting, narrowly preventing them from being swamped by supercharged ratmen as a solid wall of fire briefly burst into existence canceling out the debilitating effects of the shaman's mind spell and forcing the horde to scurry backward, those that didn't swiftly being vaporized.

But that blazing fire only lasted a few scant seconds before it faded away like it never was, the mental shield still active but the actual heat of the spell vanished, as the figure who had been leading the charge lept through the embers, staff swinging one way as its tail swung the other.

"Ulfric, cover Ferra and the youth, me and Jadi have got the shaman."

Kale moved to intercept the staff while Jadiira apprehended the lashing tail, both blows pushing the two figures back, Kale was even staggered before he quickly righted himself.

"The heck! this old fleabag is way stronger than he looks," exclaimed Jadiira flexing her numbed hand, "some caster he is, casters are supposed to be long-range punching bags, not close range specialists."

"You're one to talk," Kale grunted in gruff amusement as he lunged forward only to be deflected by the hissing shaman's staff and duck under a counterblow, "you fight close and personal all the time."

"Yeah," Jadiira chuckled darkly as she sidestepped a tail slap to lead her blade down into an overhead swing cutting a shallow wound into the shamans tail but not severing it, "but then I'm a beautiful specimen," the amazon crooned exaggeratedly as she weaved past another tail lash, "I'm allowed to get intimate with my enemies, homely bastards though should keep their distance."

"Good gravy! ever the critic," Kale jested as he leaned past a whistling staff, "maybe this rat bastard is considered handsome to his kind."

"Old, balding and covered in unflattering robes?" Jadiira smirked with a grunt as she just barely avoided getting disemboweled by the blades strapped onto the shamans tail, "please, even vermin have got to have standards."

Even while battling hard against a powerful foe, the two continued their back and forth banter, far from having an easy time, but still managing to toss snark between one another, demonstrating their martial prowess in the process.

Joel was envious.

He was having difficulty just dealing with the normal ratmen as they snapped at his throat and lunged towards him, the more feral ratmen receiving the crushing force of his hammer to their loose jaws in sprays of blood and bone.

Far more vigorous and ferocious than before, the ratmen would alternate between bestial scurrying and biting only to switch quickly to brutalizing with spears and clubs at a moments notice, every blow they dealt to his maull feeling like a trolls fist as it numbed his fingers, the silvery glow of sorcery on their weapons glinting unpleasantly.

Whatever that shaman had cast on his allies weapons was very potent, attacks that he could normally just shrug off, were now so powerful they could kill him in a single blow if he was not careful.

Tiaahn was fairing little better, the tendrils of her defensive constructs had grown thinner and more prone to breaking off as she was forced to employ a larger number of them just to keep the seething rats back.

The ratmen seemed to focus on her more strongly than Joel, glowing weapons doing meaningful damage to Tiaahns mana constructs as they sought to bite through to her soft skin and beyond, eyes frenzied yet concentrated.

The vermin never got closer than a foot to Tiaahn though as the looming shadow of Ulfric covered her, ending any daring rodent in an instant, a blur of motion being the only warning before a twitching red mass was left where an enemy had once stood, the giant moving on just as swiftly, axe sundering ratmen in all directions, his murderous spree only grinding to a halt when the first serpent of gristle, bone, and what looked like pus sprung at him, the khaddaran raising his axe to defend, killing the serpents momentum as it crashed headfirst into Ulric's resolute stance.

CRACK!

Cobwebbing lines appeared on the serpents otherwise seamless body before it roared and bashed its head against Ulfrics axe again, seeking to throw the big man off-balance, more and more of its kind joining the fight beside it, over half of the serpents singling out the dark-skinned man, the smaller ratmen leaving the bone snakes to deal with Ulfric as they darted around to pursue softer targets.

Ulfric had been isolated from the others and was no longer able to guard their flanks as he hacked and chopped at the mighty writhing snakes trying to break free of the confrontation, a couple white beats already felled and crumbling, but dozens more approaching and ready to throw down.

They weren't in serious trouble just yet, but they soon could be if the serpents kept their main defender entangled while the ordinary rats overwhelmed them.

Joel knew that he alone couldn't hope to hold back the vermin swarm, already a few were making it past him to assault Tiaahn and Ferra, the latter clubbing the bloodthirsty rodents with her staff encasing them in flames.

Joel stomped on another furred foe's head before whirling his maul in an upward swing, crushing another chest cavity in the process, the gasping rodent falling to the ground a second later only to be replaced by three more rats that struck with rabid haste.

No matter how many died under his hammer, there was just too many of them for him to handle alone as the only frontline fighter.

Kale and Jadiira were busy with the shaman, the trade of blows between them growing faster and more frantic by the second and Ulfric was unable to quickly extricate himself from the attacking serpents as they kept coiling around him only to be shattered a heartbeat latter, more serpents rising from the stone to replace those slain.

Joel needed help fast, or else soon he, Tiaahn, and even possibly the support specialist Ferra would fall.

Happily, he was not the only one to understand this.

"Ulfric!" Ferra called out before biting her lips and hefting her gilded staff, the dark giant too busy to reply.

Knowing this the cleric Ferra paused a second, troubled understanding gleaming in her gaze, the slim ab-human glancing at Joel and Tiaahn in a wince, before asking reluctantly in a careful voice, "Can you two keep a secret?"

Joel kicked a rat so hard its leg bent backward, the beasts skull crumpling inward a breath later as he brought his weapon down on it. somewhat reproachfully replying to the clerics' question after a lull in the fight, "sure, I'm nobility, secrets and the ability to keep them come with the occupation."

"I am also well-practiced in it," Tiaahn answered likewise.

"Hah... ok then," the catgirl sighed reluctantly, "keep what you see here today to yourselves not everybody takes the truth of my powers well..."

Forlornly, Ferra held her staff up high overhead while slowly waving it back and forth, the warm glow of a lit hearth lighting up the head of her staff, "I will handle their numbers," Ferra stated, "but you two will need to pick off any stragglers afterward, ok? this spell really tires me out"

"Ok!" Tiaahn replied looking nervous and tired as Joel nodded in affirmative.

"Alright stay close until I tell you otherwise, this can be a bit dangerous if you aren't in my aura," Ferra instructed.

Warning given Ferra turned away and started chanting rapidly, her voice barely recognizable as she whispered too quickly to be understood, the maroon circles from earlier reappearing, only larger and with a more destructive goal in mind.

The ratmen not yet close enough to trade blows with Joel, slowed and hesitated for a few seconds as they spotted the ab-humans growing spell before rushing towards them once more, frightened, but not enough to give up.

They should have if they knew what was good for them.

Chanting at light speed, Ferra had finished the spell before even another four ratmen had closed the distance.

"Honoured Daradar come forth!" Ferra cried aloud, the circles around her merging into one larger spere.

A plume of fire erupted from the huge magic circle above the Jacouats head, something that resembled an enormous toothy skull composed of flames pulling its way free of the circle, a larger reptilian body slowly and calmly crawling out behind it, wings splayed and massive maw hanging low as it dripped liquid fire.

"Pulvarse's balls..." Joel mouthed taking an instinctive step back, flinching away from the waves of heat that bloomed from the massive creature. The massive imposing monster he was seeing could only be described as a dragon, an 'ancient' dragon of long proportions not to dissimilar from the bone serpents, albeit with four clawed limbs, wings that looked to small to support its weight, and almost catfish like whiskers that lazily flicked about above its heavy jaw.

The dragon was presently looking around with mild disdain and annoyance, ruby infernos that served as its eyes glaring.

As the conjured skeletal dragon of fire fully exited the magic circle, it turned to regard its summoner with far more intelligence than was normal.

"What is thine bidding child of my blood?" the creature of sulfur and molten death simmered, wrath and ancient wisdom abounding in its words simultaneously, "I hope thou hast called me from mine rest for a good reason?"

It was said calmly and without hostility, but there was an obvious underlining of threat in the dragon's words, this construct was not under Ferra's control at all, it was independent.

Joel recoiled, Ferra had called an unbound mana construct here! And a spirit at that! what was she thinking?! summoning a spirit was not something a cleric would or even could do.

Clerics were bound directly to a gods power and favor, and almost all gods despised spirits, fey, and other powers like dragons, so why Ferra a supposed cleric could call upon the services of a potent spirit like that was alarming, was she even a cleric?

Ignoring the look of alarm on Joel's face, Ferra immediately assumed a bowing stance before speaking with a restrained smile.

"Yes honored ancestor Daradar, this-"

'Ancestor?!' Joel blinked before sharpening his ears to catch more.

"-descendant of your mighty seed humbly begs that you please destroy the foes that presently threaten us."

Ferra kept her head bowed as she said that, the blazing silhouette of a dragon lazily turning to observe the many ratmen who were now shielding their eyes or otherwise trying to circle round the flaming obstacle.

The shade of Daradar turned back with an unimpressed look.

"To think that even mine exceedingly divergent descendants would need help with paltry vermin despite the gift of flames I bestowed on your line, rrrrrrrr..." the echo of a dragon rumbled, "very well, I shall burn away a small portion of this chaff that thou art woefully outnumbered by," the wyrm growled, "stand still descendant, lest I incidentally charr thee and thine hatchling brood."

The apparition of a dragon stomped away towards the shying ratmen, the firey drakes haughty form no less imposing as it departed.

Ferra after quickly checking the dragon was not watching her, looked up, straightened, and gestured to Tiaahn and Joel urgently, "Come here right now! it's about to get really, really hot in here."

Joel, still uncertain but not dumb enough to ignore the pyre clerics cautioning, obeyed and approached Ferra. The ab-human woman shocking him when she pulled him close, practically hugging him and Tiaahn in an embrace, the scent of soap being strong on his nose as he was pulled almost into her bosom.

"Come on Daradar," Joel heard the cat lady pleading under her breath as he was pressed into her left most breast, "just the rats, juuust the rats!"

Morbidly curious just what this spirit would do and trying to ignore the fact he was pressed face-first into Ferra's breasts, Joel twisted his head to the side, managing to a get a single eye on the blazing wyrm, spotting Ulric's reaction to the drakes appearance in the process.

Ulric, still smashing his way through a clump of plated serpents, blanched and lept back when he saw the walking inferno trudging towards him and his opponents, his expression going from grim focus to surprise and concern before he called out a single phrase and threw a small pill at his feet.

"Pyre Dragon!" Ulric boomed, a thick viscous substance bubbling up and over the big man's feet, waist, and shoulders, from the shattered pill as he ignored the enemies around him and instead took a deep breath, submerging himself completely into the foam a heartbeat later, the ratmen around him appearing puzzled and confused by this action.

Further away, having heard Ulric call out, Jadiira and Kale stopped pressuring the shaman, who upon seeing the dragon, developed a defeated look, glancing at its subordinates before it pointed a claw at the floor, the ground opening up as if it were a trap door, the spell casting rat hopping in immediately with the hatch closing behind him.

The two adventurers meanwhile, instead sprinted in the opposite direction from the nearing wyrm, the amazon tossing down a pill much like Ulfric at her feet once they a fair distance away, before calling up a defensive aura of electricity and hugging a red-faced kale to her as the foam surged up to smother them.

Joel was pretty sure he heard Jadiira curse out loud before the foam completely covered her.

"She had to fucking summon this guy, didn't she?! Gahhhhh!!!"

Seeing three extreme reactions, Joel had a distinct sinking feeling in his stomach that this Daradar was not necessarily the most reliable ancestor spirit thing.

The dragon reached the main body of the now milling and panicking rodents, stating grandly as he looked down upon the confused mass of ratmen and bone serpents.

"Wither and be reduced to ash filth! know that it is a privilege to be killed by one such as I, Daradar the third borne of the flames! Go now to your graves smiling at your good fortune you godless wretches."

Many of the assorted ratmen were outright fleeing now, while the remaining rats and serpents desperately bull-rushed the firey behemoth only to burst into flames as they approached, achieving nothing save for an early death, dozens of the bone serpents likewise drying up and shattering as the heat proved too much for them.

And this was not even the dragon's actual attack.

Its piece said, the spirit let a brilliantly white stream of fire erupt from his open molten maw, a fire so bright that Joel was forced to squint as he watched the iridescent flames engulf the screaming ratmen, the serpents, and even the two balls of foam that Ulric, Kale and Jadirra were encased in, the fires leaping and scattering across the cavern.

"Dammit Daradar!" Joel heard Ferra curse, the brilliant flames spreading in all directions like a wave, also blinding Joel as it engulfed them too, Ferra's aura and wards shielding Joel and Tiaahn from the worst of the heat, but Joel still felt his skin begin to scald as the flames licked at the edge of the wards.

The blinding light and searing heat did not let up swiftly, and Joel thought he might literally be cooked in his own juices, it just kept getting hotter and hotter!

"Just a little longer- gnnnn! Ferra grimaced as a particularly heavy tide of flame rolled over her layered wards. "Daradar never puts more than a little effort in" the ab-human continued with a strained voice as she held back the flames that would instantly cook them should the woman's attention falter, "He should stop any moment now..."

Joel said nothing, unable to respond, pressed too hard up against the clingy ab-humans breasts.

He hoped the dragon did stop soon, because he was sure his undershirt was about to burst into flames any moment now and from what he could tell Tiaahn was not faring any better.

Happily, Joel's shirt did not burst into flames as just like Ferra had said, the dragon soon stopped breathing roaring flames, the cavernous space clearing slowly, revealing all that remained, Ferra releasing her hold on the two youth allowing them to stand up and gawp at the results of the spirits wrath.

Ash, molten slag, charcoal, more ash, and the scorched remains of the more intact Rattervahn were spread out over the smoldering sphere of space that had been doused in fire.

Not a single ratman or bone serpent was still standing, erased from existence by the supernatural heat of the motionless spirit Daradar.

The only things not reduced to crispy corpses and dust was two charred looking but otherwise untouched foam spheres. Spheres that soon cracked open like eggs as three bedraggled and sweaty looking people pulled themselves out of their respective orbs.

"Good gravy that was a warm one!" Kale breathed heavily his face tomato red from the heat, his large gleaming mustache lopsided and dull.

"Yeah I thought I might actually carc it that time," Jadiira agreed stretching herself carefully as she watched the nearby drake. "good thing we always take some of Baxters portable fire extinguishers with us."

"The BPFE's are very useful" Ulric croaked as he stepped out of his own foam ball, the three of them cautiously making their way around the drake which ignored them towards Joel, Ferra, and Tiaahn.

Not even acknowledging the existence of other people, the drake loomed over the scene of destruction like a great moldering bonfire, the flickering entity that was Daradar asserted to no one in particular, "Mine obligation hath been fulfilled," the vast spirit turning its enormous skull to face Ferra in the next second, an expectant air about it, "Be sure to place an offering at mine shrine the next time you harkon unto home descendant, oh, and I also expect thy birthparents wish to speak to thee." the dragon added thoughtfully after a moment.

Ferra's forehead creased, "Parents?! what do they wan-" the dragons blazing brows rose at her words, the ab-human stopping herself before saying more evenly in a polite voice, "what is it that my parents desire?"

"I do not know for I did not ask," the dragon admitted having forgiven the earlier breach of manners, "I know only that they wish to see thee, But," the dragon raised a claw, "I can tell thee something else instead, something far more important," the dragon leaned down to look at Ferra on eye level, a weighty air to its words, "something new and terrible has arrived in our world, something that may well tear it apart or birth it anew."

Taken aback by this sudden gifting of cryptic information, Ferra probed carefully "And what, great ancestor could that be? where does this new... thing dwell?"

"I know not," the dragon shook its head in denial, "the exact location and presence of this disturbance is hidden from mine sight, but It is real, I felt its entree into our world ripple across the astral plane five full moons ago, and I can feel its strength growing, very soon in the near future it will reveal itself."

Joel and everyone else went quiet at this, even if dragons were generally considered the enemy of mankind, it was old knowledge to take their words seriously.

In the Crescent theocracy, a massive united state to the east of Octaal the celestial dragons there often served as seers under the authority of the government, and those seer like qualities were shared by all dragons.

Although Joel didn't think Daradar was a celestial dragon, being far to elongated and snake-like, unlike the more feline-shaped celestial dragons, the snake-like entity however surely still had those prophetic powers.

"Can you give us a time frame or anything else about this... creature, ancestor?" Ferra hopefully tried once more for information.

"No I cannot, it hides and scurries in the wrinkles and many folds of the astral plane while it is weak," the dragon lamented with its eyes closed before it pulled its head back up, "now I must be off for this form you have created grows unstable."

Understanding something Joel didn't catch onto, Ferra coughed quickly suddenly aware of a mistake she had nearly made "Ah! yes ahem! I thank thee oh mighty ancestor for the aid you have rendered today, may your memory never die."

Having walked over to stand besides them, Kale and Ulric behind her, Jadiira leaned over and whispered into Joels ear as the ab-human woman worked to undo her summoning spell.

"Yeah did you know ferra's summons always explode violently if she doesn't dismiss them herself? Jadiira smirked darkly before glancing at the waiting drake with a hostile expression, "and with a summon this big..."

Joel's eyes widened as he imagined the body of flame ballooning into a devastating mushroom cloud, he got the picture, exploding was bad.

The redhead stepped back from him again, eyeing up Ferra instead with an intense expression waiting for her fellow caster to finish the dispelling.

A smaller array of magic circles were called up to banish the summon, the dragon Daradar grunting in approval, before the fire making him up detonated, sending a small shockwave of embers in all directions, the spirit leaving some vague parting words hanging in the air as he dispersed.

"Blood of my blood... and her little companions," the wafting voice of Daradar muttered quietly, "watch the coming proceedings carefully, because greater powers than I stir at the arrival of this new force, and they will not hesitate to trample any who get in their way for a chance at greater heights..."

The voice of the wyrm tapered off before disappearing like a whisper leaving everyone unsettled and uneasy, until Jadiira blurted out.

"Freaking heck Ferra! why does your great, great, great grampa or whatever! always have bad, ominous, or otherwise cryptic news?!"

"Because he is an old dragon with the gift of foresight?"

"Yeah, I know that! it was a rhetorical question!" Jadiira fumed, "I'm just a little peeved that you sprung that old stiff on us without warning! We could have been toasted by that guy!"

"Yes I know" Ferra accepted quietly, " and I am sorry for the chance of that possibility, but there were too many Rattervahn to handle on my own, and you know that my direct combat ability is not nearly as good as yours, both magically and physically."

Jadiira was frowning at the shorter women and looked like she wanted to say something but the cleric was not quite done talking.

"I had to summon him," the ab-human insisted, "Ulric had gotten separated from us, and we-" Joel observed Ferra point to him and Tiaahn, "probably would have died if I had not called him."

"It's could! Could have died!" Jadiira interjected angrily, "Just like you could have roasted the rest of us!"

"No, you each had a foam pill, and we already tested that they work perfectly."

Ferra looked calm but Joel saw the edge of her mouth twitching, she was not liking Jadiira's responses.

"You didn't know that! We had never tested them on Duradura's fire before!"

The hair on her head and tail beginning to bristle Ferra retorted, "Its Daradar, and we already agreed that my most powerful attack is on par with at least ten seconds Daradar's breathe, thats the fire we tested with, remember!"

The two women began to heckle and bicker fiercely between each other, neither backing down from their convictions only seeking to rip down the others argument.

Joel watched brewing altercation before him, this was the first indication of any internal conflict Joel had seen between the members of Clairvoyance, yet it did not make him feel nervous or anxious to see the two powerful casters arguing.

No, it was oddly reassuring, if even the best adventurers he knew had internal problems, that meant he must not be doing too badly with his own team by comparison.

"Ahhhhh!!! Blithering hells" Jadiira finally scowled, scratching her head furiously before turning to address a certain mustachio with a bark, "Kale! you agree with me right?! she should not have summoned that dragon! she almost got us all killed!"

Kale's following words were slow and careful as he contemplated what to say almost as if he were tiptoeing over eggshells, trying to navigate between two warring hurricanes.

"Well... its true that we might have gotten hurt or worse when she called out Daradar..."

Jadiira harumphed and looked smugly towards Ferra, her arms crossed.

"But..." Kale continued causing Jadiira to pause mid smirk, "It is also true that without him we may have lost our young friends here and even possibly Ferra herself."

Jadiira looked suddenly sour at this statement and turned to Kale with an unamused expression.

"Are you serious K?!"

"Very," the man replied gravely, " we underestimated that shaman's abilities and I think that we were very lucky to come out of that conflict with no losses or major injuries whatsoever, so I find little reason to hold it against our cleric especially since her call worked."

Jadiira looked like she wanted to argue the point but as she was about lay into Kale with a tongue lashing, her expression suddenly blanked.

"Wait we didn't actually kill that shaman did we?"

"Oh bother-" Kale faltered.

CRACK!

The stone floor beneath them shattered and spit apart, numerous bleached prongs bursting from the stone to lance towards each person, Joel only barely evading the attack, everyone else around him managing to mostly avoid the bone lances receiving only minor scrapes.

Except for Ferra, who by far, had the most lances sent in her direction, and while she had done an admirable job of beating or otherwise dodging the creamy spears, she could not deal with the many dozens sent her way at once, two of the spears finding a way to pierce through her chainmail.

"Mrrrrra!" Ferra gasped staggering back with one spear in her chest and another all the way through her right thigh, both spears shattering into nothing a second later, leaving gaping holes in the teetering woman, the areas around these wounds rapidly darkening with blood as the ab-human womans slitted pupils widened before she blinked and fell to her side unconscious, red already beginning to pool on the floor around her as even more spears rose up out of the ground to finish her off.

"Ferra!" Ulric roared sprinting over with thundering steps to stand over the Catwoman's limp form, fiercely defending her from the erupting spear tirade, continually shattering them before they could reach her.

Tiaahn next to Joel hesitated a moment before a determined look settled on her features, and she ran to lean over Ferra, immediately getting on her knees and placing her hands on the unconscious ab-humans serious injuries, the gentle glow of magic signaling she was trying to heal her.

Joel for his part felt cold as he turned his head to find the shaman, Ferra had just been brought down after displaying such incredible power, what could he as a mana-less teenager hope to do against something that could beat her?

He found the shaman quickly, the aged rat was slowly climbing from a hole in the ground it had tunneled to, a single hand pointed towards clairvoyance directing the assault of the bone spears, while it grasped its staff in the other, seemingly looking at the scene of charred Rattervahn corpses surrounding it with... sorrow? That softer expression swiftly transitioning into a growing wrath as it turned a glare towards them, chittering slowly in a snarl.

Joel froze for a moment but Kale and Jadiira were already moving, dashing towards the shaman, a far greater, more resentful rage displayed on Jadiira's face than what she'd had when arguing with Ferra, and a demeanor so stony on Kale that it was hard to recognize the normally jovial man.

The two meteored at the lone Rattervahn, blue-hued lightning coursing through Jadiira's entire body as she lashed out faster than an arrow, and Kale moving so quickly Joel actually could not see his moves anymore, just the glimmer of twirling steel and a constant blur of motion.

Their combined assault was so oppressive that Joel thought they might down the shaman immediatly, a number of loose white charms being knocked off the shaman, but the ratman did not fall. It matched them, robes lighting up like a beacon, tiny quivering wisps rose out of the remains of what had once been the summoned serpents to swoop towards the ratman, merging with the shaman and making the light from its robes just a little brighter each time.

And with each wisp absorbed the shaman grew faster and stronger until it was actually pushing back both human adventurers with its pure ferocity and zealous anger, entire body glowing with magical might.

Direct assault not working, Jadiira lept back a yard in a single bound and started hurling massive bolts of electricity at the shaman without concern for mana usage, while Kale continuing to pin and harras the rodent in an effort to keep it still.

In response the rat pulled bleached pillars of calcified corpses from the earth grounding the bolts before flinging a summoned spear of bone at Kale forcing him back, quickly pulling off and flinging charms it had on its chest at Jadiira in the claimed time, the thrown objects glowing with magical charge.

To her credit, the tall woman easily evaded the charms, but not what happened immediately afterward.

*KA-CRACK!*

"AGGGGHHHHH!!! BLITHERING FUCKING HELLLS!!!"

The charms that had missed had exploded on impact with the ground into heat and shrapnel, placing the amazon squarely in the blast zone.

Jadiira was limping now, her leather pants ripped up and punctuated with holes, a steady stream of scarlet ichor dripping down her wounded leg, the spell on her fingertips fizzling out as she hobbled in place.

It was a weakness the shaman could not ignore, the rat piffing a dozen more charms at Jadiira as Kale desperately tried to re-engage the vermin in an attempt to keep it off her.

Even in her wounded state, the redhead avoided the charms well, rolling out of the way of the follow-up detonations over and over again.

It was something that couldn't last, and everyone knew it, the ratman was covered in innumerable bone charms and necklaces, and would not run out of ammunition soon, and Jadiira was gradually tiring as her vital lifeblood covered more and more of the stone floor.

The only thing stopping the rodent from straight-up carpet-bombing the amazon into chunks was the constant pressure Kale was exerting on it as he whirled, blade singing like a flute as it displaced air.

On top of all that, the ratman was simultaneously attacking Ulric and Ferra with bone spears.

From where Joel stood it did not look like they would win if this kept up, if Jadiira and Kale were killed there was practically no chance that, he Tiaahn or any of the others would survive.

Looking for some way to change that, Joel started rummaging through his bag finding nothing that might be useful against the ratman before scanning his surroundings.

He needed some way to turn the tide, he needed a weapon, a distraction, anything! He needed-

Joel spotted a clump of white against the black stone of the floor, only meters away from the fierce melee, it was a few of those same charms that the rat was throwing around, the ones knocked loose earlier by Kale.

"That will do," Joel grinned feeling a plan form in his head, perhaps he could pull his weight in this expedition after all.

Running full pelt towards the wayward charms, Joel was ignored right up until he neared the bleached carvings, the shaman finally noticing him, dismissively hurling a couple of conjured spears his way as it instead focused on crushing the two primary threats before it.

Dropping to his knees Joel slid under the lances of bone before snatching the inactive charms and scrambling back in the opposite direction, a smoldering ember of dissatisfaction in his chest.

The shaman had ignored him, it had ignored him right up until he was almost within striking range, this irritated Joel, the ratman clearly saw him as nothing more than a nuisance if it only threw a token effort at him.

Joel looked down at his palms, the charms clenched in his fists as he ran.

'It would learn not to dismiss him so casually...'

Charms obtained, Joel had almost everything he needed now, all that was left to obtain was a little bit of magic.

And he knew just the blonde for the job.

The charms were clearly sorcerous in nature, they had not exploded when struck or dropped so Joel had concluded they only exploded if both charged with magic and struck with force.

And having no mana, he needed Tiaahn for that.

Joel ran past Ulric who was repeatedly smashing spears to dust left and right with punitive energy, refusing to let any approach Ferra and her healer.

Destroying a couple of spears himself as he passed, Joel screeched to a stop next to the young noblewoman as she muttered quietly while trying to seal up the passed out Ferra's wounds.

Ferra for her part still looked very pale, and both wounds were still raw holes, but they had stopped bleeding profusely, and Tiahhn looked to be working on sealing the damage over now.

Joel felt a brief instant of relief that Ferra had not already died, but did not let that distract him.

"Tiaahn, Tiaahn!" Joel shook the slender girl, trying to stir the caster from her trance, "Tiaahn!!!"

"What Joel!!" the girl jerked in a labored voice, her eyes snapping open to focus on him, " I'm trying to save Ferra's life here! So-"

Joel shoved the charms in the blonde's face before she could continue.

"Charge these."

"What?!"

"Charge these," Joel repeated impatiently, "I need these charged otherwise Kale and Jadiira might..."

Tiaahns gaze flicked over to the struggling duo before flicking back to Joel.

"Ok..." Tiaahn inhaled, "pass them here."

Joel handed the bone carvings to Tiaahn who took a deep breath then poured her mana into the charms.

The bone carving lit up instantly, glowing deep blue rather than the shamans silver.

"Done," Tiaahn whispered, looking especially drained now as she turned back to tending to Ferra, "I filled them up and it took a surprising amount of mana, I don't know how the charms will react when you use them though, so be careful Joel."

Joel took the charged charms along with the mages warnings and stood, "I'll be careful Tiaahn and more importantly I will win," Joel assured his friend before darting off towards the intense and deadly clash between man and rodent, distinctly feeling the weight of Tiaahns gaze on his back as he did so.

The carvings vibrating and thrumming in his hands, Joel was aware that If he messed this up, this could be the last they saw of each other.

Ignoring the personal ramifications of this, Joel ran on, it was an adventurer's lot in life to have this constant knowledge, he would persevere.

When the young man neared, it was clear that the ratman still had the upper hand as it fought the two adventurers, Jadiira was on the ropes, breathing heavily and barely managing to evade being splattered, while Kale's attacks despite his blazing speed were having little effect on the shaman, the ratmans heavy aura of wards preventing the gentlemen from dispatching the hostile caster.

Likely sensing its victory close at hand, the ratmans attention was completely devoted to ridding itself of the two greatest threats to its life.

Which was perfect for Joel, it had once again ignored him even when he got well within throwing distance.

"A mistake" Joel smiled as he wound back his arm, every single charm poised to launch in his clenched hand, "shouldn't have ignored me just because I lack magic vermin, now you will pay for that error."

Ready to throw, Joel called out to the battling mustached man.

"Kale get back!"

Without questioning why or who was calling out, the experienced traveler somersaulted backward to land stylishly before straightening his hat inauspiciously, his opponent temporarily pausing at the sudden change of tactics, bald tail twitching.

The blast zone free of allies Joels grinned before his arm bunched up like a spring, hurling the charms hard, blue glow winking through the air like a cluster of tiny shooting stars.

Perhaps it was the fact that the charms was loaded with mana that the rat sensed, or maybe it was instead the significant amount of sapphire luminescence, but just as the cluster of charms was about to strike the rodent clean on the head, it turned, beady eyes suddenly widening with alarm as it beheld the unstable crafts, no time to evade or likewise devise more wards.

*KA-SPLOOSH!!!*

"Got ya you rat bastard!" Joel breathed as the charms exploded violently in the rodent's face, an azure splash of radiance blooming, the charms took up Tiaahns more liquid qualities of magic as highly pressured water sprayed in all directions like a bursting dam.

"Squeak!"

Joel heard a distinctive squeal of pain among the din of surging waters and felt satisfaction thrum through him, but he wasn't the only one wanting to vent their spleen.

No longer having to hop about for her life, Jadiira limped up beside him, looking extremely pissed off as she held trailing static in one hand, the adventurer hissing in a low growl, both hands pointing forward to where the coursing waters were erupting from.

"Eat thunderbolts you hairy pustulant walking cancer!"

*zzZAP! zZAP! zZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZZAP! ZAP! zZZZAP! zzzzZZAP!*

A volley of roaring beams of electricity seared into turbulent waters from the amazons fingertips over and over again, the waters conducting the current so well that surely any shaman inside must be regretting its life choices now.

The irate women kept throwing bolt after bolt to the point the sorcerous water evaporated into steam, obscuring everyone's view of where the shaman's bedraggled corpse should be.

"I think we got it," Joel whispered to the heavily panting Jadiira.

"Yeah better have..." the adult muttered tenderly touching her tattered sides with a wince.

Kale walked up beside them, his voice still wary, "Maybe... but stay on your guard, it already eluded us once, who's to say it won't do so again."

'No it's dead,' Joel muttered in his own head, 'there's no way it could survive all that and keep fighting-'

Something moved in the swirling steam and Joel blinked disbelievingly.

'No way...'

Spears whistled out of the steam missing everyone by a hairsbreadth as they either leaned out of the way, dived to the floor, or jumped over them.

"It's still alive!" Jadiira groaned from the floor, "Blithering hells! this is one tough fucking rat!!"

The steam cleared revealing the superhuman rat, or rather what was left of it.

It wasn't looking as imposing as a creature that survived such a payload of attacks should, in fact, it looked as if it were barely able to support its own weight as it teetered on the spot, leaning heavily against its staff, most of the hair was gone from its body, replaced by tortured burns and sweltering blisters, its robes were likewise blackened shambles and its face was ghastly and miserable, one eye milky and glossed over as it leaked blood.

The creature's breathing was labored and shallow, honestly, it looked like it might keel over dead at any moment.

'Had its last attack been its last-ditch attempt at defiance?'

Kale spoke quickly dismissing this thought from Joel's head, "The fights not quite over, but he is almost done," Kale remarked calmly while squinting at the rat, "we can do this, Joel you support me when I engage and Jadiira pull back, you're spent."

Clearly, Jadiira would normally protest being told to pull back, but the usually moxie filled woman complied with a grunt before scrambling to her feet and hobbling away towards Tiaahn.

"Joel my boy, come with me now," Kale directed lifting his rapier, his expression hard and steely as an executioner's.

Nodding the young man set his eyes on the shaman, waiting for the prompt, the ratmen tensing and drawing more wisps into its trembling shape in response to their glares, its stare filled with hate stronger than its body.

Its small wrecked form shivering and wheezing as it tried to draw in more spirits, the creature fell to its knees coughing blood, unable to stand any longer, mere hateful determination alone no longer able to support its weight or the host of spirits contained within.

The rat understanding this rasped silently in place, the spite fading from its eyes to instead be replaced with something else.

Joel was almost startled when the seemingly dying shaman lifted its hand to its staff before with some difficulty it pulled off a single plain old charm and cradled it in its claws to its scorched chest, creating an out-of-place atmosphere.

'What is it doing?' Joel asked himself internally.

Joel did not get to contemplate that thought any deeper, because in the next instant Kale barked.

"Let's go!"

"Uh- Yes!"

Shaking the matter from his mind, the two of them rushed ahead, Kale easily in the lead while Joel did his best to keep up, their weapons poised to strike.

The shaman, wounded all over, blind in one eye, and hacking uncontrollably did not raise its head as they approached, instead, it only cradled the charm in its claws closer to its heart, staff dropped to the side.

Running unopposed they would soon arrive before their target, and given their targets, pitiful lack of resistance Joel almost felt sorry for the rat, but only almost.

Kale reached the old rat first and without flourish began to lay into the weakened wards surrounding the shaman.

Joel arrived a beat behind him and after a short pause, joined Kale in hammering the slowly cracking wards.

The shaman did not respond and simply hugged its charm while bleeding steadily from the mouth.

It didn't take them long before the wards shattered and the shaman was left defenseless, hunched over on the floor.

Kale kicked the rodent onto its side and went to impale the unresisting vermin through the brain before he stopped and turned his head to ask Joel politely.

"Do you want to finish it off?"

Joel blinked before responding with, "Sure."

Kale stepped aside allowing Joel to take the vanguard position.

Joel had never executed another sapient being in cold blood before, at least not willingly, so standing above someone he was going to kill without self-defense or outside circumstances forcing his hand felt...

A little wrong...?

Even if he had not forgotten how much trouble this rodent had caused them, killing it now when it seemed so helpless was not the same.

That said, he was still not about to spare it anything short of a swift death.

Gritting his teeth Joel raised his maul up high preparing to smash it down into the shamans skull, pausing only when the ratmen lifted its head up to meet his eyes with its own.

There was an understanding in the shaman's gaze, acceptance, pain, and... also gleeful satisfaction?!

Joel blinked and looked down at the shaman's claws. the simple worn charm of a smiling face he was holding was glowing with a silver light, and not just that, all of the remaining undamaged charms on the rats person were glowing with that same light, charged with magical energies, a wide evil grin spreading across the ratman's distorted face...

"Die-perish with me human-ape scum!" the Rattervahn chuckled in a heavily accented pained wheeze.

Joel blanched then began to run, screaming out loud, " Kale he's about to explode!!! GET AWA-"

Behind him, the shaman with a mix between manic laughter and sniffling tearful nostalgia, slowly crushed the charm.

BOOM!!!

Another explosion rang out that day, and Joel felt something strike him hard in the back, flinging him high into the air to graze the ceiling before falling what had to be at least twenty meters.

The black stone floor rushing up to meet him was the last thing Joel remembered before he blacked out.