For an endless moment Jack was lost in a perpetual scream, feeling as if his body and soul were being warped and twisted in directions unfathomable... before stumbling forward into a vast cavernous hallway that looked both completely natural with its rough-sloped arching walls made of dark and grainy igneous rock, and yet somehow constructed as well, with its exacting slope and the way the walls naturally sloped into what seemed seven evenly spaced tunnels branching off the central hub. Save that each branch ended abruptly in yet another swirling vortex of blackness, and before each tunnel was what seemed to be a man made frame, carefully scribed with multiple Runes of permanence. Each frame was of a different color, progressing from White to Green to Yellow, to Orange, then bright red, followed by a dark burgundy, then finally, black.

"It's here. Here is where it happened!" declared a wide-eyed Aroust all but glaring with a trembling finger at the orange gate, and only then did Jack note the shimmering silvery panel above the doorway, and inscribed upon it were what seemed like dozens of lines and miniature boxes, some shaded out, others glowing brightly, and just for a second, Jack thought it reminiscent of the grid maps he and his friends had once used to map out imaginary dungeons a lifetime ago.

"Here's where what happened?" An intent Elof asked, instinctively stepping back from the menacing aura even Jack could sense radiating from that portal.

"That's where that damned bastard led our entire party, led my wife to her doom, a decade ago." The duelist clenched his jaw, taking a deep breath and shaking his head. "We were only level 6. Level six!"

Jack furrowed his brow. "Can you explain to us what the various colored portal frames mean, Aroust?"

Aroust nodded. "Each portal has a different recommended party level. The White door is for beginners, like most of us. The Green only for those who have made it past level 5. The Yellow door is for those who have ascended past Level 10, and so on." He glared at the silvery plaque Jack now noted was hovering over both the yellow and orange portals. "If you're willing to sacrifice a bit of your life force, the potency you would otherwise earn, you can lock in the settings for each portal, each portal effectively transferring us to a separate dungeon. The advantage should be obvious, and I recommend we do so for the White portal, even if it will cost us a fraction of our earned potency to lock on."

"As perilous as the first run will be, follow up runs will be a dozen times safer since we will know what to expect and can practice tactics to get increase our odds within the more powerful rooms."

Aroust flashed a relieved nod. "Common sense. Thank the gods." Then he smiled apologetically. "If you'll forgive me saying so, You're Grace."

Drake smirked. "Like I said, Drake is fine."

Jack blinked, truly taking in the significance of what Aroust had said. "Wait! That damned bard of yours compelled your level 6 party into a portal geared for players a full ten levels beyond your own?"

Aroust clenched his jaw, eyes hot with remembered pain, before bowing his head. "That is correct, Jack. The man embraced madness, and now I carry their sins, and lost the only woman I ever loved. Simply because I didn't want to die for that bastard's pleasure."

Veti's eyes widened, as if only then truly appreciating her companion's bitter tale, now faced with the dread weight of the portals weighing upon their soul, the peril they each represented, firsthand. "Aroust? I..." she swallowed. "I think maybe I owe you an apology."

"No you don't," the man said with a bitter smile. "The Guild made damned sure all would judge first before asking any questions of me, or those like me, who are branded as traitors, when our only crimes are refusing to die for no reason at all."

Drake frowned. "But considering how rare delvers are, even those who aren't twice-born, and only get here through peril, which seems to be most of those still in Greycliff... encouraging foolhardy behavior sounds stupid. They'll lose adventurers and, consequently, their own temporal power, since their strength is in their members alone. Thus I'd think they'd seek to preserve adventurer's lives, no matter how ruthless and self-serving the guild heads might otherwise be. Forcing you to be burdened with a candle like that, when you were effectively the only member of your party to even survive because you refused to play the fool, does not sound like the masterstroke of a thousand year old organization to me."

Aroust shrugged, doing his best to ignore the hulking form of Barlton who was currently bent over right behind him, a look of intent concentration upon his face, massive nostrils sniffing the air almost like a warthog as he paced between the various portal entrances.

"I don't know what to tell you, Drake. Save that the candles are based on ancient magics, and the guild saw fit to let it brand my character, before they forsook our duchy entirely." He then pointed to the white entrance. "You want my advice? First time we ever delve, we play it safe. And that includes binding the white portal to our use. Even if it will cost a fraction of what we earn, the advantage of knowing what's coming when the rooms we explore reset every 72 hours will be incredibly valuable. Both in terms of survivability, and allowing us to perfect our own sense of teamwork and tactics."

Drake gave a thoughtful nod. "Makes sense." He turned to the group as a whole, flashing them all an exciting smile. "Alright, friends! Who's ready to take that first step into a world of endless adventure?" He turned to Aroust. "How do I bind the portal again?"

At that very moment, an excited Barlton sprang up before them. "No. It's not white, it's Green!"

Drake frowned. "What are you talking about, friend dwarf?"

"I'm talkin' about the most glorious vein o wealth you or I or anyone in this bloody duchy will ever find. I'm talking about combinin both o' my beginner's luck and priceless destiny perks into one glorious find!" Jack was awed to see the dwarf bouncing on his toes, so great was his excitement, Jack feeling a curious frisson racing up and down his spine as well.

He too imagined he could all but taste it.

If he dared turn the page his newfound companion was placing before them, it would pave the way to a once in a lifetime opportunity.

And dire peril as well.

Barlton's voice took on an almost desperate urgency. "Come on, boy! Don't you remember what ya told me? If I picked the class you'd let me lead the way. I spent two o' my seven startin' points on this opportunity, and I aint gonna let it go to waist!" The last he said with equal parts resolve and desperation.

Drake winced, but forced himself to nod. "You're right. I did." He gazed almost apologetically at the others. "I now it's a lot to ask, but I think we should…"

"So let's go!" Barlton cried, now charging for the Green portal. And the unspoken plea when his rough-featured face looked back at their own tore at Jack's heart.

He had invested a piece of his own soul, his own potential in this feet of madness. And if they hesitated... the opportunity would be lost forever.

"Come on, lads! Time's awaisting!" With those words that were as much a shout of challenge as desperate plea, he jumped through the gate.

Aroust blinked and cursed. "The fool's going to get himself killed. Drake! Orders!"

A momentarily flustered Drake looked Jack's way. "Jack?"

Jack's heart pounded as all eyes were suddenly on him. "We do it." he whispered. "We do it!" he said even as he jumped through, crimson shield in hand, praying he'd survive what came next as the darkness swallowed him with a choked off scream.

An eye-blink later he was shaking away an odd dizziness as a crashing wave of pressure roared over and through him. A moment's dread turned to the heedy buzz of sweetest mead, a message flashing across his mind's eye even as he took in the narrow sloping tunnel of stone he was in, for all that the walls ascended to a sloping roof countless yards above.

You have dared the Green. Your soul is perfectly suited to surviving within this realm of Darkest Dream. Congratulations! Your Mana Pool has permanently increased by 20 points.

Jack whistled in awe as he looked about the empty stone corridor he found himself in, along with his teammates, noting the split intersection of passages about 20 yards ahead. "It looks like we have three tunnels to choose from."

But a cursing Barlton just furrowed his impressive brows, cursing softly in Dwarvish under his breath. "No, no, that isn't right. That's just the lure for saps and suckers!" he said before tilting up his head and sniffing the air with his massive proboscus.

Aroust frowned. "I'm just glad we didn't jump straight into insanity. In fact, were damn lucky! The portal is stable behind us, meaning we didn't need to clear out a first room to secure our way back." He gave a relieved nod as he eyed the smooth grey corridor about eight feet wide, lit by a transluscent pale moss about ten feet over their heads.

"This is the best of all possible scenarios. We play this right, we just might survive our first delve without any casualties." He waved toward Elof. "You get up here, boy. Shieldmen lead, that means you and Barlton. Spears and glaives take middle ranks, and casters rear." He frowned thoughtfully. "We have yet to practice our tactics, but at least we now have time to formulate some basic commands and formations." He then turned to Barlton. "Alright, my dwarven friend, time to get in formation and explore this corridor!"

Barlton, however, was ignoring the now frustrated looking duelist entirely.

"Barlton, get in formation!"

The dwarf glared back at the duelist. "Quiet! Can't ya see I'm concentratin'? He then proceeded to sniffle and snort the wall on one side of the corridor.

Then the other.

Before giving them great big licks.

Veti closed her eyes and sighed. "I risked my life for this?" Before she lurched back in surprise when the air rang out with a massive crash, Barlton having pulled a massive maul out from nowhere, now absolutely pulverizing the stone wall in front of him.

"Barlton! What the hell are you doing?" Aroust hissed, and Jack heard a faint surprised squeel, some distance away. "You're going to give away our location."

"Shattup, fools! I'm tryin' ta get a feel for the stone!" Barlton roared, now furiously pounding away, his massive shoulders moving like pistons, and a mildly alarmed Jack blinked in surprise, somehow knowing that he shouldn't be seeing shards of bright quartz in the limestone-like rock the corridor seemed to be made out of.

Jack furrowed his brow, now gazing carefully at the dwarf hammering away with such concentration, and not a lick of the shattered rock he was hammering away came close to his face... or even looked like the surrounding stone corridor.

"Shit!" An alarmed Aroust cursed, as a single far off cry became a pick of yips and howls. "Get ready, company's coming!"

Barlton let loose a sudden triumphant shout. "Found it!"

Drake furrowed his brow. "What the hell did you find, Barlton?"

The dwarf flashed a brilliant smile. "The path forward, boy! Come, no time to waste. The earth's treasures wait for no man!"

Drake furrowed his brow. "Actually, you sort of think they would, being as they were buried for—"

"Move!" The dwarf roared, and Drake looked as surprised as anyone when the dwarf casually, almost gently, scooped Drake and a startled Veti before entering the whole he had smashed into the rock.

Aroust blinked in alarm. "Get back here, idiots! Pinning yourself in a corridor will do no—"

Jack blinked and cursed when he dashed to wear his friends had gone. Seeing them not tucked in a small little alcove, but instead, a shimmering swirl of blackness.

Very much like the tunnel they had just entered.

Jack's eyes widened in alarm conveyed equally by Aroust's voice.

"No time to waste, lads, jump through!" The duelist urged, immediately doing that as the shreeks and howls grew in number, Jack catching sight of a single burly humanoid with a twisted jackal skull for its face before grabbing a stunned looking Elof and shoving him through the portal, following himself just a second later.

Aroust's voice suddenly washed over him."Jack, focus, boy! Get in back! Bugbears are coming our way!"

Jack blinked and shook his head, taking in the distant shouts and the way the ochre colored sheer rock walls soared high above, as if he were at the bottom of a narrow eight foot wide canyon, and the bright light showing from beyond between the nearly merging rock faces could have been from magic moss, glowin crystals, or the sun high above. Jack had no idea where he was, or if he even was even in the deeps at all, or had somehow been transported to a mysterious canyon, just doing his best to shake off that lingering sense of dizziness and the horror of hurtling endlessly through space and time that seemed to strike him whenever he entered a portal. Even if all memory of exactly what so terrified him faded between one instant and the next, slipping through the pores of his memory like sand, or a quickly fading dream.

A still dazed Jack didn't even bother resisting when Aroust's powerful frame lifted him off his feet and set him ten feet back, along with Veti, who seemed just as dazed as Jack felt, and an anxious Drake, eyes filled with fear and excitement in equal measure.

"Jack, there coming! We're about to fight!"

Jack nodded at Drake's words, not sure if his friend was excited or terrified as he glimpsed the hoard of roaring humanoids with jackel-like heads that stood at least a good six feet in height still some distance down the corridor or slot canyon, Jack still wasn't sure which, wearing ragged hides and brandishing implements of bone reinforced with beaten strips of copper and, in some cases, jagged edges of stone.

For an endless moment Jack was entranced by the sight of death crashing into their group, as Elof and Barlston both braced themselves to meat the charged, shields raised and wide-bladed thrusting blades at the ready, all they had room for in the narrow corridor, though Jack took comfort in the tense, coiled power that was Aroust, as he pivoted his weapon, readying himself to deliver low, deadly thrusts between his companion's shield wall, or holding his weapon shaft in Ochs, the deadly glaive head now positioned to strike above his allies' shields, Aroust's powerful arms effortlessly holding the weapon in high guard over his own head.

"Keep a foot of space between you two!" Aroust snapped at the front line. "And when you dodge your heads, duck low or pivot toward the walls closest to you, since my glaive will be striking between you two. Understand?"

"No damned room for anything but this pigsticker!" Barlston snarled, shaking his gladius.

"You're the idiot who chose the Green when we should have taken the White portal!" Aroust snapped. "Before digging a tunnel leading to god knows where. And here we are, for better or worse, so brace yourselves, the jackal-heads are coming!"

"But I haven't even shouted yet!" Drake cried. "I need to get in position to shout!"

"And I haven't cast any of my bane spells," Veti said. "The build I designed for months in the hopes of supporting the party that might have me is all about hexing and weakening the enemy!"

"No time to maneuver!" Aroust roared. "They're here! Buff us instead!"

"But I don't have any buff spells!" Veti cried, though her voice was drowned out by the inhuman yips, shrieks, and yells of massive humanoids glaring at the intruders with hate as they pounded a roaring Barlton's massive steel shield and Elof's quickly crumpling figure with clubs of copper reinforced bone.

And never had Jack felt so frustrated and helpless as he did in those long moments that he was forced to watch from the back, though the violent battle of feints, shield bashes, furious blows and desperate blocks was a sight to behold, with only Aroust actually managing to pink their rapidly darting and weaving enemies, for all that they yipped and cackled.

A furious Barlton wasn't quite fast enough with his shorter gladius, though he managed to guard near the entire narrow passageway himself, Elof already weakening under the onslaught, and barely able to do more than protect himself.

Jack's eyes widened with alarm. As much as he hated feeling so trapped in the rear, with no clear line of sight on their foes without risking devastating damage to his rapidly shifting, parrying, and striking friends, there was one thing he could do, and that he damned well better do.

"Sana Injurium!" he cried, quickly sliding past their middle rank, which was just a rapidly pivoting Aroust, lunging out with his weapon at that moment and skewering the jackal-head that had just pounded a groaning Elof to the ground.

Jack did his best to focus on Elof, ignoring the monster's shriek as it collapsed to the ground, cradling its ruptured belly as slimy grey intestines and pink froth blood sprayed out of the savage rent Aroust had inflicted while tearing his glaive free of his foe. Jack was just grateful that the momentary pause in battle and the narrow corridor meant that the remaining frontline jackal-headed bugbear and the ones behind it had to take their time trying to dodge past Aroust's deadly glaive that had just taken one of their lives, long seconds Jack focused on healing his groaning companion with his right hand, blood shield held with is left when he shouted at Drake. "Put this on his shield arm, and give him this shield!" Before tossing back both his priceless artifact and the rune-enhanced shield tied together by 3 arcane arts that he had forged by Mitch's side, what now felt like a lifetime back, instead of just weeks ago.

"You got it, Jack!" his friend said, Jack responding only with a nod, his heart pounded in his chest, ears ringing with adrenaline and the call of battle, all his focused on the pair of bugbears rapidly closing with massive clubs Jack feared would send him crashing to the ground, even if his shield was intact.

But all he had to do was take a look at their stumbling feet, about to step over the body of their fallen companion, to realize what his next move had to be.

"Sublimatio!" Jack screamed, jutting out his hand and unleashing a quartet of shield-sized globes of caustic destruction, not aimed for the bugbear's faces or torsos, but rather at the slick stone floor behind the lead pair of enemies and the fallen body, hopefully far enough away to keep the massive orbs from splashing back into his friends.

Before being immediately yanked back to his former position.

"Elof's back up. Good job, Jack! Now stay back. You're clearly our healer!" Aroust snapped, his voice an odd mixture of commendation and command both.

Barlton laughed at the hoard of shrieking, hissing bugbears now hopping on smoking feet as they crowded each other to get to the bottle-necked portion of the tunnel Jack's party presently occupied, the lead pair shrieking in pain from the giant orbs that had splashed down just behind them, covering the backs of their legs such that they stumbled forward, stunned and off balance, before desperately scrabbling back when Aroust gleefully took the opportunity to plunge his weapon through the thigh of first one, then the other, before the pair fell onto their now sizzling butts in a shower of blood and melting flesh, hampering the now squealing beasties bottled up just behind the pair whose battle rage had clearly been replaced by shock and pain as they all slipped on a liquid both caustic and extremely slippery.

"Brilliant, Jack! Keep those fools stumbling on their own asses! And is that grease spell actually melting off their feet? Wonderful!"

"Impossible! Grease spell doesn't work that way!" Veti said, peering hard at Jack.

Jack grinned. "That's because it isn't grease."

Drake paled, now looking his way. "Um... Jack? Entertaining as it is to see those fools trip over one another...what happens when your liquid death eats through the fallen bastard blocking the way?... Right on, Aroust! Disembowel those bastards!" Drake's worried gaze turned to a cheer as Aroust's deadly glaive sunk deep into the bowels of yet another shrieking bugbear desperate to break free of the bottleneck before being wrenched free in a massive spool of intestines and a spurting geyser of blood. Jack crinkled his nose at the sudden wreak of cooked flesh and offal, his mouth flooded with the coppery taste of blood.

"I'm going to be sick," Veti groaned. And Jack could sympathize, though their discomfort was nothing compared to the abomination before them, hyena-like features contorting in a very human rictus of agony as its eyes rolled back and it collapsed into the bile-green puddle at its feet that immediately began dissolving it into goop as yet another pair of monstrous humanoids fell shrieking into the puddle, their damaged feet no longer holding them as they struggled fruitlessly against the growing crowd of bugbears.

Perception check made.

Jack's fierce smile of satisfaction turned to instant alarm. "Be careful, they have throwing clubs!"

And that they did, as first one then another heavy stone club were lobbed over the mad thrashing band of shrieking beasts Aroust and Jack's pool and the horrific slippery caustic brew kept off balance, as their front fighter's shields blocked the stray swing that almost connected.

But the deadly hunting clubs cleverly lobbed over their shield wall were another matter entirely.

"Damn!" Hissed Aroust, adroitly dodging aside before realizing the vulnerability of the three casters behind him.

Only to flash a quick nod of approval when Jack positioned his shield to intercept just as carefully as an outfielder readying himself for the fly ball coming his way.

Jack's heart was pounding, knowing he had to be up to this challenge, not daring to use his personal Wind Ward in the cramped tight corridor they were forced to fight in.

Because he had absolutely no doubt that those deadly stone clubs could all too easily shatter his friend's skulls.

Or his own.

Spell and shield skillcheck-successful! War club deflected.

And Jack's momentary dread of the club tearing right through his defenses and blasting throughg his skull turned to a smile of satisfaction when it bounced off harmlessly, before watching it careen into the back of Barlton's head.

"Bartlon!"

He thought he'd melt with relief when his companion just shook off the much reduced force of the blow against his steel helm with a single "Watch yerself, laddie!"

And Jack was determined to do just that, focusing solely on healing the frontline fighters and being ready to intercept and deflect any incoming spears or spinning clubs, coming to the aid just in time when an unexpected thrust actually struck Aroust. And almost before he knew it, Jack was one with the battle, the environment, and his party, responding when and where needed, his growing sense of competency with the tactics formally acknowledged by the system messages flashing inside his head.

Spell & Shield is now Journeyman Rank 2!

You have successfully repaired Aroust's cracked ulna. Lesser Healing is now Adept Rank 3!

But there was a price to be paid for that growth, or at least, the time spent accruing it, as the pool of slippery dissolvent was absorbed by the growing mass of corpses now halfway blocking the tunnel... and giving their enemies fresh purchase from which to charge over and strike.

Even if they had finally run out of throwing clubs, their manic fury seemed to have only grown.

And for all that Aroust was showcasing his abilities to brilliant effect, always knowing just when and where to strike with his deadly glaive as he tore open throats, eye sockets, and wrists with almost surgical precision. And Jack thought it darkly poetic, how the bugbears struggling to clamber over the growing pile of the wounded and dead ended up joining their number.

But even Jack could sense Aroust's growing exhaustion.

He knew they were running out of time.

Chapter

In desperation, Jack looked all around.

Yet he saw no trace of the strange gate Bartlon had dug up from the very earth. Only a dead end.

Jack bristled under the growing sense of frustration and dread he felt with his role, he and half the party stuck in back, unable to do anything save heal and hope, as the front-liners completely jammed the hallway.

He caught Veti's anxious gaze. "If Elof ducks, can you shoot your bane spells over him without hitting him?"

Her soft brown eyes widened. She gave an anxious shrug. "I... I don't know! You have to understand, my build was theoretical, in the desperate hope this would work! The spells I got through the interface... wonderful. A dream come true. Exactly like my theoretical model said would happen. But as to the limitations and limits of my spell? I don't know! How could I? I have yet to cast a single one!" The last was said with definite frustration. "My bane plan is shot. Clearly I have to spec into buffs, since in actual practice, Only shieldmen and a second rank of spearmen can work together in these cramped conditions!"

Jack then turned to an anxious looking Drake, who told him just what he least wanted to hear.

"I can't do crap right now, Jack. My shouts are worthless if I'm forced into back rank! When I went for one of the long spears... Aroust actually yelled. Said he's mid-rank and we're back-rank, and unless I know what I'm doing as well as him, I'm only going to get someone hurt!"

Jack grimaced, swallowing back his growing sense of panic, when inspiration suddenly struck.

"Jack, what the hell are you doing?"

"Keep an eye out for throwing clubs and spears!" Jack shouted, getting to work on what he hoped would be their salvation, just as fast as he could.

You have successfully dug out 10 three-foot long furrows!

Artisanal Manipulation is now Apprentice Rank 4!

Jack paused only a second to flick the clay-like blob of stone on his hand back to the ground from the final step-like indentation he had scooped out of the wall, angled just enough that one could easily wedge feet or hands and elbows with a three point grip while turning and firing wand or open palm with the final limb. Within seconds he was back down on the ground. "Go! Climb up and start casting some fucking magic!" Jack shouted at his friends before slipping past them and scooping out another ten shallow wedges that would act as ladder rungs on the other side of their party.

Before crying out when a war club cracked against the stone just beside his elemental helmet, filled with renewed gratitude for both his armor, and the now sentient spirit, now as much him as the air itself, that had just managed to shove aside that deadly throwing weapon with his Wind Ward.

He had no doubt that had he been helmetless and ward free, he would already be dead.

You have successfully dug out 10 additional 3 foot long furrows.

Wind Ward is now Journeyman Rank 2!

Finally ready for the next step of the plan, Jack glared down and truly caught a good look at the pitched battle below, horrified to see that, despite the handful of collapsed bodies, a roaring Barlston bashing with abandon and thrusting when the rare opportunity presented itself, and the exceedingly deadly Aroust who had already sent half a dozen monsters to their graves, the mass of bugbears had only grown. Now there were near twenty trying to crowd into the steadily narrowing passageway from where it widened into a massive central chamber, some twenty yards ahead, and Jack's ears tingled with the hot-blooded screams of elder bugbears beyond their tunnel, no doubt the leaders or masterminds of this clan, and clearly willing to sacrifice as many as it took to secure the death of Jack and his friends.

Then the air rang out with words that filled Jack with a fierce sense of elation.

His friends were finally able to get in on the action.

"Forsvaga!" Drake screamed after scaling right up the carefully scooped grooves, glaring at enemies now 10 feet below him, and Jack tasted the echo of debilitating weakness in the air. And though it thankfully didn't cause him more than a stomach cramp, over a dozen bugbears stumbled back, panting as if they had just sprinted up a hillside, several actually groaning and puking at their feet.

"Bedova!" He cried out a few seconds later and now a full half-dozen of the groaning orcs toppled over, some collapsing completely into what was now no more than a faint sheen of hissing dissolvent on the badly pitted stone.

Then Drake's resonant voice was replaced by one far more feminine, but promising doom of a different sort.

"Rusticitas!" Veti cried. Though she had dared only to ascend a handful of feet, she too now had a clear line of sight on their enemy, and Jack was surprised to see nearly the entire band of jackal-headed monsters literally tripping over themselves, squealing in frustration as their attempts to stand up were met by another's surprised collapse, and none were effective more than those already struck by Drakes Weaken and Enfeeble shouts.

"Armis Fragilis!" The air rang with her second spell, and Jack couldn't help flashing a fierce grin when a final club thrown Drake's way shattered harmlessly against his steel breastplate, almost as if it had been made out of a clod of earth, or the brittlest stone.

It seemed his friend's banes not only stacked, they stacked surprisingly well.

Jack couldn't help but fasha fierce smile at the swarm of dazed and stumbling monsters below.

His friends had done a wonderful job of softening up their foes.

Now it was time to put those savages deep into the ground.

"Sublimato! Sublimato! Sublimato! How do you like that, motherfuckers!?" Jack roared, eyes blazing with furious heat, his arm jutting out like a finger of doom at the now shrieking swarm of bugbears whose dazed confusion had turned to a panicked churning route as one jackal-faced abomination after another collapsed in spasming pools of death as the shield sized globes of viscous obliteration shooting from Jack's clenched fist splashed into them in streams of four, sending them flying, robbing them of their senses, and melting the flesh off their bones, their shrieking visages becoming living skulls covered in tattered pieces of skin and muscle before collapsing in shock soon followed by death, once Jack's perfect dissolvent flowed down their throats or sizzled into their brains.

And the exhilaration he felt, gazing down at his foes and delivering death from on high, obliterating foes that had come so close to pinning and killing them, was the sweetest, fiercest rush he had ever experienced outside of Stormy's arms.

Until the panicked screams of his friends drowning out the final despairing cries of the fallen brought him back to himself once more.