Ajax caught up just in time to see the killer landing on the opposite shore. My friend glared daggers over the river, but was too winded to speak. I wasn’t much better off, my heart like a jackhammer, but there was no time to recover. The Bitter Flagon was under attack.

There was no way to catch the Decoction Killer now, but we could still save our friends. Hopefully.

“No time to lay around Inspector, we have places to be.”

Ajax gave me a sour look, but pushed himself to his feet and nodded. I goaded my burning legs into a jog. As much as I wanted to get there as fast as possible, I knew I had to pace myself. Getting there too exhausted to fight wouldn’t help anyone.

It took only a few minutes to hear the sounds of combat. We rounded the corner to find the Bitter Flagon surrounded and the roof on fire. There were maybe fifteen men, armed with short swords and lit torches.

A few testers were trying to fight free of the burning building, cutting into the mob’s ranks. They had managed to secure the doorway, but couldn’t push through. One of the testers, a huge man with a greatsword, kept the mob back with sweeping strikes. He bled from a dozen cuts, but was laughing as he swung with abandon. The attacks didn’t do much damage, but the mob flinched away from each swing.

The Harlequin behind him made good use of the distraction, planting throwing knives wherever armor failed to cover. The third tester, a man dual wielding a straight razor and broken bottle, secured their flank.

As I watched, the attackers threw more torches onto the building, spreading the blaze. Snapping out of my stupor, I charged the back of the mob.

The first man didn’t even notice my presence before I separated his head from shoulders with a purple flash. Instead of falling to the ground, the corpse spun to face me. Dozens of thin tendrils flailed from the severed neck. A horrible wet keening ripped from the open throat, spraying blood.

I was too shocked to block the monster’s wild slash, but it scraped harmlessly against my chainmail. Without eyes, the attacker’s movements were erratic, more anger than accuracy. Once I recovered from the initial surprise, it was easy enough to block.

I cut through fingers and the monster’s sword fell to the cobblestones. I wasn’t sure how to kill the damn thing, but disarmed and blind, it wasn’t much of a threat anymore. A shield bash sent it sprawling to the ground.

Scott had joined the fight, throwing small bags from the Flagon’s second story. The bags burst open on contact, dousing the men in red powder and causing them to choke and gasp. Black smoke roiled around the plague doctor, but he showed no signs of running.

My efforts drew the attention of five more of the monsters. The Milladen, for I was sure that these were, approached cautiously. I attacked desperately, trying to push them back before I got overwhelmed.

Unfortunately, the creatures were too hardy to take care of quickly. Cuts that should have been fatal hardly slowed them. I focused on decapermemberment, but it was too slow. They quickly had me surrounded.

I attacked savagely, trying to drive them back, keep them from ganging up on me. A lion surrounded by hyenas. The effort opened the gash in my scalp from the earlier fight, but there was no time to wipe away the blood.

Despite my efforts, a dozen or so attacks got through my guard. I was lucky they were using short swords, and not something that could have pierced or crushed my chainmail. Still, the blows shook me, and I was wearing down fast.

A reprieve came as Ajax started firing. His headshots, so effective against the zombies, did little to phase the monsters. Luckily, the distraction gave me a chance to cut free of the ring of attackers.

I fell in next to Ajax as the creatures regrouped. I had managed to take one out of the fight and cripple another two, but more were coming from the mob to face us.

“Go for the eyes,” I told Ajax. “It won’t kill em, but they are a lot easier to deal with when blind.”

Four monsters lined up, staring at us with emotionless faces. They waited, apparently content to let their allies finish burning the Bitter Flagon.

I took advantage of their hesitation, digging into my pack. I took out the holy water and dumped the bottle over my shamshir and buckler, not worried about being wasteful. I wasn’t sure how much good it would do, but figured it couldn’t hurt.

Hurrying, I dug the red chemical out of it’s straw lined pouch. This seemed like an excellent time for extra strength and constitution. I nearly choked at the taste, a cross between mold and brandy, but forced down the viscous liquid. The heat of alcohol hit my stomach with a pleasant rush.

I stood, dropping my pack where it would be safe. Beyond the monsters, I could see the tester with the straight razor go down from a thrust to the gut. No time to waste. I charged as the warmth spread through my veins.

The heat soothed my muscles and wounds. The pain became a dull thing, easy to ignore. I hit the monsters just as Ajax opened fire. One staggered back, blind, as the other three rushed to meet me. My shield crashed into the first’s face, sending it to the ground with a satisfying crunch. The second tried to parry, but a push sent the block wide, and the arm came off with a spray of blood.

The third creature cut a gouge out of my unarmored calf, but it didn’t hurt. I laughed as I brought my shamshir down on the exposed neck, but no sound came from my throat. The warmth filling me turned hot, and the sound of rushing blood filled my ears.

The monster’s flesh bubbled and hissed wherever the holy water touched. I doubted the hastily applied liquid would last many attacks, but that was alright, I would tear them apart with just my hands if it came to that.

The headless milladen tried to wrap itself around me, but my grappling proficiency came in handy. The creature’s elbow broke like kindling as I forced it to bend the wrong way. I ripped the other hand free and kicked the flailing corpse away. The heat felt so good.

A milladen tried to split my skull in two, but I jerked away, taking the blow on my shoulder instead. I punched the monster in the face, surprised to find my buckler gone. Still, it was enough to activate my multi-weapon fighting skills. My shamshir lopped off its swordhand at the wrist.

I went to punch it in the face again, but thought better of it. The square jaw and thick neck had been replaced by rows of needle-like teeth. The sight made me snarl. The fiery joy turned to rage as the heat in my blood rose to a boil.

These wretched creatures dared to challenge me? Kill me? They would all die. I barked a challenge, but nothing came out. The air rushed past my lips, but no sound. No matter, they would soon see.

A monster swung its torch at me. I caught the burning end with my left hand before slamming the shamshir down on the milladen’s skull. The fine blade gouged from forehead to sternum, splitting rows of teeth down the middle.

The teeth spasmed and writhed, but the creature fell like a puppet with its strings cut. I stepped over it and decapitated a monster with bullet wounds for eyes. My heart pounded in time with my rage.

More milladen came. They tried to surround me, but it didn’t matter. They were too weak. Their attacks were pitiful, easily ignored. My blows crushed through blocks and parries, gouging chunks of flesh. Everything was red. Blood and fire.

I made a force shield to replace my missing buckler. I didn’t use it to block. I crushed skulls, elbows, knees. Shoved off the corpses that refused to accept their defeat. They should just die. Why wouldn’t they all just die?

I screamed, but again no sound came out. A stabbing pain went through my jaw. I hacked at the creatures like I was splitting wood. Arms severed at the shoulder. Chunks of skull hewn off to reveal thin tendrils wrapped around the grey matter.

My shamshir flashed purple as I cut the legs from a monster. There was a knife embedded in the eye socket. I roared as I stomped down on the knife, driving it to the sidewalk. The bone cracked, but the teeth still tried to bite at my boot.

I forced the head down with a push spell and moved on, disgusted. I looked to the next and found a large monster with a greatsword. Finally one worth killing. Everything was burning up. I would crush this one, the multicolored creature behind it, then search the building for more.

I waited for the demon to overextend with the greatsword, ready to pounce. I was about to rush when I saw a different monster, holding its split head together with one hand, running down the street.

Running away from the battle. I roared silently as I chased after it. It was trying to get away? From me? Pain lanced up my arm as I drove my shamshir into its back.

It fell, but more were running. How could they? The fight wasn’t over yet. My sweat went from hot to cold, clammy. The heat in my veins still raged, but my skin felt frigid. I chased down the fleeing monsters.

I hacked at tendons so they couldn’t get away fast. They still crawled. I ran from one to the next, but they were slipping through my fingers like water.

I couldn’t catch my breath. There was no air.

I slammed a boot down on a headless creature’s back, driving it to the stone. It tried to crawl away, but I kicked it back down. Just stay dead. My foot went through the creatures back. The flesh collapsed like a rotten log and my foot was enveloped in teeth.

The needles writhed and tore, shredding my boot and the foot underneath. I dove back, ripping the abused limb free. I crashed to the street, the wind knocked from my lungs. The creature slunk away.

I tried to follow, but couldn’t manage. A hand was wrapped around my heart and squeezing. I tried to push myself up, but my vision fuzzed and I crashed back down. The edges of everything went dark as I tried to force air back into my lungs.