It happened while Felix's jaws were tearing into an undead creature's neck whose own teeth were locked onto his shoulder. Felix felt the pain in his shoulder, and it was just another pain in a general all-over pain he felt all over his body as he was repeatedly bitten and clawed by the mass of writhing zombies all around him.

As yet another mouthful of putrefied black and yellow jelly that had once been blood flowed down his gullet, Felix felt the overwhelming revulsion within him reach critical mass. Something alien bubbled from somewhere deeper than his stomach.

Felix's magic surged, he saw red, and he lost his mind as he vomited fire and black lightning.

Warning! You have attempted to devour a creature with a magical signature anathema to life. Your natural ability devour has failed.

Poison Resistant triggered.

Your body has rejected corrupt life intent.

Your body is attempting to convert corrupt life intent into curse intent.

Congratulations! You have created an original curse, born from a potent intention.

You have learned:

Purgation

Born from repugnance and an all consuming desire to suffer not that which is unclean, employ your intention to cleanse the impure.

Warning! Undisciplined use of a powerful intention has created a magical anomaly. You are under the effects of a brand of purgation.

Warning! You have gone berserk!

Aura of purgation has been unleashed.

***

"Felix!" Muzio shouted as he watched the beast-kin shaped cambion teleport into the air, then drop into a mass of writhing undead. They piled on him like a dozen starving dogs around the single food bowl.

Muzio cried out Felix's name repeatedly as he drew closer, his own horror ringing in his ears as he realized he wouldn't make it in time to save him. Another teammate he failed to protect! He spun his depleted lightning batons with vehement fury, carving a path through enemies like weeds.

A wave of force erupted from ahead. It knocked a number of the weak undead back, though Muzio was able to keep his footing. Though, when he saw Felix, he couldn't help but take a step back.

Felix was a blur of claws and fire. His eyes had turned red and though he looked sickly and occasionally paused in his violent attacks to expel a jet of black vomit, when he wasn't doing that, he grinned like a wild animal. His body oozed black ichor also, from countless bite marks that closed as they purged, from his eyes, his ears, his nose, and all his pores. Both the ooze and the vomit burst into white flames shortly after leaving his body, though Muzio could not sense any heat from them to indicate they were true fire.

All around Felix, a brilliant white aura spread like clawed tentacles. A runic symbol had been emblazoned on his chest and from it poured more ichor that burst to white flame and crackled with black lightning.

Anywhere the aura touched undead, the creatures began to bleed before bursting into radiant flames. Where Felix's claws raked across flesh or bone, the monsters' flesh dessicated instantly and spread throughout their bodies before crumbling, leaving piles of dust in seconds.

Hopping from one end of the chamber to another, from undead creature to undead creature, Felix obliterated dozens upon dozens of the undead. Then, he suddenly stood still and with his tail high and head thrown back, he roared one final purging howl, then the reds of his eyes and the white aura vanished.

Felix stood completely naked and clean, in a circle of unblemished stone. He had lost his loin cloth somewhere in the fight. He looked toward Muzio, looking somewhat dazed, then gave a thumbs up.

"What the hell was that?" Muzio asked. "Are you alright, kid?"

For an answer, Felix promptly curled in a ball on the pristine floor and went to sleep.

"Not really the time or place," Muzio cursed.

Before the remaining undead monsters could converge on their position, Muzio slung the nude beastkin cambion onto a shoulder, picked a tunnel, and hoofed it.

***

Felix felt himself be jostled around. Something hard was poking his abdomen and the world was topsy turvy. The strangest part was the firm hand gripping a bare butt cheek.

"What is..." Felix wanted to say. Though only groans came out of him as the world spun violently to the left.

Try not to wiggle; you don't want Muzio to drop you, do you? Eva Fortuna said, sounding amused.

No dropping, please, Felix thought. That sounds like it might make my headache worse. What happened?

We did something awesome is what happened, and then you fell unconscious. Mount Muscles over here picked you up and single handedly fended off the zombie hordes. Literally. He's been fighting with one hand tied behind his back... well, not tied, actually, it's just been too occupied with your behind to be any use in fighting. Who would have thought such a scrawny butt would make the most effective handhold?

You're insufferable.

Thanks! At any rate, it looks like he won't have to fight on his own for much longer. We might actually be saved. And on our way out of this cave system for good, hopefully. I'm sick of the endless variety of dead things to smell and ready for a bath.

What do you mean we're saved?

Take a look for yourself!

Felix tried lifting his head to right the world. He was in time to see three arrows fly in quick succession through the air and strike the ground in front of a line of zombies. Giant ice crystals sprouted from the impact zone, spreading upwards and outwards until it completely closed off the tunnel like a vault door.

Felix felt Muzio jerk his face in the direction where the arrow came from. His breath caught as he spoke, like a man who couldn't believe what he saw.

"Raine?" Muzio asked. “Is that you?”

"It's good to see you too, Sforza," said a hoarse female voice. "I didn't think I would."

"Don’t call me that," Muzio said, sounding ashamed. “I don’t deserve it.”

Felix wiggled, trying to turn his head and see what Muzio was looking at. He caught a glimpse of three people standing back to back at a tunnel intersection. He had time enough to register the sight of a giant holding an enormous door-like shield, a dwarf with a shiny mace, and an elf girl with a bow. Muzio adjusted the burden on his shoulder, using Felix's tail as a handhold, causing his head to slap against Muzio's back.

This is undignified, Felix thought.

No, it's hilarious, Eva Fortuna snorted.

Felix flexed his claws and used them to pinch into the flesh under Muzio's ragged trousers. Cursing with surprise as much as pain, Muzio let go of Felix's tail, enabling him to roll off his shoulder and land spryly on the ground.

Muzio shot Felix with an annoyed glare, but he turned back to Raine.

Felix got a better look at their rescuers and realized he recognized Blom-Blom behind the tower shield. A second look and he remembered the elf girl, who looked much better now that she was wearing clothes and not full of bruises. He didn't recognize the third person in their group, a stout dwarf man without a beard.

"How did you escape?" Muzio asked, looking odd with his goofy white-toothed smile and filthy face.

Raine's own smile faltered and a shadow of all the recent traumatic memories flashed across her countenance.

"These men helped me. When they said they were coming to find you, I insisted on coming along," she said.

Blomdorf shifted awkwardly behind his tower shield.

"Hi," Blom said, waving awkwardly.

Felix still felt guilty for eating the man's cat, but it was Eva Fortuna's emotions of affection that surprised him.

What's that all about? Felix asked inwardly. He had the distinct feeling that his status wanted to weave between Blomdorf's legs and beg for head scratches.

I've absorbed more of the emotions and feelings of Mister Blinky than you have. Don't be a pain. Be nice to Blom-Blom or you'll be sorry.

"Hey Blom-Blom," Felix said sheepishly, not quite sure what to say or how to feel about what his status just told him. “It’s good to see you again.”

I am NOT a status! Eva Fortuna shouted in his head.

Sorry, that's still a new idea I have to get used to.

"Ah hate teh interrupt these touching hearty heart reunions," said the beardless dwarf person with a gruff voice sporting a heavy Scottish accent. He was standing on the other end of the tunnel at the only opening where zombies were still pouring in from. "If yeh dinnae mind, however… can we save the moosh for after we extract ourselves from this bloody nightmare!”

The beardless dwarf was holding his mace in one hand and a shining box with a blazing cross on its lid in the other. Every time the zombies came close, he pointed the box forward and the cross shone. The zombies then turned and ran away several steps before wheeling around and charging once more, only to be turned again. It was a bizarre sight of undead creatures running in circles, with every few times the first group made a full circle, several more poured in from behind. His voice rose in pitch and he sounded quite irritated once he peeked over his shoulder and realized that the rest of his party was entranced by his performance.

“Blood and ash! Why are you standin’ about?! Would you kindly help me to quit this absurd game of ring around the feckin’ corpse rosy? If this trick of turning undead looks easy to the uninitiated in holy magic, I regret to inform you ah can't keep this show on forever! And as far as ah can tell, 'forever' is how many bloody walkin' corpses this fine establishment has t’ offer!"