Fear painted Hinklebottom’s face as he sprinted over the final hill and took in the bleak scene. A sombor melody drifted along the wind as an ocean of blue broke against two lone rocks, wave after wave pounded against their foundation. Slowly the water rose around each, soon to overwhelm.

With heavy breathing and a pounding heart, he tore down the final stretch. It took all he had to ignore the looming cliff and the cry of his muscles. He fought against despair as he watched the two hold and fight as beast after beast darted in and out, their assault relentless. His mind told him he was once again too late, once again unable to save his comrades.

Before the despair could get a solid purchase, a flash of sun caught his eye and his gaze darted to the space above one of the rodents. A ball of water slowly congealed till it was roughly the size of his fist. The next instant it blasted out in a jet of compressed liquid. The water tore through anything it came in contact with, though it luckily did more damage to the mass of beasts than the two who fought the onslaught.

At this sight, his heart clenched and stomach rolled as the despair tore deeper into his soul.

What could any man do against such a force, a whisper traversed his thoughts.

Loss threatened to overwhelm him as he saw a number of water balls begin to congeal. He shoved that despair to the deepest part of him and without thought to his own body, he launched himself over the cliff, using the only weapon he had.

He fell through a couple of the balls as his body slammed into the beasts. Bones crunched as he landed towards the back of the formation of casters, his breath caught as the impact rippled through his body.

He coughed as he rolled to his knees, his body complained with every movement. The few he hit were much worse off. With only one making any attempt to get to its feet. Still, the rest of the line turned towards him and he grit his teeth. A chittering broke out and Hinklebottom rose to his feet, a singular focus on his mind.

Survive.

His hands gripped the tails of two of the nearby dead rodents and whipped them around him as a sort of shield, a mace of flesh. He slammed his right rodent mace into the nearest of the creatures and the flood was released. Blue rat after blue rat closed in, doing their best to try to take their toll of his flesh.

Soon, Hinklebottom fell into a flow of give and take, as he slammed the creatures into each other. Blood and parts of the beasts continued to fall off as the rodents seemed endless. He could only hope he was enough of a breakwater.

***

Eldridge ran up the hill, his goal to help Byung and the new guy hold off the wave for as long as they could. It would be best if he could reach Hinklebottom and relieve some of his stress, unfortunately there were an insane number of rodents in the way.

If the three of them pushed, perhaps, but no that would leave C on his own.

His thoughts raced as he closed the distance to the conflict. A breath of air left his lungs as he realized he had no choice but to hope the man survived. He would do what he could, but for now he had to lessen the burden of Byung.

Conflicted as he was, he focused his mind on the fight to come.

If only I had any ammo, he thought, bemoaning his lack of a weapon.

Then he saw it, in the rubble of the slide, a fair sized pine branch snapped from the destruction. One long enough to utilize as a makeshift bo. With a dive and a roll, he acquired the branch and brought it up into a full swing.

The momentum carried and a crack echoed through the cannon as two of the rodents were pushed back. He followed through with the other end of the branch and managed to connect with another of the beasts that dove at him.

His jaw locked as a fourth rat nicked his foot and fire radiated up his leg. On reflex, he kicked out and connected. His attack launched the creature through the air. He took in a breath to settle himself, to reinforce his trust that C would come through.

Though he wanted to dive in, to rush to help Hinklebottom, his role was to simply defend. Eldridge settled onto the balls of his feet and soon fell into a dance of dodging, kicking, and striking out with his branch. Sweat stuck his clothes to his skin as he held on for all he was worth.

“This,” He muttered to himself. “Is just like drill week. I will not be the first to fall.”

The branch whipped forward as he took a step back in an effort to protect his foremost leg. The creature that dove at him slammed head first into the wood as Eldridge slid to the right. His body moved unconsciously to a beat in the background. A beat that only registered to his mind in the moments of stillness that shadowed the endless thrusting and swinging.

“The rats go marching two by two,” he continued to mutter as the song filled his mind.

His movements were filled with the vigor of the beat, enthralled to move. It enabled him to push beyond his limits.

***

Byung spun on the ball of his foot as his other foot whipped out to crush the legs of the creatures that surrounded him. A ball of blue moved and his fist thrust out on reflex as the bones elongated on the glove. The creature impaled itself on the spikes and blood oozed as the rat fought to free itself from Byung’s fist. A flick of his arm and the creature flew into the mass of beings.

A rokus was heard from his left, but Byung had little time to think on that as he reached down towards the creature that just bit at his leg. Blood pooled as the skin ripped under the assault.

The glove shifted, the bones now acted as teeth along the inside of his hand. The barbs pierced the creature as he closed his fist around it. He could hear it cry and squirm under his grip, but that only deepened the wounds caused by the glove.

His head snapped as he caught sight of another rat as it charged him, on reflex he threw the beast in his hand. The two met and tumbled a ways down the hill, though Byung had little time to think on that as two more creatures stepped forward, though they had yet to charge, caught in the fear or power of the moment.

In this moment of peace, he was able to take in the fight around him. A beat echoed from the man to his right, as he kicked and fought back the assault. To his left, the detective danced, pine branch in hand, to the melody of the fight. It was only now that Byung realized the trepidation of the beasts before him was due to the arrival of the third man, to the shifting in the flow of battle.

Deeper in the swarm, Byung caught sight of a fourth who fought surrounded on all sides.

How long had he, He thought, as continued to take in the battle.

As of now it looked like the man held his own, but Byung was unsure how long that would last. Faintly, a memory of a crash and lessening of the pressure fluttered through his mind. Now he was sure he had to thank this man, that he had been the reason he was able to hold as easily as he had. Not that it wasn’t difficult in its own right.

“Devon,” he sent to his glove, resolved to help the lone man. “See if you can’t provide support for that man, I should be able to hold my own with the detective here.”

Byung felt the glove resist, felt it scared of what might happen if it left him, yet, felt it consent and flow off his arm. The rat known as Devon soon formed at his feet and dove headlong into the fight.

***

Hinklebottom felt the blood drip off his arm as he swung it to fend off another attack. The creatures slammed into each other and he felt a weight leave him as the tail ripped. He sighed as he was down to one weapon, one that was literally on its last leg.

The one legged mace flew to protect him from another assault as he dropped the tail and balled his fist. He launched it out on reflex to slam into the final creature, which tumbled back and brought forth an instant of calm. Still he had little reprieve as the circle closed in on him once again.

He hopped to the side as he swung out with his final weapon. The dodge worked, though pain radiated off his legs as he landed, the small nicks and cuts having added up. Three more dove at him and raced towards his feet, his mace swung out in an attempt to halt their assault.

That same instant the hairs on his neck rose as he instinctively felt the presence of two creatures close in behind him. Unfortunately, he couldn’t turn as he held back the three snarling beasts before him with all his effort.

Hinkledbottom flinched as one of the beasts landed on his back, the claws dug into his armor as a loud hiss was heard. His offhand moved to remove the creature, though halted as the creature on his back attacked the other and knocked it away. With confusion Hinklebottom dealt with those before him, half focused on the creature on his back.

With each assault, with each attempt to surround him that was foiled by this lone rat, Hinklebottom found himself trusting the little guy. With that trust came a lessening of the burden and fear that dove at his heart.

***

Falreath gripped the staff tighter as he watched his friend race up the hill. With a slow breath he turned to the sign, to the circles as they slowly lit up.

"Hike!" He mumbled as he focused his will.

In a snap, the area around fell once more into that weird shadow devoid of light. Sounds stretched all around as the noise of the outside became one giant cofanied jumble of chaos.

Deep breath in and the energy filled him, overloading his being, his core. If held for too long it would damage him. Still, he pulled the energy through his body with purpose. Finally a long, slow exhale, as the energy permeated the world around him with his will.

Deep breath in and the energy filled him, pressure once more against his core. Pain radiated from every nerve as he fought for control. Still, he continued the cycle and let out a long, slow exhale, to permeate the air once more.

Sounds gripped at and fell from Falreath's mind as he meditated and drew forth the manifestation of purity that light sought. With each breath, each cycle he felt the well of power grow around him.

Breath.

Cycle.

Exhale.

Breath.

Cycle.

Exhale.

Brea…pain erupted from Falreath's lungs as he sought for life giving air. His legs wobbled as the staff hit the ground. His eyes shot open and it took everything in him to prevent himself from keeling over. His mind gripped at the remnants of power in the world around him as he forced himself to stand.

Staff in hand, he turned his gaze towards his friend and hoped it would be enough. Not that he had much choice given his body or his mind were about to give out. Exhaling what little air he had left, he swung the staff behind him, his body sprinting up the hill. The void trailed, as if it was surprised to see him move so suddenly.

Falreath leaped into the air and pulled the void with him. His silhouette shuddered as he shoved every bit of the void into the staff of deer crossing. With a great yell of frustration, pain, and raw determination, he sent forth the wave upon the rat horde.

The staff hit the ground, and for an instant Falreath felt his heart fall as nothing happened. Then, as if time itself returned, a wave of light erupted out of the ground and rushed up and over the hill. Then the next hill, and the next hill, until finally dying out in a fleeting blip of light.

***

The harmonica hummed as Arthur inhaled, his breathing having become labored over the moments of the fight. The hum continued as he exhaled and hammered his fist against one of the beasts.

Their sluggish nature is the only reason he has kept up with the fight so far, not to say the other fighters haven't been helpful. Yet, even with their help he was sure they couldn't take on the beasts without the confusion of the melody he sang.

The melody wavered as pain radiated from this arm, one of the beasts having clawed deep into his skin as it fought to reach his neck. Before the pack could get their bearings, Arthur moved his head along the harmonica, against the pain, against his reflex to scream. The tone caught then leveled as he forced the creature off his arm.

Blood balled on his arm as he stomped towards an incroching creature. A sudden impact against his back caused him to stumble and his foot shifted course to prevent his fall. Air filled his lungs, the melody continued, as another beast tackled his side. As his knee hit the ground and his instinct fought for survival, his mind was on one thing.

The melody can't falter.

Gouge after gouge, scratch after scratch, Arthur fought for life as he found himself surrounded and unable to stand. Time seemed to stretch on as he knelt and his arms intercepted every attack they could.

A wave of light swept over him and he felt some of his fatigue fall as the beasts all paused for one instant. Then a roar unlike any Arthur had heard to this date echoed all around. To a beast, every rat bolted. Some up the hill, some into the water and some down the road. Arthur laughed as he looked around, at the tired and worn men all along on the hill side.

His body impacted the loose dirt as he felt all his strength leave him. It was over, they had prevailed against that unending ocean of terror.