Staring at the trapdoor, Morgan knew he was going to try again. Claw to claw, his cats were outmatched by the superior force of rats, proved by the routing of their previous wild brawl; but he now knew he had the benefit of the range of skills that his beasts possessed.

He looked down at the cats sitting in a semicircle around him, their eyes returning his gaze; unblinking and expectant. Naturally, Tom would be the spearhead of his team, with his paladin cat providing as much cover as possible through the mana shield. This would hopefully focus and blunt most of the rats' attacks. He could heal damage that got through to Tom, while the rest of the cats focused on taking the distracted rats down. Trip would be sent around the back, with Scrap in support, with the aim of getting some heavy damage in to Tom’s attackers. Harriet, the magic cat, would stay with him, supporting as he saw fit. Luna would take up position behind Tom, to try and prevent him from getting surrounded completely.

He felt a little strange as he gave orders to the cats that now sat in a semicircle in front of him. Each cat let out a meow in acknowledgement of their orders as they were delivered, which reassured him somewhat. Once the cats had been briefed, he turned back to the trapdoor. He raised it a little to peer through the gap and seeing the rats must have retreated back to their corner, he opened it fully. The group headed down the stairs, with Tom taking point.

When they reached the bottom of the stairwell, they set out into their formation, with Tom upfront, followed closely by Luna. Harriet sat on Morgan’s shoulder, as Trip and Scrap seemed to disappear into the clutter at the side of the basement. The Ivycat cat decided the best place to be was on his head, draping herself over his helmet. He tried to convince her briefly to find a more comfortable spot, but she was seemingly resolute about her decision, refusing to budge. Wearing two cats was unsurprisingly heavy, but not unmanageable.

The cats so arrayed, Tom and Luna pushed forward into the basement. As Tom reached the middle of the room, the beady yellow eyes reappeared between the boxes at the back. The Ivycat reacted by casting her shield onto Tom, a shimmering translucent blue bubble surrounding his ginger form. As if challenged, all at once the rats scurried out, tumbling over each other In their haste to meet the invaders. Tom arched his back, his fur standing on end as he let out a rumbling growl at the onrushing attackers.

The white cat on his shoulder held her paw up in the air in front of her as if to strike at an invisible target, and Morgan noticed out of the corner of his eye that a small claw shaped icicle formed alongside the paw. She swiped her claw through the air, causing the icy projectile to whip into the front line of rats. One of the rodents stumbled, it’s flank covered with rime, before it recovered and resumed its approach at a limp.

The surge of rats was on Tom in a moment, and he reared up, delivering a crushing swipe to the lead rat, its head bouncing off the stone floor with an audible thunk. Though that rat was dazed, the others were quick to surround Tom, their sharp teeth and claws biting at the lightly glowing blue sphere that enveloped him. It was obvious already that there were too many for Tom alone to hold, eight of the rats surrounded him quickly, attacking him from three sides.

The other six poured around the beleaguered warrior cat, Luna grappling one of the rodents with obvious relish. He could see the blue shield around Tom already starting to fade, and as ice claws flew out from the cat at his shoulder, the Ivycat on his head renewed the mana barrier. Trip and Scrap made an appearance then, emerging from the shadows behind the rats. Trip sliced a heavy blow on a rat that was attacking Tom, and Scrap set upon the beast hit by the first ice claw.

The six rats that hadn't engaged Tom were now attempting to surround Luna, who was taking and receiving blows in a frenzy of fluff and claw. Already the small cat’s health bar was shrinking rapidly, and Morgan connected his heal spell, the thin red line glowing in the dim light. As the rodents surrounded his berserker he waded into the fray himself. He tried stabbing at a rat, but its frenzied movement made it difficult to land a clean blow and he only scored its side. Instead, he booted the rodent, managing to kick it a few feet away with a clatter as it hit a crate.

[A party member has killed Rat : Level 5 : + 230XP]

Trip yowled in victory as he stood over the corpse of a rat bigger than he was. One of Tom’s attackers heard the noise, turning about to face him before jumping on the tiny rogue, leaving the two of them brawling on the ground in a whirl of fur and claw.

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Morgan quickly surveyed the scene as he tried to stamp on another of Luna's attackers. Tom needed his third shield already, and Luna’s health was still dropping, despite his healing magic. Trip was engaged in a brawl with one rat and they seemed to be evenly matched. Scrap was still battering the half-frozen rat; despite its wounds it was still fighting back fiercely. He desperately needed to get the rats away from Luna before she perished. He had a flash of inspiration and took a step back after landing a good stomp and stunning one of the large vermin.

“Harriet, support Trip! Scrap, to me!” he commanded. The furry mage turned its attention to Trip’s assailant, targeting its exposed back. Scrap vanished from his own brawl, leaving the rat staring confusedly at the empty air. The shadow cat reappeared instantly in the long shadow that Morgan cast on the ground.

Morgan looked at the black cat, “Scrap, get the attention of as many rats as you can, then run, try and drag them away. If you’re surrounded, teleport away. No heroics. Go!”

Scrap charged into the fray, yowling and scratching at the rodents that assailed Luna. All but two turned to face the plucky cat, diving towards him. A couple of the rats that were battering at Tom also decided to focus on the new foe. The black cat dived away, disappearing behind some crates as he headed for a corner of the room, with the six rats hot on his heels.

[A party member has killed Rat : Level 5 : + 230XP]

[A party member has killed Rat : Level 5 : + 230XP]

Trip had felled his second opponent, the creatures back covered frost, and he turned back to support Tom, landing a heavy blow on another distracted rat. Luna, frantic with fury, had bested one of her assailants, despite it being easily twice her size. She didn’t stop as she turned to face her other attacker, fluidly clawing and biting, ignoring the incoming damage even as the blood ran down her fur. Tom was taking hits now, and he saw that the tabby’s mana was almost depleted. She was good for about 4 shields, it seemed.

With the half dozen rats that had disappeared to chase Scrap out of sight, only five remained; four facing Tom, and one tangled up with Luna. Trip and Harriet were working together, steadily picking off Tom’s attackers as he growled and swiped, keeping their attention. The large cats’ half depleted health remained stable as the Ivycat managed to cast another shield. Luna finally dispatched her foe; her health still being topped up by Morgan’s spell. The small grey cat didn’t linger, with relish she joined the battle that surrounded Tom.

He saw at the back of the room that the rats and Scrap were back in sight, and as the rodents closed on the black cat, he saw it teleport into the shadow of a nearby barrel then keep running. The rats skidded to a stop, chittering in frustration at the disappearance, before spotting the cat's new location and renewing the chase with vigour.

The rats that were left surrounding Tom were quickly dispatched by the team, furious fangs and icy claws rending them to submission. As the last one fell, he did a quick check of the situation. Luna was back up to full health, the red line that connected them disappearing as there was no more health to replenish; but keeping her alive had taken over three quarters of his mana. Tom sat around half health, and Trip was lightly wounded. Harriet was almost out of mana, and it’d be about another half minute before the Ivycat could cast another shield. He let his front line catch their breath, and after a long moment he called out to Scrap, “Scrap! Back to us, bring them in!”

The shadow cat appeared between Morgan’s legs, and the remaining rats, losing sight of their quarry, appeared from behind some crates and turned to face the group once more. At another Threatening Growl from Tom, the rats found their new focus, charging at him. Tom held their attention, growling and clawing, as Trip and the mage cat worked on one flank, and Luna and Scrap took the other. With the rhythm of the fight now established, the remaining rats were quickly dispatched.

[Quest – The Basement : 500XP - Completed]

[You have reached Cat Herder : Level 9]

With the battle over, Morgan surveyed the grisly scene. The bodies of the rats were arrayed in a loose line in front of Tom, as if a tide had deposited them there. His cats had already started to sniff at the bodies, and he span when he heard a sickening crunching sound, only to see Tom contentedly crunching the head of a dead rat between his fangs.

He turned to face the beast, suppressing a shudder, “That's repulsive, Tom. If you want food, then come see me. You don’t know where these rats have been.” Tom looked up at him, his golden eyes unblinking, before turning back to his impromptu feast. Before long, all six cats were chewing on corpses.

Morgan shrugged. Cats will be cats, he tried to reason with himself. They had more than earned their grisly treat. He bent down and tried to loot one of the bodies, but it contained nothing. To be sure, he tried a few more, and found one that contained a small pelt which he took and identified.

[Identify – Imbued Rat Pelt]

[Imbued: 95% resistance to air mana]

[Crafting - Rare]

So, Trevor certainly wasn’t wrong about their resistance. He looted the rest, trying to ignore the sickening sights and sounds of the feasting cats. A minute later, he had three more of the pelts, and he turned back to the stairs, calling for the cats to follow him. The beasts reluctantly slinked away from the corpses, following Morgan back into the shack upstairs.