"Quinn!"

Given the complete chaos and carnage brought by the minotaur's devastating entrance, Rohl had no idea what had befallen the ranger. He knew for a fact he had dodged the blow and retreated further back but from there, the ranger's profile had been lost within a sea of hungry creatures intent on finally finishing their prey.

As much as Rohl desperately wished to know the ranger's fate or what had befallen the remainder of the party, he soon wished he had not been so verbal about it. They had overlooked him at first, just one more body amidst a sea of the dead. But his call had brought their attention on to him as well.

The monsters were everywhere, their mass swallowed the entire road and continued to flow towards the forest's edge. There could be no running or hiding, only blood and death.

I'm sorry. I can't. Fuck.

There was nothing he could do to fend off the encircled monsters, the second one of them finally decided to attack, he would be torn apart. His life would end within the jaws of one of these beasts and with his dagger now lost amid the chaos, he didn't even have the chance to make his end a quick or glorious one. He had nothing.

That was until the sound of a familiar chord erupted within his mind.

The sound was almost deafening and lacked the gentle tones of the music he had played but it was enough to quell some of his panic and allow his mind to focus and attempt to ignore the encroaching bugbear that seemed keen to tear him apart within its powerful jaws.

Music. Blessing. Okay fuck. Activate. Go. Power unleash. Gods fucking dammit.

The lack of some new great ability or devastating wave of power did little to reassure Rohl that he would survive this and as the bugbear was soon joined by a particularly grotesque-looking goblin. Rohl soon found himself losing faith in his blessing being the key to his survival.

I can't do this. I don't know fucking how.

His entire being was now solely focused on the encroaching danger, he ignored the chaos around him, the wolves to his back and even the bugbear's saliva-soaked fur. Instead, his entire focus was on the dull knife being twizzled between the goblin's fingers.

I am not being flayed alive. Anything but that.

Keen to claim its prize, the larger goblin hurried its pace towards him, overtaking the bugbear who seemed content on letting the goblin take the lead.

I have to kill it, stop it, any other fate.

His chances of beating the monster even with a weapon were slim and in his current exhausted defenceless state, his chances were even slimmer. But still, he had to at least try, especially given there were no rangers to save him now, even if they were still alive amidst the furious battle erupting around them.

And so, as the goblin came within mere paces of him, Rohl did the only thing he could to even the odds, reach into his pocket, grab his shrunken ukatar and hold it in between them.

Given the almost grinning expression of the goblin's twisted face, it clearly didn't seem particularly intimidated by this desperate attempt at survival. But as Rohl's hand brushed against the now enlarging instrument strings, that soon changed.

It was a very simple almost meaningless chord but one that finally gave Rohl an outlet for his power. He may have been just as confused as the goblin, but the power he felt swell and erupt out from his was undeniable, as was the impact it had.

Within a heartbeat of the sound finally diminishing, the goblin's sadistic expression became one of pure unfiltered hunger. It dropped its weapon, seemingly abandoned any notions of flaying and charged toward him mindlessly. Before Rohl could even comprehend the sudden change, the goblin was on him, desperately attempting to bite out his neck with its small, rotted teeth.

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Even as Rohl fought desperately to hold it back from his now prone form. The creature continued to squirm and struggle in a reckless attempt to finally get at his flesh. But before it ever got the chance, its life was extinguished as the bugbear's powerful claws severed its head in one powerful swipe.

What the fuck?

Rohl was now at the bugbear's mercy, he was its prize to claim and yet before it could do so, its rage-filled expression was wiped away as a handful of wolves charged forward and mauled at its limbs. No matter how much it fought back or clawed at the animals, the wolves continued to devour the bugbear's limbs, eating it alive and, ignoring the much more easily consumed goblin as they did so.

The small feast whilst bloody and horrific to look at, provided Rohl more than just material for his nightmares, it allowed him to flee. With rushed panicked movements, Rohl turned on his heels and climbed to his feet.

Okay. Okay. Calm down. Breathe and think. I can't run but I can hide. I can survive.

Just a small glance at the pure carnage around him confirmed that was his only option. The once one-sided slaughter had turned into a bloody free-for-all. Goblin fought bugbear. Wolves hunted and devoured what should have been their kin, and the minotaur was dragged down and torn apart under numerous bodies that clawed and tore at his muscled flesh.

If any of the mob finally decided it was his turn to die, his life would be over in a very painful and bloody way, but there was one thing that Rohl noticed of the chaos, the monsters all but ignored the dead, instead they seemed eager to devour anything that moved.

And so, with that one lifeline, Rohl raced to the fallen corpse of a bugbear, laid down and did his best to remain strong and do what needed to be done. If he was lucky, he would be ignored in favour of living prey.

The beast's stench was almost unbearable, as was the slow dripping of blood that fell from its wounds and onto his face, but yet Rohl remained still and steadfast. After all he had experienced in the last hour, this was nothing. And so Rohl simply closed his eyes, tried to drown out the sounds of battle, death and feeding and simply wait out the carnage from under the corpse of his once enemy.

This is definitely not in the stories. Then again, mine would end as a bloody heap of undigested flesh if I attempted to fight out there. I hope Quinn forgives me, if they survive that is. I don't want to lose any more people.

Given the absolute chaos he had leashed, it didn't take too long for the sounds to die down a little. It was obvious that many of the monsters had been torn apart but much to Rohl's horror, the sound of slaughter continued even as the bugbear's body was slowly dragged off him.

"Thaddeus." With a deep sigh of relief, Rohl greeted the man who had easily dragged the corpse off of him. Despite being soaked in blood, littered with cuts and most likely exhausted, the man still somehow had the strength to lift up the corpse and raise his weapon at the same time. A weapon that remained pointed in Rohl's direction.

"Thaddeus. Oh fuck."

With a powerful swing, Thaddeus' weapon cleaved deep into the ground, barely missing Rohl who barely about managed to roll out of the way in time.

And even as the blade missed, Rohl did not immediately stop his movements lest the ranger attempted to kill him with his bare hands. Something the larger man likely could have done with ease.

Fortunately for Rohl, the man did seem to at least attempt to dig his weapon out of the ground, giving Rohl a precious few seconds to get to his feet and observe the limited fighting around him.

The unrivalled chaos of before had definitely dwindled, leaving just smaller more isolated battles. But even like this, it was still far too dangerous for Rohl to do anything more than step back and try to escape the encroaching Thaddeus without tripping over the innumerable corpses that littered the floor.

"Thaddeus, snap out of it, please."

Despite Rohl's increasingly desperate pleas, Thaddeus continued to mindlessly approach, trampling bodies underfoot whilst not even attempting to avoid crushing any of their remains under his powerful steps as he did so. It was only by some miracle that he didn't fully charge at him, surely even one as strong as Thaddeus was exhausted after so much death.

Even at a slightly decreased speed, the man was still approaching and even Rohl's desperate steps backwards failed to put any real distance between them, Rohl couldn't turn and run, he dared not take his eyes off the man, should he swipe or lunge, Rohl had to have as much warning as possible.

I am so fucked. Just give me a break already.

To further exaggerate his position, Rohl's careful steps backwards finally failed him, and he felt his body collide with an unmoving much larger presence.

With an almost resigned sigh, Rohl turned and met the furious eyes of Quinn. That was until a second later, the helm of his sword crashed hard into his skull.