Cadoc was injured, but he had created some distance with the Kalamuzi again, and they seemed hesitant to close it. Perhaps they were catching their breaths before another attack. Either way, the momentum was turning in their favor. Blood was still dripping from the gash in Cadoc’s arm, but he kept a grip on his sword in the other hand.

Meanwhile, I was still blocked, the two Kalamuzi facing me content to play defensive, weapons leveled. As we fought, Cadoc and I had only gotten more separated.

Fine, I thought. Have it your way. Time to cheat.

I pulled out my slingshot from where it hung by my side, loaded a steel ball, and pulled back the bands, taking aim.

“Hey Cadoc,” I yelled over the sound of the waterfalls. “This doesn’t count as a duel, does it?”

Cadoc turned to me, and, realizing what I meant, smiled. “No, friend,” he said. “Not a duel.”

“Perfect,” I said, and I let the shot fly.

The steel ball rocketed towards one of Cadoc’s opponents, holding an unimpressive sword. It worked even better than I had planned.

I had aimed for the forehead, hoping to stun the monster, but I had gotten the height wrong. Instead, the steel ball embedded itself in the ratman’s neck, leaving a hole like a smoker who has to breathe through a stoma. And soon, the Kalamuzi was smoking, too, as the fire ignited inside its throat. It grasped at the wound, actually trying to dig the ball out of its neck, unable to breath.

Cadoc ended its misery, striking it down, sword held in one hand. Meanwhile, I had let off another shot, burning a hole in the arm of the other Kalamuzi. It dropped its sickle, crying out in pain.

Of course, my opponents weren’t content to watch me pick off their allies. They advanced, and I was only just barely able to drop the slingshot and raise my drows again before a wild slash from the sword-wielding Kalamuzi nearly sliced my arm off. I blocked it, backing away before the spear-rat came to follow up.

Cadoc didn’t give his enemy time to recover. He unleashed a flurry of strikes, beating back the Kalamuzi, who tried to dodge but was quickly covered in shallow cuts all along its body. Then, a stick appeared underneath the ratman, summoned by Cadoc, and it tripped, falling onto its back. Cadoc leapt on it, driving his sword through its torso. The Kalamuzi sputtered, and went limp.

Suddenly another screeching sound echoed through the subterranean space. We all looked - man and Kalamuzi alike.

The kidnapping party was leaving. They had reached the far wall of that large cavern, and were filing out. I caught one last glimpse of Amaia, struggling and nude, as they carried her off.

Cadoc looked to me, and I saw the indecision written on his face. Who knew where the cavern went, next? Would we ever catch up to them? Every second that passed made it less likely.

We were now 2-on-2, but how long would it take to finish the Kalamuzi off, even on equal footing? If it took even a minute or two, would we make it in time? And how far would the Kalamuzi get before they decided they were hungry, started tearing off bits of flesh?

This world is fucked, I thought. Just as fucked as the last one. Fucked-up people, fucked-up monsters, fucked-up situations.

But I’m not letting this world take away the closest thing to friends I have.

I’ll kill every last Kalamuzi, if I have to. Every. Last. One.

“Go!” I said to Cadoc, as if possessed, spit flying. “I can finish up here. Don’t let them get away!”

Cadoc nodded, and ran.

The two remaining Kalamuzi started as if to follow him, but I couldn’t let that happen. “Hey!” I yelled at them. “I’m still right here, you rats! You scared? Come and get some!”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

They turned, but not quickly enough. I had dashed at them, and I brought my mace down on the sword-rat’s shoulder. I felt something crack.

Surprisingly, the ratman adapted. While screaming in pain, it quickly grabbed the sword before it fell from the now-limp arm, and swung at me. The arc was frantic and wild, but I was forced back. The Kalamuzi with the spear turned back to rejoin the fight.

But its companion didn’t wait. It attacked in a frenzy, slash after slash, and I blocked and blocked. “Come on, you fucking idiot!” I yelled to myself. More attacks, more worthless blocks. “What the hell are you good for if you can’t do this, huh!”

The blocking continued for longer than I could estimate accurately, the movements a blur. Then it happened. The Kalamuzi came down with a savage swing, and I blocked it perfectly. The rusted blade shattered, the Kalamuzi’s eyes widening in horror. Then, in an instant, the sharp end of the drows was piercing where I hoped its heart was, and it was dead.

No time to celebrate. Cadoc was already far off, running like a madman towards the exit. The rat with the spear advanced, no anger on its visage, only the same dull hunger.

It had me on the back foot almost immediately. I didn’t see any way to break his weapon with mine, as there wasn’t really a good way to block in the first place. All I could do was dodge - if the ratman had been better trained, more dexterous with the spear, I’d have been dead in seconds, unable to even close the distance without impaling myself. As it was, I was being driven back, closer and closer to the water’s edge, the pile of the women’s clothes sitting nearby.

I saw no opening, had no idea what I could do, besides the old faithful. I stuck my hand in my pocket-

And tripped. That stupid fucking staff, the one that Naomi wouldn’t ever let out of her sight - I had tripped over it, falling backwards. My drows fell from my hand. I cursed Naomi, as if it was her fault I was now about to die. Perhaps it was, really.

I was on the very edge of the water now. If I had fallen in, either the drowsiness would have overtaken me again, and the Kalamuzi would have made short work of me, or I would have fallen fast asleep, awakening to find myself half devoured. So I was lucky not to have fallen a few feet further back, in that regard.

But I didn’t feel lucky. The ratman advanced at its leisure, long mouth twisted into a sort of manic smile, knowing that it had won. One thrust of the spear, and I was lunch.

It attacked, and I defended with the only thing at hand. I raised Naomi’s staff in my right hand, and just managed to divert the thrust away. It had likely only worked because the Kalamuzi had been overconfident, thinking me unarmed. It wouldn’t work again.

So I took my opportunity. I stuck my left hand back into my pocket, grabbed a handful of nails, and threw them at the ratman.

It only takes a second to melt the nails before igniting them, but I didn’t have a second. I grasped internally for those invisible strings connecting my mana pool to the nails - like little dry riverbeds, waiting to flow with mana. I had only a fraction of a second to notice, absently, that my right hand, clutching the staff, felt strange, like it was slightly numb. I nearly ignored it, but found myself unable to. The mana didn’t want to flow through the strings, like normal. The strings seemed to all converge, flowing through my right arm and into the staff, before connecting to the individual nails.

I flooded the paths with mana, rushing my power through the staff and into the nails, igniting them.

They erupted in a burst of light, and I felt the flames lick at my face, uncomfortably warm. But they were more than uncomfortable for my enemy.

The nails, when they ignited, created blazing fireballs, if only for a moment. This mass of fire burned away at the Kalamuzi’s skin, and it screamed as the flesh melted off of its skull. The fire was gone in a second, but so was the Kalamuzi’s face.

I sat there a moment, stunned, but the fight wasn’t over. I rose, driving my shoulder into the Kalamuzi’s midsection, then grappled with it. I got a firm grip, and flipped the Kalamuzi runt over - mace training was traditionally used by wrestlers, if you didn’t know, because it practices the same motions made when flipping someone. I was no wrestler, but I’d been practicing that move for a long time.

The Kalamuzi put up nothing but the most desperate resistance, but it was too weak, or weakened. Soon it was in the water, and almost immediately its muscles began to slacken, its fight leaving it.

I shifted and wrestled with the Kalamuzi until its head was below the water, facing down. A rush of steam rose up as the melted face hit the surface, even though the water was already warm. I was above the ratman - mostly dry, except for my feet, and splashes of water that had hit other places. I hoped it wasn’t enough to stop me.

It will not be enough to stop me.

I pressed the Kalamuzi’s face into the water, and though it struggled, its struggle lessened quickly. Soon, it was still, but I waited. It wasn’t dead. It had only been forced to take a gulp or two of the water, and had fallen asleep.

I waited until it drowned, and then waited a little longer, to be safe. Then I tossed it into the water - let that be a warning to the next adventurers to find the place. They’ll be less likely to bathe in a pool with a dead body in it.

I stood and collected my things, in a daze - my drows, my slingshot, my bullets - as quickly as I could, adrenaline still pumping, trying not to think too hard about how far away my teammates were getting. I wouldn’t do them any good unarmed.

Then I picked up the staff again, turning it over in my hands. “No wonder Naomi never lets go of this thing,” I said aloud. “It seems like it enhances the magic of the person holding it. I wonder how weak Naomi really is, without it.”

A thought hit me. “It didn’t make me pass out, though. So why did she pass out? Does she have some sort of condition, or did I just not use all my mana? Maybe if I had used more, flooded the staff with everything I had, I would have-“

Suddenly my knees buckled beneath me, and I collapsed to the ground. The world hated me, so the timing of it all only made sense. I wasn’t even all that surprised, in a way.

It felt like I had strained every muscle in my body, at once. Like when you work out, and get DOMS - Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness - except it was only delayed by a minute, and it wasn’t just your arms that hurt, but everything.

I laughed dryly, and the laugh hurt.

“That’s…it?” I said, struggling to even get the words out. “Try…” I used the staff to wrench myself up. “Harder.”

But I could hardly move. I thought that my assumption about not using all my mana must have been correct, and so my saving grace had probably been that I hadn’t known what I was doing. If I had used the staff more efficiently, I’d be completely drained. For once, being shitty at something may have helped me out.

Then that question feeling hit me. I accepted without hesitation, and felt a small amount of mana return to me, and I felt slightly better. Only slightly. Barely noticeable, really, but it was something.

I stumbled forward, using the staff like a cane, bent over like a crippled old man. Every step was agony, and it was a struggle even to keep my eyes open. Every muscle screamed at me for rest.

“Shut…up…muscles…” I said to myself. “Gotta get….going…”

I was moving at a snail’s pace, but I was moving. I fought for every step, fueled by rage, an overwhelming desire to maim, kill, drown, burn and slaughter every last one of the kidnappers. And one singular fear.

“Can’t…be…left…behind…”