The next location they headed towards was a barn just outside the walls at the south gate. By now, some of the city was waking up, and you could see merchants wheel out their carts and prop up their stalls with the goods of the day. Saga felt that while so much had changed back in their old world, some things seemed to be almost timeless, such as the fact that some people still hawked their goods on market squares and broad streets. It would forever be one of the things they loved about bigger cities. One of the many things they had felt was missing, back when they were stuck out in the middle of nowhere.

The owner of the barn was an old man, who told them he had heard one of his Renn’s panicking one night. When he went out to calm the beast, he had seen a few undead rats cornering the poor animal. He had killed two of them and evacuated the scared creature before calling the city guard. They hadn't found the critters but told him to report it to the Deathsworn. He seemed very grateful to have the two warriors take look, and Saga gave the man a reassuring smile.

"We'll see that it's clear and try and find out where the critters went before we call it safe." They said as the man nodded his thanks and went to see his animals who were huddling up in an improvised shelter down the road.

***

Saga went in first, shield at the ready. This time their eyes were sweeping the rafters for any more of the sneaky undead things but they found nothing. There were no glowing eyes or silent malice in the barn. They had been there as they found traces of some poor wild animal that had been torn the same way as the dog earlier. It had been a large lizard creature and Saga figured it might have been hibernating among the hay.

"Salamander," Sasha said, kneeling over the dog-sized, gutted animal.

"Salamander? I thought they were firelizards?"

"You have salamanders where you come from."

"Yes and no? We have lizards we call salamanders. Although the fire versions are purely fictional." Saga said as they thought back on how back when they were a kid, they would catch salamanders to raise over the summer. Many of said animals had managed daring escapes into the wilderness, which was likely the best for all involved.

"Well, here they are simply a family of elementally inclined lizards. They can be found in most climates from what I know, and depending on the environment they have different elemental affinities. Like little bastard versions of Wyrms and Dragons." Sasha explained as she poked the unfortunate animal with a stick, pushing it onto its back to get a better look at the rat's gruesome leftovers.

"You learn something new every day." Saga said, trying to once again hold back the queasiness. It was easier this time around, likely because they didn't have the same connection to a magical lizard as a poor dog. Saga had always been a cat-person as dogs were very loud and too in your face for them to ever own one.

“See that? They eat all the innards, but they leave bones and meat.” Sasha mumbled, mostly to herself. But Saga could see what she meant. The undead vermin had hollowed the large lizard out, eating all of its internal organs but leaving most of the body untouched. From what they knew of rats, they would eat anything. And they found it hard to believe that turning a rat undead made it a pickier eater.

“I wish I didn’t.” Saga said as the ax-dancer rose from where she crouched over the thing. "I can't feel anything like at the house. Think they left?"

“Yeah. I also think they devoured the heart and other parts because that is where the body is most rich in magic.” Sasha said, tapping her chin. Saga glanced at the salamander corpse, eyebrow raised.

“They eat magic?” The berserker asked, a thought forming in the back of their head.

“Your magic is also tied to your vitality. It's why vampires drink blood.” Sasha said as the two-headed out the door, making their way over to the old man, reassuring him it was safe. They wrapped the lizard corpse in the old sack that had been used for produce and dragged it out so the man didn't have to deal with it. IT was quite heavy, despite having been partially eaten.

“Oh. Wow. So they are actually trying to grow stronger. Like, they ate the things they needed and ran. That doesn't sound like mindless behavior to me.” Saga theorized as the two began heading for the next place where the undead critters had been spotted.

“Maybe. Might be instinct. Either way, I have an idea, but I need to see the third location”

***

The third and last location was a little further inside the city. IT was a usually busy taverna, but by the time they arrived, the place was dead silent.

“That’s odd,” Sasha said, peering through the window. “I understand not wanting to risk guests getting attacked. But the sighting was down the basement. I’d expect him to at least serve some people from the kegs he hasn’t opened yet.”

“I don’t like it.” Saga said as they felt their hackles rise. This was like one of those crappy horror movies they would consume by the dozens as a gothic teenager. “I think he is dead.”

“Dead? What makes you think that. That’s quite the leap.”

“Call it a hunch. Back where I come from, there are many stories like this. You learn to see the patterns.” They eyed the door, took a step back the then kicked it where the lock should be. The door cracked and opened, the door not made to withstand such might. Sasha blinked at Saga's sudden shift in mood, but followed. Saga for their part moved with the shield already out and a spear in hand. Instead of heading for the basement hatch, they moved to the stairs that led up to a second floor.

“Saga, wait. ” Sasha began but Saga gave her a look that stopped her dead in her tracks. Saga felt the same presence as before, the same quiet malevolence. What's more, they felt familiar anger and a sense of helplessness when they found the old couple who had been killed by raiders. They were sure they would not like what they found upstairs.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“No. He didn’t come to check why the hell the door just got smashed open.” Saga said and Sasha grew quiet, realizing they had a point. Saga was deathly silent as they moved, entirely different from the brash warrior Sasha knew. A cold steely determination hung about them like a dark, stormy cloud.

“You alright?” Sasha asked quietly, knowing the answer before the words even left her mouth. Saga tensed, then breathed out slowly. They shook their head slowly.

“I’m about to find a dead body.” They said in a low voice as they stopped by a door and listened. Skittering, scratching, and worse. The sound of gnawing and something ripping. They steeled themselves.

“How many does it need to be before it’s a real problem,” Saga asked, voice a quiet hush.

“Two dozens of them to grow into a problem for a seasoned warrior… Why?” Sasha asked, eyes widening.

“I don’t think that many are needed to kill some tavern keep, right?" Saga asked as they took a step away from the door, lining up their shoulder with where the latch would most likely be.

“No. The number we fought could do an unsuspecting person in.” The purple-haired dancer confirmed.

“Right.” Saga nodded. Then swinging back onto their back foot before lowering their shoulder and pushing their body forward they shifted their weight. It was a clean, perfectly executed shoulder charge that forced the door open with a mighty push. As soon as the door opened, the smell of copper and bile assaulted their nostrils. Luckily for Saga, the previous leftovers had helped steel them and with adrenaline pumping through their veins they could keep themselves from puking.

The scene before them was vile. The room had been a small affair, with dark walls of oak, a bed, a pot, a simple wardrobe. Now that dark oak was stained a brown and crimson color. There was blood everywhere. And in the bed which was now soaked to the frame with dark, clotting blood: there were rats. A few of them were rather small while others were as big as the ones back at the old house.

And among the dozen of them was an even bigger one, the size of a small dog and staring at Saga with malice and hatred.

But it wasn’t the rats that drew their attention. a man lay in the bed, face half torn off and an eye missing: HIs guts were all over the place, being greedily consumed by the rats. They appeared to have swarmed him in his sleep, and to the sheer revulsion of Saga, one had jammed itself into his mouth to keep him quiet.

They were smart. Too smart.

As one, all the rats turned to stare at them and Sasha and Saga suddenly understood what had been watching them before at the tower. The rats had. The damn rats were far more clever than they had any reason to be. These were not the actions of some mindless creature. Hell, this was too smart for regular rats, who by all means were clever little creatures.

“Fuck” Saga raised its shield as the large rat reared up on its hind legs and screeched. It was a terrible noise, one that reminded Saga of the Bear before. Acting on instinct, they let out a roar of their own, canceling out the other noise and empowering Sasha who flew into action. The ax-dancers leg pushed her forward towards the larger rat but two of the middle-sized ones threw themselves at her from either side, forcing her to step back.

“They are baiting us in, using pack tactics.” She said with a worried expression.

“That's not good” Saga snarled as they tried to stab at a rat.

“IT isn’t. There has to be more of them. They are being far too clever.”

As if to confirm their fears, saga heard another dozen little clawed feet come rushing their way. Saga turned around and realized that there had been another room next to the bedroom of the innkeeper. The door was ajar as at least another dozen rats came streaming out and piercing the two between the first group of rats and the ambushing one.

“What do we do?” Saga asked, feeling a slight hint of panic rise up within them. That was an awful lot of rats.

“We kill. And we survive.” That was all Sasha said as she activated her area of attack debuff, the ground around her feet suddenly covered with flakes of snow and ice, slowing down any rat that came too close.

“Sounds good to me!” Sara turned around, putting their back to Sasha as they readied themselves for the incoming rats.

The awful menagerie was led by another specimen of the huge, nasty critters, and there were a lot of them. Breathing in slowly, they darted forward in a shield bash, slamming their shield against the big one, sending it sprawling and tumbling with a wet thud. Not letting the swarm regroup, Saga waded in spear in hand. They needed to be descivie and fast. They all but used the shield as a shovel, smashing and tossing rats away to clear space.

With a snarl, they impaled one rat after another, moving away when they surged forward, using the reach of the spear to keep them at bay. The problem was that the rats were undead things, a single stab didn’t put them down, they would scramble for Saga's legs even with their own guts hanging out.

Every so often, one of the rats manages to get in close, biting down on a leather-clad foot or leg. Each time the same message would pop up.

{You have resisted disease: Rotting Saliva}

Behind them, Sasha didn’t have the benefit of a reach advantage or a shield but made up for it with her high grace and blistering attack speed. She was hacking away, dancing in and outreach, and utilizing wide arches to drive the creatures back or take out several at once. The biggest issue was the lack of space to maneuver and she found herself taking the occasional damage from the gnawing teeth and scrambling claws.

Despite their numbers, the rats were clearly on the losing side as Saga and Sasha kept picking one creature off after another, but even so, the two had to work for it. Stab after stab, chop after chop, they worked up a real sweat and were covered in a dozen of little bites and scratches by the end. As Sasha cleaved the last of the rats, the big one that called the other, Saga rolled their shoulders with a pained grunt.

“What the hell was that. Were they lying in wait for us?”

“I don’t know. But I think my idea about the nature of these attacks is correct.”

“Oh. What did you figure out?”

“Let's go see the basement I cellar first”