"What did you do?" I shouted.

"I... I didn't mean to," Tala yelled back. She placed the book down on the pedestal and looked back at the Shamblers as if expecting everything to rewind. To no one's surprise it didn't. The Shamblers were groping towards the stage, pushing each other, and gnashing their teeth in the air.

"Well don't just put it down. It's gotta be important or something. This is a test remember. We’ve gotta figure it out," I took a few steps forward to put myself between Tala and the steps leading down the stage. I materialized the Rusted Knife that I received when I killed those Duskweavers and held it in my left, with the better Kitchen Knife in my right. It still felt awkward holding both of the knives as I didn't have the skills necessary to utilize dual wielding, but a sharp panic was building inside me and having both weapons dulled its edge.

Tala picked the book up again and flipped the pages open. I braced myself in case something bad would happen again, but the dark glow was gone from its leathery surface. One of the

Shamblers knocked over a set of chairs that were placed on a nearby table. The hit caused the chairs to fall into a clump before the Shamblers. The closest one stumbled forward and got its leg caught causing it to fall. The preceding Shamblers fell after it in a pile of gnashing teeth and clawing hands. Good, that will give us some time.

“You try to figure out how to use that book and I’ll look for a way out of here.” I turned and strutted past Tala who was frantically flipping through the pages of the book. I snuck a glance at its pages and was surprised to find nothing written on them. Tala had her finger out and was combing down the pages as she flipped through them. She must be seeing something that I couldn’t. I decided not to question her about it. By the expression on her face, it was a good thing I couldn’t read it.

I moved towards the far end of the stage and was about to jump down when I stopped myself short. I reached my hand out in front of me and as I expected it came in contact with an invisible wall. I traced my hand on its surface until it brought me back to the front of the stage. The entire place was barricaded by some unseen force. We were rats in a cage and there was no way to escape.

One of the Shamblers rolled over to its side, landing on the other side of the chairs. The creature managed to lift itself up and was now ten feet away from the base of the stairs. “Anything yet?”

“Don’t rush me!” Tala shouted.

“They’re getting closer and if you haven’t noticed, we’re stuck on this stage.”

“Ward, shut up for a second and let me think. This isn’t easy you know!”

The Shambler finally stumbled to the bottom of the steps and reached out it’s crooked, black fingers at me. The tendrils of its face were squirming about in hungered excitement as it drew near. I took in a deep breath and met its challenge head on. I swung the first blade right at its throat as I twisted to the left trying to move out of its clawing hands. My reach came short but managed to slice through one of its violet, muscular vines spreading from its eye sockets. A line of black blood cut across my vision as a chunk of flesh coiled to the ground. I watched as the shivering tentacle shuttered into itself until finally drying up and going motionless.

I barely ducked out of the way — falling onto my hip — as the Shambler lurched forward in an attempt to grapple me. The lumbering mass of spoiled flesh impacted on the top of the stairs as I rolled over and twisted back onto my feet. The horrible thing curled, twitched, and flexed like a fish out of water as it tried to crawl back to its feet. Before it could find its balance, I drove my knife deep into the back of its neck. The blade sunk deep, deeper than I anticipated, drawing the flesh all the way up to the hilt and squelching against my knuckles. A splattering of black ooze pumped out from the gash, stinging my skin, and hissing like acid.

I pulled my hand away from the stinging pain but still held my blade firmly in my grasp. The Wretched Shambler was still squirming but in a much more frantic way. It gave me the image of a rat stuck in a trap. It was going to die but it was giving all hell back. The things tendrils had spilled out on the wooden stage in an arced gush of ooze. The black liquid had begun to pool out of its eyes and trickled down the blossomed flesh of the nose and down through its sharp teeth. A foul stench had rose among the steaming blood. In a sudden outburst of disgust, I stomped hard on the back of the creature's skull. My foot cracked through the bone like stomping into a frozen puddle filled with oil. Sharp, impactful shattering followed by splashing of vile water. I received a quick notification that I had managed to kill the Shambler. However, I couldn’t celebrate as three more had managed to break free of their dogpile.

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I took a deep breath and shook my head. Fatigue was beginning to overwhelm the adrenaline. I could feel my muscles start to ache and my joints begin to groan with every motion. My stomach let out an angry growl. I needed food. I needed it desperately. I don’t know how much I could keep fighting.

I snuck a quick glance at Tala who had now come to stop on a single page. She was muttering something under her breath as she crossed the page with her finger. “How’s it coming?”

“Hold them off just a moment longer. I think I’m onto something,” Tala said without lifting her eyes from the book. For a moment I thought I saw a hint of fire in her eyes. A spark of energy and excitement at whatever she was reading.

Two Wretched Shamblers had stepped up to the stage and with their broken fingers and whiplike arms, they ripped the dead body of the other Shambler off the stage. They had cleared a path right to Tala. Their squirming faces were fixed on her.

I let the momentary rise of panic push me forward and stand between the two of them and Tala. With a feral screech, like a wild animal caught in a bloody trap, the Shamblers bore down on me. I tried my best to move between their flailing attacks. My movements were sluggish and my attacks slow. I had managed a few slashes on the stomach of the one closest to the edge of the stage. The injuries didn’t haze the creature as it caught me with a surprise cut across the back on my arm.

A hot pain seared up my arm and dug into my neck. I nearly dropped my blade but managed to hold on as I stepped back from another attack. The other Shambler had rushed around to my left and was trying to push me towards the end of the stage. I had no choice but to let it guide me backwards. I nearly stumbled over my own feet but before I fell my back slammed against the invisible wall.

The first Shambler used this moment to catch me off guard and brought a hand down my chest. Another flash of red pain seeped into my ribs and heart. A notice popped up in my vision indicating the damage I had sustained. My health condition had changed to [Injured].

I let my own fatigue help me drop to my knees as the second Shambler lunged forward with its hand out like a spear. I whipped past my hair and broke against the invisible wall. I heard the crunching of bone and the splintering of knuckles rain above me. Through the daze and pain, I slashed across the two Shamblers across their knees. I used each knife to dig as deep as I could. I felt them tear across the kneecaps and rip their flesh away. My attack had managed to take out both of their legs. They collapsed on themselves in an awkward display as if they were drowning trying to catch the edge of a pool.

Their torsos hit the ground hard. The one to my left landed on its jaw dislocating it from under its skull. The other fell to its back with a loud thump. I didn’t wait for them to realize what happened. I quickly crawled forward and sunk both my knives right into their slithering, vinelike faces. They went motionless as soon as I let the blades slide out. I fell back onto my side to give myself a moment. After several longs breaths I placed my hand against the invisible wall and used to get back on my feet.

As I stood, I felt an uneasy emptiness curl itself across the inside of my stomach, and my vision blurred for a moment. I was starving. I was tired. I was in pain, and I felt like I was going to faint. The mix of sour blood and the sudden rush of adrenaline had fused with my ever-falling energy to cause me to stumble forward. I managed to catch myself on my right foot and let my body slump forward. Sweat was dripping down my face and it burned my eyes. I couldn’t do this for much longer. I had managed to kill three but the other six or seven were out of the picture.

“Tala… Tala…” I called out between dry lips. “Please tell me you have something.”

Tala didn’t answer me, and I felt too weak and disoriented to even look up and see what she was doing. Had a Shambler managed to get past me and kill her? Maybe she had managed to find a place to hide and was trying to stay quiet? Would Tala actually do that? No, she wouldn’t. Something told me she wouldn’t abandon me like that. I stumbled onto my right foot and turned my body to get a better look at the pedestal.

Tala was standing erect, hair spiked high as if twisting in some unseen torrent. There was a blaze of fire swirling about her feet. Ash and embers seemed to materialize out of thin air. The very air about her ignited in sparks. She had the book held in her right hand and her left was pointed out towards the group of Wretched Shamblers. Pointed toward me.

In a voice of power and confidence, Tala called to me. “Ward, move!”

I dove to the ground as a flurry of white and red sparks came firing out of her fingers. They rushed through the air leaving trails of white smoke and smoldering embers. A sizzle of heat dissipated bloomed in every direction. A blaring light had grown to encompass the entire room. I did everything I could to not stare directly at the light that was growing from Tala eyes.

I heard the sparks impact against the group of Shamblers. One by one they each suddenly burst into flames as the flying fires ignited their putrid flesh. They each let out a cry of pain and anguish. High-pitched and deafening. I cupped my ears and shut my eyes until the swirling of sound and the blaze of heat finally died down.

When I next opened my eyes, I saw a pile of smoldering ash and burning corpses. There was a trail of black powder and shimmering air that led all the way to the open palm of the caster. Tala stood alone. Her eyes burned bright, her lips curved in a smile, and she was laughing.