I was covered in rats. Swiping at them with my axe took out one or two but did nothing to the tide of them that subsumed me. I flopped on the ground, rolling around. They were biting and scratching me.

-1 hp

They crushed under me. It was like being on fire. Stop, drop and roll. Fire?

I dipped my hand into the pouch with the sulfur. Chanting the litany of burning, I spoke the words to the Candleflame spell.

Concentration skill check successful.

Dropping my axe, my right hand ignited. It was only a small flame, but was enough to light up some rats. I kept rolling, crushing the squeaking vermin. My right hand swept them away, setting half of those it knocked to the floor on fire.

Soon, burning rats were running everywhere. They kept impacting others in the horde and setting them on fire. The smell was horrible, but no time to deal with that now.

-1 hp

Those still on me kept scratching and biting. Biting and scratching. I used my shield like a swatter, crushing huge swaths of the little vermin. My right hand knocked them loose and set them on fire.

After what seemed like forever, the swarm passed on. My Candleflame guttered out. I lay on the ground, gasping for breath. My armor was still in good shape, but there were tiny bites and scratches everywhere it didn’t cover.

I only had five hit points left. The tiny wounds burned. I’m absolutely going to catch something from this. Didn’t rats carry the plague in the middle ages? The Black Death is 100% what I need to finish off a sucky day.

Pushing myself to my feet, I popped my neck. Walking across the cave and gathering my axe, I stalked forward. Mike Resnick might be a lot of things, but he wasn’t a quitter.

Using the Move Silently skill, I tried to do the slow motion stepping we’d been taught by Instructor Stethyr. My feet didn’t seem to want to cooperate, but I was trying.

Creeping along the right wall of the cavern, I kept my senses tuned. The Listen skill was absolutely getting a workout. I detected nothing at the moment but kept trying.

The cavern had widened out considerably after the narrow neck where the spider had been. I could barely see the far wall. The spikes of stalagmite and stalactite were more towards the sides where the center was largely clear.

Two of five pieces collected. I’m trying not to think about how injured I already am. Concentrate on the job.

Weaving my way among the stony spikes, I heard a noise. Pausing to listen, it was up ahead. There was another of those cubbies in the wall. I approached, moving slowly and trying to be quiet. I’ve got to raise my Agility score, this is too frustrating.

Edging close against the wall, I eeled my way around to peek into the cubby. Another rat. It was squeaking and worrying at something, so I don’t think it heard me. I came back into the cavern.

Putting down my shield and dropping the tomahawk into its loop on my belt, I stretched out my fingers. I drew the horn from its place in my bandolier. My fingers twisted through the runic patterns and I chanted the litany of bringing.

I finished the spell, grabbed my shield and drew my tomahawk. Charging around the corner I saw the rat tied up with my horned rabbit. The bunny was trying to stab the vermin, while the overgrown rat went for the bite.

Leaning in, I chopped. Once, twice and a third time. The rat was dead. YEAH! The rat was dead and I was unhurt. Hell, I was barely even winded. The horned rabbit was torn up pretty badly. I pet his ears and gave him a bit of broccoli I’d snagged from the kitchen for just this purpose. The little guy leaned against my leg, chewing rapidly. He popped out of existence a few moments later.

I harvested the tail. When I moved the rat corpse, I saw something shiny on the ground. There were coins scattered in its nest. I got a silver, 17 copper and a dagger with a triangular blade about ten inches long. It was sharpened on both sides and had a scroll shaped crossguard that extended out about an inch or so from the edges of the blade. It was enough to protect my hand. The knife was a little dirty, but I could clean it up.

I put my first loot into an empty pocket of my bandolier. The dagger I slipped into a belt loop on my left side. Taking up shield and axe, I again went into the cavern, feeling pretty confident.

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I heard the squeaking before I saw the rats. An oncoming tide of them headed for the den. I ran. There was no point in fighting the swarm. I didn’t have the spells or weapons to win. It also didn’t help get me closer to victory.

By dint of sprinting off into the darkness, I managed to avoid the rat swarm. Let them have the corpse. I didn’t need it. Once I was clear, I paused to rest and get my breathing under control.

The magic worked. Summoning the horned rabbit onto the other side of the rat drew its attention away from me. That let me kill it with a drastically reduced chance of injury.

I kept walking along, slowly scanning the area. Is ear strain a thing? I know you can get eye strain. If it’s a thing, I’m in danger of it. I was listening intently to everything around me. Anything to get an edge.

Moving between a couple of stone columns where the ceilings stalactite had met the grounds stalagmite, my foot dragged for a moment. I looked back at it and there were faint wire, like fishing line, come off my heel. Huh, there’s one coming from my shield. What could it be?

Ugh, another one is attached to my hip. Omg, they’re spider webs! The one attached to my foot pulled tight. Dwarves are tough to trip. We’re born with natural low centers of gravity. That doesn’t mean impossible though.

My foot came out from under me and I slid down, nearly doing a split. I felt like something tore in my groin and I need everything that’s down there. My foot got dragged back further. I swiped my axe at the string, cutting it with a TWANG.

My shield was getting pulled, and I still hadn’t managed to stand up. I got both feet pointing in the same direction and tugged on the shield. It was still getting hauled to a low hole in the floor.

I managed to get both feet on a narrow stone column and put my back into it. The shield stopped moving away from me. My left hand was attached to the disk by a leather strap that went over my forearm just below the elbow, and another leather strap along the rim my hand went into.

I straightened my left arm and leg go with my right. The shield shot off into the dimness, banking off another stalagmite and cracking it. I pulled the horn from my bandolier and chanted the litany of bringing.

The horned rabbit with the black ear appeared right beside me. I got up, drawing my axe, and we charged. I followed the direction the shield had been going. The rabbit followed me.

I spotted the spider. A huge brown and gray splotched thing with red stripes down its abdomen. It raised its two forelegs as if to say, “Come On!” so we did.

The horned rabbit leapt into the attack. I cut to my left. The bunny hit the monstrous arachnid dead on and its forelegs closed on the creature. I dove, swiping with my tomahawk.

The axe blow rang off the foul thing’s carapace. It chittered, and I screamed a battle cry. Something about its mother. It had my rabbit. The big hollow fangs on the spider’s face sank deep into the bunny, who, gamely, kept trying to spear the arachnid.

I put both hands on the haft of my axe and raised my hands. The blade sheared deep into the great spider’s side, bluish green ichor spraying out. I kicked at its abdomen to free my blade. One of the thing’s legs scraped my leg below the armor.

-1 hp

But I barely felt it. I chopped again, this time the hit was deflected off and struck the stony ground. I was in a frenzy. I raised my axe another time, and got hit by one of its legs and knocked over.

My horned rabbit was squealing, a high pitched pained sound. It was visibly deflated as its vital fluids were drained. The beast kept trying to spear the spider but couldn’t get a hit in from that angle.

I rolled at it, crushing one of legs under my weight. I could hear carapace crackle like the shell of a crab. Chopping again, ichor sprayed out one more time. It threw my bunny to the side, where it dissolved in death.

The spider spun to face me, raising up high, knife sharp forelegs poised to stab. I rolled under his abdomen, chopping up at its underbelly.

The huge arachnid tried to skitter back, but I cut off one of its legs, leaving two destroyed on that side. It limped back, slower than normal. I chopped at it again, striking the weaker armor of its lower side.

The wounds gushed ichor. I was covered in the stuff, like I’d taken a disgusting shower. A foreleg stabbed back at me weakly. I chopped at it but missed.

I didn’t miss when I aimed my tomahawk right between its fangs. The blade struck deep. The spider frenzied, its legs going in and out and the abdomen knocking me in the head as it rapidly went up and down.

I crouched low. It was a mad thing. I slashed my axe blade at the crazed spider. The legs on that side of its body stopped moving. Crawling out from under it I kept slashing.

Most likely I cut at it several times after it was already dead. I got a bit carried away there at the end. When I finally stopped, its body was a blue/green ruin.

Knowing the rat swarm was coming, I hurriedly cut off the prize and moved away. The squeaking horde soon descended on the body, stripping it to a few pieces of carapace in no time. I caught my breath as I watched the brown tide work on the body of the big spider.

It was like watching piranha strip a cow. Each one didn’t do that much damage but taken all together, the swarm was marvelously efficient. I shook my head.

I got up and popped my back. That was a rough one. Soreness loomed at most of my upper body joints. Looking around for a moment, I found my shield, put it on and kept moving. Four hit points and a snowball spell left. I only had to get one more prize, though.

I walked through the cave, too tired for Move Silently. Scanning back and forth, I failed to spot anything. Listening close, there wasn’t any noise other than the babble of the central creek in the cave and the pips of bats.

Until I heard a squeak. I paused, looking in that direction. There! It was around twenty feet away and big. I took a deep breath. Kill this one, and I’m out of here.

I put down my shield and axe. Carefully pouring water on my hands I began to form the runes. I chanted the litany of frost. The softball sized ball of snow formed in my hand.

Taking the bowling stance, I calmed my beating heart. Underhanded, the snowball rolled towards the rat. It hit! The rats turn to look at me.

Ah, there were two.