The two giant rats ran at me, one slowed by a bum leg. Hopefully that was the result of my snowball spell. I felt around for my shield and got it ready just before they arrived. I set it and one rat bounced off with a squeak. The other slid past my defenses and slashed my leg with a bite.

Finally, drawing my axe, I slashed at it but missed. Now there was one on my left and one on my right. Less than ideal.

The right rat squeaks and charge in. I turned to swipe my axe at him and hit, injuring his shoulder. The left rodent surges in and bites my backside.

-2 hp

I kept concentrating on the rat I was attacking and swung again. Missed. The rear rat bit me again.

-2 hp

The cavern faded in around me. I dropped my axe. Feeling around for it, my hand found something and closed. Then blackness.

I came to on a stretcher. Goldo and Bidlack were carrying me, slowly, down the hall. Seeing my eyes open, Drill Sergeant growled, “Trainee, I swear to God you’re going on weight control when we get you out of the infirmary.” I tried to answer, but faded out again.

A warm tide washed me away. I floated, floated. My eyes blinked open. I was staring at a fitted stone ceiling. Looking around, there was a cot about six feet away on my right and another roughly the same distance on my left.

A woman dressed in a homespun dress of undyed cotton was sweeping. I tried asking for water. The croaking noise I made apparently startled her. She dropped the broom, covering her mouth with her hands and stared at me for a moment before rushing off. I could really use a drink. My tongue felt thick as it moved around my bone dry mouth.

Sitting up, I instantly felt all the dozens of little cuts and abrasions that covered my skin. In the cot to my left was Fist, the gnome mage. To my right was Zeke, the black-haired fae elven sneak. Both were asleep.

The cleaning lady hurried back, leading Instructor Falaise. The sea elven woman took two steps for every one of the human’s but was keeping up. She smiled when she saw me awake. “Mike, it’s great to see you among the land of the living!”

I slumped back against the pillows on the top of the cot. “Was it that close?” I asked, smiling.

Falaise’s smile vanished. “It was. You had a disease from the rat bites that proved somewhat resistant to healing. Also, what were you thinking going after those last couple of rats?” Her jaw firmed as she glared at me.

“Ugh, I didn’t realize there were two of them when I shot the snowball their way. Then it was too late.” I raised my hands in a What are you gonna do gesture. “I thought I was about to win.” There was a pause. “I didn’t, by chance, finish the course, did I?”

“Are you kidding? Instructor Nills barely beat those two rats away that were feeding on your unconscious body.” The instructor folded her arms across her chest. “I have to meter out my healing spells because we have the whole platoon to care for. You really cut into that number. We had to use a potion and several unguents on you as well.”

“Sorry?” I didn’t know what she wanted me to say.

The instructor waved away my apology. “You can tap out of those dungeons. Don’t attack an enemy when you have two hit points. That’s just stupid. We’re trying to teach you how to be killers, not mindless assaulters.”

Zeke came awake right then, and the instructor had to go and tend to him. Her words echoed. We can tap out. Really? That had never crossed my mind.

I had to readjust my thinking. This isn’t a game. We’re actually here. It isn’t victory or respawn.

They kept me in the infirmary for the rest of the day. I was finally released the next morning, catching up with the platoon in the chow hall. I went through the line, writing my name on the clipboard and watching Julian season my food from the jar marked NATURE.

“Hey squad leader.” Jackson said, sitting down next to me. “How ya feelin?”

“I’m okay.” I said as I took a bite of my omelette with egg shell. “Apparently, I got hurt pretty bad and caught some kind of disease from the rats.”

“You had rats?” Niobe asked. “I had these little crab things.”

“How did everybody do?” I asked the table.

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“I don’t mean to brag,” Jackson said and flexed. He’d obviously gained mass again.

“I see you made your second priority point.” I gave him a high five.

“He wassn’t the only one.” Elyse hissed and snowballed both of our beers. I grinned and raised the flagon to her.

“Were y’all the only ones in our squad?” I asked them.

“Yeah,” Izzy told me. “Another member of fourth squad died.

“That’s four, right?” I rubbed my hands through my hair.

“Five I think.” Niobe said. “Gideon, Sarine, that human the first day.”

“Gideon, yeah. I forgot about him. Six then.” I told her. “We lost two in the first run through the training dungeon”

Jackson raised his flagon, “To lost friends.” We all drank the toast and were quiet while we finished our breakfast.

I was just about to drain the last of my wooden pitcher of water when a midniss from first squad, Monty was his name, passed out over his omelet.

“Dude, party foul. Don’t spill the beer!” A human sitting beside him said, to general laughter.

The serpentine lizard man started twitching. “That doesn’t look good.” I told my group. Jackson stood up, open and closing his hands.

His claws were digging runnels in the table, curls of wood coming up around them. The triangular head at the end of that long neck was vibrating left and right and one leg slowly brought its knee up to his chest, then out to full extension. His tail lashed back and forth violently.

“No, it doesn’t look good at all.” Izzy said quietly.

Jackson and Marko, our squad’s only ogre, both looked at each other. They both grabbed a chair and held him like lion tamers. Moving in front of the rest of the squad, they put themselves been the Midniss and us.

Monty started making a fitful steam kettle noise. A sort of high-pitched ululation. The trainees at the table with him all stood and slowly backed away. The human who’d made the party foul joke, Chad, I think his name is, put his hand on his friend. “He’s freezing guys. Is there an ambulance or whatever?” He looked around the room.

The lizard man stopped moving. His eyes were rolled back in his head. A long exhalation came from him. “NO!” Chad yelled and leaned over on the table beside his friend. He put his head on his arms and wailed.

“Chad.” I called softly. “Get away from him, man.”

“What do you mean?” Chad put his head up and turned to look at me.

The midniss’s head came up like the cobra he was descended from, hood flaring. His fangs sprang from his open mouth and he struck. Biting into the Chad’s shoulder, his clawed hands grabbed the human.

Jackson and Marko stepped forward, poking the lizardman with their chairs. I poured some water from the pitcher into my hands and chanted the litany of bringing. I always had my bandolier with me, so I grabbed the horn as my fingers twisted through the runic components of the spell.

Chad’s mouth opened in a silent scream. He hit Monty, again and again with his closed fist to no effect. Black filled the human’s veins from where the snake man’s fangs entered him. His leg started to twitch. The blows against the lizard man’s head grew weaker.

Jackson jabbed Monty hard with his chair. The reptilian rogue let go of Chad and hissed. Marko hit him hard with the chair legs. It was weird to see someone so serpentine stumble, but he did. The midniss came up in a crouch, hissing loudly.

I finished my spell about that time, and my horned bunny appeared right behind Monty. The rabbit’s eyes fixed on the lizardman and he jumped to the attack, horn piercing the scales on his lower back.

Monty’s bloodshot eyes turned, and he swiped with a claw, missing. Jackson jammed him hard in the chest with his chair legs, getting his attention focused back. Marko swung the chair like a club, breaking one of the legs but visibly denting the lizardman’s shoulder.

Chad collapsed across the table, spasming. The horned rabbit jumped back at Monty, spearing him in the thigh. The lizardman twisted nearly in half, slashing its claws at the rabbit. It hit the bunny and blood soaked its snowy white fur.

Conan the ogre from fourth squad smashed a table. He grabbed the base of it to use it as a club. A fae elf from his squad grabbed the oval wooden top, holding it as a shield, and advanced with the ogre.

A snowball looped in from Elyse at her fellow midniss, striking him in the shoulder. He turned and hissed, biting at Jackson. A human from second squad, Mandy, summoned a candleflame on her fist and ran in. She got bitten for her trouble and the flame winked out. Jackson hit Monty’s neck to separate him from the woman.

Conan swung the table base. It crashed over the sauroid’s head, knocking him to the floor. My rabbit speared him again, this time in the lower leg. The elf with carrying the table top stayed at Conan’s side, trying to ward off the claw slashes Monty was making.

Chad stood up. His eyes were bloodshot and he was slack jawed. The wound in his shoulder was obvious, with black traces through his skin where blood vessels ran to that area. The dark lines concentrated around his eyes, making him look almost like a raccoon. He wavered in place for a moment, looking around.

Chad lunged at Marko. He grabbed the much taller ogre from behind and bit him on the lat muscle under the arm. Marko roared and elbowed the human. Izzy ran past the screaming Chad and stood on a table. She hurriedly cast Pheromonal Healing and Marko sniffed deeply of the healing aroma. The bleeding wound on his muscle closed.

The human was crouched, fingers curled into claws. He snarled and jumped at Izzy. I stabbed him in the side of the head with my rabbit horn. Chad reeled to the side and one of Marko’s lunchbox sized hands crushed his face.

Jackson used the legs of his chair to push Monty away. My conjured rabbit vanished. Conan charged forward, bringing down the table base with a crash of splintering wood. The lizardman’s head visibly deformed, leaving the right have of his mouth open, fangs exposed. The left half of his mouth was crushed.

Oyyed from first squad wanted to play fire sorcerer. He cast candleflame and hit Monty in the side of the head. The lizard ignited. He didn’t make a single sound of pain, just kept hissing in apparent anger.

Elyse snowballed Chad, knocking him back to trip over a table. Once he was down we all set to curb stomping him. Booted foot after booted foot rained down until he was just a smear.

A slow clapping came from the door. Drill Sergeant Bidlack stood there. “If you’re all finished with fun and games, assemble in the training room in five minutes. He turned and left without a word.” We all stared at each other and silently filed out of the room.

On my way out, I snatched a look at Julian’s clipboard Dr. Mingelt had given him. There was Monty’s signature, plain as day. After it, in Julian’s scrawl, was written DEATH.