My squeak of indignation did little to slow the flight of the bone dagger. Its tip would have sunk square into Theo’s back if it weren’t for the flash of golden light. Stella materialized from nowhere, catching the blade before the tip could touch the Champion’s skin and shattering it into splinters between her teeth. The bright glow of Miranda’s magic dissipated around the cattle dog's jaw. The spell was impotent against her overwhelming strength.

Her lips lifted in an intense snarl as she rounded on Miranda and Orion, spreading her feet wide as the muscles in her shoulders bulged. Her beautiful brown eyes were no longer soft as they reflected the raging firelight.

I beamed as much as a mouse could and said from my hiding place in Theo’s long and very oily tresses, “You see? Theo is coming with us. Go find another seal to break.”

Miranda stumbled back away from the fierce wall of muscle that was Stella and gripped tight to Orion’s arm. She whispered up at him but with my sensitive ears I heard every word, “Maybe we should go.”

Orion brushed her off, the scars on his face pulling tight as he sneered, “Leave off woman. Joe, my friend, why don’t you come out and we can have a little chat? I’ve been wanting to meet you for a very long time.”

“Very tempting,” I snapped back as the man’s head slowly turned in my direction. “But I think I’d rather keep my skin attached to my body.”

He tried to hide it but the smile still turned the corner of his mouth. “Clever boy. But that is all you are, a boy. There is no fighting Melumek, Joe. He is already touching this world. A few more little tasks and he’ll be fully risen. A God returned to man and we his slaves. Come join us and maybe you’ll survive the Great Cull.”

“He’s right, Joe,” Miranda chimed in. “I’ve seen it. I’ve heard every evil the spirits have suffered at the hands of those who thought themselves better than they are. Come with me.”

I knew they were simply trying to distract me. Did they truly think I couldn’t see the skeletons creeping up behind them?

I took a breath and fed as much bile into my voice as I could, “You have angered the Shadow Walkers, Orion.”

The man’s eyes locked on Theo. I cowered deeper into the Champion’s hair. My words had had an impact. His pale face had paled even further and his sneer grew, fueling the dark hatred burning in his eyes.

“Enough of this,” the High Priestess howled as she rushed forward. “My brethren will deal with these intruders, my Lady. Continue with the ceremony and leave it to me.”

The High Priestess lifted her disfigured stumps and bright light exploded from the ends of them, swirling and twisting until they formed into the arms she was missing. The light shifted down her body, lighting every curve and every dip until she looked like a small sun to my mouse eyes.

Orion roared and yanked a matching pair of stiletto blades from behind his belt. With a well-practiced move that sent his flaming coat flapping around him like the wings of a devil he spun, driving the blade up and under the High Priestess’ ribs to pierce her heart.

The smells that assailed me were intense. I desperately covered my nose with my paws but it did little to hide the scents from me. Fear, the metallic tang of blood, betrayal, over sweet rot, rage, and worst of all sewage. It all swirled together into waves of red-streaked brown that blinded me for a moment.

“Why?” the High Priestess asked on her last wheezing breath before the light surrounding her darkened and she crashed to the ground with a thunderous thud.

Orion spat on her corpse to the wails of the gathered cultists. “I told you to speak when spoken to, you useless bitch.”

Miranda wailed and covered her face with her hands. Her skeleton followers charged forward, surrounding her with clenched bony fists raised. It wasn’t just them though, small creatures, some long dead and others still extremely gooey, gathered. All of them smelled like sickly sweet compost, just as Miranda’s magic did.

The cultists were disbanding in chaos. I could hear the clang of steel striking steel and the explosions that came with blasts of magic. There was screaming and warcries and even desperate begging. The flames of the bonfire were finally beginning to sputter as my little shadow glob did as I’d told him to. The lack of light cast the cultists into the darkness of night and threw flickering shadows across Orion’s face.

I glanced up at the moon. The bright orb had started its descent. Orion cursed as he spun around, his eyes desperately searching.

“It’s over, Orion. Ready to give up yet?” I asked.

It was a mistake to goad him like that. The man’s dark eyes landed squarely on Theo’s back over Stella’s head. I dug down deeper into the hair but there was only so much I could do when nestled atop a man’s head.

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“Slave, turn around,” he barked.

Theo did as instructed without hesitation. I dug my claws into his scalp to keep from being tossed and yet the man still didn’t react. That couldn’t be good.

Orion was coming closer now, stalking forward like a panther into the sparse flickering light still cast by the dying bonfire. Stella snarled and lunged forward before letting out a loud echoing bark that had my fatigue and magicka bars flashing with boosted power.

“Slave, where is Joe?” Orion asked, unbothered by Stella’s unnatural aggression.

“I don’t know,” Theo said in a monotone. “But there is a mouse on top of my head.”

Orion reeled back like he’d been slapped before he tilted his head and howled with laughter. My gut dropped down closer to my ass and my throat clamped tight.

“Thanks a lot, Theo,” I muttered.

“You’re welcome, mouse,” Theo said.

I slapped a paw against my face before squeaking and bolting as a dagger sliced across Theo’s scalp. The sharp blade just barely missed slicing my tail in two. I skurried down Theo’s body as a wave of hot fresh blood coated the man’s head from the shallow gash the blade left behind. I didn’t stop when I hit the ground, dashing forward until I could climb up atop Stella.

“Run, girl!”

Stella’s body glowed with bright intensity as she shot forward using her Charge skill, her feet pounding against the ground as she scattered any that stood in our way, corpse or struggling cultist alike.

“You can’t escape me that easily!” Orion bellowed. “You’ll pay for standing in my way again.”

“Kiss my ass Orion,” I shouted over my shoulder.

Stella skidded to a halt by the prickly bush we’d hidden behind not too long ago. I curled into a ball and focused on the real me. The one hidden deep inside my tiny mouse form.

Morphing back was easier than changing had been in the first place. The world fell oddly silent as I rose to my full height with a groan, stretching out my back until it let out a satisfying series of cracks. Stella barked and bounced around my feet. I chuckled and rubbed the fur on her head before eyeing the chaos in front of me.

Most of the cultists had disappeared into the night now aside from the cluster of bodies littering the dusty ground. I couldn’t believe they were all dead. Surely an agent of the Shadow Walkers wouldn’t so brazenly break the third rule. I didn’t know Jitta though. We’d only met a few times and she’d acted a lot more like Kendrick than a simple Jackroller like me.

Maybe one day I would find out exactly what Kendrick and all those who acted just like him actually were.

A burst of agony that viciously radiated from my guts had me doubling over and screaming past a wave of nausea. My health dropped astronomically, almost to the stage of blinking from one single hit. I scrabbled across my bare skin, cursing myself for not putting my armor back on straight away, and yanked the blade from my body, dropping to my knees as I stemmed the flow of hot blood with a hand.

“You can’t hide from me you little rat,” Orion said as he marched closer, kicking aside the fallen body of one of the red-robed cultists.

If he’d been any closer the single strike would have killed me. I was sure of it. I pressed my bloodied fingers to the three lines tattooed on my inner wrist and equipped my armor in a wild rush, along with my Silver Short Sword of Thieving and Crossbow of Umbra. It was the Amulet of Deepening Shadow that I wanted though. My magicka pool was still boosted by Stella’s cry, meaning the effects of the amulet should last that little bit longer.

I clutched the amulet and let the wave of magic fill me until my body turned transparent. I’d like to say it wasn’t a feeling I knew but there was no forgetting the ramifications of overusing my Shadow Rush skill. Not in this lifetime at least. I suppose I should be grateful for the familiarity of it all. It kept me from standing like a deer in the headlights as my brain struggled to process the feeling.

I ran in an awful jerking kind of way bellowing over my shoulder for Stella to do the same. Orion laughed when he reached the bush, stomping it with his big-heeled boot and setting it ablaze. I couldn’t figure out if the man was a thief class like me or some sort of mage. Maybe he was a weird mix of both. I just hoped he was not some minor god or something batshit crazy like that.

“What happened to all your brave words, Joe? Were you blowing smoke out of your ass by any chance?” Orion asked.

The man stomped after me, not sparing a moment to search the moonlit landscape for tracks or any other signs of my passing. My eyes flicked downward, making sure I was still holding the amulet in my hand; I was. There was no way the man would be able to hear my steps over the ruckus still going on all around us.

“He’s following your trail of blood you idiot,” Jitta said as she flapped up beside me.

“Oh, right.”

There was no point draining my magicka if he was just going to find me anyway. I dropped the amulet and lifted my arm, firing a bolt at the man marching toward me. His wicked grin only grew wider as he effortlessly knocked it from the air. Seriously, what was even the point of ranged weapons?

“You’re mine now,” Orion said.

And then he stopped walking all of a sudden, the look of satisfaction draining from his face as he stared past me. My eyes flicked that way but all I saw was Jitta hovering by my shoulder.

“Is he scared of you?” I asked the bird quietly.

“Not me, her,” Jitta answered, shifting in the air.

It’s stupid to turn your back on a well-armed enemy but I did it anyway. Beams of brilliant moonlight lit up the rolling hill behind me, making the small creature sitting at the peak glow a deep golden color.

I swallowed hard, my throat stinging from the action as I tried not to tremble at the look the creature was giving me. Once upon a time, I wasn't scared of her, hell I’d even cuddled her, but now that I knew what she could do I was terrified. It was a small comfort that Orion felt the same way.

Sasye climbed to her feet, her bushy tail puffed out behind her like a peacock fan as she took one delicate step toward us and then another.