Shifting their shields forward, Ragnar and Zagthaan drew their weapons, eyeing off the fog as it moved towards them.

After a few moments, Ragnar drew a deep breath. “Spoon!” he yelled at the fog. Zagthaan raised an eyebrow as they waited again. "Right, this is boring," he stated, dropping his defensive posture and starting forward, causing Zagthaan to quick step to catch up with him, while trying to keep near the other three.

As the group progressed, the fog thickened, making it nearly impossible to see further than an outstretched hand.

Abs cleared his throat. “Time to light a torch or cast light?”

“That will make the fog harder to see through," Zagthaan stated.

“Light’s not that bright, but sunlight is.”

“Or just light a torch, cause heat should disperse it," Ragnar stated. "At least a little bit.”

Zagthaan sighed. "Well, in that case, does anyone have a torch, cause I don’t carry them.”

“Should always carry a torch,” Ragnar replied.

Tapping her warhammer to the jar with the firefly in it, she cast light on the head of her hammer. "I don't need a torch," she stated as the fog brightened, making her squint before she cancelled the spell.

Ragnar waved his own warhammer towards Zagthaan's feet. “Put light on your shoes. Lower light source. At least you’ll be able to see the ground.”

Shrugging, she unhooked the jar from her belt “Okay, fair enough.” Reaching down, she tapped her right foot, causing the fog at ground level to glow.

After ten, mostly silent, minutes of walking, the group passed out of the fog and into the town. Glancing behind them, the fog ended in a wall as if held back by the town.

Looking back towards the town, Ragnar, abs and Zagthaan all realise that Dur and Stigr are missing.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine, they’re big boys," Ragnar said confidently.

“Mmmmm. Probably…” Zagthaan said, trailing off, not completing her thought.

“Hopefully they’ll be alright,” Abs added.

Zagthaan and Ragnar call out in slightly louder than conversational tone, getting no answer.

"Eh, they’ll be fine, they’re just not answering,” Ragnar stated.

Abs shushed the pair. “Stop making noise, they should be making footsteps or anything.”

Zagthaan waited for a moment. “The fog is repelled by the town?”

“Sounds like we need to investigate that," Ragnar added. "Detect magic?”

“I don’t have that prepared today.”

“Well, there’s no magic here then. Let’s go forward.” Ragnar turned and started strolling confidently down the street.

The main street, also seemingly the only street other than alleyways, lay ahead of them, darkened and closed stores on either side of the street. They passed an armory, a snowboard store, a general grocer and a backpackers hostel before coming across a tavern. A faint light flickered inside passed the shuttered windows.

“That looks safe, maybe,” Abs said as Ragnar tried the door handle.

The sound of a chair scraping along the floor reached them as the light was extinguished. The door rattled in Ragnar's hand as the door didn't open. “I know you’re there, sell me beer!”

“We don’t know the place," Abs said worriedly. "Maybe they’re hiding from…. Whatever there is.”

From behind then, a trash can hit the ground noisily, causing all three to turn around in a hurry. From the alley, and two others nearby, three creatures emerge, eyes hollowed out, the flesh flayed from their jaw and neck, muscles and bone exposed to the midday, fog dampened light. Throaty, croaking noises issue from their damaged mouths.

“Battle formation!” Zagthaan barked, barely able get her shield around before she was set on by two of the creatures.

As they swung at her, she noted, painfully, that their hands had many spiky protrusions, a few of them slipping past her guard and into the seams of her armour.

As they struck her, Abs ducked under the swing of the third, moving away from Ragnar and Zagthaan. Ragnar swung with his hammer, taking a few spikes off as he shoved the shield spikes into the creature.

Zagthaan took a breath to heal herself a little before slamming her warhammer into the side of one of the creatures. "Something's off," she called out as her strike didn't seem to damage the zombie like creature as it should have.

Striking at the creature Abs had ducked under, his rapier pierced the midriff. The creature twisted, ripping the weapon from Abs's grip.

"Fuck," he yelped as the creature swung at him, catching him in the shoulder. Zagthaan winced as some of the damage was redirected from Abs to her, the linked rings flaring for a moment.

The creature Ragnar was attacking retaliated, its blow being redirected away from him by his shield as Zagthaan was hit again, drawing a growl of pain from her.

The creatures, now that they were close enough to be studied a little, had gaping holes in the base of their skulls where it looked like something had burrowed in and up.

Ragnar and Zagthaan stepped forward, flanking one creature while Ragnar and Abs flanked another. Ragnar's hammer collided with the creature attacking Zagthaan, his shield barely missing the one between him and Abs.

Her aura surged, healing magic bolstering her while Abs drew his dagger, sinking it into the leg of the creature attacking him.

The creature swung back, both arms pounding into the gnome, causing the rings to flare again, transferring damage to Zagthaan as she was also hit, the plate on her right forearm buckling under the blow.

Focussing on the creature attacking him, Ragnar struck with both warhammer and shield. The creature, now showing signs of wear, started to slow down.

"Sarenrae!" Zagthaan called out as the head of her hammer ignited, fire licking off it. Swinging hard, she struck the one between her and Ragnar, taking its arm off at the elbow. The arm flew into the street, the end flickering with fire.

“Well, if slashing you doesn’t work, what about smashing you?” Abs drew a contraption which sprung out, a small mace head lashing past the creature attacking him. As he took a grip of the handle, he ducked under the retaliating strike.

Zagthaan grunted in pain as the strikes hit her again, denting the plate on her right forearm. "These need to go down!" she yelled.

"Working on it," Ragnar replied as he swung at the one between them, taking its head off. "Told ya I was working on it," he said as the head spun across the street.

Zagthaan's aura surged again, a red-grey barrier pushing out from her. "Bane of undead," she growled as the flames on her hammer faded, replaced with a white glow. Lashing out, she missed by inches, the creature next to her stumbling out of the way.

As the creature attacking Abs struck again, its hands slammed into the ground, giving Abs a clear strike of its side. His flick mace slammed into its side, sending it staggering.

The creature attacking Zagthaan pierced her arm, making her cry out in pain, a wound opening on her forearm from where the creature had pierced it. Both remaining creatures became agitated and more animated, twitching violently.

Ragnar and Abs, working in concert, struck out with weapons and shield, battering the creature with blows while Zagthaan caused a burst of energy to emit from her warhammer again before slamming it into the chest of the creature attacking her.

She stared at the hammer as the glow faded, expecting the disruptive energy to destroy the creature. "They're not undead," she called as she focussed on healing herself quickly.

The creature between Abs and Ragnar spasmed, spikes erupting out from its form, hitting both gnome and dragonkin before retracting.

Lifting its arms as if to strike with them, the creature facing Zagthaan paused and opened its mouth, a flower blooming from its mouth before it spat at her, covering her arm in goop. She cursed loudly as the spit stung her arm.

The distant alarm, closer to them than when they'd first heard it, faded and stopped. The door near them opened, a short, squat form barely visible in the darkened interior. "Quick, get inside," a female voice barked.

“One moment, have things to murder," Ragnar stated as he swung his warhammer into the creatures side. "What's the rush?" Swinging his shield back, the creature punched, spikes punching several holes through the shield.

“Uh, there’s worse coming.”

“By coming, you mean, minutes, seconds?”

“Uh, it’s hard to say. It’s usually better to not be around.”

Ragnar, shrugging, took a step towards the door as Zagthaan moved to his side, fire flaring from her warhammer, flicking out again as it missed the head of her target. "Abs, move!" she barked at him as she felt her energy start to fade.

Abs, ignoring Zagthaan, made a weak attempt to grab his rapier before smashing the creature again with his mace and ducking under its retaliating swing.

The creature, previously focussed on Zagthaan, stepped around her as it focussed on Ragnar, slamming its damaged arms into him.

“You guys should probably hurry, being outside is bad.”

Ragnar glanced over his shoulder. “Murder is fun though.”

A few buildings down, a street lantern flickered to life, bringing barely any more light to the dimly lit street. Beyond it stood a massive humanoid creature, 11 feet tall and easily 5 feet wide.

“Building! Building building building!” Ragnar yelled as he ran inside, the creature swiping at his back.

As Zagthaan backed away, the creature ignored her completely, maintaining its eyeless gaze on Ragnar.

Yelling wordlessly, Abs gripped his rapier and pulled, the weapon sliding free before he broke away from the creature and darted towards the door. As he passed both creatures, they swiped, missing him by a hair.

Reaching the door, Abs was grabbed by Ragnar and Zagthaan, who heaved him inside. The woman, who looked like she was debating slamming the door in his face, slammed the door shut and heaved a metal bar into place as the creatures slammed into the door.

Thump.

Slam.

WHUMP.

A light flickered to life outside, the glow visible through the cracks of the door and shuttered windows. Pressing his eye to one of the shutter gaps, Ragnar peered out and at the alleyway across the road.

The large creature, barely visible through the crack, stepped into his view, dragging a smaller creature by a leg. Stopping where it was clearly in Ragnar's view, it picked up the creature, ripping it in half then dropping the pieces to the ground before stalking off.

“This guy seems pretty neat," Ragnar said, pointing a thumb claw toward the monstrous humanoid.

"You have a weird definition of neat," Zagthaan replied flatly as she peeled the last of her forearm armour off.

“I’m a viking. He tore a guy in half. That’s pretty amazing.”

“I’m just glad that wasn’t me,” Abs stated with a shiver.

“I wouldn’t recommend you guys fighting him, but I’ll give him a crack.”

“You’re welcome to," Zagthann said as she turned to the woman. “Ah, lady, hi. Thank you for letting us in.”

“Thank you for saving my life, my allies," Abs said jovially.

"You’re welcome,” Zagthaan replied.

Ragnar tucked his hammer away. “Got anything to drink? It’s been a rough morning.”

“Got alcohol to pour on this?” Zagthaan asked, holding out her arm.

“There’s not much left here," the woman said. "I’ll see what I can find. My name is Lucy, by the way.” The woman pulled off her helmet, short cropped blonde hair framing pretty dwarven features. “I used to be the deputy of this town.”

“Well, you did a pretty shitty job, the town’s gone to crap.” Ragnar dumped his shield on the table next to where Zagthaan had sat down.

“Thanks. I appreciate it,” Lucy replied sarcastically.

"You’re welcome."

“About that drink. Water? Water.”

“Not fair at all. Where’s Stigr when I need him?”

Lucy ducked behind the bar as Zagthaan started tending to her wound.

Returning with a few cups, she handed them to Abs and Zagthaan, half a cup of mead in each, while she passed Ragnar a full tankard of water.

“Ah, that hits the spot," Abs said loudly, snacking his lips.

Shaking her head and sighing, she retrieved another half cup of mead, passing it to Ragnar as she drank from her own.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

"Thanks," Zagthaan said in dwarven, drawing a surprised look from Lucy. "Ragnar, Abs," she said, pointing. "I'm Zagthaan."

“What am I surprised for, I’ve seen crazier things," Lucy said, draining her cup.

Zagthaan snorted as she started to tend to her wound, scraping the gunk off and, using her boline knife and a small mortar and pestle, started preparing various treatments.

“Zagthaan, can you do something about my wounds?” Ragnar asked, approaching.

Glaring, she sipped her drink. “What do you want?”

“I require healing.”

“Get your arse over here.” Uttering a quick spell, she touched his chest before looking over to the dwarf. “Hey, Lucy, how long do the creatures hang around for, can we rest here?”

“Things should be, I guess, what you call safe, for now," Lucy replied, looking at the door, the lights outside now extinguished.

“Even with the big one outside?”

“Uh. Whatever that creature is, I call him the ‘cleaner’, he shows up once the sirens fade and takes care of whatever’s still on the street.”

“So, what is he?” Abs asked as he sat with Zagthaan.

“Far as I can tell, some kind of giant man?" Lucy shrugged. "He’s… to be very clear, nobody has been able to inflict ANY kind of harm on him. Uh, and everyone who has tried, has been killed. So, what he is, I can’t be sure, because being out on the street when he’s around, is bad. We learnt that very quickly.”

“Where’d he come from?” Ragnar asked.

“When did this start happening?” Abs chimed in.

Lucy sighed. “This all started about 3-4 months ago, end of summer, 739.”

“Huh?" Abs replied dumbly. "Where’s Dur, he might know something.”

“Dur? Please tell me you don’t have any friends who were left outside.”

“Uh, we don’t know where they are.”

Ragnar drained his cup. “They wandered off on their own, they’ll be fine.”

“Lost them in the fog," Abs added

Lucy glanced at the door. “You should probably find them, as soon as possible.”

Zagthaan paused in treating her arm. “Hang on, hang on. Lucy, that date, again?”

"739."

“Okay, sweetie, the date is, like, much later than that. How long do you say time has passed since then?”

“Two, three months. It’s hard to keep track of the days. When you mean later, what do you mean?”

"It's 1232."

Lucy laughed. “Ah, that’s, that’s a good one.”

Zagthaan, in dwarvish, said, “on Torag’s honour, I do not lie in regards to this.”

Lucy clamped her mouth shut for a moment. “Are you serious?”

“Mhmm.”

"We’re all pretty serious," Abs stated.

“If it’s been that long, then, how, why, has no help come?”

“Because we didn’t know?" Zagthaan replied. "The world is shattered, things are upside down.”

The trio gave a brief, and fractured, history from what dregs of knowledge they knew.

“I guess it’s not any crazier than what’s been happening here," Lucy finally said, a stunned look on her face.

“Got any coffee?”

“What’s coffee?”

“Damnit," Zagthaan sighed. "I don’t suppose you have a restoration spell on hand?”

“I’m sorry, I’m a fighter, not a cleric.”

“Okay, I need to sleep, this is bugging the crap outta me.” Zagthaan rubber the bandages she had wrapped around her forearm. “Lucy, does the itching stop?”

“Itching?”

Zagthaan held up her arm. “It is itching like fucking crazy.”

“I could cut it off if you want,” Ragnar volunteered, putting a hand on his boarding axe.

“I don’t wish to test the theory of whether it grows back or not yet.”

“That might actually not be a bad idea,” Lucy stated flatly.

Ragnar slowly drew his axe out.

“Those things. They were people once,” Lucy said.

Zagthaan glanced at her. “Figured as much.”

Abs waved at Zagthaan's arm. “Were they sprayed on the wounds with whatever was sprayed on Zagthaan and then turned into that?”

“That’s how it spreads.”

“How long does it take to spread?” Zagthaan asked.

“I’ve seen people take twelve hours to a week.”

Zagthaan stood. “Right, fuck it, I need to rest and get my spells back. I’ll use restoration and other spells and if that doesn’t work, you can cut off my arm, okay Ragnar?”

Ragnar leant down and whispered to Abs “When she’s sleeping, hold her down, we’ll cut it off.”

“You know I’m not strong enough," Abs replied.

“She’ll be sleeping, you’ll be fine.”

“Oh, yeah, true.”

Zagthaan held up her hand, glaring at Abs as she took off the platinum ring binding them, holding out her hand for the other. Abs grimaced before passing it to her.

Lucy shuffled a foot. “So, you know, um, no offence, but, if you’re going to sleep, can you do it in the back room where I can lock you in?”

“That’s fine," Zagthaan agreed, following Lucy to a back room, which was locked behind her as she started taking off her remaining armour and settling down as best she could.

Lucy sat with Ragnar and Abs, refilling their cups as she filled them in on what had happened to the town.

After the shattering had occurred, less than 5 months prior for her, the minister of the church, a human woman, started behaving strangely. She had started preaching from a new book, which divided the town.

She preached about eternal life, about bringing a god into the world in order to create an eden for them, now that they were cut off from the world outside their chaos isolated home.

In the eyes of some of the people, the teachings were harsh, unfair and even grotesque. But, a lot of the small town's residents, the teachings sounded reasonable, as they were isolated.

Lucy looked saddened. "We’re talking about the apocalypse, after all. People were looking for answers, and this was an answer for them."

The town became very divided, and, unfortunately, in Lucy's opinion, the majority sided with the minister.

And then, after only a few weeks, after a gathering at the church, the alarm sounded and, descending down from further up the mountain, up the road, came the creatures.

What was left of the same townsfolk fought off the creatures. "There were plenty of the croakers, a few of the dogs, the cleaner, and other creatures I have no idea how to describe." She sipped her drink.

Most of the folk had died or gone into hiding. Mostly dead.

From what Lucy could tell, everything led back to the church, but she hasn’t been able to get back there. “I don’t know how to fix this problem. There were people that tried to leave town, through the fog, and they haven’t come back or they were killed, their bodies found nailed to doors or hung on fences or spread out across the street. Or, seen again, but changed in some way, into some other kind of monster, or into those that you’ve already seen.”

Lucy had been holed up in the bar for some weeks by herself, going out between the sirens after the cleaner had been through to scavenge what supplies she could. “Which isn’t a lot," she stated. "I’ve got my deputies leather armour, my family’s waraxe, my helmet, some food and drink and I’ve got my boomstick.” Reaching over the top of the bar, she retrieved a previously hidden, ancient looking, shotgun. "And I've got a little ammo for it."

“Whoa,” Abs said, the mouth of the weapon almost big enough to fit his head in.

Ragnar tapped the table thoughtfully with a claw. “So, why can’t we get to the church?”

“The road to the church is gone," she said, shaking her head. "This town, the lower part anyway, exists along the single road and on the flatter parts of the mountain. This area we call the 'foothills', the upper area is, well, 'upper district', is on a more plateaued area. That area has the ski lodge, the church, some high end clothing stores and restaurants, the forest rangers lodge, that stuff. Anyway, the road up the mountain is gone, sheared away by something. The only way up now is via the gondola, which goes between the upper and lower sections of the Bates Hotel. You may have…" she trailed off at their lack of recognition. "Does the Bates Hotel chain still exist?"

"Uh, no?" Abs replied.

Lucy shook her head in wonder again before continuing. "The hotel is split into two parts, the hostel, the cheaper area down here, and the high end in the Upper District. The gondola is the only way up now. Now, we did try to get to the Gondola once, but that hotel has become infested and maze like. Doors are locked and can't be broken. We were repelled and turned away, overwhelmed and chased off.”

“What about lock picking?” Abs queried.

“We didn’t have… This was generally a nice place, we didn’t have someone with that kind of skill set. But, I mean, if we couldn’t break the locks, I don't know picking them would work. I guess it could be tried. What am I talking about?” Lucy shook her head. “Why am I even considering even going back in there?”

“Well, it’s either you show us around and how to get to the hotel or you just stay here and starve to death," Abs stated.

“Is there a path up the mountain?” Ragnar asked.

“Mountain path? Not that I know of, unless you’re capable of climbing vertically.”

“Ehh… “

"That fog, whatever it is, covers the mountains, as far as we can tell. Even if you could climb, I’m not sure you’d even come back.”

“I think the gondola is the way to go," Abs said. "You’re the sheriff Lucy. You should join us. You want to save the town, don’t you? That’s the sheriff’s job, right?”

“I’m not the sheriff.”

“You are now,” Ragnar offered.

“Right now, I’m Lucy. And I’m scared. And I want to get out.”

“Well, the only way to get out is to go up.”

“Yeah," Abs agreed.

Lucy sighed. “What about your friends?”

"They’ll be fine," Ragnar stated confidently.

“Yeah, they’ll be fine,” Abs nodded.

“Do you want to like, leave them a note, so if they come here, they know where to go?”

“Yeah, sure," Abs said. "I think Stigr will want to get a drink.”

Lucy stood, getting a notepad, ink and quill. “Well, I guess,” she started, looking between Ragnar and Abs, she gave it to Abs. “Do you want to write them a note?”

Abs started writing the note, pausing now and then.

Lucy looked at Ragnar. “You look strong, so i guess, do you mind helping me pack up the supplies to get them ready?”

“I guess. I’m not doing much else, am I?”

The next handful of minutes were spent dividing her meager supplies between two hiking packs while Abs finished the note.

Watching the packing, Abs noted the looks Lucy gave towards the back room where Zagthaan presumably slept, while keeping her shotgun nearby.

“Don’t worry about her," Ragnar said, catching her look. "I can take care of her.”

Abs held his note up and read it out loud. “Dur and Stigr. We’re going up to the gondola, to the hotel. If you want to find us, meet us there. Go up the gondola to go up the mountain, then we can get out of here.” Shrugging, he placed it on the table closest to the door.

Lucy sighed and sat heavily as they finished packing. “Look, guys, it’s been a long day, I’m tired. I haven’t had a good nights… I haven’t had a good rest in months. Can I trust you, one of you, to watch out?”

Ragnar shrugged. “Watch out for the front door, or Zagthaan’s door?”

“I guess both. I would kill, and have killed, to get some decent sleep. Just a few hours.”

Nodding, Ragnar waved her away as he rested against the wall near the front door.

Lucy, nodding thanks to Ragnar, went behind the bar, pulled open a cupboard, revealing a nest of blankets and stuff. She climbed in with her shotgun, pulling the door almost closed.

“Cozy," Ragnar said in approval. "Let’s rest till the morning, we don’t want to go around in the dark.”

~

Something stirred in her, forcing Zagthaan to consciousness as the distant alarm made itself known. Sucking her breath in, she placed her left hand over the bandaged wound, feeling the heat from it as pain pulsed through her arm.

"There's an invader in your body," the shadow snake voice whispered insistently.

“No shit, how do I get it out then?” Zagthaan demanded. With no reply forthcoming from the serpent, she glared at her arm before beginning to meditate for her spells.

~

As Ragnar, crouching behind the shuttered window, peered through the gap, he saw figures start to move through the town in the darkness, black silhouettes in the darkness. He noted several humanoids and a huge, dog like creature before a clatter and a scrape from the roof drew his attention. Another clatter reached his ears before the flapping of large wing started, fading into the night.

“Neat. They can just stay outside.”

The cupboard door creaked open slowly, the mouth of Lucy's shotgun leading. "Are they gone?" she whispered into the dark room.

“Yes?”

Lucy climbed out, yawning. She immediately got a drink of mead for herself. “God, I’m hungry. Breakfast anyone?”

“Sure," Abs said, stretching.

“I mean, it’s midnight, but I’m hungry.”

“Snacks are snacks," Ragnar agreed.

Lucy retrieved some food. “Trail mix, jerky or granola bar?”

“The fuck’s a granola bar?” Ragnar asked.

“It’s like stuff, kind of held together by other stuff, like oats and shit.”

“Sounds complicated. Jerky me.”

“Guess I’m having the granola bar,” she replied unhappy. “Has your friend made any noise?”

“So far, no.” Ragnar looked towards the door. “Know anything about a bat thing or a dog?”

“I did warn you there were other things out there.”

“Alright then.”

“Have you ever encountered them?” Abs asked.

“Not directly," she said with a shake of her head. "The dogs, they’re fast. There’s not really avoiding them, not unless you’re fast or can climb. But they are quite dumb, so they can be avoided.”

“Can they be hit with a hammer?” Ragnar asked, tapping his hammer.

“Uh, yeah. I mean, we’ve killed a few, I guess. But I don’t know anything about a giant bat thing. It wouldn’t surprise me if anything like that was out there.”

“I heard flapping and scrapping.”

“That means this is probably not a safe location anymore.”

“Was it ever really a safe location?” Ragnar asked with a slight tilt of his head.

“Nowhere here is really safe.”

“But did you have a good sleep?” Abs asked around a piece of jerky in his mouth.

“Ah… I did alright, yes.”

“But better than before?”

“Definitely better than before.”

~

As she finished her meditating, Zagthaan gingerly unwrapped the bandage on her forearm before she cast light on the jar holding the firefly.

Dark veins ran under her skin from the wound, down to her wrist and up to the crook of her elbow. Poking out of the back of her wrist was a new spike.

Taking a deep breath, she began casting several spells. "Torag guide my casting, Sarenrae help me resist this invader. Pharasma help restore me."

Her aura surged, washing away the tiredness with her spell, but not stopping or removing the burning sensation coming from her arm.

"Thrice damned whoreson infliction," she growled as she pressed the spiralling symbol of Pharasma to the wound. "By all that's good and holy, delay this damned disease."

Heat surged and pain lanced through her arm as if the spikes were digging deeper. She did the only thing she could as she dropped the symbol. She screamed in pain.

Lucy spun, her shotgun pointing at the door, shaking slightly. Pushing the barrel down slightly, Ragnar shook his head. "Nah, nah, I got this."

"Sarenrae, burn this sickness from me," Zagthaan intoned. The spell settling her churning stomach, but doing nothing else. Standing shakily, she banged on the door. "Ragnar!" she called. "It's fucking time."

Abs unlocked and pulled open the door, revealing Zagthaan, standing shakily, sweat dripping from her face, bringing her face to face with Ragnar, his boarding axe in his hand.

"Table, now," Zagthaan growled, pointing with her left arm. As they crossed the floor, she pulled out a strip of leather. “Dear Torag, this is going to hurt like a motherfucker. Lucy, tie this tourniquet around my arm please," she said, pointing at her upper right arm.

Lucy looked at Zagthaan concerned before nervously putting the shotgun down. She tied the tourniquet, probably a bit too tight.

“That’s fine,” Zagthaan growled.

"You want something to drink or bite down on?” Lucy asked, looking pale.

“Bite down on, yes. Drink later.”

Lucy quickly retrieved a wooden spoon from the kitchen as Abs lit a torch and a small fire in the fireplace.

Putting the spoon in her mouth, Zagthaan knelt next to the table, placing her arm on the table. "Ragnar, do it," she growled around the spoon handle.

Drawing his axe, Ragnar stared into her eyes for a moment before she looked away. In an instant, he swung, severing her arm halfway between elbow and shoulder.

Growling in pain, she drew on her anger, forcing her shaking left hand to draw a healing rune on the remainder of her right arm. Her aura surged, slowing but not stopping the blood flow. Spitting the spoon out, she looked towards Abs. "Abs, bring the torch here," she growled.

“Okay, here you go," he said, passing her the torch.

Taking the torch in her shaking hand, she pressed the lit end to the stump of her arm, causing her to cry out in pain again as she swayed, but stayed on her knees. Abs took the torch from her hand as it dipped, strength fleeing from Zagthaan.

“Burn it,” she whispered into the quietness. “Burn it now.”

Abs, gingerly picking it up, tossed it into the fire and watched. Staggering to her feet, Zagthaan joined the others, who looked into the fire. The fire resistant red skin crackled slowly away, revealing smouldering embers, reminiscent of burning wood, where the veins were.

“That makes no fucking sense,” Zagthaan mumbled.

“So Zagthaan is turning into a tree?” Ragnar asked, making Zagthaan glance worriedly at the stump of her arm.

“If you are so fire resistant, why didn’t we just burn your arm in the first place,” Abs asked, drawing a glare from Zagthaan. “What?” he asked dumbly.

“Get me a fucking drink gnome.”

“Okay. Uh, Lucy, where do you keep the drinks, where’s the mead? Lucy help!”

“Yeah, uh,” Lucy replied as she ran out of the room, returning a moment later with a small bottle of hard liquor. “I don’t drink this stuff myself, but here you go.”

Zagthaan sat down, tipping the bottle back and drinking heavily from it.

☆~☆