All was silent as Riley stepped into the cavern, still rife with the corpses and battle damage that had been kicked up from his last visit. The remaining infected miners turned slowly, drawn by the soft sound of gravel shifting beneath the soles of his boots.

  He stood alone. Even Arubis had hung back to give him space. He wanted nothing else to draw their attention.

  “Alright you lot,” Riley said. “I was training to be a doctor, not too long ago. Before all of this happened. Before I got died and got sent to this medieval hell.”

  The miners turned and started to shuffle toward him. The hulking beast, with his makeshift club of blood-smeared stone, began to move last. The ground shook at his every step, dislodging scree from the ceiling. Riley tried not to dwell on the obscene smear dripping from the club. His own lifeblood, reduced to a drying stain.

  “Back home, there’s one tenet that’s sacred in medical institutions across the world. The Hippocratic Oath. Do no harm. Unfortunately, I’m past the point where I can preserve the sanctity of life. Here and now, I need to defend myself.” He started circling the group, drawing their attention from the mouth of the cavern. “And everything I leaned about healing people? Not much good to me, as a result. But...”

  He lifted his staff, the black tip glittering in the lantern light of the cavern. “I can still help people in other ways. This... ‘Rot’, whatever it is. It’s made monsters out of you. A virulent infection for which there is no known cure. But I know no sane man would want to live like this. So I’ll offer you all the closest thing to a cure.”

  He narrowed his eyes behind his mask.

  “I’ll give you the cure of death.”

  A cloud of Choking Haze flew from his staff as the nearest two miners lurched his way. They doubled over, puking clots of blood and bile. Riley’s shotel thudded into the neck of the nearest one, severing a chunk of it, while the other steeled himself and swung.

  Riley blocked as best he could with his staff, but the thud of the impact shook up to hos shoulders and knocked his back into the cavern wall. He grunted, pain shooting through his spine, but he righted himself quickly.

  He rolled away as another swing came his way, the tip of the miner’s pick slamming into the wall and rending a swathe from the earth. The first of the miners fell to the earth, blood bubbling from his neck, until he finally went still and died.

  “Come on,” Riley huffed beneath his mask.

  He avoided another swing, well aware of the towering monster thudding toward him. In the corner of his eye he could just barely see the mining wizard taking aim, the air smoking around his palms. But he could also see small shadows skittering on the edge of the cavern, rapidly drawing toward him. Riley smirked.

  His shotel swung down, splitting the skull of the nearest miner and sending him sprawling to the dirt. Now it was just Riley, the big guy, and the wizard.

  The giant swung his club toward Riley, who deftly jumped away from it. But the impact still smashed a great chunk of the ground away, and the pressure behind the blow sent Riley stumbling and skidding away.

  His staff hummed as he channelled Flesh-Rend through it, immediately sending waves of pain and pressure through Riley’s body. The unseen plague was directed at the giant’s legs, causing the skin to bubble and split and burst, rivulets of blood seeming from a myriad of melting wounds. The giant groaned, nearly losing his balance, and swung wildly at Riley who stood just at the edge of his range.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Another pained groan echoed through the cavern. Riley turned, now watching as Mesquard and the three lizards had found purchase on the mining wizard’s body. Two tore chunks from his neck, the third lizard relentlessly clawing at his eyeball, while Mesquard’s claws were scraping swathes of skin from his brow.

  Riley wanted to smile. One less thing to worry about.

  With the exertion reaching a fever pitch in his body, he turned his aim to the giant’s club hand. Raw scabs and welts erupted along the giant’s wrist, bleeding profusely, pustules that even the Rot could not ignore.

  Riley exhaled, the pain too much for himto keep the spell up. But it had had the desired effect. The giant lurched, barely able to stand on his ravished legs, while his arm trembled as he tried to raise his rocky weapon again.

  Riley mustered his energy and dashed forward, narrowly avoiding a swing from the mutant’s undamaged arm. His shotel swatted across the bloodied left knee of the beast, spraying rotten blood onto the ground. The giant swayed, nearly toppling over, and collapsed with a shuddering thud as Riley struck the second knee.

  The overgrown miner swung wildly with his other hand as he toppled, backhanding Riley away. The blow flung Riley off his feet and knocked all the air from his lungs. He landed harshly on the ground, wincing and shuddering. From where he lay he could see his verminous allies were still hard at work. One of the lizards had been dashed by a flying rock, but those who remained had left the wizard’s face and neck a bloodied ruin.

  Riley reached down with a trembling hand and gripped the Shard on his belt. Vitality suddenly raced through his body, dulling his aches and exhaustion. He rose to his feet, pain swiftly fading from him, while the giant struggled to pull himself up.

  His head was low enough for Riley’s blade to reach, and he doubted he would get another golden opportunity like this any time soon.

  Steeling himself, Riley charged forward and swung. He cut through a great pustule on the top of his head, rotten fluids spraying outward, and struck the bone below. His skull was harder than steel, the impact sending a shudder through Riley’s arm.

  “Damn!” he hissed, jerking back as the giant groped blindly for him. “Even the shotel can’t cut through there? Fine, how about this?!”

  He swung his shotel down in an arc and thwacked it into the giant’s throat. Then did so again and again, the leathery hide of his neck gradually splitting and breaking against the smoky black metal. Riley felt as if he was trying to chop down an oak tree with a butter knife. It gave way, bit by bit, until the gushing stump heralded his head lolling away from his shoulders.

  The mining wizard had fallen to the earth, his face drenched in an unholy amount of blood. Riley ignored the ache in his swordarm and advanced on the prone figure. He rammed the butt of his staff down, shattering his skull like an eggshell.

  Between that kill, and the death of the giant, Riley felt a potent surge of Essence race through his body.

  Tez has fallen, noble priest. Riley watched as Zic made her way around the corpse, blood dripping down her fanged jaws.

  “Sorry for your loss.”

  Mourne not. My hatchling, who I loved dearly, perished slaying a vile enemy of the mother goddess. Nought could bring me more pride.

  “Well... glad to hear it,” Riley murmured.

  Mesquard made his way over. He spat a chunk of scalp onto the ground. Wretched taste, he uttered.

  “I’d imagine so, yeah,” Riley admitted, grimacing at the thought of putting his mouth anywhere near such a thing. “You sure biting those guys is safe? You won’t catch the Rot too?”

  Mesquard shook his head. Rot is born from a miasma, noble emissary. To breathe that in is to welcome it into your flesh. So long as we do not breathe it, we are safe.

  Riley grimaced.

  Noble priest, Zic said, clawing at a furrow in the cavern wall. The packed dirt fell away, revealing a hollow housing a sparkling obsidian mineral. As payment for your aid, take this. It would have made a fine meal, but for you... you will make better use of it.

  Curiously, Riley reached down and lift the chunk into his hand. He turned the spiky mass from side to side before checking it in his Inventory.

  Bolstering Stone

  A rare form of mineral, pulled from the shadows of the earth. Said to be imbued with the power of the god Rohll, lord of soil and stone, who sculpted the landscape and filled it with a myriad of mythic metals.

  Used to upgrade weapons and armour when given to a talented smith.

  Riley turned his gaze from the stone to his gear, and he found himself smiling. “Happy to help, Zic.” It was good to do good, he told himself.