The world bent around me, and I vanished. I could smell the monsters before I could see them. Just as the world came back into focus, a mass of filthy, oily, stinking fur slammed into me. It smelled disgusting, like a mixture of garbage, dead things, and skunk.

"Oof!" Unlike everything else I'd fought in Copperhold so far, these skitterslinks were strong. They were actually pushing me backward! Me! These things were weak. How could that be? "Damn it!" I tried to plant my feet, but I couldn't find anything to grip on. Inch by inch, the wall of monsters was pushing me backward.

"Alex!" Tristan's voice called out behind me, her voice impassioned but tired. Exhausted even. "What do you need me to do?!"

"Get back!" I tried to slash at the creatures, but with them pressing on me like they were, it was all I could do to get my shield up. "I've got you!" I was stronger. I could handle it. She didn't need to risk herself. I'd keep her safe, no matter what.

"But—"

"But nothing! Get your ass back and rest!" I shoved with all my strength, slowing the monsters a little, but it was like pressing into sand. Rather than pushing them backward, all I seemed to do was compress their bodies. Even if that wasn't what I was going for, I did manage to get my shield up, even if I took a few bites to do. The rat bites stung and tingled terribly.

[Rampart]

The ghostly shield appeared directly in front of me this time, extending past the barriers of my physical shield. Beyond my magical barrier, dozens of rat monsters bit and clawed at the shield, their beady eyes glowing with a deep red light. Finally catching the toe of my boot on something firm, I heaved. Step by agonizing step, I shoved the wall of fur out of the crossroads, away from my allies, and back into the northern tunnel. As I moved, I sank farther and farther into the mass, until I couldn't see the tunnel walls anymore.

The monsters screamed as I pressed on, doing their best to bear down on me, but I held them fast. When they realized I wouldn't be pushed, several of the monsters whipped their gangly bodies around my shield, their jaws aimed for my head and neck.

Shifting, I managed to cut the first of the beasts in two, then lopped another's head off with a cross slash.

The third monster bit into the plate covering my shoulder, but its teeth couldn't punch through the armor Khadrel had made for me.

With an upward stab, I pierced through its stomach, then slashed, spraying the contents of its bowels across the cavern wall. That little maneuver compromised my stance, though. I felt more of the monsters lunging for me, but I couldn't react in time.

[Holy Light]

A wave of white light washed over me. My ears rang and my face grew hot as the monsters screamed and burned around me. Then, several began to fade away into black smoke. As they did, others took their places.

"I've got you!" Tristan's voice was laced with pain. "Trust in me!"

Damn woman! So fucking stubborn. "Just get back! I'm here to protect you!" I didn't know what her limits were, but I wasn't about to risk her life for shitty, weak monsters like these. We could handle it. "Ro! Na-Ya! Vral! I need you!"

"There are more over here," Ro shouted from the east. "A lot more!"

"Had to take your spot in the west," Na-Ya responded next, her voice echoing where I'd come from. "I'll come when I can!"

[Holy Light]

She punctuated her words with her spell.

Her spell's light illuminated something buried in the center of the tangle of monsters before me. Something... something was in the center of these things. But what? And were those words? It sounded like a hiccuping, slurping stream of words was coming from the center of the monsters. What the hell was in there?

"Vral! I need you!"

"No can do!" She wasn't laughing anymore. "These fucking things are endless..." I heard several monsters scream behind me. "Until I do, hold those things back!"

"I could really use the help right about—"

You're not a bitch, are you?"

"Ass!"

"Heh," That got a chuckle out of her. "Be strong, boy toy!"

Strong? I was fucking unbreakable.

With a roar, I shoved against the rat wall, sinking into the stinking flesh but pushing it backward all the same. Dozens of pricks of pain lit my arms up. Everywhere there was a chink in my armor, I felt those nasty teeth sinking into my skin. Worse, as I sank into the wall of fur inch by reeking inch, that thing I'd seen before came into view.

What I saw nearly made me vomit.

The monster wasn't a large group of rats. It was, but it wasn't. Not exactly. While it had dozens of gnashing mouths and countless limbs, at least half of them looked pitifully emaciated, and another quarter were outright dead, their bodies shrunken, their eyes hollow... but their bodies were still animated. And, just past my shield, I could just make out the point that connected them. All of their tails ended in a single tangle of flesh, the center of which had a single toothed, pulsing maw in the center, its throat undulating like a snake. All around it, the tails writhed, looking almost line tentacles of a massive lamprey.

"What... what the hell?" The hair on my neck stood on end. "What the hell is this thing?"

When monsters are left for long enough, they take new forms. Or, sometimes, when the Depths encroach on the surface, monsters can be empowered quickly. Faye's voice echoed in my mind once again. That little beauty is called a rat king. It's safe to assume that it's the current boss of Copperhold. At least, this floor of it.

"Fucking ew!" I stabbed at the mouth, but one of the dead skitterslinks shifted, absorbing the hit and forcing me further into the monster's bulk. More pricks of pain screamed up the backs of my legs as the monster wrapped around me, pulling me forward, toward the mouth. "How do I kill it?!"

The rats are like its arms. You have to go for the core.

I stabbed for the mouth again, nearly burying my blade in the rat king's mouth.

However, just before it met its death, three dead skitterslink corpses took the hit. Then, twisting in three directions at once. I gripped as tightly as I could, squeezing so hard that the grip vibrated and grew hot in my hand, but it was no use. With another jerk, the sword was wrenched from my fingertips and disappeared into the air above.

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"Shit!" Without a weapon, all I could do was hold it off and wait. Reaching my arm out, I grabbed as my monster fur as I could and squeezed, doing my best to keep it locked down. "Any time, guys!"

"Can't! More showed up!" Ro-Saleh shouted.

[Heroic Strike]

"Almost done! Sealing the passage now!" Na-Ya's voice was strained.

[Barrier]

"You're better than this!" Vral snapped. "Don't you let me down, asshole!"

"I won't!" The second the words left my lips, the rat king's disgusting arms twisted, wrapping around me and shoving me toward its core. As I was pulled forward, I could hear the sounds of their little rat hearts beating in unison.

That's when I heard it. That noise I heard before. Like a chant...

It was speaking.

"Eatyoueatyoueatyou," It repeated in a wet, gurgling chant. "BloodyonessaidIcouldeateverything, theytoldmeIcouldeatyou, toldmetoldmetoldmetoldme!"

"Bloody ones?" What was it talking about?

The maw screeched, spraying spittle across my ghost shield. "WANTABITE!!!" Like a fucking xenomorph, a small fanged mouth erupted from the maw of teeth and slime, striking my ghost shield in the center and shattering it in one strike. A wave of stinking spit splashed up my face as it retracted back into its tooth maw.

[Unbreakable]

My shield crumpled inward where the mouth struck, burying itself into my forearm.

"Fuck!" For the first time since I fought the Count, back when he ragdolled me when I'd first arrived in the Pit, I felt terribly outmatched.

Before I could think about what that meant, every single rat's mouth launched at my face.

[Iron Skin]

The rat king's mouths screamed as their teeth broke on my iron skin.

That gave me a reprieve, but I knew it wouldn't last. "Everyone, start moving out. I'll hold it off so you can get away!"

"NO!!" Tristan's voice erupted from behind me.

[Holy Light]

A wave of holy light cascaded around me. Everywhere I'd been bitten felt warm, soothed, all while the rat king's body burned away. It was as if the bites never happened. That didn't happen when I was struck by Na-Ya's spells.

"I'll never leave you!" Her voice was full of passion. "Never again!"

I was close enough to the maw now that I could strike it... if only I had my sword.

Remember, part of being a leader is trusting in those who follow you. You have to honor their choices and allow for them to grow. They never will if you don't let them test themselves.

"I can handle it..."

Can you?

"Well..." I didn't know.

You can't control everything. People must be free to make their choices, even when they're hard. Especially when they're hard. You must learn to have faith in the ones you share your life with, or you'd be better off continuing alone.

"I just..." I didn't want anyone to get hurt. Especially not for my sake.

You're part of "anyone," my friend. Do you think you can take all the world's suffering onto yourself? Do you think you keep everyone safe, even from themselves? Is that truly your duty? Is that your right?

Something clicked in my soul. I understood then the lie He promised me. His words, from the first time we ever spoke, echoed in my mind:

I WILL MAKE YOU STRONG ENOUGH THAT NO ONE YOU LOVE WILL EVER DIE AGAIN. GIVE YOURSELF TO ME, AND YOU WILL BE FREE OF LOSS.

To have the freedom He promised, I would have to have total control. I'd have to take everyone else's choices away. I didn't want to live in that world. Instead, I had to trust that she'd be fine. And if she wasn't... if she wasn't, I had to accept that it was her choice. I needed to become strong enough to let others be strong.

"Okay..." I looked back at her. "Do what you can! I believe in you!"

"Thank you..." She reached into her pack and withdrew her prayer book. Opening to a marked page, she began her soft, melodic chanting. Within seconds, the cave began to glow far, far brighter than before. "I've never used... this spell before... Give me... a minute... my love..."

Hearing something behind me, I turned just in time to see the monster's second mouth shoot out again, this time at my face.

Letting go of the wall of smoldering fur, I jerked my head to the side, narrowly avoiding certain death, and grabbed the tube that was the rat king's long, fleshy, impossibly disgusting mouth just behind its exposed teeth.

The monster screeched and pulled, but I wrenched backward, set my feet, and tightened every muscle in my body, preventing it from retreating.

"I'm here!" Na-Ya called out behind me, then started chanting.

[Holy Light]

Another wave of white light, far larger this time, struck the mass of fur. A good quarter of the rat king's body burned away in the blast.

[Holy Light]

A second wave of light, this one smaller, burned away more of the monster's body. As it did, my sword clattered to the ground to my right.

"Vral! I need you! Get me my sword!"

"Coming!" Her footsteps echoed behind me. Then, she was there beside me, daggers raised, red eyes ablaze. She gave the monster one look and shouted, "Gross!"

"I know!"

"You're not touching me with that hand ever again!"

"Rude!"

"Never again, you hear me?!"

The slimy second mouth slipped from my fingers and retracted into the rat king's toothy maw.

My sword's grip found my hand.

"Thanks, Vral!" Stabbing forward, I caught the monster directly in the center of its maw just as its second mouth launched forward. With a crack, the mouth split up the middle, and black blood erupted from the ruined orifice. The undulating mouth pulsed while, all around it, the rat bodies screamed in rage.

Vral's form blurred, and one of the skitterslinks fell to the ground, only to find a dagger in its eye an instant later.

"Don't waste time on the limbs. Cut them away from the center and keep going!"

"Got it!" She vanished, and another limb fell to the ground.

With half of its body burned away, I could see the disgusting thing use its arms like rat-tipped tentacles. The monster twisted, and one of the tentacles launched past my shield—judging by the angle, directly at the priestesses.

"Na-Ya!"

[Wind Slash]

The limb's mouth shrieked as a wave of air separated it from its host.

"Got you, brother!"

"Thanks, Ro!"

His footsteps approached from behind. "I'm here now."

"Cut them at their tails."

"Done." He darted forward and began battling the monstrous beast.

Squeaky voices filled the tunnel behind the rat king. In a flash, it sent out a half dozen of its fleshy tentacles. The skitterslinks behind it screamed, then joined the mass, their eyes lolling in their skulls as their bodies were brought to bear, weaving around the core like furry blades.

"It's using the other monsters to regenerate..." I muttered. "Great."

"Ew!!" Vral jumped into the air, slicing one of the new skitterslink's tails, separating it from the boss monster.

"Ugh!" Tristan groaned behind me as her light grew so bright that it was getting hard to see. "Damn it! Come on!" Her voice echoed upward. Angling so I could see her, I saw that she'd fallen to her knees. More, she was glowing, with large white wings spread out behind her shoulder blades... like an angel...

She looked exactly like an angel.

Even her hair was glowing golden white.

My heart skipped a beat. She was so, so beautiful.

"No more, my edán." Na-Ya's voice was soft but firm as she placed a hand on her cousin's shoulder. "That spell is too much for you. Rest. We can take it from—"

Tristan screamed, "STOP CODDLING ME!!" She stood on her wobbling feet.

"I'm not—"

"Just... just give me... a moment more... Ya..."

Na-Ya frowned but held up her hand, pointing it toward us.

[Holy Light]

A third wave of light, the smallest yet, burned away more of the boss monster, but before her light even faded, more tentacles reached behind it, and more monsters screamed as they were absorbed into the whole.

"T-thank... you..." Despite her shaking knees, Tristan's jaw was set, and her eyes were aflame with holy light. "I'm... not... weak..." She stepped forward, her hands outstretched and reaching for us. "... I can... be there... for you..." With three shaky steps, she was beside me. Waves of radiant heat rippled from her body. Raising her hand and pointing it at the rat king, she looked at me with her sapphire eyes, tears streaming down her beautiful face. "... always."

The rat king writhed and pulsed as she approached. Its rat limbs screaming in protest, it tried to bite at her, but Ro and Vral kept her safe, his sword and her daggers flashing in Tristan's light.

Seeing something move above her, my sword flashed, severing a rat limb just as it darted for her throat. Throwing my shield off my arm, I grabbed the tentacle before it retreated, then heaved, pulling the entire monster toward Tristan.

Placing both of her hands on either side of its gaping mouth, she whispered words of power.

[Purification]

The light emanating from her body grew so bright that I couldn't make out her shape. She became a being of pure light. The purest thing in all the world. Not painful. Soothing. Restorative. It bathed my skin and soul alike. Two tears fell down my face as I took in the sight.

Beside me, Vral gasped, then sobbed.

The rat king shrieked, then writhed, its dozen arms shuddering and thrashing as they struck at the priestess, but wherever they touched, they burned away, dissolving into motes of white light.

Tristan grew brighter still. Brighter... brighter... Her mouth opened, and with soft words laced with feeling, she whispered, "Go in the light."

Then, everything went white.

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