Harry froze, Blood Sense flaring in every direction. Threads pulsed around him, sickly yellow and crawling closer. Shepherds. Spiders. Too many.

  Chirping bounced off the walls in sharp, clipped bursts. Calls. Commands. The answering scrape of chitin filled the dark. Skittering on stone. Closing.

  He glanced down at his meters.

  H: 106 | V: 87 | TM: 21%

  System, I think we may be in trouble.

  :: System: Danger correlates strongly with accelerated advancement. Run if necessary.

  He burned vitae. Strength surged through his limbs. Spent another, speed exploding through him until his muscles thrummed.

  Focus.

  The world stretched into clean, perfect slow motion. Every tremor. Every thread. Every breath.

  Charge for the guns! he said. All in the valley of Death, Rode the six hundred.

  He rose and launched forward.

  The nearest Shepherd jerked in surprise, mandibles parting, wet mucus gathering for a web cast. Too slow. Harry slammed in low, driving the spear up through the sagging gut. The point tore through soft tissue, ripping upward through ribs and chest. Guts spilled out in a hot, wet rush as the Shepherd folded open around the steel, and the spearhead punched free at the top of the stroke.

  A spider shot in under his stride, fangs reaching for his calf. Harry brought his heel down hard. The abdomen burst under his boot, spraying yellow fluid across the stone as legs twitched and snapped beneath him.

  The other spider spat. Venom splattered across the chainmail on his back and rolled off as he pushed past it, running hard while he veered left into a narrow tunnel.

  The speed boost carried him several strides deeper before the timer ran out.

  Behind him the chirping rose to a frantic pitch.

  H: 106 | V: 85 | TM: 23%

  :: Objective: Eliminate the predators feeding on the rats. (2/10)

  Harry ran down the dark passage, Blood Sense reaching ahead of him. Threads swayed and shifted through the tunnels. Chirping echoed off the stone, sharp bursts overlapping from every direction. Spiders scraped along the floor and higher up the walls, their legs tapping in uneven rhythm.

  He ran hard, took a turn, another, boots hammering the stone. A cluster of threads flared bright around the next corner.

  He burned a vitae for Speed.

  Forward the Light Brigade.

  He rounded the corner. The Shepherd had its back to him. Two spiders clung high on the stone. Several more were at its feet.

  One spat. Harry dodged out of the way.

  One of the spiders high on the jut of rock launched straight for his face. Harry brought the shield up in a hard arcing swing, catching it mid-air. The impact drove it sideways into the wall where it burst on the stone, legs and yellow fluid spraying wide.

  The Shepherd spun toward him, mandibles flaring. Harry drove the spear straight into its chest and kept moving. The impact slammed the creature back into the wall. He ripped the blade free and turned.

  Two spiders rushed him, one close behind the other. He skewered the first clean through. Its legs thrashed around the spearhead. He kicked the second away and spun again as the chittering swelled ahead and to the right.

  He turned to run back the way he came. A spider lunged and caught his calf. Fangs punched in deep.

  A sharp stab of pain. He felt the injected venom burning under the skin, hot and sharp, messages stacking in the corner of his vision.

  “Ow ow ow.”

  Damage from the bite, not the venom, but the poison felt like it was boiling under his skin.

  Before he could get clear, the last spider up on the rock launched. It landed on his shoulder, claws scraping chainmail, and drove its fangs into the side of his neck. White heat flared under his jaw. Harry slapped it away hard. It hit the wall, slid down, and continued to skitter after him with two of its legs dragging on one side.

  The pain in his neck was worse than the leg. Much worse. Hot, twisting, digging deep.

  He ran, cutting right at the next junction, breath quick and ragged, the burning in his neck making everything a haze. When he had space between the threads and the movement, he dropped into a crouch and burned a vitae. The pain released all at once, and he could think again.

  Was there a man dismayed? Not though the soldier knew. Someone had blundered.

  He straightened and moved back up toward where the fight had started.

  H: 104 | V: 83 | TM: 25%

  :: Objective: Eliminate the predators feeding on the rats. (3/10)

  His Blood Sense warned him and he stopped just short of another bend. He peeked around the corner. Another Shepherd crouched low and quiet with its spiders clustered tight around its legs. Speed boost still on cooldown. He backed into the shadows, gripping the spear hard, Blood Sense counting the threads closing behind him.

  Getting close. Almost. A few more seconds.

  Closer. Almost time.

  Now.

  He burned two vitae on speed. The extra to extend the duration. The speed hit him hard. He pulled his senses into slow motion to match.

  He burst out of the tunnel, surged forward and drove the spear straight into the Shepherd’s torso. The impact folded the creature around the shaft. It reached for him, claws flailing. One raked across his shoulder. Chainmail caught most of it but the claw dragged down his arm into skin, splitting a deep line beneath the armor. Dark, thick blood seeping out.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Harry kicked it off the blade and wrenched the spear free as chittering erupted around him, sharp and frantic as the spiders reacted.

  Five or six swarmed his legs at once. Bodies thumping against his shins, claws scrabbling at the chainmail, fangs searching for gaps. One leapt for the inside of his knee while another clamped on the side of his boot.

  Three spits of venom came from different angles. Harry raised the shield and caught two. The third splashed across his thigh and ran harmlessly down his leg.

  He stomped two spiders flat, kicked another into the wall hard enough to crack it open, then drove the spear through a fourth, pinning it to the floor.

  A spider lunged up and bit deep into his thigh. Pain flared bright and sharp, almost as bad as the one in his neck earlier.

  Enough.

  He spent a vitae and the pain snapped away.

  More venom spat from the back ranks. One glob hit the back of his neck and ran cold down his spine. It burned at the skin but did nothing else.

  He spun around. The ones chasing him were coming into the small room. A dozen spiders and he could sense two Shepherds close behind. He sprinted back into the tunnels heading back the way he’d gone before, making a circle.

  He halted. Blood Sense showed they weren’t following. They were turning. Going back up. Repositioning.

  He turned on his heel, and slipped back into the chamber he had just left. He crouched low and moved to follow, boots dragging streaks of yellow fluid along the stone.

  Chirping rose ahead and to both sides.

  H: 98 | V: 80 | TM: 27%

  :: Objective: Eliminate the predators feeding on the rats. (4/10)

  Harry pushed into the narrow passage just as another Shepherd rounded the corner. They collided chest to chest, no room to thrust. He snapped the butt of the spear up in a short, brutal strike. The blow cracked against its side and knocked it flat on its back.

  He stepped in hard and brought his boot down. The skull gave way under his heel with a thick crunch, yellow fluid and bone fragments spreading across the stone.

  Spiders surged in hard. They jumped at his face, arms, legs, claws clicking as they scrambled for any exposed skin. Venom spit came in steady bursts, splattering across the shield again and again until it ran in pale streaks down the wood.

  One spray slipped past the edge and splashed across his cheek. It burned sharp, but did nothing else.

  More spiders reached him. Fangs hit his hands, neck, lower legs. Sharp bites, each one a bright stab of pain.

  He burned vitae when the pain was too much and again in quick succession when he took another bite to the neck.

  A Shepherd lunged from the side and slammed its clawed hand into his chest, punching through the chainmail. Harry staggered back from the hit. Before he could gather himself, the Shepherd spat a wide sheet of webbing that slapped across his chest and shoulder and pinned him hard against the wall. Every spot where it touched his skin lit with sharp tingling.

  :: Warning: You have been poisoned. (Shepherd's Kiss).

  :: System: Immune to poison. Shepherd's Kiss does not take effect.

  The Shepherd closed fast, claws lifting for a killing strike. Harry had one arm free and shot his hand out, grabbing the creature by its mandibles. He yanked it in close and drove his forehead into its face. Bone cracked. The Shepherd reeled back, legs skittering for balance.

  He burned a vitae, adding strength.

  Harry swung his fist in a long arc straight into the side of its head. The impact crushed the skull in one heavy hit and the Shepherd collapsed in a ruined heap at his feet.

  He tore himself free of the remaining strands just as spiders swarmed in. Two of them sank their fangs into his leg and lower back before he pulled clear. The spear hung useless behind him, buried deep in the web and out of reach.

  He slapped one spider aside, kicked another away, and stumbled around the corner. The pain from the last bites spiked hard. He burned a vitae, clearing it, then ran straight down the passage, putting distance between himself and the swarm.

  The tunnel ended in solid stone.

  A dead end.

  H: 83 | V: 76 | TM: 31%

  :: Objective: Eliminate the predators feeding on the rats. (6/10)

  Harry unhooked the mace and shifted his grip, planting his feet in the center of the dead-end chamber. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.

  System, take over healing please. But only as much as needed.

  :: System: Affirmative.

  Chirping poured down the tunnel, sharp and fast. Blood Sense flared. One Shepherd in front. A dozen spiders packed tight around it.

  Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die.

  The Shepherd rushed in.

  Harry swung once. The mace smashed into its head and dropped it in a heap of bone and yellow fluid.

  A spider launched at his face. He caught it mid-air on the rim of the shield. It hit, bounced, and skittered away screeching.

  Three more spat venom. Harry slipped past two. The third splashed across the back of the hand holding the mace, burning the skin in a sharp flare of pain.

  He charged, trying to plow through the spiders, but a sheet of web hit him full-on and spun him sideways. One arm stuck to his ribs. He staggered back, cursing, and burned a vitae. Strength tore through him. He ripped his arm free with a loud snap of breaking strands.

  A second Shepherd stepped into the room and fired another web. It struck him across the chest and shoulder, slamming him back and pinning him upright against the wall. Spiders swarmed in at once, claws tapping, fangs searching for any gap.

  A third Shepherd pushed in behind the others and launched its web as well. The strands spread wide and locked him in place. Fully pinned. No give left. At least three spiders crawled onto him and sank their fangs into open skin. Hot pain bit deep as venom pumped in.

  The two Shepherds at the front charged.

  Harry triggered Frenzy.

  Rage washed over him. His pulse hammered. Breath tore in and out. The world sharpened into brutal clarity. Every chirp, every skitter, every heartbeat slammed in his ears. The sharp stink of the Shepherds mixed with the cloying sweetness of spilled guts and venom.

  His mouth flooded with saliva. Fangs slid free.

  He snarled, tore free of the webs in a single violent surge, and launched forward.

  The mace slipped from his hand and hit the floor, forgotten.

  The next Shepherd lunged. Harry met it head-on and drove his fist straight into its chest. Bone buckled under the blow, ribs snapping inward. His hand punched deep into the cavity up to the wrist.

  Before the creature could fall away, he shoved his other hand into the split he had opened and gripped hard. Frenzy strength flooded through him. He tore outward. The chest split wide. Cartilage tore. The torso opened from sternum to spine. Pale fluids and coils of gut spilled across his forearm as he ripped the creature in half and flung the pieces aside.

  The second Shepherd tried to cast another web. Harry rushed straight through the strands, seized its head with both hands, and crushed the skull in a single squeeze. Bone and pulp blew out between his fingers.

  Spiders leapt onto him from every direction, biting, spitting, crawling. He ignored them.

  He closed on the third Shepherd. It raked claws across his face, opening lines of heat along his cheek. Harry caught its arm, snapped it at the joint, and ripped the creature apart in a shower of yellow fluid.

  Spiders covered him now, clinging to his back, his legs, his arms. He moved through them without thought, killing as he went. He crushed bodies under his boots. He punched them off his chest. He caught them mid-air and closed his fists until they burst. He slammed others into the floor or the wall, leaving smears of legs and fluid behind him.

  He did not stop. He did not shield himself. He only killed.

  The last spider leapt at his throat. He caught it with both hands and tore it apart, pieces dropping wetly at his feet.

  Silence took the room. No chirping. No skittering. Only the drip of fluids running down the walls and the sound of his own low growl fading in his throat as he dropped to his knees. The frenzy fading away.

  H: 33 | V: 43 | TM: 61%

  :: Objective: Eliminate the predators feeding on the rats. (10/10)

  Into the valley of Death, Rode the six hundred.