I hadn't noticed the silence of the rats until Harper said something. Even with the horses stopped and the echoes of the massive tunnel, any change in noise level should have been noticeable.

  But moments after she pointed it out, the rats exploded into panic, squeaking and running into the light, heading right for us like a furry mob of boy band fans. Before we could react, the massive flood of rats flowed around us, to the horror of the horses. GB started kicking and stamping the mass of rats, while the others attempted to buck and run.

  They would have, too, except both of my companions were able to keep hold of their mounts. As soon as the flood had started, the rats disappeared into the darkness behind us. The new silence was broken by the sound of heavy footsteps heading in our direction, and it was something the rats feared. I could only guess what that could be.

  Juan pulled a bow into his hand. Not the magnificent black bow I’d seen him show off to the guards, but the serviceable one I had first encountered him with. “How many?” he asked Harper.

  “Five, maybe six,” she answered tightly, pulling her rapier from her belt and one of her long knives from her inventory. “I had hoped they were dead.”

  “You know what the fuck they are?” I asked, wishing I had bought some more mana potions before we had ended up in this situation. I have to watch my mana this time.

  “They are like rats, only bigger, and they walk on two legs. The bastards are smarter too—a lot smarter than anything else down here. Almost everything else in the sewers fears them, as they eat everything they can catch, including the rats. They really hate me.” She shuddered.

  “Giant rodent men? There are fucking rat men?” I snapped. “What did you do to them?”

  “I killed their mother,” she replied, matching my tone. “They caught me and kept me in a cage for weeks after that, poking and prodding me, laughing their weird squeaky laughs while they tormented me.”

  “Oh,” I said weakly and quickly changed the subject. “They are really playing up the tension vibe here with how slowly they’re moving.” I could finally differentiate the steps into multiple fucking rat men walking towards us.

  The sounds of their heavy footfalls slowed, and a second later I heard a stifled squeak of a rat and a crunching sound. Is—is one of them stopping for a snack?

  My unspoken question was answered when a half-eaten rat flew out of the darkness. Before it hit Harper, she neatly sliced it in two. Not even a drop of blood or other fluid landed on her. A roar of rage came from the darkness before the first massive, bipedal rat stepped into the light. It pointed at Harper, and a greenish glowing glob flew from its outstretched claw directly at her. She easily sidestepped the magical projectile and ran toward the creature, screaming at it in rage.

  The way she moved, so full of murderous intent, was unlike anything I had ever seen. Whatever had happened to her down here, the scars were deep. The rat man swung at her so swiftly I almost missed it. But the raging purple-skinned cambion was faster, going under the blow and slicing the outstretched arm with her knife from paw to shoulder, moving behind it and slashing its tail off with her rapier.

  Another rat-thing lumbered out of the dark, only to sprout arrows from where each of its eyes had been. Both rat men screamed in pain, and I sent a Firebolt at the second one. I missed, but the Firebolt lit up the darkness as the spell flew down the tunnel, causing the rest of the giant-ass rodents to cower from the added light. They were too far away for Chain Lightning to be effective, but not for Juan’s bow. He used the opportunity to shoot arrows into the darkness where the rat men were standing. The cries of pain were the only indication that each arrow had hit.

  The first rat-man-thing made angry sounds that sounded like curses as the skin and meat of its arm sloughed off because of Harper's knife work. The monster tried to put it back into place as it stumbled from losing its tail, its balance lost. I think the monstrous rodent was in shock. I watched in horror as Harper rode on the shoulders of the blinded one, stabbing it repeatedly. Tears were making wet lines on her face, reflecting the lantern light.

  It got closer to me, not even noticing that I was there, so I cast two Ice Shards into it. The monster fell over on its side, mewling in pain. I hadn’t killed the damned thing, but it was dying from what Harper and I had done to it. Mostly Harper. I didn’t want to get too close, so I cast three more Ice Shards into the crying rat creature’s throat and chest. Which, on top of the damage the Harper had inflicted, ended its life.

  I heard her out in the dark, killing more of them. GB trotted forward looking for a fight and expanding the illuminated area. The light from the mare’s lamp illuminated dead giant rats on the ground and Harper slicing the neck of a live one. Blood sprayed in a red mist and cast weird shadows over Harper and the sewer walls. GB snorted and went no farther, eyeing me wildly.

  Harper screamed wordlessly, her voice hoarse as she charged the final three rat monsters. The blood of the creatures splattered against her face with each slice of her blades. I shuddered at the gruesome sight. These last of the huge, ugly creatures refused to flee and attacked with claw, spell, and teeth. But the maddened purple-skinned cambion was the apparent mistress of this dance, avoiding every blow, using their attacks against them to launch herself from one bipedal rodent to another with deadly consequence. Juan joined GB and me in watching, the older man keeping an arrow ready.

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  “I never got the full story from her, and I doubt I ever will. But those things, they didn’t treat her well when they had her. She was alone in the dark except when they came to torture her. I don’t think it matters much now. It is enough for them to die, these bastardos ratas.” Juan spat, watching her rip through the creatures like a vengeful spirit.

  The final rat man attempted to flee, but Juan put an arrow through the back of its knee. Or what I thought was its knee. It fell and tried to move away on its good leg and arms. She cut its tail off. It screamed horribly. She sliced the back of its good leg, then let it pull itself along with its arms. She watched it for a moment, like a cat I'd once observed toying with a mouse. Nothing is more terrifying than a cat with its prey. Or my friend at that moment. She cut its wrist almost clinically. It stopped for a moment, and I thought I could even hear it sobbing.

  The sound was so horrible and ugly; my heart ached for the creature. Nobody deserved that kind of treatment. I started forward so I could put it out of its misery, but Juan’s hand clamped onto my arm.

  “No, chico. This is for her to finish. We don’t know. We really don’t know and can’t judge her for this. Harper needs this,” he said firmly.

  Watching Harper practically howl in triumph, I found myself terrified of my friends. Yet I could not tear my eyes away from her casual torture of this creature, just toying with the bipedal rat, shallow cut by shallow cut. I didn't understand Juan’s full acceptance of her actions as right and proper in that moment, and I hoped and prayed I never would. This world had made monsters of them.

  I remembered hearing stories of the horrors that soldiers went through and the breakdowns they sometimes had stateside. Was this the same thing, I wondered?

  Maybe I was judging my new companions too harshly, but to see what Harper was capable of in this dark place… I wanted nothing more than to run. I did not want to become so callous or maddened by vengeance! I just wanted to go home.

  But I stood there and watched as she finally killed the sobbing creature she had mutilated. Then she dropped her weapons and stumbled back to the wall, only to slide down it. She pulled her knees to her chest like a young child, rocking and sobbing. My heart broke to see her in so much pain, so lost in the moment. This time, when I stepped forward, the old man let me go to her.

  It didn’t matter that I had just watched her butcher clearly sapient beings—however ugly and cruel they were—nor did I think about the look in her eyes as she’d done it. Here was my friend, and she was in pain. I did the only thing I could do: I sat down next to her in support while she rocked her personal demons away.

  It took her some time to get herself back to a place where she could rejoin the world. But during that time, Juan had gone through and looted the corpses, sorted the spoils, and dragged the bodies off where Harper couldn’t see them. I’m sure he would have burned them if it had been safe, but there wasn’t anywhere for the smoke to go down here. And if it escaped up to the streets, certain soldiers of fortune might get curious.

  “Thank you for sitting with me,” she finally said, and cracked a small smile. She put her hand on my knee, using it to get to her feet. I watched her walk over to the piles of loot, rooting through them. She came back with a book and tossed it to me. I barely caught it before it hit the floor of the tunnel.

  “What is this?” I asked, turning it in my hands. It was large, with a fancy carved cover.

  “Spellbook. A Mage's spellbook,” she said, turning back to the piles of spoils.

  I opened the cover of the massive book. Inside, the title stated it was for the spell Poisonous Shot. I turned the pages, seeing words and diagrams that made no sense to me. The whole thing glowed, and I suddenly knew the spell. The words were mostly legible. I could see it was rather cheap on the mana side, only 4 mana points, so I could cast it several times more than my other attack spells. The book was still in my hands, and I transferred it to my inventory.

  Spell Level Range Cost Damage

  Poisonous Shot 1 50 Feet 4 MP 1-6 HP per 6 seconds

  Poison

  I cast Poisonous Shot against the opposite wall, and unlike what the first rat monster had cast, it wasn’t a blob, more like a crossbow bolt. And it was fast. “Oh, boy!” I said excitedly. The flow of the power down my arm was… different. Where Firebolt was warm and Ice Shard cool, Poisonous Shot had a numbing sensation, leaving me all tingly. It was pleasant, like the buzz from alcohol. When the feeling faded, I thought about casting it again.

  “Was that a new spell?” Juan asked, walking up to me.

  I nodded. “Yeah, Poisonous Shot,” I answered distractedly, stil considering the sensation of the spell’s magic.

  “Good. Poison works nicely over time,” he replied. “I hope you kept the book. You’re going to need it when you want to improve the spell.”

  That got my attention. “That’s good to know.” I hadn’t realized that was a thing, reading a book to level up my spells. “What about my other spells? Do I have to find or buy books for those?” I asked. I wondered how the magic would feel differently when I upgraded my spells. There was a pleasant shiver running up my spine with the thought.

  “Find, yes. I doubt anyone in their right mind would even carry Mage spellbooks in their shop,” Juan replied dryly. “Especially not with how people feel about Mages.”

  “Hey, are you two going to keep gabbing or get over here and take your shares of the loot? We need to get moving. I fucking hate it down here!” Harper shouted. She was still on edge, but had gotten herself back to functioning. Mostly.

  I noticed I had ended up with some experience energy, though not enough to level up, probably for my assist on the first Rat Man. Juan let me grab what I wanted from the piles of loot, which wasn’t much. I grabbed a small bag of 6 gold and 20 silver as well as an odd necklace of bone and colored glass. There was a feeling of pressure when I picked it up that sounded like Juan’s description of magical items. I wouldn’t know what it was until I had it identified, though, so I put it immediately into my backpack.

  We continued onward in silence, leading our horses down the tunnel. I heard what I could only assume was a swarm of rats down a branching tunnel, and Juan nodded when I looked at him. The bodies of the dead rat monsters were down there. We came to a fork in the tunnel, and I looked at my map, showing that one of the fog-covered spots was down the right fork about fifty feet away.

  We ran into a few of those forks as we moved through the sewers. The constant trickle of water from where we entered had grown over time, so we stayed closer to the side of the tunnel to stay out of the fetid water. The smell, which I had gotten accustomed to, also became more intense as we walked past human waste of multiple forms.

  I was beginning to miss the constant sound of rats when I heard new noises. Rough, scaly skin rasped against the bricks of the tunnel. It sounded like snakes. There were motherfucking snakes in these motherfucking tunnels.

  And I hate snakes.

  And the rat men would have had him for breakfast... after torturing him. He still doesn't quite get how harsh this world is, and without Juan and Harper... he'd be just one more dead Earthborn.