Ashes of the Fallen

Continuing into the cave system, the passageways weren't uniform and resembled large cracks in the mountainside, which was most likely the actual case. Gray slabs of massive rocks that formed the base of the mountain, split here and there in such a way as to provide a natural cave. This was far from a man-made structure.

It was actually, kind of neat.

The further we traveled, the darker it became but it was never too dark to see.

With my halberd lowered and ready for a quick thrust, I kept my pace as I turned each and every corner. Slowing and shortening my steps, I walked as quietly as I could, while listening intently to the sounds of rats echoing in the distance.

We were coming upon  them, and they would be in range, at any moment.

I was eager for my revenge.

Stopping for a split-second to gather myself before turning the last corner, the mutated rats could be heard on the other side chattering away with their odd language. I raised my halberd above my head, utilizing it like an axe and stepped forward.

Turning the corner with an inhale, I held my breath as I prepared to swing down on some pitiful creature when a frost bolt hit me dead center in the chest. Staggered from the sudden blow, another frost bolt flew towards my face as I batted it away with a quick swing. The frost exploded in a mist and distorted my vision for a millisecond, as the rats in the distance turned tail and retreated back down into the darkness of the cave.

"What the," I whispered to myself, unsure if my eyes were playing tricks.

They retreated… after launching a surprise counter attack?

"Save your mana Kate, heal me when I'm low," I said to the girl whose hands had started to glow. There was no reason for her to waste mana now, with a frost bolt only damaging me by about five-percent of my total health.

They were weak casts and weren't something to worry about in single digits… in waves though, they were frightening. The slowing effect had spread through my chest and into my shoulders as I stretched and attempted to warm up.

A few solid hits and I would nearly be frozen over, restricted in my movements to a pathetic degree. Frost or Ice magic, was primarily a crowd control school of spells. They outlasted you, stopped you in your tracks, and controlled the tempo of a fight.

That's how they won.

Yeah, ranged crowd control was the bane of physical melee players everywhere.

"Alright, let's follow them."

"Um, are you sure… that we should chase them?" asked Kate, clearly out of hope that I would change my mind once questioned.

Ignoring her, I made my way down into the darkness.

Inching forward one step at a time, the rats had gone silent with only the lingering smell of their dirty fur left as a clue to their location. The pungent odor hung in the air, disgustingly so, to the point where I let my nose lead. With my mask around my neck, I attempted to shift my senses. Eyes shut in the darkness, the loud echoes of our steps distracted slightly but the smell guided me as my outstretched arms ran along the edges of the interior walls.

A split in the rocks led to two distinct pathways, both heading downwards and into an abyss. All I knew, all I could know, was that the left path smelt slightly worse… and seemed, to contain a fresher odor. Taking the left path, the three of us continued down until we reached a large opening, a gigantic cavern of sorts.

Sunlight shone down through a large gaping hole in the ceiling as the large cavity that spanned an easy hundred yards in each direction was littered with smaller crags and boulders. Behind those smaller rocks that were at least ten to thirty feet tall, were the beady eyes of my prey. Peering at us from behind the safety of their rocks while hiding in the dim light of the cavern, they watched our every move.

And then, something I never expected, happened.

Filing out in a line from every single rock in the vicinity, a hundred rats had lined up with their hands held at their chests. Mouths began to move, as hands began to glow. A cold blue, whitish light had formed between their palms as frost collected and coalesced into the shape of a small ball. A hundred balls of frost, all at knee-height, in a singular line scattered across the entire cavern.

I didn't have the words.

Turning back and wrapping both Selene and Kate in an arm each, I looked ahead and thought of the two magic words that would save our hides, Flash Step. Only, nothing happened, and as I realized the issue I could hear the end coming.

I could hear the hundred-plus frost bolts being released as they cut through the air, and I knew what would happen if even a quarter of them hit. Without the time to even utter a word, I grabbed both women with all of my strength and threw them forward and onto the ground as I dove on top of them.