Rat's nest

As the two halves of the rat fell away, Matilda slouched forward, panting with her hands on her thighs. The instant her song ended, the vines began to crumble and recede, until all that was left were the bodies of her and Rebecca’s kills. John frowned at that - he’d expected Matilda’s kills to dustify as well, given she was in his party - but it seemed that wasn’t the case. Then the smell of the dismembered rodent hit him and his frown turned into a grimace as he tried to keep his lunch down.

“Generally, it’s advised to kill rodents with a single blow rather than tearing them apart,” Rebecca observed, covering her face with her hand as she spoke as if that’d do something about the smell. “Also, how much did that little stunt wear you out?”

Matilda appeared the least distressed by the carnage she’d wrought. “More… more than I thought. It took quite a bit to keep up the song, but I feel way more tired than I’d expected.” Seeing the expressions on the other two’s faces, she shrugged and waved a hand at the remnants of the rodent. “I’ve seen worse in the kitchen. You wouldn’t believe how bad some abattoirs are at bisecting a carcass… but, umm… any ideas why I’m so worn out?”

The novice gave a shrug. “Mana exhaustion maybe? I’m not a spellcaster, but generally the more you use magic, the more tired you’re going to get. That’s probably doubly true if your casting involves you singing throughout, especially when you’re moving at the same time. You’re going to have to hit the gym as well as the books long term if you want to keep up in a fight.”

As she finished explaining, Rebecca gestured to the mound of trash that hid the rodents’ warren. “There’ll probably be another half dozen or so inside. Are you still good to continue? If not, John and I can handle it. There’s no shame in needing to rest when you’re still learning to manage your strength… at least, that’s what my mentor says,” she added, blushing slightly as she finished speaking.

In the end, they waited a few moments for Matilda to fully get her breath back before pushing on. The mana usage (if that was what had caused her tiredness) didn’t seem too bad, but singing at full volume in a stressful situation without missing a word was more intensive than her usual humming along to the radio while she cooked, and so she’d misjudged how much force she’d needed to put into her words.

Rebecca took the lead, shunting junk out of the way with her shield and revealing a dark hole leading further into the pile. “Stick close, John. That glow on your staff is going to be our best light in here - I don’t suppose you’ve got any other glowing tricks, have you?” she asked, once again all business-like as they moved into a combat situation.

John shook his head, moving to the middle of the group and holding his weapon as high as he could in the confines of the tunnel. “Not at the moment. Blessings are fickle like I told you, and I’m pretty sure if I cast this spell on something else, it’ll remove it from my staff. Matilda needs to see, and you’ve got a better suited weapon for general fighting in tunnels so… I’ll be a torch for the time being.”

The descent into the pile was slow. Rebecca took every opportunity to be cautious, checking each corner before moving on. “They like to set up ambushes. Not that dangerous if you take care, but getting a rat-bite on your backside because you didn’t focus on the basis that they’re just low-level still hurts,” she opined, clearly speaking from experience judging by the wry expression on her face.

As they walked, Matilda drew closer to John. “There’s less and less plant life the deeper into this pile we go… I don’t know how much use I’m going to be if we get much further in,” she murmured, her eyes glancing around nervously. “There’s a section in my book on growing sprouts from seeds to use for other castings, but the song for that is really complex and I haven’t gotten it memorized yet.”

John reached out and squeezed her hand in the gloom. “Just do what you can. As Rebecca said, she can handle this place on her own, with me here too we should be fine.” Of course, that was precisely when the next attack arrived.

Rebecca had just turned the corner into a passage she’d declared was safe when the debris behind them moved. As John and Matilda spun around, twisted metal and rubble tumbled into the tunnel they’d just left, furry bodies piling in after it. Not that things were much better in the direction they’d been traveling; Rebecca let out a cry of surprise as the floor erupted in front of her to reveal her own rodent sparring partner.

Dragging Matilda to stand behind him, John backed away from the tide of fur spilling into the passage on the basis that the single opponent Rebecca faced would be the easier fight. Also, as the sole provider of light, she’d need him to be able to see. Fangs flashed in the silvery glow of Malal’s blessing, catching him on the arm before he could dodge back out of reach.

The bite hurt, but not as much as he was expecting. The damage reduction on his robes seemed to be doing its job, as while he’d certainly have a bruise the sharp incisors hadn’t managed to break his skin; the fact the rat sprang away almost instantly certainly helped. Behind him, he could hear Matilda start to sing, her voice hesitant in the gloom of the tunnels - although he wasn’t sure what good she’d be given her earlier comments about the lack of plant life.

Rebecca’s sword glanced off the broken edge of a radiator as she swung it, sparks glittering in the dark as she swore. The impact had knocked her aim out, and her foe lunged again, its claws scrabbling on her shield. Grimacing as he tried to both light their surroundings and fend off the horde in front of him, John managed to pull enough focus together to gesture in the novice’s direction and fire off a guiding bolt.

Glittering light slamming into the rat did a lot for Rebecca’s ability to see it, the glow of John’s spell momentarily brightening the tunnels around her. Taking no chances, she lunged forward and skewered the beast, spinning around to help the others before her prey hit the floor.

John was getting pushed back, doing his best to block any of the rodents from getting around to strike at his girlfriend. While his robes were doing a sterling job in keeping any injury from being too severe, the damage was adding up; he desperately needed a way to thin the flow as his hp dropped. A few well placed lunges managed to knock out one of the rats, but there were still more behind where it fell. As Rebecca moved alongside him, he felt some of the tension leave him at least, although his nerves remained; while he knew they were stronger individually than the rats, the sheer number was more than he’d anticipated.

Dropping back from the front, he flicked his hand forward, gesturing with his staff as he threw out a series of guiding bolts for the novice to make use of, his mana dropping rapidly. Behind him, Matilda’s song rose again and the rats seemed to slow for a moment, some stumbling in mid-charge. The combination of John’s ability and whatever Matilda had done was devastating; Rebecca moved through the horde like a wave, forgoing her shield entirely in favor of just striking with her sword in that short reprieve from the rats’ attacks. By the time she was done, only a single cornered rat was left, which John finished with a swift stab from his staff, the light they were using to illuminate the battlefield disappearing briefly as the glowing end of his weapon buried itself in the rodent’s skull.

Pulling the staff free and flicking it to clean off any residual rat blood, John leaned against the wall and glanced back the way they’d come as his breathing settled after the fight. The tunnel was almost completely filled with junk. “Are we going to have to clear that?” he panted, hoping that there was another way out.

Rebecca shook her head. “No. They always have several ways in and out of these warrens. And looking at the number, I doubt we’ll have any more to fight to get out of here. Let’s keep moving.” As she turned and retook the lead, the Order initiate paused to give Matilda an appraising look. “Interesting stunning spell you used. Does it work on anything, or just rats?”