<div class="floatright">(http://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.roosterteeth.com/uploads/images/54063e01-6933-4e38-b195-d0fc28595a06/md/2181220-1448930942333-Warrior_Karsten_Face.jpg)</div>Though the urge was all but impossible to deny, Cerias somehow managed to not bring his fist to his mouth and start chewing on his knuckle in frustration. That was after he closed his mouth from the gaping shock of seeing the priestess throw off a spell that shouldn’t have been granted to her by the gods for levels yet in the first place. If it hadn’t been for the clear exhaustion on both the young women’s faces he’d have been near certain by now that they had faked their troubles just to get some easily fooled schmuck out here to do their work for them.<br/><br/>But that kind of shambling that looked more like zombies with severe arthritis was all too common among mages, wizards, warlocks and priests who’d for one reason or other exhausted all they had until their souls were leaking out of their ears. Trembling of limbs and muscles that were as firm in their commitment to stay upright as slimes were in keeping one solid shape, was an all too obvious sign he didn’t think was faked. Yet somehow, they had managed spells far beyond them, and despite going against virtually every advice he’d give, somehow ended up slaying the enemy with extreme prejudice. The evidence of it still assaulting his nostrils, along with the smell of fetid rot already in abundance, with equal prejudice.<br/><br/>Taking a deep breath he turned towards the girls, wrestling the annoyance of having had his advice so completely ignored, and them still succeeding in their task, and still not having a clue as to whether he should complement them for actually doing what they’d set out to do, or remark on their utter inability to follow his advice.<br/><br/>Whatever he was about to say vanished however as he watched the redhead slowly creep forward to inspect their kills. He had to give her some props for not rushing ahead shouting about loot like most of the idiots out there were want to do. In fact she was even prudent enough to double check the bodies to make sure they were as dead as they smelled. Normally something the tank took on but…a brief flash of white teeth broke through the eternal cloud covering his face in a quick hint of a smile as her body seemed to rebound back as if struck by a bolt of lightning and she made a sound as if some ambitious lout had decided to pinch her delectable rear.<br/><br/>He quickly schooled his features back to a neutral scowl, not difficult as that was its default position, as she turned around towards them.<br/><br/>“Now,” he nodded towards the mangled bodies lying around in various states of frozen, burned and crushed furry piles of stinking flesh, “I suggest you grab what you came here for. I would hate to see your valiant efforts wasted.”<br/><br/>Though he felt the need to get utterly wasted himself from just having been in the vicinity.<br/><br/>“Meanwhile, as you at least attempted to follow my advice. I’ll hold up my end of the bargain.”<br/><br/>His dark eyebrows narrowed and a look of distaste fluttered weakly over his face before dying of starvation where the only sign of its life was a slight tug at the corner of his mouth as he turned his head over towards the cave a hundred feet or so away. Even from this distance the mouth of the cavern held a foreboding air with shadows so thick with putrid life that it held a hunger all of its own.<br/><br/>Around the edges a green and yellow mist hovered in tattered wisps and from deep inside came an endless blend of mad scratching and chittering enhanced by the natural acoustics so that it was easy to think it was giant molars grinding the bodies of skeletal adventurers to dust. All in all it was like a thousand other dank caves out there and he knew the shit he’d get on his boots merely from walking in would pose far greater danger to his comfort than anything that hid inside.<br/><br/>In the end he drew a deep breath of what, despite the pungency of burning rat fur and the delightful fragrance of smoldering rat brains, would still be fresher air than whatever was inside, and stomped off towards the caves with steps that sent cascades of rotten mud the consistency of putrid gravy flying in all directions, muttering under his breath. While he had cautioned the ladies to approach carefully lest they be swarmed again, he had little need to fear that for himself. If they even noticed him at all it would be when he stepped on them and that would only end badly for the part in the equation covered in furs, squeaking as their spines were crushed into a paste.<br/><br/>He had a light grip on the hilt of his sword, using it as a weak torch as he stepped inside the mouth of the cave looking around as he felt the rank mist caress his cheek with its greenish tendrils, smelling like Nagrel, the god of disease had burped in his direction after a particularly feisty meal. Groups of half molted cadavers with yellowish bone pipes leaking rotten marrow the color of pus erupted from the flesh, were surrounded by small groups of rats in all sizes clustered around the bases of stalagmites that reached towards the roof as if the floor of the cavern itself tried to escape. From the roof hung stalactites that where short and stumped, as if regretting ever getting closer to the floor running with excrement and other unidentifiable muck.<br/><br/>Over in a far corner of the cave was a giant pile of refuse made up of scrap, bones and bodies, some of who still moved around. The mound seeped half congealed blood, pus and rotten meat that dripped down its sides like sap from the tree of death. The sounds of chittering, scrambling and squawking, rats had intensified to a horrendous cacophony as they echoed between the walls of the cavern, joining those of countless generations of rats until it became an almost physical force that clawed and scratched at his mind. Even for a seasoned adventurer it could be difficult to resist such effects and it was through sheer brute will that he had tuned it out.<br/><br/>As such it took him a moment to realize that there was something on top of the pile. The ice blue light cast a brittle shine over the area but it was enough to recognize the creature for what it was. A massively bloated being half the size of a horse laying on its side, a dozen smaller form wriggling against it. Feeding, he then saw as he stepped further into the cave, on whatever ungodly brew the rat queen might have in her teats.<br/><br/>“Best get this shit show over with.”<br/><br/>Cerias grunted, still trying vainly to breathe only through his mouth but even so able to taste the foul odor and feel it coat his tongue. Not paying any of the other critters any attention he stomped right up to the ruler of the mischief, clamped his leather-covered fist down on her tail, crushing boils in his tight grip until he felt the pus ooze between his fingers as he brazed his boots against the slippery floor and gave it a great heave.<br/><br/>A warbled shriek tore through the cave, ululating along the walls like a thousand nails being dragged over a chalkboard covered in blood and a dozen half naked pups rolled off in all directions with some being squished under the enormous bulk of their mother as he started to drag her off towards the entrance to the den.<br/><br/>Despite the hideous alarm going off, the only rats responding to their monarch’s desperate cries were the ones he stomped right through on his way out. Here and there he doled out a disdainful kick, sending a rotten back of meat and bones crashing into a wall, stalagmite or other rat while the queen herself snapped after him with teeth the length of daggers dripping saliva so tainted it might as well be venom. She never got close, somehow always missing him by inches as she bumped along in his wake.<br/><br/>A group of the larger rats charged from the shadows as if summoned by some fetid god and charged headlong at him and he swept out with his blade, grimacing as he imagined having to clean the magical blade from the gory remains but not having the patience to kill them one by one. Just a few seconds later he walked out into the light again, feeling the oppressive stench ease somewhat as a gust of fresh air swept in like a blessing from the gods, letting him draw a breath of air that tasted as clean as the pussy of the virgin goddess Amanela. Not a single rat had followed him out of the cave.<br/><br/>The Rat Queen, somehow he knew her name was Morgoth the Pungent, cast her snout his way and a green, near gaseous spray, shot towards his face. This too somehow missed him as he promptly started to drag her hissing, sputtering and squirming through the muck towards the girls. Every one of her taloned paws scratched in a panicked frenzy against the ground until he snapped an arm behind him and backhanded her hard enough she shook her head in half a daze for a few seconds while he took her the last few steps necessary to reach Sophie and Les.<br/><br/>An expression of distaste was etched on his face now and his grey eyes were hard as he dumped the giant rat before the two young adventurers, poking her carefully a few times with the tip of his blade so that she would stay focused on him while at the same time not accidentally finishing her.<br/><br/>“Twack her a time or two if you please,” he directed his disheveled companions, his voice hoarse as he fought the urge to clean his throat from what he’d breathed in “so the gods give you credit for the kill. Then I’ll end her and you can grab whatever she leaves behind.”<br/>