The earth beneath their feet shook violently, as if the very ground was itself terrified of the warcry the strange crimson figure had let out. Yet despite that, Seth couldn't help but focus on the oddity of the creature's actions. Why would it cry out like it was going to attack before running away? It didn't make sense unless… It wasn't just them it was trying to stir up.
As if they were eager to confirm his thoughts, the road split open in various places. Chunks of dirt and asphalt were thrown into the air, as heads emerged from the freshly dug holes. Heads that were soon followed by bodies. Dozens of bodies.
They were as large and rotund as fully grown boars, with dark wiry fur that was matted in many places with a mixture of blood, dirt and various unknown substances. Long snouts ended in a small, pink nose that was constantly sniffing at the air, devouring every scent that reached it.
Eyes as black as the void were filled with madness and fear, desperate to escape and ready to destroy everything in their path to do so. Yet their most prominent feature of all, was their foaming maw of needle like teeth and the set of shovel sized fangs that jutted from their mouth.
"Shit! The bastard stirred up a horde of rats!"
Unfortunately for them, that was only them that was only the half of it. Far in the distance, behind the growing swarm, a different abomination was dragging itself from the hellish depths of Thravens sewers.
It was a disgusting undulating of fur and flesh, dozens of screeching rat faces emerging from the same bulbous mass. Claws, tails and jagged spurs of bone jutting out of different points with no sense or reason. Yet many of its claws being useless did not stop this putrid horror as it used many of its tails as tendrils.
The mass of flesh seemed stuck at the moment, yet it was slowly but surely making its way out. Using claws, tails, teeth and blobs of flesh topped with bone to drag itself onto the streets.
Even when it ensnared one of its own kind, it did not care. It simply dragged them into its mewling embrace, before a new screeching face joined the creature in its affront against the beauty of nature.
It wasn't clear whether the horde was trying to escape the war cry of the crimson figure, or if they feared their king who had been disturbed by the challenge. Either way, Seth couldn't help being reminded of the tales of rats being held in buckets against a man's chest. If that thing was the bucket, he did not want to be the man.
"RUN!"
It wasn't clear who said it, but no one bothered to argue with their assessment. Quickly grabbing the hanging vine, Seth dismissed the whip before making haste with the rest of the group as the stampede of vermin closely followed.
Like headless chicken, they ran without thought or direction, simply following the one in front of them and hoping that the one at the front didn't lead them into a dead end. All the while the vermin tide was closing in on them, quite literally nipping at their heels.
Some were simply too slow, becoming lost in the ocean of brown fur until one of them decided it was done running and was hungry instead. Others were simply unfortunate with their footing, tripping over wayward objects or even their own feet, soon to be trampled to death by hundreds of clawed paws.
That's not to say that no one fought. Seth would often throw his dagger behind him, not even caring to aim as he would always hit something in the fuzzy brown ocean, and would retract it when he heard the squeals of pain.
Sirius, the man with the golden eyes, would repeatedly send back searing blasts of solar energy that scorched the fur of many vermin. One was even blasted out of mid air when it lunged at one of their slower members, the beast seemingly wanting a snack after all of its exercise.
But they couldn't run forever. After weaving through countless alleys, crossing dozens of streets, running until their legs screamed and their lungs burned. After losing almost half of their members and slaughtering dozens of vermin, they finally got their rest.
It came when Sirius, who had personally blasted 23 rats into oblivion, got a Requital for his efforts. It was a tower shield, taller than himself, in the shape of a rat's tooth. Normally this would be of no use, but after guiding the group to an alley with a branching side path, he stuck the shield into the ground at the alley's entrance.
Thankfully, the vermin had not been actively pursuing them. Simply running with the stampede, so they bypassed the makeshift door and followed the natural path of the previous alleyway. Every shudder of the shield, as bodies slammed against it in passing, made hearts skip beats in fear as the group watched and waited.
Only after 5 excruciating minutes did the group finally relax, satisfied that the horde had passed in its entirety and nothing else was in pursuit, for the moment.
Some collapsed to the ground, their legs unable to carry them once they lost the adrenaline that was fueling them. Others suffered through their screaming and trembling muscles, staying alert just in case their luck stayed dreadful.
Seth himself was leaning against a wall, coughing and wheezing like an asthmatic chimney sweep. He considered himself decently fit, and his stats reflected that he was at least average, yet sprinting for his life for so long was not something he had prepared for. Somehow he never thought to train for this type of situation.
The only ones who weren't affected were Coal and Cynthia. Neither of them breathed nor did they have any muscles that were currently trying to betray them for working them so hard. Yet while Seth was being shown the consequences of his lifestyle, he still had the mental strain of making sure none of his actions were reflected in Coal.
Once the group had, mostly, recovered, Seth stood up straight and finally asked the important question.
"So… where did we end up?"
"If I'm not mistaken, the answer should lie right behind that door."
Sirius cleared his throat and took one final deep breath, before pointing to a fire exit a few metres away from where the group had collapsed in exhaustion.
"Big guy, wanna do the honours?"
He flashed his signature charming smile and slapped Coal on the arm, trying not to let onto the rest how much it hurt to do so.
Seeing no better option, Seth puppeteered Coal over to the steel door. Naturally he tried the handle first, just in case, but when that didn't work he resorted to brute strength. One of the best features of this goliath golem.
He jammed his volcanic fingers into the doorframe, bending it slightly, as he got a good grip of the fire door. Planting his foot against the wall, he leaned back and put all his puppet's strength into it until the door finally popped open.
Then, acting as a vanguard and returning to his role as a meat shield, he entered first and was closely followed by the rest of the group as they made their way into the mysterious building.
What they found inside was unexpected to all parties. After stepping through a room filled with tall metal shelves that were lined with cardboard boxes, they exited into a wide area filled with smaller, more display focused shelves.
Lining the shelves were a variety of clothes; T-shirts, jeans, underwear of all varieties, even ugly Christmas jumpers despite it being months away. Mannequins displaying full outfits in a wide array of poses.
They found themselves in Trimark, a popular clothing shop.
But this wasn't what surprised Sirius. After all, he expected to walk into this shop. What he didn't expect, however, was to find a pile of clothes torn to shreds, destroyed shelves, murdered mannequins and a host of other scrap from all over the city. All neatly arranged into a circle with all the different bits weaved together intricately.
Worst of all was what was inside this strange scrap circle. It was a myriad of corpses, some stripped to the bone while others were still fresh and rotting. A combination of human and beast, all of them surrounding a single stand out object. An egg that was the size of his head.