VII

The moment the words left my mouth a blood red glow cascaded over me and the clang of metal against metal nearly deafened me. Clutching my ears as I looked over my shoulder I stared in horror at the closed ebony gate with its array glowing with a scarlet light. 

Backing away from the gate I felt a chill spread from the door and as I exhaled a plume of white smoke escaped from my gaping mouth. My mind bobbled as I took in the complete array inlaid into the gate, it was absolutely massive with painstaking detail that could only be accomplished by a master artisan. 

In the end however the haunting image overcame my desire to examine the array closer and I stumbled back as the chill seeped through my clothes and raked against my skin. 

"Ramos what the hell is going on?" Henderson's voice asked from my right as I continued to backpedal away from the gate. I opened my mouth to respond as I turned around but something warm and wet splash against the side of my face and a pungent coppery tang coated my tongue stopping me short as I gaged and heaved.. 

Blinking away the blood dripping into my eyes I looked down as Henderson's headless body hit the floor with a dull thud. From the stump of his neck a tide of blood washed across the flagstones soaking into the cracks before reaching my feet and pooling around me. 

A wave of nausea slammed into me with enough force to send me sprawling to my knees as I arched over and voided the contents of my stomach as the metallic scent of blood filled my nose and throat, tainting every ragged breath I gasped for. 

Then through my panic and delirious I noticed as a shadow fell over me and I felt a chill pass through my body. Gritting my teeth as I pushed through the agony plaguing my body I turned and looked up. 

My eyes met the creature's scarlet orbs and I froze, my breath hitching as my heart refused to beat in my chest. 

A monster loomed over me with gaunt skin the color of milk stretched over an elongated skeleton with clawed hands coated in blood that dangled near its knees and hunched spine where the individual invertebrate protruded through the skin. The creature's face was similarly stretched with a lipless mouth revealing a mouthful needle like teeth and a long serpentine tongue that trashed around like a worm. 

Frozen in place by the creature's horrific visage my body refused to move even as the monster's clawed hand lashed out faster than a speeding arrow. 

Reacting at the last second I threw my hands up in front of my face in a last ditch effort to protect myself only to feel a searing numbness spread through my right arm. 

Then I caught sight of what remained of my hand. Everything above the thumb was simply gone, vanished without a trace. There was a brief delay, as my eyes took in the sight and relayed the information to my brian that then sent the appropriate response to the rest of my body. 

A blood curdling scream tore itself out of my throat as I curled up into a ball clutching my mangled hand to my chest. 

Somehow despite the pain I managed to look up just in time to see the Fae raise it's claw hand high overhead ready to end my life. 

In the blink of an eye the monster's hand snapped andI flinched, squeezing my eyes shut on reflex hoping I wouldn't feel the claws skin into my skin before I passed out from the pain.

But instead of the unfathomable agony of my throat being torn open I felt a steel toed boot slam into my shoulder sending me sprawling to the side 

An ungodly wail split the air as I opened my eyes and stared in shock as the boss wrapped one hand around the fae's throat while he cocked back the other which began to glow with a soft golden light. 

Then with a roar the Gunther's fist blurred as it rocketed through the air punching through the fae's chest like an overripe fruit sending out a shower of entrails and blood. 

"Ramos, are you hurt?!" The boss shouted but with the blood pounding in my ears he sounded a thousand feet away.

With a trembling arm I pulled out my injured hand and showed it to Gunther. To his credit the man didn't even hesitate as he kneeled and held out one of his massive hands in an open palm. 

A soft golden light surrounded Gunther's palm and I felt my pain quickly fade away and I watched as the open wound healed over with pink tender skin. 

"Ramos, you need to get to the church. I'll deal with the other Ghouls. Just keep your head down and don't stop moving." 

Looking beyond the few feet around me I took in the scene of chaos that had descended on the ruins. A fine blood red mist clung to the ground partially obscuring the still bodies laying on the floor sparing me the pain of putting names to faces. But even worse creatures almost identical to the one that had almost taken my life sat hunched over the bodies, their claws taking out chunks of flesh and tissue that they gorged themselves on. 

"Ramos GO!" Gunther's roar from only a few inches away rattled me to my core and before I even realized it I was on my feet sprinting towards the church doors which were being held open as men fled for their lives but to my horror more of the clawed monsters dropped from the cavern ceiling landing on top of people and driving them to the floor before tearing their backs to shreds. 

By some miracle however I made it to the church and I flew up the steps while piercing wails and blood curdling screams ripped through the air creating a horrific cacophony. 

Stumbling through the church doors I hit the ground hard but felt a pair of sturdy hands grab me by the straps of my overalls and drag me back to safety, "Ramos where's the Boss?!" 

Scrambling around I stared up at Frankie, a vicious slash bisected his chest but he was still standing strong despite looking a bit pale.

"H-he told me to run," I stammered out before shaking my head in disbelief, "H-his fist glowed…he was using faith magic…the boss is a Champion!"