For several heartbeats, Maly stood stunned upon the stairs, unsure of what she was seeing. The only light illuminating the space was from the open door above, making everything here gray gloom. Yet the shadows did little to protect her from the horrors within the room below.

On some primitive level, she recognized that much of the basement was the same: a low-ceilinged square with unpainted stone walls, dirt floor, and a few bare wooden shelves. Pale mushrooms sprouted in one corner and, near those mushrooms where there had once been a ragged hole in one wall, there was now a section of new stones and mortar that did not match the rest.

Yet her eyes were fixed on the three figures regarding her, each an impossibility. The most human was a naked, pale figure, yet his skin was rotting and missing chunks, like a corpse that had been picked over by scavengers. Where his almost bone-white skin was intact, the light glinted off what appeared to be fish scales, which only made sense because, instead of a human head, the figure had the gaping-mouth, wide-eyed head of a large fish.

Standing at the fish-man’s hip was an intact, upright skeleton of what appeared to be a child. It turned its skull to look up at the fish-man, then back at Maly, staring at her with empty, black sockets. The dirt around the skeleton’s feet swirled and moved like mist, giving the stunted figure’s lower half an almost dream-like appearance.

Two strides away from the pair was the most disturbing of the trio. Its back half was that of an enormous worm, or perhaps—Maly realized with disgust—a maggot, undulating as it shifted its weight. The top half of the creature was that of an enormous cat, though not a great majestic animal like Destiny the panther. Instead, an emaciated body with scrawny arms and patchwork fur pulled the worm-thing forward. And the entire monstrosity, from notched alley-cat ears to maggot stump, was covered in long, thin, protruding spines.

Between the cat-maggot and skeleton lay a robed ratfolk body, which Maly recognized as the priest from the underground temple. Twin spines protruded from her chest. Maly couldn’t be sure, but she looked dead, hands curled up defensively and eyes wide. The bejeweled box, the only thing of any beauty in the basement, lay toppled on its side, lid open and mummified hand discarded upon the dirt floor.

A voice echoed in Maly’s mind. It was Destiny, but far quieter and more distant than she’d heard him before. He spoke as if doing so was a great effort. Demons… the panther hissed. Minor, but… even lesser… demons are… deadly. Beware, child.

As if on cue, the child-like figure raised its bony arms, skeletal fingers outstretched towards Maly. The dirt at its feet, which had been moving lazily, suddenly rushed out like an ocean wave. The choking cloud blasted Maly, dirt scouring her exposed skin, and she coughed and stumbled half blind down the remaining stairs.

Kavac… Destiny wheezed in her ear. Demon of dirt… and grime.

“No kidding!”Maly sputtered aloud, then reached out with her mind. Any tips for defeating these things? Or sending them back where they came from? But the panther was ominously silent. It was a terrible time to get timid, she thought. Maly did not want to be fighting demons in a basement when there was a member of the East Bay Dragons upstairs who might be the key to getting her inheritance back. Well, to be fair: She never really wanted to fight demons.

And yet, demon-fighting was upon her. Spitting sand from her mouth, Maly pulled her twin daggers from their sheaths and struck at the small skeleton. It surprised her with its dexterity, leaping up and over her blades with jaw-dropping ease.

As it landed, however, Emah was there, yelling and slashing down with her sword. There was a crunch of bone. The skeleton cried out, shrill and terrifying, for its voice was also that of a young child.

The rotting hulk stood over Emah, raising its arms overhead and looking to smash fists down upon her friend. Before Maly could shout a warning, however, twin fists the size of dinner plates bashed into the fish-headed thing. It flew sideways into a stone wall with a crunching impact.

The third creature yowled like a drowning cat as it launched spines from its body. Kami’s misshapen torso flowed like a ribbon, avoiding the arrow-like quills. But one thunked into Emah’s shoulder, which she acknowledged with a grunt.

Xapha… the panther’s voice whispered. Demon of… infected rot. Its… touch is… ruin.

“Not helpful, Destiny!” Maly shouted into the melee.

The small skeleton wailed like a distraught child and launched itself at Emah. She cursed and slashed with her ancestral sword, however, and cleaved the creature midair. A clatter of bones hit the floor, and the dirt swirling all around them abruptly ceased.

Maly didn’t relish getting close to the spiny cat-maggot that Destiny said could kill her, so instead turned her attention to the rotting fish-headed man. It was staggering to its feet after the impact, the stone cracked all around it like a spiderweb. The scaled hulk was slow, halting, and unsteady, so she was shocked when it caught her arm as she stabbed down with a dagger. It lifted her, struggling and feet kicking air, in its grip so that Maly’s face hung near its lidless fisheyes. It reeked of spoiled meat and dead fish, making her gag.

Vakal… Destiny’s voice breathed weakly. Demon… of slow… decay. Unstoppable…

Maly opened her mouth to comment on that little nugget when the thing swung her hard against the cracked wall. Her teeth clattered together, and all the air left her chest. She collapsed to the dirt floor, gasping.

Stars danced in front of her eyes, but she looked up to track her opponent’s movements. Thankfully, it had turned away from her, towards Kami, whose oversized fists pounded down again and again on the spiny maggot body of the third demon. The sounds were grotesque, like boots squelching in mud. Kami didn’t see the fish-thing lumbering towards her, and Maly had no breath to shout a warning.

Instead, Maly hurled a dagger at the thing’s back. It sunk into the demon’s rotting flesh with a satisfying thunk but didn’t slow its advance on Kami. She willed strength into her legs and worked to unsteadily regain her feet, still gasping for air.

Thankfully, Emah shouted a wordless challenge and stepped to the demon Vakal’s side. She sliced her blade horizontally across its ribs and a great slab of scaled flesh tore free, falling to the dirt with a wet slap.

Though it showed no sign that the strike had hurt it, Vakal turned ponderously to regard Emah. She raised her blade to parry but it simply backhanded her, much as the animated bronze armor had done upstairs days before. The demon was not nearly as strong as the armor, however. Rather than fly across the room, she simply staggered to one knee. Emah spit a glob of blood onto the floor and stood, fury in her eyes.

Before she could attack again, Emah winced and looked down on her shoulder. The demon Xaphal’s spine still protruded from her skin. She pulled it free and tossed it aside, regripping her sword with two hands.

Back on her feet, Maly hurled herself upon the demon’s back, stabbing again and again with her second dagger. The blade squelched into scaled, stinking meat. She couldn’t think about that, though. A panic had begun to rise within her, born out of Destiny’s silence and Emah’s wince. The panther had said that Xaphal’s touch was ruin… what did that mean for her friend? The only way to know for sure was to kill this last monstrosity and get her to a medic.

Vakal slumped forward and Maly yelped as the tip of a sword thrust from the thing’s back, near her arm. The metal was coated in a gray sludge instead of blood. As the body toppled, she kept stabbing and stabbing, riding it down to the dirt floor. Maly found herself yelling incoherently, now with both daggers back in hand. She attacked like an Oakton drummer hammering on her instrument, and continued long after the demon ceased moving. It took Emah’s sweat-slicked arms pulling her off to regain her senses.

The two women stood together, panting. Maly stank of corpse and fish and was sure she would be plagued by nightmares for the rest of her life.

“Shh, shh,” Emah said desperately. “It’s over, Maly.”

Destiny’s voice, weaker than she’d ever heard it, whispered a single word.

Unstoppable…

To her horror, the demon Vakal began to rise, even as the remains of the two other demons quivered.

Next: How do they stop it?!