Michael slammed his divine fist into the nearest of the horned men, his barrier-covered punch smashing into his kidney and causing him to collapse as divine fire began to spread across his body. Another of them tried to grab him, but he ducked beneath the grab and punched the horned man in the jaw causing him to stumble and fall, his jaw loose. Michael took the initiative, launching himself in the direction of the horned man that had taken his shield and sword. He smashed his fists into those that tried to block him, cracking armor and bones without difficulty, only meeting real resistance when his fist hit them directly in the forehead where their skulls were the thickest.

  Soon there was a trail of bodies burning with holy fire behind him. There was a high pitched buzzing from the insectoid creature, and the horned men began to attempt to tackle his legs but he was able to quickly form barriers to block them while continuing his charge toward the one that still held Rend and Ruin. One of the horned men managed to get past his shields and grab him from behind, but he simply placed the flat of his burning hand against the creature’s arm around his neck and he withdrew as his body began to be covered in golden flame, letting Michael go. There was more buzzing and the horned men that had been sent to grab him started to move away from him. As the one that held his weapon turned, he could feel Rend's closeness as if it was in his hand. He extended his will and the entire weapon lit with holy flame. The horned man stumbled and cried out in pain and fear, bleating like a screaming goat, then collapsed as his flesh began to char.

  Michael ran for the body, but lightning bolts and small fireballs began to land near him forcing him to alter his path. A few managed to strike true, the lightning actually seeming to shift its path directly into him. It caused his body to seize for a moment, and his skin to begin to singe, but his durability held and he began to continuously heal himself as he moved, repairing injuries as they occurred. He reached the corpse and lifted it to block another fireball, grabbing his sword and shifting it into a mace before sliding his arm back into his shield. Once it was back on he pushed the body off of himself and started running.

  He tried to start taking better stock of his surroundings as he deflected a firebolt with his shield and smashed his mace into a horned man that had moved to intercept him with its cleaver. The area around where the rift had been wasn’t just a fort, it was some kind of castle and where the rift had been was a courtyard of sorts. The platforms that the lizardfolks were standing on seemed to be newer, but Michael could see stone walls beyond lit by the red sun above them.

  Another bolt of lightning shocked him and as he was frozen for less than a moment a spear slammed into him, piercing his stomach and throwing him back. He grunted as he broke half the spear with his mace and tore the rest of it out as he healed himself. He charged the makeshift platform the lizard that had hit him was on and slammed into one of its supports. There was a crack and the tower began to collapse. As it did, Michael began to run toward the main building of the castle. If he kept fighting them in the open like that, eventually he’d be brought down. He was lucky that they seemed to want to take him alive.

  The collapsing platform had bought him some time, and the buzzing insect leader flew toward the castle where a few horned guards were waiting, guarding a large arched entrance into it. Michael didn’t slow as they prepared for him, running straight into the nearest of them, knocking him back before he cut the other one down. The insect was surprisingly close, he heard it chittering further inside. Michael chose to follow it.

  He ran through stone halls that had clearly been made with the Horned men in mind given their height and width. A few guards tried to block him as he moved, and he could hear those behind him starting to catch up in the castle proper. He heard the buzzing ahead and saw a horned woman when he turned another corner. She was wearing a simple dress, and there was some kind of weave in an intricate pattern between her horns, like a spider's web between two branches. She was staring at him with wide eyes and an open mouth that showed sharp teeth. She was nearly the size of the males, so he thought he’d have to fight her for a moment before he realized she was unarmed. Instead he pushed quickly past her, knocking her to the ground as he followed the buzzing.

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  He wasn’t sure he had a plan beyond ‘keep moving and don’t get captured’, but if he grabbed the bug he could maybe use it as a hostage to secure a way back, or he could kill it. That would probably hurt how organized his pursuers were, and it would give him immense satisfaction. He ran up several stairs, struggling with how differently sized they were. If he was struggling, he couldn’t imagine how the lizardmen were managing it.

  He passed several more of what appeared to be servants or regular residents of the castle as he moved. They quickly moved out of his way in fear. Many were horned women and children, though there were also several lizardfolk. He wasn’t sure if the lizards were men or women, though none appeared to be children and there seemed to be a heavy disparity between them. Some were wearing normal clothing, he assumed, and others were barely in scraps. Some of those in scraps were missing fingers or tongues as well.

  Eventually the buzzing and chittering he’d been hearing stopped and he found himself in a long hallway. He could hear his pursuers some distance behind him. He’d probably have a decent advantage with the narrower halls of the castle than he did anywhere else, but it wasn’t exactly an ideal situation. He began to throw open the doors, seeing if any of the rooms led anywhere else.

  Most seemed to be storage, but as he approached the room at the far end of the hall he started to smell something that made his eyes water and brought up bile in the back of his throat. Something between rot and waste was emanating from it. He girded himself and pushed open the door. It was dark within and he summoned a few small orbs of light that he sent inside.

  There were bodies. Some horned men, some lizardfolk, and a few humans. They were all piled together and covered in something that looked like stringy wax. As he looked in horror for a few moments. The bodies began to move. Not get up and walk, but their flesh began to writhe.

  Michael had an idea of what was coming. He’d watched a fair amount of science fiction in his day, but he hesitated. The creature that had spoken to him was sapient. What he saw might have been horrifying, but it also might be their natural cycle of life. These could be children that didn’t know better. Then his eyes went to the bodies again. Two of the human ones, a young man and a woman, were still holding hands, their interlaced fingers sealed in wax.

  Michael raised Rend, letting golden fire cover it and before the bodies could begin spilling out whatever was within them, he touched the tip of the blade to the nearest of the bodies. Whatever the wax was made of, it seemed to be like oil for holy fire.

  There was a screech as the entire hideous hive went up in flames. A few more of the insects began to crawl out, but burnt and died before they could even spread their wings. One, a fully grown adult that he assumed was the one he’d spoken with launched past him, aiming for the doorway. It slammed into an invisible barrier like a mosquito against a windshield. He walked over to it, remembering the milky eyes of the corpse it had been piloting, and smashed it beneath his boot. He wouldn’t have a hostage, but he felt righteous as he heard it crunch.

  He closed the door behind himself. He could hear the horned men coming up the stairs. He began to move toward them, thinking he would have an advantage at the top of the stairs when one of the doors near him opened. He turned to see a terrified looking lizardperson in rags. They gestured with their hands for him to follow.

  He hesitated, but when he heard the horned men getting closer, he decided to risk it. He followed the scaled creature into the storage room.