He started to mutter those words. He could not help himself. They came from within him, yet he was theirs too, wielded by them instead of wielding them himself. As Lulah's eyes went wide and she let go of her sword, Ramus bit his tongue. Blood gushed into his mouth.

“Piss on me, Ramus, I almost took off your fucking head.”

He smiled a bloody smile, and Lulah smiled back. “And I nearly turned you to stone.”

Lulah dashed across to where she had dropped a knife, and only then did Ramus notice her left hand, mangled and flapping.

“What happened?”

She glanced down at her hand, then away again quickly. “Bastard bit me as I was cutting its throat.” Her hand was ruined. Three fingers were gone, and the rest of it was a distorted mess. “We have to sort that out,” Ramus said.

“Not yet. We go. Away from here, away from this pissing steam, and when we find somewhere—”

They both heard the hoots and clicks of the things closing in. There were too many voices to count, and Lulah's face fell. “Ramus, I don't think I—”

“Run,” he said. He nodded deeper into the valley. “That way. They're coming from both sides, so we leave. Don't stop running. You need to be far enough away so that you can't hear my voice.”

“Ramus—”

“It's our only hope!”

“No. You could go, I could stay and hold them off.”

“Achieving what?”

Lulah winced as her hand banged against her leg. “It's why I'm here.”

Ramus snorted. “Then you don't get paid. Run now, Lulah. No more time.” Already he could see the steam parting to his left as something came through, and behind him he heard the harsh footsteps of things running across the loose ground. Lulah ran, and Ramus turned around.

He had no idea what power he wielded, where it came from or what it was supposed to protect. But this was as basic as it came: kill, or die.

SO HE KILLED. He waited until the last moment, then spoke words that took a few beats to utter, listening to the sounds of pursuit change to screeches of surprise and pain. Things fell to the ground behind him, some of the impacts fleshy but most hard, and in the distance he heard the tone of their calling change as those nearby fell silent.

The mist no longer drifted; it boiled. Upset by the creatures running through its lazy streams, it swirled and danced, added to by several loud gushes from vents behind and to Ramus's left. Something came at him and he said those words again, louder this time, and hoped Lulah was far enough away to avoid their effect. The thing skidded past him and struck another changed creature, both of them tumbling to the ground and shattering. Stunned by what he had done he fell silent, almost forgetting that they were still coming at him.