Chapter 16

  Ralph didn’t like working with Squirrels. They were exhaustingly formal in most cases and very strictly adhered to whatever moral code their clans abided by. Lithken was no different. He was some Squirrel Warrior who was banished from his clan a decade ago by breaking that same moral code, but yet still lived by it faithfully, despite turning to a life of crime. Ralph wasn’t like that. A Rat growing up in the slums of Evertree, this life was all he had ever known. He had spent countless years down in the sewers, just begging for scraps or stealing where he could. Joining Keegan’s gang was the turning point for him. After growing up with no parents, no siblings, no friends, he now felt like he had all three as part of the gang. It was where he belonged. It was the only place he felt like he could fit in.

  So when this job came in that apparently came from some shady dealer that lived in the Mountains, Ralph thought it was a bit suspicious. They usually only did local jobs, and sometimes operated outside of Evertree, but they had never received a client like this. They even sent some of their own men in to collaborate with them. Several Rats and now this Squirrel, Lithken, had joined up with the gang to see this job done. It was a major inconvenience, certainly. Ralph preferred to work more independently, but having the Squirrel along for the trip made it seem as if every move he made was being watched. It didn’t help that the Squirrel never smiled, or did anything really except bark orders at Ralph. He’d put in a formal complaint with Keegan whenever he got back.

  The sound of their boots echoed softly down the empty tunnels. They had been searching through all of these tunnels for hours now and Ralph was dead tired. If he hadn’t been paid an exorbitant sum of money to chase down this Raccoon, he would already be at the Shivering Acorn, drinking the night away. But instead of a Bard and tavern waitresses, the only view Ralph got was the back of this Squirrel, whose heavy scale armor clinked softly with each step. It was a bit mesmerizing, as Ralph’s brain was slowly growing in complacency. They weren’t going to find anything down here. The Raccoon they saw coming down here probably wasn’t even their target, and if it was, he was likely long gone by now.

  This was the latest tunnel in their search, and things looked much the same as they had for the past two hours. A damp, grey-green brick wall on both sides, with moss growing in the cracks of the bricks, and another old wooden door that was likely locked anyways. Lithken tested the door, finding that it was unlocked and swung open inwards into a more open-styled room, with loculi decorating the walls and hallways that ran across from one another. There, in the center of the room, was their first sign of life. A torch sat in a puddle of water, sputtering and struggling to stay alight.

  Ralph creased his eyebrows at the sight. His brain immediately got a bit more aware as he realized the implication. He stood in the doorframe hesitating while the Squirrel entered the room, approaching the torch. He was about to call out to the Squirrel that they should probably report this before a massive, hulking Mouse appeared seemingly out of thin air, swinging a massive two-handed axe around in a deadly arc at the surprised Squirrel.

  Lithken’s reflexes kicked in and allowed him to dodge, but was swiftly kicked in the chest by the larger Mouse, who followed up with a swift back kick with his right boot. Ralph’s eyes shot wide open as he turned and dropped his torch, intending on leaving immediately. He felt a slight heat blooming on the back of his leg but didn’t have time to worry about that. He tried to take off into a run but found that his left leg didn’t quite work properly. That’s when he felt the burning sensation spreading from the back of his thigh. Feeling the spot with his paw, it came back a dark crimson color in the shadowy orange glow of the dropped torch. His eyes widening further in shock, he turned to see the sly grin of a Raccoon holding a dagger, a thin line of red running along the edge.

  Ralph tried to stumble away from the figure, but fell due to his leg being injured, and tried to use his paws and remaining leg to scramble away from the terror before him.

  “Oh no you don’t. We’re gonna have us a little chat.”

  Ralph craned his head to the side to get a glimpse of his companion, but only saw that another, smaller Mouse had joined the fray. How many of them are there? Is there a whole army down here? The Squirrel now sat on his knees, paws clasped behind his head which bled from a fresh head wound. Ralph grew even more panicked seeing the defeat of his companion, which he was sure was far stronger than Ralph himself. He was only good at sneaky-type missions. Which was why the Squirrel even bothered taking him along at all. For locked doors. Some Rat he had grown up to be. Now he was going to die and he’d never live up to some of the Rats of Greatness like Thogen the Swell or Gutig the Putrid.

  “What’s with that look? Come on, I’m not gonna kill you. All you have to do is answer some of my questions and you’ll be outta here. Mmmkay?”

  Ralph swallowed the damp air, but it still felt dry and scratchy against his throat as he panted. The Raccoon made him drop whatever he was carrying, including the small knife that Ralph liked to keep. He was dragged into what he could see were some kind of catacombs. Some kind of secret meeting spot? What kind of organization meets down here? What kind of job was this? Questions bounced around Ralph’s brain as he tried to get his breathing under control. His and the Squirrels’ paws were restrained behind their backs with what looked like regular rope from one of the Mouses’ backpacks.

  “Alright. I reckon we should kill one and that can get the other talking. All in agreement?”

  “No.” “Uh…no.”

  The larger Mouse clicked his tongue at the protest of the other two. The smaller Mouse was carrying a sword and shield, dressed in simple plate armor that only covered his vital areas, arms, and legs. Some kind of Knight, maybe? But what would a Knight be doing down here?

  The Raccoon spoke up as Ralph pondered.

  “Ok, so. Here’s how this is going to work. You’re both going to tell us who you work for and why you’re following us, and then we’ll see about letting you go.”

  The Squirrel said nothing, and just stared at the Raccoon with an angry glare. Ralph was too stunned from the larger Mouse’s comment to speak, his mouth hung open and only a whimper escaped.

  “Look at what you did, Bartleby. You scared them!”

  “Bartleby? His name is Ho–”

  “Shut it, Brisk!” The Raccoon looked at the smaller Mouse with a serious look, who stood there mouth agape before promptly shutting it.

  “My comrades will find you and kill you for this, Raccoon. And you.” Lithken stared at the larger Mouse. “You and I will have our rematch. This time, face to face, as honorable critters fight. Not cowering in the shadows.”

  “I may just take you up on that, it could be fun.”

  “Probably not a good time. We’re trying to figure out why we’re being hunted. Remember? You can have your little death match later, big guy.”

  “Yea, yea, I know. I’m just saying.”

  “Now then! Where were we? Ah yes. The why. So! Who wants to volunteer to talk first about why we’re being hunted? Any takers?”

  “I will wring your neck with your own intestines! You filthy trash-burglar! I’ll personally make sure you–”

  “Ok so he’s out.” The Raccoon stuck a ball of cloth into the Squirrels’s mouth, stopping his outburst. “And what about you? You seem like the ‘in-the-know’ type, feel like talking?” The Raccon gave Ralph a smile like they were old drinking buddies, not captor and captive.

  “No?” The Raccoon tilted his head, looking a bit hurt. “Pity.” He turned away from the Rat, drawing his dagger and flourishing it. It spun in his paw before the Raccoon caught it, right-side up. “Guess we’ll have to move on to Phase 2.”

  “We have Phases now?” The smaller Mouse, whom the Raccoon called Brisk, questioned.

  “Yes, Gra–ahem, yes, Brisk. We have Phases. Not only that. We have about ten to thirteen plans with about three phases each. So we’re more than well-equipped. Brisk just stood there with a dumbfounded look as he stared at the Raccoon.

  Ignoring the look, the Raccoon turned back to Ralph, his eyes now glinting with a hint of murderous intent.

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  “I guess we’ll just have to start taking things off until you figure out what’s important to you.” The Raccoon said almost cheerfully. The larger Mouse smiled at this proclamation, clearly enjoying the entire process. Ralph’s blood ran cold and he felt himself pale at the thought. He enjoyed being a whole Rat. His eyes started watering a bit as the internal struggle of selling out his own family to save his own skin started tearing him apart. Perhaps, though, he could just give them a bit. Just enough to leave him alone and let him live. He didn’t care at all for the Squirrel. His gang came first.

  The Squirrel continued his angry grunting through the gag, but no real words escaped.

  “Wh–wh–what do you want to know?” The Squirrel’s head snapped to where Ralph was on his knees beside him, a mixture of shock and anger evident on his face.

  The Raccoon smiled once more.

  “Ah. There it is. I just want to know who you are, who you work for, and why you’re here. Simple questions, really.”

  Ralph gulped again, steadying himself before answering.

  “I’m from Keegan’s gang. We’re a gang of Rats, mostly, with a few others, who do jobs here in Evertree.”

  “Good. Good. Go on.”

  “I don’t know all the details. All I know is that we were sent to find you and bring you back to the hideout. Dead or alive.”

  The Raccoon tapped the edge of his dagger against his chin and glanced over at the Mousefolk, who exchanged glances.

  “And why would you want to do that?”

  “I–I–I don’t know! Really!” He did.

  “Are you sure? That seems like pretty important info for a job, right?”

  “Well, no. Not really.” It was. “We tend not to ask too many questions.” Yes, they did.

  “So if this Keegan asked you to just throw yourself off of Evertree’s walls, you’d just do it? No questions asked?”

  “Yes, I would. That’s what the gang means to me.” He lied.

  The Raccoon pursed his lips as he stared at the Rat, who tried his hardest to maintain eye contact, and failed miserably.

  “Hmm. I guess that’s good enough for now. It’s a start.”

  The Raccoon removed a pendant of sorts from his pocket and at the sight, Ralph’s eyes grew wide. It looked exactly like the picture that Keegan had shown him earlier that day. The Raccoon didn’t miss this slip-up, his smile deepening.

  “Ah, so it is this you’re after. Good to know. Gonna have to keep it a little closer to the chest. Literally.”

  Ralph pursed his lips and his eyes fell to the ground in defeat. He had screwed up. And after nearly getting away with his lie too.

  “Welp. I think that’s all the info we need, gentlemouses. Let’s get out of here.”

  The Raccoon turned and began walking towards the exit, the two Mousefolk not missing a beat in following his stride. Ralph noticed the larger Mouse looking slightly disappointed while the smaller Mouse looked visibly relieved. Ralph breathed a sigh of relief but then quickly re-panicked himself as he realized he was still tied up with a wounded leg. He’d have to drag himself out of these sewers. In the dark. He could use a drink.

  __

  “That was surprisingly easy.” Benny swung the pendant around on his finger. He whistled a bit, the sound echoing and bouncing down the endless corridors, causing an almost haunting wail to fill the space.

  “Can you please stop?” Graham held his ears down as the wailing stopped and unclenched his teeth.

  Benny shrugged and continued the long walk back to the surface. He doubted they’d run into any more tails now. He was interested to see how they managed to get themselves out, though.

  “What’s your plan now, Ringtail? Northtail and I are still planning on going to Shallow Rock to deal with this Feral problem. Are you planning on joining us?”

  “Hmm. I was. But with this little conspiracy happening on my home turf, I think it’s better if I stay and investigate a bit on my own. I agree that it’s better for you two to get out of Evertree, though. Once those two escape they’ll be on the lookout for all three of us. And you guys can’t hide in this city like I can.”

  “We should’ve just killed them and been done with it.”

  “That wouldn’t be very tasteful.” Benny’s demeanor soured a touch before returning to his happy-go-lucky attitude.

  “We can’t stoop to that level, Hould. Do you value life at all?”

  “Of course. I value life that doesn’t make life in the Valley worse. In case you didn’t catch on, those two were definitely not functioning Valley citizens.”

  “I see where you’re coming from. But don’t you believe they can come back from that side of life and do good things?” Benny stopped swinging his pendant at the question, keenly awaiting Hould’s answer.

  “It doesn’t matter. They’ve poisoned their souls with the actions they’ve taken. They’ve hurt others, stolen, maybe even killed. I don’t think you can come back from that.”

  Benny clenched the pendant in his paw, not saying anything.

  “Well, I do. I don’t think one bad deed is enough to condemn any critter to a lifetime of wickedness and evil. I believe you can come back to the side of good. I have to believe that.” Graham looked thoughtful for a moment.

  The trio stayed silent for the rest of the walk back to the surface, the only sound the flickering of the torch flame that Hould carried.

  __

  The afternoon sun shone through the window of the recovery room at the Alliance building. There, a young rabbit groaned before slowly opening her eyes. A fuzzy world greeted her vision, a pounding headache residing behind her eyes. Trying to sit up brought even more haziness. How long had she been out for? As her vision started clearing, she examined her surroundings. Where was she? She wiped her eyes with her paws, slightly wincing at the soreness on her chest from where she was stabbed.

  A moment later, the door to her room opened, admitting a female Mouse who was looking at the paperwork she was carrying, not noticing that Fleur was awake. Looking up, the Mouse’s eyes opened in shock and she gasped slightly.

  “Oh, good Gods! You’re awake!” Her look of shock turned to one of joy. “Don’t move, I'll get the Healer.”

  She quickly disappeared out of the room, and Fleur hadn’t been able to get a word in. In fact, her throat felt scratchy, and she reached for the glass of water on her bedside table and downed the entire thing in one go. Placing the glass back on the table, the door once again opened to admit the Healer Rabbit that was on-duty and the same Nurse that had checked on Fleur before, still beaming a dazzling smile at her.

  “How are you feeling, Miss?” the Rabbit spoke with a well-mannered and friendly tone, immediately putting Fleur at ease as she still wasn’t sure where she was.

  “I’m ok. Just a little sore. Where am I?”

  “You’re back in Evertree. Your companions brought you back here almost two days ago now. Strange that your Mouse friend isn’t around. Nora, have you seen him around today?”

  “No, but I wish I had. He’s cute. And funny. You’re really lucky, Miss Rabbit.”

  Fleur’s face filled with color and pounding in her head pulsed in protest. She winced and put her paw up to her head, drawing concern from the Healer and Nurse. The Healer went over to her bedside and felt her forehead, humming in thought for a moment before waving his paw, casting a quick spell that covered his paw, a green glow wrapping itself. He placed it back onto Fleur’s head. Immediately, a cooling sensation coursed through her, the headache slowly disappearing.

  “There. No need for that pesky headache, eh? As if your body hadn’t been through enough.”

  “How bad was it?” Fleur said, now visibly relieved at the pain disappearing.

  “The wound itself was no problem. The stab missed your vital organs. But the infection was coming close to killing you. If you hadn’t gotten here when you did, you may have been beyond saving.” The Rabbit Healer said with a slight shake of his head.

  Fleur looked down slightly but popped back up at the thought of her companions.

  “And what about Cruz? Is he ok? Did you guys cure him?”

  “Ah.” The Rabbit clicked his teeth before answering.

  “He’s a tricky case. We haven’t figured out how to expel the ailment from his brain. He’s been kept under a spell to remain asleep. But sadly, we’ve made almost no progress on curing him.”

  Fleur pursed her lips in thought. Whatever was wrong with Cruz was a mystery. And a terrifying one at that. Fleur remembered the way the cloud almost smiled at her whenever it saw her trying to interfere with it.

  “Anyway. Best you get some rest. Ironically, your body needs real sleep despite you being unconscious for nearly four days.” The Healer chuckled lightly. “Please. Don’t hesitate to let myself or Nora know if there’s anything you need.”

  “And if I see Graham, I’ll let him know to come see you.” Nora winked at her before the two of them exited the room.

  At the thought of Graham, Fleur couldn’t help but worry a bit. He had a knack for getting himself hurt. She had taken that stab for him but she had no idea if that actually did any good. She supposed it at least helped a bit since they were still alive. She smiled at that.

  Yet again Graham triumphed over something that seemed so out of reach. She wondered if she’d get that chance. She looked towards the window opposite her with a hopeful expression as her mind briefly returned to the cloud of evil inside Cruz’s brain. Maybe. Just maybe.