Chapter Ten

Sky poked her head out of the door and looked tentatively down the passageway, lit only by soft torchlight. The soft, glowing rays emitted by the fires, which were sitting just above the torch brackets, placed strategically on the wall, fell on Sky's anxious face, casting it into shadow.

Kyra's face too was covered in light and shadow, her expression grim and her heart pounding in her chest despite all of her efforts to stop its clamoring. Both were nervous, though both put on an air of nonchalance, more to keep their own morale up than their companion's. Kyra was the second to pass through the door, and the torchlight on her face intensified.

Many different shadows, twisting and merging into one another as the torchlight flickered, were cast upon the stone floor behind her, each torch making its own separate darkness. Sky too had many shadows cast behind her. Kyra noticed these before she noticed her own, and she stared transfixed at the dark patches covering the ground for more than a few moments.

The shadows were like them, and yet, not like them. Was there really a shadow demon lurking inside of her? An inner demon that made her mad? Was an inner anger and hate the cause of the red madness that had possessed her every fiber and her very core? Or, was there a little bit of a shadow in everyone, falling over his or her heart and creating hate even for the kindest.

Kyra was a goodbeast, but she still hated with ferocity almost unimaginable. Was everybeast like that? Weren't they just the same, vermin and goodbeasts, if they both hated? Kyra shook her head, trying to dispel thoughts that wouldn't be dislodged. They had been embedded in her brain, and it would be a long time indeed before the wound that they had created was soothed.

Sighing, Kyra looked about the long, winding, and dark passageway ahead of them. No guards yet. Lord Mavarl never had his guards stay in one place, but preferred to have them walk around, hoping that they would be easier for them to spot intruders. He also didn't really expect anyone to attack him, so his security wasn't that tight.

Sky also secretly thought that MacPhearsome had been here before he had let them out and had dealt with several of the guards that they would have run into. A bloody saber by the door of the next room and a few small bones confirmed this. Kyra saw them too and gulped.

She was very glad MacPhearsome was on their side, and not with the enemy. That bird was dangerous indeed, and a force to be gravely reckoned with! She wondered how Lord Mavarl had managed to capture him in the first place, but her mind didn't breech this subject for too long; there were more important things to think about, like how they were going to sneak out of Castle Fortguard.

The ottermaid and haremaid crept down the passageway, their ears pricked and their eyes alert for any sign of movement. There was none. Obviously, the guards were all in their chambers, drunk. The ottermaid was vaguely surprised by the lack of security. Mavarl, she knew, was a very capable and organized leader, dangerous too.

He had his troops trained as so many lapdogs were. They would obey his slightest whim lest they be slain. Then, a sickening thought came to Kyra, and it took her several tries to vocalize it, as the words kept sticking in her dry throat. "Sky," she said, her eyes widening just a bit, and her tone kept soft. "'Ave you noticed 'ow there are no guards about?"

Sky had noticed, but she didn't think much of it. If the rat was stupid enough to leave the armory unguarded, who cared? It only presented an advantage for them. Though, now that she looked over Kyra's expression with a critical eye, she realized that Kyra thought it was serious. She must have a good reason for her current emotion and its related actions.

The haremaid, taking on a look of mock indignation at the ottermaid's comment, responded promptly and with a soft voice that she rarely used. "O'course I noticed the bloomin' flippin' guard-type blighters weren't here guardin' th'bloody armory, eh wot! Probably sleepin', doncha know! Lazy brutes."

Kyra was still uneasy about the absence of the guards, though, and proceeded to tell Sky the reason that she had hypothesized to explain their actions. It was simple, really. Mavarl wasn't keeping a close eye on them, and they had snuck off to have a drink and a good lie-in.

The reason that she suspected Mavarl was busy was the thing that made her uneasy. "Sky, they aren't 'ere 'cause Mavarl is busy with sommat, obviously. Abandoned their post t'wet their whistles, I'll wager. But, do you have any clue as to why Mavarl might be busy?"

Sky's eyed widened slightly too as realization came upon her as forcefully as a thunderbolt. She nodded rather slowly, barely suppressing a shudder. "Aye," she said slowly, reading Kyra's thoughts as if they were an open book.

"I can take a guess at it. Th'blighter's busy makin' up a spectacular way fer us to bally well die, doncha know! That's why he's busy. He's plotting the most painful way t'kill us." Sky's voice trailed off as she let the statement fly down the corridor. Though she had spoken almost inaudibly, she heard her friend clearly.

"C'mon, Sky. We're bein' silly. We sh'd jus' forget this an' thank our good fortune that there ain't no guards t'stop us. It isn't as if we didn' already know what we were getting in to. Mavarl plannin' to torture an' kill us isn't anything new to us now, is it?"

Kyra tightened her grip on her grandmother's bow, and tried to walk as quietly as she could with all the swords she had at her waist. Feeling the grain of the wood against her paws, Kyra squeezed even tighter, taking slight comfort from the feeling of the bow that she had lost so long ago.

The two continued down the corridor, turning at the first corner. Kyra had peeped a cautious eye down it first to make sure there were no rat guards, but even her eyes didn't pick up the form of a guard approaching, and just as they were appearing to go down it Sky stared at the ground, mouth open. Sky silently pointed to the shadow that slowly crept around the corner of the armory corridor.

A rat's head poked around and its ugly mouth dropped open in shock. It grappled for its sword, but in the process its paw snagged on it's poorly made sheath and belt! That small delay was all the time Kyra needed. Even though she hadn't used a bow and arrows in years, she remembered how to do it immediately.

Her paws pulled back on the string until it would go no farther, and let the green fletched arrow fly straight through the rat's throat. The rat was dead as soon as the arrow hit him. Kyra looked at the freshly killed carcass with a slight smile on her face.

Yes, Kyra Longfletch was still dangerous with a bow. Soon, Mavarl would discover just how dangerous she was. All she had to do was make her way through the twisting corridor of the castle and find her way out onto the island. Then, Mavarl would get what was coming to him.

Kyra and Sky were both silent for a long while, each not wanting to be the first to move, and both frightened that more rat guards would come and discover their comrade dead. Though vermin had no real affection for each other, or even a sense of loyalty to each other, they wouldn't want a bunch of slaves running about killing people.

Besides, Mavarl would most likely reward whoever caught either of them. Kyra snorted. "We're bein' silly again, Sky." The ottermaid spoke in a dull droll, trying to sound bored with the whole matter. "If we don't get goin' soon, someone's bound t'find us standin' 'ere while we're gawkin' like idiots."

Sky nodded, slowly ebbing back into the reality of their situation. Resisting the impulse to clear her head by shaking it vigorously, the haremaid waggled her ears and sniffed regally.

"You mean you're the one standin' there gawkin, doncha know. I wasn't doin' anything. Waiting for you t'catch your jolly ol' breath, wot! Time t'get moving. If we want a chance of defeating that slimy rat darin' t'call himself 'Lord', we'd best get cracking. Top hole, ol' thing."

Kyra had to laugh as she listened to her friends well-spoken excuse. Shaking her head in amusement, even in such a dire situation as theirs, Kyra gave Sky a grin. "You sure know 'ow t'lighten up a situation where we c'd very well all end up dead, don't ye, y'great lump. Can't believe you, sometimes. But I'm glad I've got you beside me in this rebellion-thing. Couldn't do it without ye, y'know, Sky."

The haremaid grinned comically at her friend, waggling her ears and sniffing again. She tilted her nose upwards, taking on a smug appearance. "Well now, there's a nice change," the haremaid said in what she tried to make sound like an offended tone. She failed miserably. It is indeed very hard to sound offended when one is clutching one's stomach to prevent from bursting out in wild gales of laughter.

"Glad t'see you're finally appreciating me, eh wot! All the things I've done for you, Longfletch, an' you finally notice what a valuable friend I am. Took you long enough, Riverwhalloper!" The two couldn't stand it any longer. They both burst into laughter, despite the grim prospects ahead of them.

Sky and Kyra waited a few moments to make sure that no other rats were nearby, and then stepped over the bleeding carcass of the guard and turned the corner. As the pair made their way towards the Entrance Hall of Castle Fortguard, they noticed many more piles of bones and weapons. MacPhearsome certainly had been busy before he had freed them.

Kyra looked at the pieces of dead rat warily, and averted her eyes. She didn't like imagining what MacPhearsome had done to them, though she had a pretty good idea. How could that bird eat something as disgusting as a rat? She hoped his tastes didn't run towards otter or hare, though she knew MacPhearsome wouldn't eat them.

Kyra and Sky soon reached the staircase that led down to the Entrance Hall, and they took a moment to look down the stairs and make sure no rat guards were coming. After a few moments of silence, the pair padded down the stairs on silent feet, their senses open and alert for any sign of an approaching enemy.

To Kyra's surprise, they didn't meet any resistance on the stairwell. She understood why when she reached the bottom of the stairs. "Ugh!" was all she could bring herself to say as she looked at the bloody carcasses of about half a dozen rats that lay sprawled in awkward positions at the bottom of the stairs.

Sky nodded, and gestured to a few golden feathers that were scattered about the bodies. Kyra picked one up, and stuck it among the green feathers of one of her arrows.

"This," she stated quietly as she tucked the arrow back into her quiver, "is for Lord Mavarl, and him alone." Sky didn't respond, and after a few more moments, both of the maids ran out of the front door. Of course, MacPhearsome had also dealt with the guards outside as well. He had, however, not eaten these.

Both of them had been propped up against the great stone wall of Castle Fortguard with their helmets covering their sightless eyes and their spears at attention. They looked as if they were still alive, and merely dozing. Kyra nodded her approval. The eagle had done his work well indeed. The two slaves held their weapons close so that they wouldn't shift and bang into each other, and ran for the Slave compound.

After a few minutes, Kyra and Sky reached the wall of the compound. MacPhearsome hadn't had the time or stealth to attack the guards in front of the slave compound, so they had been left for Kyra and Sky to deal with. The pair crept around the circular wooden wall until they were near the front door. Then, Kyra stopped, her mouth hanging open.

She nudged Sky in the ribs, and they both giggled. These rats were Bloodclaw and Doomfang, the same rats that had escorted them to Lord Mavarl the day before! The two had to bite their tongues and use all their willpower to keep from giggling as they listened to the rat's converse.

Bloodclaw scratched his ear and looked up at the huge Doomfang, showing a crooked tooth in his open maw. He refrained from speaking for a moment, not really wanting to involve his stupid companion in a conversation.

Still, despite this annoyance, the talkative rat could not refrain himself from stating what was on his mind. "D'jew 'ear about them two slaves wot killed all them guards t'other day? Lord Mavarl's gonna kill 'em t'morrer mornin' everyone says."

Doomfang nodded sagely, contemplating with some perverted pleasure what Mavarl might consider doing to the two rebellious slaves. Mavarl's punishments were always creative and extremely painful, and all of the rats traditionally gathered to watch the punishments carried out. The slaves gathered too, though they always did so unwillingly.

"Aye, so I did. Th' ones we h'escorted t' Mavarl. One of 'em got a whippin' las' night. Funny thing though, I didn't 'ear no screamin'. Most beasts would be screamin' if they was getting a whipping. I 'eard Lord Mavarl did it personally 'imself!"

Bloodclaw scratched his chin, and his eyes gleamed wickedly as a new idea came to him. Of course, though Bloodclaw was vaguely smart, he was still a rat. Rats, for the most part, were jittery creatures and extremely idiotic. Mavarl, of course, was an exception to this commonly used rule. Though some might call it a stereotype, it is, for the most part, a true one.

"Oi, Doomy, which one d'you think will die first? I'm puttin' my bet on that Otter-type one. Didjer see the way Lord Mavarl looked at 'er? I was on board o' th' ship the night Lord Mavarl captured 'er. Jus' a liddle runt then. I think Mavarl's got a grudge against 'er fer warnin' that Otter Holt place that we was comin'!"

Doomfang shook his great shaggy head, some hidden depth of his extremely tiny brain telling him that he did not agree with the statement his more intelligent friend had just made. Though Bloodclaw was not extremely intelligent, he was made to look like a regular genius when compared to Doomfang.

"No, matey. It'll be the Rabbit wot dies first, mark me words! Did yer see the way that Otter was attackin' those guards yesterday? I didn', but I 'eard that 'er eyes turned all red like, an' she didn't stop killin' an' wavin' 'er stick about 'till somebeast knocked 'er out."

Kyra clamped a paw over Sky's mouth as the haremaid opened it to let out a stream of insults at being called rabbit. She shook her head, and picked up one of the blades from the belts above her hips. She held it blunt end first, and waited for Sky to do the same. 'Ready?' she mouthed at Sky as they crept closer to the guards. 'One. Two. Three. Go!'

At that instant, Kyra and Sky both leapt forwards and brought the ends of their blades down on the heads of Bloodclaw and Doomfang. Crack! Bloodclaw fell down with Kyra next to him, putting a paw on his chest. Thwap! Doomfang fell to the ground with an audible thump. Sky grinned and wiggled her ears over his unconscious form.

Kyra wasn't sure, but the distinctly thought that she heard Sky say something along the lines of: "That'll teach you t'call Skythistle Mornin'dew Meadowsong a bloody Rabbit!" Then, as quietly as they could, Kyra and Sky opened the large double doors that led into the slave compound.

As soon as the doors were opened the pair ran into the compound, struggling to take off weapon belts as they ran. It was only a matter of moments before they reached the Shelter in the middle of the compound. Kyra didn't even bother to stop as she held out a paw to push open the door. The pair speeded through the flimsy doorway, panting and throwing weapons into a pile on the floor.

All of the slaves were silent for a moment before they all started talking at once. 'Kyra! Sky! Lord Mavarl didn't kill yer!' 'They're alive! Lookit! They're alive!' 'I never seen such weapons all me life? Where did yew get those?' 'Are we goin' to h'escape now?' 'Oh, Kyra marm, you're an angel. An angel, I swear it!' 'Sky! Y'look as though you've come back from th' dead! 'Ow did you ever manage t'get out o those dungeons?' 'I knew ye would come back!'

Kyra held up a paw, and after a while, the slaves quieted down. Kyra noted this with pleasure, extremely pleased that they were not obeying commands as readily, even if they were from her. At least it meant that they didn't think them second nature anymore.

"Now," said Kyra in a firm voice. "All the babes and elders 'ad better stay here. The rest of you, male or female, had better get into two groups. All of you need t'pick up some weapons, first. We'll need a third of you to stay 'ere and guard those who can't fight, while the rest of you follow me 'n Sky to attack the guards."

Sky nodded and tossed weapons to the two groups that were forming. The rebellious slaves took them eagerly, awaiting with a combination of nervousness and joy at their chance for revenge the coming rebellion. Soon, the slaves would be able to pay the guards back for the torture they had endured lash for lash!

"Now, we've got reinforcements from MacPhearsome, th' golden eagle. He brought Otters and Hares from Salamandastron and Holt Wotsitsname to 'elp us fight. We don't know how many there are, or what their strength is, but they'll be with us."

Kyra grinned, "Aye! Now, if we do this right, Lord Mavarl will be free forever!" Kyra walked along the lines of slaves that had formed, checking that they each had a weapon. Of course, many of them hadn't used a sword or spear before, but they needed all the help that they could get!"

Kyra stood in front of the third of beasts that was to stay at the Shelter, guarding the babes and the elderly. "Well now, you 'ad better be ready for any attack. I think we'll be able t'keep Mavarl's cronies busy outside, but we need some of you 'ere just in case t'protect th' liddle 'uns. D'you understand? Send one or two outside t'keep a lookout for approaching vermin. Switch every once in a while? Is this clear?"

The slaves all nodded, holding up their weapons and saluting as best they could. Kyra smiled at them, saluted smartly with her left paw, and walked towards the second group.

"Alright, all to attention!" Sky called out, grinning at Kyra. "All o' you lily livered cads are here t'prove to Lord Mavarl that we want Freedom! Now, lets go out there an' show that rat what we're made of! Are you with me?"

The slaves all nodded, for none of them dared to let out a warcry. The rebellion was still a secret, after all. Kyra nodded, and she and Sky both led the armed slaves out into the compound and towards the door.

It was surprising how quietly the slaves were able to move through the littered compound, considering all the rotten logs and broken bowls that were scattered around. The Slave Compounds had never exactly been a clean or hygienic place. Kyra could almost hear the heartbeat of each of the soldiers that followed her and could almost feel the sweat trickling down their necks.

Her own heartbeat reverberated in her ears as she walked quietly towards the gate of the Compound. Soon, with a bit of luck, Lord Mavarl would be dead and the slaves would be free! They didn't know how long they waited there, though it seemed like hours. It might have only been moments, or even minutes. Kyra's eyes were fixed on the sky above her.

It was just turning dark, and the horizon was tinted a reddish pink from the setting sun. It would have been beautiful if the circumstances hadn't been so drastic and nerve wracking. Kyra was now grateful for her tied up tunic, since it exposed her fur to the cool night breeze that wound around the small army. It was almost never cool in the Far West.

And then, against the setting sun, she saw the black silhouette of MacPhearsome against the pink and gold of the setting sun, she smiled, and raised her head to the sky, her vocals vibrating as she let out a new warcry. One she hadn't used before.

"FREEEEEDOOOOOM!"

All the slaves raised their weapons into the air and waved them about, echoing Kyra's outcry in joyous strains. It rang through the air, symbolizing the great battle that was to come. Kyra stood proudly at their head, watching on with mounting pride and excitement as they belted out the warcry, using all the strength in their lungs to do so.

"FREEEEDOOOOOOM!"