CHAPTER THIRTEEN: THE PLAN
The following morning, Verduaga strode boldly through the main corridor and down the stairs into the dungeon. His new green cloak swirling majestically about him, the wildcat descended to the bottom-level dungeon and stopped in front of the cell of the strange gray otter. He peered in.
Riverwyte had obviously had a bad night. His fur was drenched and dirty in places from the filthiness of the water. The otter fixed his pale eyes on Verduaga in a vacant stare.
Verduaga shuddered. Something about this otter's eyes was unsettling, and it didn't help that there was a wild, sleepless look about them. The otter stirred, grinding his teeth angrily. He started to stand up but fell to the flooded floor, bending double with agony and coughing violently.
The wildcat's disturbed look melted into an expression of cruel satisfaction. "Not very nice in there, is it?" he hissed. "Feel sick, or cold, maybe? Yes, it was rather chilly last night."
Riverwyte's eyes blazed with hatred and he looked as if he were about to spring at the bars, but his quiet growl dissolved into another coughing fit. His shoulders sagged in despair.
Verduaga smirked and stalked back upstairs. Nobeast lasted long in the place he had affectionately come to call the "death cell."
Riverwyte waited until he could no longer hear the wildcat's receding footsteps before stopping the cough. He stood up and shook himself disgustedly, ridding himself of the smelly water. The otter allowed himself a small grin of satisfaction. If he kept this up, he could convince the wildcat and his guards that he was becoming deathly ill. Then would come the next stage of his plan. He squeezed water from the vest he wore and from his bark-colored kilt. It wouldn't be long now.
Several days later, Verduaga Greeneyes made his daily trip down to the otter's cell to see how he was faring. The previous day, Riverwyte had barely been able to lift his head from the sludge to look at him. The wildcat was eager to see what pathetic state his prisoner was in now. As he gazed through the bars in the door, he saw Riverwyte sprawled out in the water as he had been the day before.
"Otter!" he taunted. "Are you so weak already that you cannot raise your head to look upon greatness?" No reply followed. Verduaga stared closely at his captive and realized that there was no movement of his sides or back. He unlocked the door and crouched by the limp otter's side, using a claw to pry open one of the closed eyes. It was turned up so that only the white showed. The wildcat then tested Riverwyte's paws by lifting and dropping them. They were as limp as overcooked noodles.
Verduaga chuckled triumphantly. Another enemy defeated. He wouldn't even bother to call the guards; he could get rid of the body himself, in a place he thought fitting. Seizing Riverwyte's body by the hindpaws, he dragged him from the cell and up the flights of stairs, laughing as he watched the otter's head jarring limply on the hard stone stairs. Upon reaching the main front door, Verduaga dragged Riverwyte out and tossed him indiscriminately onto the garbage pile. The wildcat surveyed his work with a snigger and swept back into his castle.
Riverwyte lay still for several minutes before squinting hard a few times and taking stock of his position. He could feel the bruises on the back of his head from the trip up the stairs already; he gritted his teeth and tried to ignore them. The otter breathed lightly through his mouth due to the noxious smell of the garbage heaped up beneath him. It was nearly noon, and by now the soldiers had deserted the parade ground for lunch. It was but the work of a moment for Riverwyte to haul his aching body upright and slip out the main gate into the woodlands. But as sore as he was, Riverwyte was desperately thirsty and took the shortest route to the River Moss at a run. It wasn't long before he was swimming in the cool water, drinking his fill and scrubbing the grime from his fur. Guessing that the surviving resistance fighters had gathered at Camp Willow, Riverwyte set off for it immediately.
