Billybab's feet pounded on the firm, well-packed dirt as he ran as fast as his short, stout legs could carry him. He was sweating hard, running from the vermin horde he knew was pursuing him. He dared not look back. He did not want to see the horror that was hard on his heels. His only goal was to reach home safely; it was the only thought in his terrified mind. As he got closer to his burrow, he began flagging. He knew he was almost there, but his legs wouldn't move any faster. He was panting madly, his arms flapping ungainly back and forth. That was when he heard the rat behind him. He could hear his breath; he could smell his disgusting stench; he could feel the rat had almost caught him, but his home was only a few yards away. Billybab, with a sudden surge of energy, broke away towards his burrow and dove blindly towards it.
He was almost into the passage when something hard flew at him and carried him bodily through the air. He closed his eyes to the pain that followed; he was slammed to the ground by the rat that had caught him. From then on, all was blurred and confused, as if he were drifting in cloudy haze between sleep and wakefulness.
He could vaguely hear gruff voices in the background.
"Raid the little hole, ma buckoes! Take no prisoners!" one said, piercing through the low rumble of confused noise.
A few seconds later, Billybab could hear faint screams and the sounds of a battle far away.
"My family!", Billybab thought, in frantic horror. He desperately tried to raise himself to help, but a firm grip held him in place. He continued to struggle, but the rat who held him was a strongbeast indeed.
But the screams were getting closer. They weren't like any Billybab had ever heard before. They weren't happy, or sad, or even scared. They were terrified, Billybab decided. They were the screams of beasts driven over the brink of insanity into a world of unparalleled terror. The harsh screams were sharp and violent, rife with fear. In the screams was an edge of desperation, as if the creatures they belonged to knew they were destined to die, but were still battling in vain against unbeatable odds.
And then, abruptly, the screaming stopped. A sickening silence hung in the air as a parade of rats emerged from the burrow. Their uniforms were flecked with blood and dirt, their faces fixed in triumphant smirks. Food, clothes, trinkets, and even a small, limp molewife were slung over their broad, sinewy shoulders.
Billybab, horrified, gazed at the scene of ruthless massacre. The heartlessness of the evil vermin sickened the innocent molechild. As a deep, furious hate for those who would be so careless as to do this to goodbeasts grew in his heart, he spied the face of the molewife so carelessly flung across the back of a big, burly rat captain. Recognition dawned on Billybab's fear-hardened features.
It was his mother. There was no doubt in his mind. It was she who had raised him from a wee babe. He had known her as the pretty young creature that had fed and nursed him all his life. Now, however, she looked so old and tired, her features worn and pained by the hardships she had undergone. A bloody gash stretched from her lip to her forehead, and purple and black bruises stood out on her torso and legs. It looked as of she had been heavily beaten. But Billybab knew she was alive. She had to be. His mother had been the only reliable fixture in his life besides his two friends, and they were long gone now. He could not lose her. He could not lose them. He didn't know what he'd do without them. He could not stand to live in a reality without his mother, without his friends. Convincing himself they must be alive, for his sake, Billybab set his face in a tight grimace and watched the scene before him with the battle-hardened features of a beast who had endured the hardships of a lifetime.
As the rat carrying his mother threw her to the ground at the feet of captain Strenk, a rage sparked in Billybab's heart. As he kicked her once, Billybab's eyes flamed up with fury. As he kicked her again, Billybab knew neither she nor he could take any more abuse. Overtaken by a vehement rage, he leapt to his feet, violently threw off his bewildered captor, and charged directly at the captain.
"Guards!" Strenk shouted, and as he did, two rats stepped in front of Billybab. Their big, ugly, smiling faces were the last thing Billybab saw as his world faded into darkness.
