Chapter 27
A Payment in Blood
"I didn't want to be here, as obvious as that sounds. And I don't mean the island, I mean this stupid temple." He glanced behind him for what seemed like the fifth time in the past ten minutes, which would have been useful if it weren't for the fact that he was sitting against a wall, and, well, he could hardly see anyway.
"If it were up to me, most of these beasts would've been thrown out by nightfall. I don't know what value some of these beasts even bring to this group. Then again, I guess that's why I'm not a leader." He gazed idly at the fuzzy brown mould that was his paw and sighed. "Why can't the sun rise soon? The moment I can see the wall in front of me, I'm asking Miena to leave this place behind. Though, I guess ye don't care about that, do ye?" He asked, eyeing the space in front of him with a scowl.
Ulfrad Shorepass' paw rushed to the dagger in his belt as he heard the door open to his left. "Hurr, 's just oi," somebeast reassured.
Ulfrad's scowl faded as he heard the familiar voice. The sound of claws tapping against the floor grew closer as Noruth Peltameo sat down next to the otter. Ulfrad sighed. "What are ye doin' here, mole?"
"Just checkin' on you'm. Oi be hearin' tarking."
"Well, ye heard wrong," Ulfrad grumbled. "I ain't talkin' wit' nobeast."
Noruth let out an amused hum. "Ho urr, anyways, oi be wantings t'say sorry."
"Fer what?"
"Oi loike Crookedfang, an' oi be knowin' you doan't. But if oi made you feel bad boi helpin' 'em, sorry. Oi loike Crookedfang, but oi loike you too."
Ulfrad snorted. "Why? Don't ye-" he paused, remembering that Noruth didn't know he had abandoned him and Crookedfang when they got attacked.
Noruth paused, waiting for Ulfrad to finish before realising he wasn't going to. "Whaddya doin' in hurr?"
"'Tis a nice place to get away," he mumbled. "Can't really stand being around anybeast right now."
"Urr, wanna talk 'bout it?"
"Not particularly." Ulfrad hugged his legs to his chest. He heard Noruth scooting closer to him.
"C'mon. It woan't git better iffen you doan't tell anybeast."
Ulfrad scoffed. "Guess that's true, but I don't think ye'll be able to help any."
"Oi'll try," Noruth replied optimistically.
"Well, unless ye can remove two beasts from this temple, ye can't help, but I know that nobeast wants to do that."
Noruth paused. "You'm be roight, oi doan't. But why doan't you like 'em?"
Ulfrad scowled. "Because I don't trust 'em one bit. Ye put yer trust in one of them and they'll stab ye in the back," he replied, his voice dripping with spite.
Noruth chuckled. "Trust, hm? Oi loike you, but oi doan't trust you. You lef' Crookedfang and oi wit' the guards."
Ulfrad froze. He turned to Noruth's voice and murmured, "ye know, huh? Why do ye still like me, then?"
"'Cuz, wurr on the same side, aren't we? Oi dunno. Oi just want everybeast t'git along. Maybe you'll change? Oi know it be a bit difficult, oo arr, but oi have faeth"
"Yer delusional."
Noruth giggled. "Oi am." The two sat in silence for a bit while Ulfrad could hear Noruth scraping his claws idly on the ground. "You can trust 'em, y'know?"
"I can't. Not a single one of them. Put yer trust in one and ye get burned."
"You lef' oi t'die. Crookedfang's been helpin' oi," the mole said bluntly. "A' least try."
"True, I did," Ulfrad mumbled awkwardly. "Here's the thing, though. Crookedfang's as dumb as a rock, but ye just know there's somethin' inside of 'em that'll betray us first chance they get. He might not even do it intentionally. Who knows?"
Noruth snorted in amusement. The mole hesitated, debating whether to reveal what he was going to say. Taking a breath, he spoke. "Did oi tell you oi was a prisoner inna mine?"
"Nay."
"Arr, thurr leader, Hylvard, was a mean beasty. 'Ee fursed many vermin t'work as guards. Oi became friends wit' one o' em, or arr. One day, 'ee an' some othurr guards got sick o' the place and made an escape plan wit' zumm prisoners. Well, tried to."
"What happened?"
Ulfrad could hear the mole clicking his claws together hesitantly. "Oi lived."
Ulfrad sat in silence for a moment. "They could've just been trying to stick it to Hylvard. So what if they saved ye? There're many practical reasons to do so."
"True, but thoi didn' haveta bring us."
"They might've thought ye were useful fer the escape. They'd probably drop ye later."
"Thoi could've, but oi doan't believe thart."
"Why? Seems perfectly reasonable to me."
Noruth couldn't help but chuckle. "Do you think everything beasts do's bad? Whaddya think oi be doin'?"
"I dunno," Ulfrad admitted. "Part of me thinks yer tryna get me to say somethin'."
Although he couldn't see him, Ulfrad knew that Noruth was staring into his eyes. "Just try trustin' 'em, arr? You'm be surprised."
Ulfrad snorted and turned to the ground. Noruth stayed next to him to give him company, and although Ulfrad wouldn't admit it, he was kind of glad he did. The otter looked at the black, hazy darkness around him and sighed. "Fer yer sake, I sure hope yer right."
The moon rose high above the island, bathing the ocean in the pale moonlight. Waves crashed against the rocks on the shore as a breeze ran through the coast. Two beasts on the balcony stared at the beach. A set of eyes stared at them back.
The prisoners inside the temple were scattered about the place. As night set in, they went about their own routines, getting ready for bed or just occupying themselves. Yos Peonymaid was awake in an empty room, unable to sleep due to paranoia. Rianne Wurtil was also struggling to sleep, though that was caused by the lack of beds. Gurnilal Speareye was in the courtyard, exercising with a piece of debris. And then there was Crookedfang and Miena Dawnraft, keeping watch on the balcony as was agreed upon by the group.
Needless to say, the past hour or so after they barricaded the entrance had been awkward (something that ended up being useless, by the way. There wasn't enough debris, and the door was too big to actually do anything, something that annoyed Rianne to no end). Miena and Crookedfang tried to act amiable towards each other, but there was tension between the two that couldn't be fixed, even if they tried.
Crookedfang twirled his kitchen knife in his left paw while his right rested in his lap. Miena leaned against the railing, boredly gazing out at the beach. "So, I may as well ask since there's nothing better to do. Why do ye think yer here? Ulfrad and I just got taken with the two hogmaids, but what is special 'bout ye?"
The rat shrugged. "Eh, dunno. I know Tornear's sometin', but I dunno what we did."
"Did ye recognise anybeast in the brig?"
Crookedfang scoffed. "If I did, I'd've told Vhyn."
Miena grunted and gazed back at the empty beach. What fun. She wanted to sleep, but this was important enough to not go to sleep, not that it made it any more interesting. Staring at the sand, she decided to count how many rocks were along the shoreline to pass the time.
A glimmer caught her eye. Miena furrowed her brows as she turned towards the light.
It wasn't a light.
"Oh dear lord…" she gasped. There was a thin strip of light in the distance, like moonlight reflecting on a blade. As she narrowed her eyes, she realised that there were shapes. She didn't notice them at first due to the dark cloaks they were wearing, but the ten or so faces she could see under the hoods were a dead giveaway.
"Crookedfang?" She said nervously. "Look down there. Get everybeast together and tell them to hide."
"Hm?" Crookedfang looked to where Miena was pointing. His eyes grew wide as he saw them. The two beasts on watch looked at each other in fear before darting inside. The rat immediately ran for the stairs while Miena began searching for Ulfrad.
Kajiir was at the temple.
Rianne raised her head as she heard Crookedfang yelling outside the room.
"Gurn! Get outta dere!" He exclaimed.
For a moment, Rianne didn't know how to react. It wasn't until she heard Miena calling out for Ulfrad that dread welled up inside of her. She padded towards the door and pulled it open. She peered her head tentatively into the hallway. Miena was opening every door, looking inside, and going to the next one.
The hogmaid turned towards the open balcony door. She considered running over to it to see for herself what was happening, but fear held her back like a chain attached to the wall.
A scream echoed throughout the temple. Rianne scrambled back into her room. A whimper escaped her mouth as she clambered underneath a table and hid. More sounds rang throughout the halls. Try as she might to distract herself, all she could think about was how she was going to die.
Gurnilal set down the piece of debris she was holding when she heard Crookedfang calling out for her from upstairs. His voice sounded panicked. Something wasn't right. Instinctively, she turned towards the temple entrance. A gasp escaped her as she saw a group of beasts nearing the door. The one in front, a ferret, raised a piece of wood shaped like a cross and levelled it at Gurnilal.
Clunk!
Gurnilal dove to the ground with a scream as a bolt whizzed past her chest. Pushing herself up, she ran towards the stairs as the lengthy sound of Kajiir reloading their crossbow went off behind her.
Now? Why now?! Vhyn's not back yet. What if he comes here?
Fear erupted inside of her like an inferno as she reached the steps. Crookedfang was at the very top, motioning wildly for her to run upstairs. "We gotta go!"
Gurnilal nodded and leapt up the stairs, reaching the top in a matter of seconds. "Are ya alright?" Crookedfang asked nervously.
"Aye, let's go!" Pulling Crookedfang by his uninjured arm, Gurnilal bolted down the hallway and looked around. Even though she already checked earlier, she began searching for any kind of alternate escape.
Noruth and Ulfrad paused when they heard the familiar thud of the crossbow firing followed by a scream. They stood up, Ulfrad drawing his dagger defensively. "What's going on?" Noruth whimpered.
Wasting no time, Ulfrad reached forward and walked to the wall, feeling around until his paw touched the door. He pulled it open, allowing just enough light to see a familiar blue dress. Miena turned and ran towards the pair. "Miena, what's happening?" The older otter asked.
"Guards are here. We've gotta go." The Skipper grabbed Ulfrad by the wrist and dragged him into the hallway. Miena scanned the area, trying to gauge the situation when she saw a certain vole running down the steps. She snorted. "Yos' running towards the guards."
Ulfrad narrowed his eyes. "Huh. Boldest thing I've seen her do all day… Hm. Miena, follow me. I've got an idea."
Noruth padded out of the room as the two otters snuck down the steps. A rush of anxiety flew through him and he ran out the door. "Rianne?" He called out. Did she know what was happening? He looked around the halls. Crookedfang was probably searching for Gurnilal, the two otters were together, and Yos and Rianne were nowhere to be seen. Humming nervously, he began searching the many empty rooms for her.
Kajiir finally reloaded the crossbow, pulling a bolt back with a satisfying click. Looking up from their task, they noticed somebeast running down the stairs and aimed up at them.
"Don't shoot!" The figure shrieked. Kajiir vaguely recognised the voice but remembered that there weren't any prisoners that short except for one (that were alive). Lowering their weapon, they waved for Yos to come closer.
The vole ran up to Kajiir, panting heavily as she looked behind her. "What are you doing here? You aren't supposed to come until noon tomorrow."
"Change o' plans," Kajiir answered simply. "How many're here?"
Yos counted in her head, eventually answering. "Six."
Kajiir frowned. That was more than they thought so they'd be somewhat spread thin. "Who?"
"Ulfrad, Miena, Crookedfang, Rianne, Gurnilal, and Noruth."
Kajiir snorted and turned towards their group. "You t'ree, go after d'two otters. You two go after d'rat. You on d'far left, hogmaid. You go for d'weasel. Finally, you go for Noruth, I'll stay here an' guard d'entrance. Aye?"
"Aye," they all said in unison. Bringing up their weapons, they ran towards the two sets of stairs. Kajiir looked down at Yos and shrugged. "You can just sit o'er dere or sometin'. Don' do anytin' 'till we're done." With that, Kajiir held up their crossbow and stepped in front of the entrance. Yos sighed and sat down by the staircase, wincing as she heard a yelp from upstairs. She rested her chin on her paws and waited for the sounds to stop.
"Noruff!"
The mole turned once he heard his name. At the end of the hall, he saw Crookedfang and Gurnilal running towards him. Noruth smiled with relief and met them in the centre. "So glad you'm alright."
"Same here," Crookedfang grinned.
The sound of shuffling downstairs brought them back to reality. Noruth's face darkened. "Whurr's Rianne?"
Crookedfang looked around him. "I dunno!"
"We need t'look for her," Noruth exclaimed.
Gurnilal grimaced. "Do we have time fer…"
"Gurn, what do we do?" Crookedfang asked anxiously.
"I uh…" Having never been used to any kind of leadership role, Gurnilal froze. She couldn't think of an answer.
At least, not until they heard the sounds of pawsteps coming from the stairs like thunder. Gurnilal's face twisted with horror and she bolted to the closest door. "Hide!"
Noruth entered one door while Gurnilal and Crookedfang went in another. Noruth whimpered as he pressed himself against the wall, heart beating rapidly as he heard the guards opening doors in the hallway. He covered his mouth with his paws, begging not to be heard. He couldn't die. Not now. Not like this…
Yos fidgeted with her scarf as she looked over at Kajiir. The ferret levelled off their crossbow at the staircases, finger tapping the trigger ready to fire when somebeast walked down the steps. The vole couldn't help but shudder imagining what it'd be like to be shot by it. A thud from upstairs caught her attention and she stood up. Nope. She wasn't going to deal with this. She did what she had to do and that was it. There was nothing else that she had to do and nobeast to help.
The faces of the other prisoners floated through her mind. Were any of them dead yet? Probably not. She hadn't heard any screams yet. Would she have to hear them? Couldn't she just leave and not deal with any of this?
Kajiir noticed her getting up, however, and motioned for her to sit back down. She did so begrudgingly, resting her chin on her paws. With nothing else to do, she idly looked around the temple.
That's when she noticed two pairs of eyes under the staircase. Yos opened her mouth to scream. Before she had the chance to, a slim figure dashed out, wrapping a wiry arm around her body and placing a dagger against her throat.
Kajiir turned and aimed the crossbow at Yos' attacker. "Hey!" They called out.
"Want me to set her down? Fire at me, why don't ye?" A voice, Ulfrad's voice, challenged in the empty courtyard. His voice was dripping with spite and the way he looked down at Yos filled her with dread. The older otter was stronger than Yos expected and managed to hold her up in front of him, covering his face and neck from any bolts fired.
Kajiir raised the crossbow. Yos shook her head at them as if to say, "please don't shoot". As Ulfrad expected, the ferret didn't fire. How long was he listening in? She thought to herself.
All of a sudden, a second shape darted out from under the staircase. Miena raised a bow in her injured arm and held onto the string with the other.
Caught off guard, Kajiir instinctively turned and fired at the new presence. Miena jumped to the right, allowing the bolt to fly harmlessly past her.
Kajiir realised their mistake then and there as Miena exclaimed, "now!" Ulfrad dropped Yos to the floor, allowing Miena to grab him by the wrist. With an unloaded crossbow, there wasn't much Kajiir could do as the two otters ran past them and into the night. The ferret growled and reloaded their weapon as fast as they could manage. Yos pushed herself off the ground and stumbled away from the staircase. In her mind, she had almost died. Ulfrad almost slit her throat and Kajiir almost shot her.
I really am in as much danger as the others, I know I am.
Rianne jumped as she heard a door from the adjacent room open. A whimper escaped her as she looked around for anything to defend herself with. She hesitantly grabbed a rock in the corner of the room and raised it in front of her. Her limbs felt cold and the weapon in her paws felt so foreign to her. She felt queasy just looking at a sharp corner of the stone, even more so when she practised swinging it a few times.
The door rattled. Rianne's eyes grew wide and she ducked under the table, dropping the rock and covering her mouth with her paws, quivering violently.
Rianne's body ran ice cold as the door opened. A searat opened the door with a flail grasped in his paw. The hogmaid held her breath as the rat's eyes scanned the dark room. Rianne was torn on whether she should reach for the rock or not, but she couldn't take her eyes off the weapon in the rat's paws.
The searat looked down and made eye contact with Rianne, face flickering with a brief moment of recognition before raising the flail. She screamed and backed against the wall. "No, please no!"
The two beasts heard a roar. The searat was caught by surprise as Noruth ran out of his hiding place and pushed him to the ground. The mole turned towards Rianne, motioning for her to follow. She crawled out from under the table with wide eyes and ran towards Noruth. As the searat tried to get up, Noruth hesitated but otherwise didn't relent when he kicked him in the stomach with the side of his footpaw.
Rianne looked up. At the end of the hall was a fox holding a pair of sais. Noruth noticed as well and ran in the opposite direction. The two prisoners let out a scream as the searat and fox gave chase. Noruth went on pure instinct, not knowing where he was going from here. Rianne's gaze landed on the balcony doors. "There!" She exclaimed. The mole nodded in agreement.
Given Rianne's poor shape and Noruth's short legs, their two attackers were quickly catching up to them. Fortunately, they reached the balcony before the guards. Rianne and Noruth pressed their bodies against the double doors and shut it just in time.
Rianne realised their mistake once they felt the guards slamming against the doors. The two prisoners grimaced with every hit, feeling the vibrations jolt through their bodies. Noruth looked over the balcony and towards the ground. It was too high of a jump. Rianne yelped as a strong hit sent the two stumbling, but they quickly pressed against the door and were momentarily safe.
"What do we do? What in hellgates are we supposed to do!?" Rianne screamed.
They were trapped where they stood.
A stoat pushed open a door, coming face-to-face with Gurnilal. The weasel's face was wide with surprise as he adjusted the grip on his sword. Glaring directly at her, the stoat raised it defensively.
That was when Crookedfang dashed out from the corner of the room and slammed his kitchen knife as hard as he could into the stoat's stomach. The stoat doubled over and fell to the left, clutching his stomach with a groan. Crookedfang smiled at Gurnilal but that smile faded as he looked out the doorway. Two more beasts were after them, but luckily, the doorway was only wide enough for one of them to enter.
As the healthier of the two, Gurnilal pushed Crookedfang aside as another weasel entered with a spear. Gurnilal was unarmed, but so was Crookedfang at the moment. The weasel clumsily swung his weapon in the cramped space, hitting Gurnilal with the handle. Growling, Gurnilal grabbed onto the spear with both paws, straining to pull it away from her attacker.
The other weasel kicked Gurnilal's chest, causing her to stumble and let go. She groaned, looking up just in time to see the spear heading in her direction. She leaned to the right, letting out a pained snarl as the blade slashed through her forearm. She grabbed the spear with her paws and pulled. As the other weasel was thrown forward, Gurnilal lashed out with her fists, stealing the weasel's consciousness. Now armed with a weapon, Gurnilal stepped back as Crookedfang finally pulled the knife out of the stoat's stomach.
Their final attacker, a rat, charged forward with a scimitar. Gurnilal stepped to the side, dodging his swing and slamming the butt of the spear into the back of his head. Gurnilal and Crookedfang ran out of the room and shut it, jamming the spear through the handle to keep it from opening.
"Crooked, are ye okay?" Gurnilal asked through heavy breaths.
"Aye," the rat responded.
The pair turned as they heard a thud on the door. The beasts they trapped inside were trying to get out.
"Let's go." Gurnilal pulled Crookedfang by the arm and ran towards the stairs. They ran down and down, finally reaching the bottom of the steps-
Clunk!
An arrow soared through the air, tearing through Gurnilal's leg and sending both beasts tumbling down the steps. Gurnilal grimaced as she looked down. It was only a flesh wound, but it still hurt.
Pushing himself up, Crookedfang had barely enough time to react before he saw Kajiir running at them with a dagger. Unfortunately for the ferret, they had expected three more beasts to give them backup.
Gurnilal kicked out, knocking Kajiir in the shin just as Crookedfang threw himself onto Kajiir's back. The ferret lashed out with their dagger to no effect as Crookedfang parried the blows with his knife. Gurnilal pulled Kajiir's crossbow out of their paws and jammed it into their kidney, eliciting a howl of pain as they crumpled to the ground.
Crookedfang crawled out from under the ferret. Gurnilal ran towards the entrance, motioning for the rat to follow. Instead, Crookedfang stared down at Kajiir with particular spite and raised his kitchen knife.
Out of desperation, Kajiir lunged and grabbed a hold of Crookedfang's ankle, clamping their jaws on his footpaw as hard as they could. Crookedfang yelped and fell to the ground. Kajiir wasted no time climbing on top of him and grabbing the knife.
Gurnilal's eyes went wide as Kajiir slammed a paw into Crookedfang's right arm, sending the rat howling with pain. Gurnilal dashed forward, kicking Kajiir in the neck as hard as she could. She pulled Crookedfang up and dragged him towards the entrance.
Miena crouched in the bushes next to Ulfrad as she held a bow in her paws. Although her wounded arm meant that she couldn't use it effectively, it still made for a great distraction for Kajiir.
Unfortunately, it also meant that as they hid in the forests near the temple, the only thing they could do was sit still and hope for the best as three guards searched the area. Miena tapped Ulfrad on the shoulder. He looked over as the Skipper handed her the bow along with the quiver. After scanning the area, Miena leaned in close and whispered, "if ye need help aiming, I can tell ye where to shoot."
Ulfrad nodded and slung the quiver over his back. In turn, he handed Miena his dagger which she tucked in her belt. Ulfrad nocked an arrow onto the string and looked up at the moonlight shining through the clouds. Ulfrad grunted and shut his eyes, ears twitching as he listened intently to the woods and beach around him.
"Do we go back for them?" Miena whispered.
Ulfrad grimaced. He had heard Noruth and Rianne scream not too long ago. Even then, he shook his head. "Too risky fer us."
He'd protect himself and Miena no matter what. He was certain he'd be able to.
"What do we do? What in hellgates are we supposed to do!?"
The door jolted again. Noruth and Rianne stumbled. The mole looked at Rianne and grimaced. Neither of them would be able to keep this up for much longer and he knew it. "Somethin'll help us," Noruth proclaimed.
Rianne yelped as the guards slammed into the door again. Glaring up at the sky, Rianne let out a scream. "Neither of us should die like this! What the hell is wrong with this world?! We did nothing!"
Noruth stared at his footpaws. Something good had to happen. There was no way he'd let it end like this…
It was then that Noruth saw Crookedfang and Gurnilal look out of the front. Where was Kajiir? He shook his head. It didn't matter. The mole looked over at Rianne pitifully, taking a breath as he nodded. "You'm right."
"Huh?" Rianne looked back at Noruth.
Noruth focused his attention on Gurnilal and called out, "Gurn! Up hurr!"
Crookedfang and Gurnilal looked up. The rat's face grew wide with terror as he realised Noruth and Rianne were still on the balcony. Rianne stared at Noruth, confused. Noruth simply responded with a smile. "Bye."
Using all of his strength, Noruth shoved Rianne, shoulder-checking her and pushing her over the railings with a scream. Gurnilal yelped as she ran beneath Rianne and caught the hogmaid before she hit the ground.
"Noruff?" Crookedfang whimpered as he stared up at the mole.
Instead of calling for help or anything, Noruth only smiled. "Oi be seein' you later, Crookedfang. Now run!"
The door burst open. Noruth feigned left as two beasts ran onto the balcony. Noruth shoved the closest guard into the other one, giving him just enough time to run inside the temple before they gave chase.
Crookedfang could only watch in terror as Noruth ran into the temple alone. He considered running inside to help him, but before he could, he heard the familiar sound of wood rattling. Looking down, the three prisoners on the ground caught sight of Kajiir aiming their crossbow from the staircase.
Clunk!
Crookedfang dove to the ground as the arrow tore his cheek open.
"Split up!" Rianne yelled as she ran away from the temple. Gurnilal took a hesitant glance at the temple and saw two guards running down the stairs. Fear exploded in her body as she followed Rianne. Crookedfang stood up and after telling himself Noruth would be okay, he followed the mole's orders and sprinted down the beach.
Crash!
Noruth yelped as the spear keeping a door shut broke in two, allowing the three guards to escape the room. Noruth gulped. If he was right, he was the last one in the temple. He couldn't help but smile at the fact. Everyone else should be safe.
The mole turned and ran for the steps, not bothering to look behind him. There wasn't a need to. He knew they were right behind him.
His stubby legs pounded against the stone as he reached the stairs. Noruth leapt onto the stair railings and slid down faster than anybeast could run down the steps, tumbling to the floor with a thud. He glanced behind him. The beasts following him were still at the top. Noruth turned towards the entrance and ran. He was going to make it. He had to. There was still a chance that-
Clunk!
Noruth's side exploded with agony as he fell to the floor. He pushed himself up with a grunt and saw a bolt firmly lodged in his stomach. The mole grimaced as he followed the trajectory of the bolt and saw the last beast anybody would want to see.
Noruth barely had time to react before Kajiir leapt on top of him and raised their dagger and Crookedfang's kitchen knife, slamming both into the sides of his throat and dragging them to the other side. The mole's eyes grew wide before falling into a haze as arterial blood pumped out of his neck.
Noruth didn't even have time to scream before his windpipe was slashed. In a few seconds, he fell unconscious. Around 30 seconds later, he was dead.
Kajiir panted heavily as they stood up, wiping both blades against the mole's jerkin as the ground beneath him turned a bright red. The ferret let out an annoyed grunt as they stared out the entrance. One prisoner was dead, but five more had gotten away. Not that there was anybeast to blame but themselves. They knew it was their fault entirely. Tucking both weapons in their belt, they picked up the crossbow they had dropped and headed towards the beach. Kajiir turned back once and ordered, "search in pairs. Yos, stay here. We'll be back."
Taking a few seconds to pull out a bolt and load it in their crossbow with a satisfying click, they paired up with a fox and ran onto the beach.
Yos grimaced as she stood up from her seat and walked towards the deceased mole. This was her first time ever seeing a dead body and now that she had seen one, she wished it hadn't been Noruth. Vague memories of the mole's various deeds throughout the day flashed through her mind.
Suddenly, she started to have second thoughts about ever working with Marlus and Kajiir.
"C'mon, we've gotta go," Gurnilal plead as she and Rianne ran across the shoreline. Rianne glanced behind her and saw two figures behind them.
Rianne's blood ran cold as the pawsteps behind her grew louder. She turned to Gurnilal. "What do we do?"
Gurnilal grimaced with every step taken, the wounds suffered in the temple having done a number on her. "Keep runnin'!"
"That's not an answer, damn it!" Rianne screamed.
Gurnilal could only frown. She didn't know what to do. The guards were catching up without a doubt. Her leg was shot while Rianne clearly wasn't in the best of shapes. Gurnilal took a look behind her and saw a searat waving a flail around. In a few seconds, they'd be right behind them. This is it…
Suddenly, an arrow buried itself in the sand, stopping everybeast in their tracks. The other guard, a fox, looked around for its source. Not wasting a moment, Gurnilal lunged with the chains attached to her collar and wrapped them around the fox's neck.
Meanwhile, Rianne watched with horror. The fox's eyes and tongue bulged out, his paws grasping at his neck for some reprieve. She was so distracted that she only just noticed that the searat had taken his flail and swung it in a circle, prepared to strike Gurnilal down.
"Wait, stop!" Rianne screamed. She stared frozen as Gurnilal was struck in the back, knocking her and the fox to the sand. The searat raised the flail, prepared to bludgeon Gurnilal again. Out of desperation, Rianne quickly dashed for the arrow stuck in the sand and pulled it out, thrusting the sharp end into the searat's back.
The searat let out a groan and stumbled forward, Rianne's eyes grew wide as she watched blood pool around the wound. Everything immediately started to grow hazy and she felt light-headed. She just stabbed someone. She had actually just done that. Holy hell. She felt bile rise up in her throat.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much time for that as the searat recovered, pushing himself up and turning towards Rianne with a look of pure hatred. The hogmaid's face twisted with fear as she looked up at the flail. The searat's paw twitched and he ran forward. Rianne screamed and fled, heart pounding as she knew for a fact that she couldn't outrun him. Her thoughts proved to be right when she felt pain explode in her wrist. Everything turned white and she fell to the ground from the shock of it all. The searat was right above her. She knew it. Rianne shut her eyes and waited for it to be over.
But all of a sudden, she heard a thud and snarling behind her. Miena had come out of nowhere and tackled the searat to the ground. Ulfrad arrived next, tossing Miena his dagger and pulling out his makeshift flail. Rianne watched grimly as Miena and Ulfrad stabbed and beat the searat many, many times. The searat howled and thrashed around until Miena thrust the dagger into his face, eliciting a gargled cry as his struggling ceased. Raising his weapon, Ulfrad growled and turned towards Rianne. "Get out 'fore any more come. Now!" He snarled.
Rianne flinched and ran back to where she left Gurnilal. The weasel finally let go of the fox's body, dropping her to the sand unconscious. "Gurnilal," Rianne croaked. "We've got to leave, now."
"Whatabout Crooked?" Gurnilal plead, her voice noticeably strained.
Rianne recalled all of the earlier moments the rat had been placed in harm's way. He was still alive, which was something. "He'll be fine. They're after us, come on."
Gurnilal hesitantly stood up and stumbled after Rianne as she led the pair into the forest. Strangely enough, Miena and Ulfrad were now nowhere to be seen. She thought about following them, but they apparently did not want to be around. Whatever the case, they needed to get as far away from the temple as possible.
Under the pale light of the moon, the surviving prisoners left the beach, trying to find any semblance of safety in the dark night.
Around 40 minutes had passed since Kajiir arrived at the temple, and Crookedfang was exhausted. He had been walking through the woods, pushing aside leaves and branches with little care. For the first time in a while, he felt truly terrified. Noruth was gone. Rianne was gone. Gurnilal was gone. Nobody was there to keep him company.
He was alone.
Crookedfang pawed at his belt but remembered he lost his knife in the temple. Not that it mattered right now. He had lost the guards a while ago. Thank whoever ruled the world that he was a fast runner.
But if anything, it only filled him with anxiety; a cold, solid lump of lead in his stomach that dragged him down as he walked. In the first few hours, he was getting chased by Marlus and some others. After that, he found Rianne and Noruth. Even when he got separated because of Borsen, they found each other soon after. He'd been with the beasts at the temple ever since. But now, after outrunning the guards, he was alone.
The rat's body grew cold with fear as he looked at everything around him. In the darkness, everything seemed dead and lifeless. Nothing was around to comfort him. He hugged his arms around his body as the only sound he could hear was his pawsteps dragging through the grass.
Crookedfang's ears twitched suddenly. Although it was faint, he could hear somebeast sobbing in the distance. The rat's face melted with relief. He didn't care who it was, he just needed to see somebeast. He ploughed through the woods like a badger as he ran towards the sound. "Hello?" He called out.
The crying didn't stop. Crookedfang's brows furrowed as he got closer. He slowed down to a walk and eventually found the source. His eyes grew wide.
Sitting underneath a rocky overhang was none other than Vhynias Sharptail. The fox was curled up in a ball underneath the rock, quivering as tears poured out of his eyes. "Vhyn!" Crookedfang exclaimed. The fox looked up just as the rat wrapped his arms around him, pulling him tightly as he nuzzled his face in the crook of Vhynias' neck. "I miss ya so much! Stuff happened at d'temple an'... Vhyn, where were ya? Are ya hurt? Oh, I can't believe yer here!"
Vhynias sniffed and reciprocated the hug, patting Crookedfang on the back with a wince. He shuffled his body around as to hide his stab wound from the rat "Crooked, I…" The fox hiccupped, sitting up weakly and wiping his face with a paw. "Where's Gurn? What happened at the temple? Are you alright?"
Crookedfang shuddered and explained, keeping his arms wrapped around the fox. "D'guards found us. I tink Gurn's alright, but Noruff's… I don'..."
Vhynias flinched hearing the mole's name. "Is he…?"
"I dunno," Crookedfang whimpered.
Vhynias shut his eyes and sighed solemnly. Why does this always happen? Crookedfang, why do ya always get attached to beasts in the worst scenarios? They either end up dead or hurting ya.
"Where's Tornear an' Bolgash?" Crookedfang mumbled.
At this, Vhynias froze. The image of Tornear's hanging body flashed in his mind and he whimpered. "He's… I don't…"
Crookedfang looked up at the fox's face. "What happened?"
"Crooked?" Vhynias said shakily. "Tornear's… Tornear is dead."
The rat's face immediately fell. "What?"
"Miena lied. He was killed by the otter."
"She did?"
Vhynias didn't answer, instead shaking his head as he hugged Crookedfang tighter. It was then that Vhynias said something that Crookedfang never thought he'd hear the fox say again.
"We're dead. We're gonna die here, aren't we?"
Crookedfang's body seized. He blinked in disbelief and asked, "Vhyn? What's wrong?"
"What the hell do you think is wrong, Crooked?" The fox spat. "Tornear's dead, Bolgash probably is too, everything I tried to do is a massive failure! What's the point anymore?! I promised to protect all of you, damn it! If I can't do that, what the hell is even the point?"
"Vhyn?" The rat whimpered. "Vhyn, please just-"
"Crooked, I'm so sorry. I'm just so tired. Let's be honest, even if we got outta here, what were the odds of us livin' a happy life anyways, huh? I've always said, 'at least we have each other', but at a certain point, I dunno. I just can't… not anymore."
Crookedfang shook his head, but he wasn't eloquent enough to say anything that would make Vhynias feel better. In fact, he wasn't sure if anything could. The fox wiped his face and softly pushed the rat away. "Forget it. Let's just find Gurn and get outta here. Ignore what I said, Crooked. Sorry for making ya hear that. C'mon, maybe the three of us can-"
Crookedfang heard a hiss followed by a thud like somebeast clubbing a tree. He instinctively shut his eyes, slowly opening them and looking around for the source of the sound. "Hey, Vhyn, didja hear…"
Vhynias was lying on the ground. Crookedfang stared at him with confusion followed by horror as the fox spasmed on the stone. Looking up, Crookedfang saw the arrow that had pierced through the fox's skull, damaging his brain function and throwing him to the floor. The rat backed away, staring in disbelief as Vhynias twitched around for a few moments before going still.
"Vhyn?" Crookedfang whimpered. The fox's eyes glazed over, staring at the ground without any reason to do so. "Vhyn!" Crookedfang screamed, crawling over to the fox's body and shaking him a few times. "Vhyn, please, don't! Not you too! Vhynias!"
But the fox didn't answer. His head rolled limply on the floor as Crookedfang shook him around. The rat backed away, hyperventilating as he hugged his arms to his sides. Then, he ran. Crookedfang screamed and ran far away from the corpse of Vhynias Sharptail. The rat's screams faded away into the darkness, sending the overhang into silence once more…
… At least, until somebeast spoke up.
"Good riddance," Ulfrad Shorepass muttered as he set down his bow. He had been wandering around with Miena for the past while when he heard Crookedfang running through the woods. Seeking to shut him up, they followed only to instead find Vhynias hiding underneath the overhang. Taking the fox out then and there was a no-brainer. He'd just cause problems for everyone else down the line. If anything, Ulfrad was just surprised that he managed to finish him off in one shot. Though, Vhynias constantly crying and yelling made it pretty obvious where his head was.
Ulfrad turned to Miena, who had chosen not to look at the scene. With little compunction, Ulfrad motioned for Miena to get up with his new flail and she did. Without another word, Ulfrad started to walk away. Miena was about to follow when she noticed a bag tucked in the corner of the overhang. Curious, she padded over to it and picked it up. Inside were some items Vhynias presumably stole from the ship along with the metal file used to cut their chains off on the ship. Miena smiled. The fox may be dead, and that sucked, but she knew a few things she could do with some of this stuff…
The temple had fallen into silence. Yos sat alone on the steps as she tried to avoid looking at Noruth's body and the splash of red emanating from his neck. She should've felt relief. She was safe and she could go back to the ship and wait everything out. But every time she looked at Noruth's face, she couldn't help but feel nervous. If the other prisoners found out she sold them out, she'd definitely be in trouble. Heck, Ulfrad already held a knife to her throat.
Yos looked up as a figure walked through the entrance. Kajiir grumbled with annoyance as they shook a stray leaf off of their shoulder. "Well," the ferret began, "dat didn't go as well as I tought it'would, I didn't find anybeast out dere. But ya did hold yer end o' d'bargin. Follow me, I'll leadja back to d'ship."
Yos stood up and walked over to the ferret, passing by and turning away from Noruth's corpse. "Hey," Kajiir said out of nowhere, "don' feel too bad. Somebeast wanted 'im dead anyway."
The vole nodded slowly. "So, it's over? I j- just get to stay in the ship?"
Kajiir shrugged. "I dunno if ya wanna stay in dere wit' how loud everybeast is, but dat's d'idea, aye."
"Alright," Yos mumbled. It should be over. She did what she had to do and now she was safe, but as Kajiir led her out of the temple, down the beach and towards the ship, she had a bad feeling that it wasn't. Something was going to happen, and she would be swept up in it.
And in a sense, she was correct. With 24 hours passed, six prisoners dead, and 14 still alive, it very much wasn't over, and she knew it wouldn't be over until most of the prisoners were dead.