Lorelei
“Hello?” asked Lore. Her voice echoed down the hallway. What was she supposed to say, to offer? There was no meat this time... no, that was just to attract ratkin up to the surface, not to woo them. They had a common goal back then, but now? “We mean no harm, we have niceness in our livers.”
Kara and Kallaster were giving her strange looks, but that was alright. “My name is Lorelei, you are a friend to me?”
Only silence in response. It occurred to Lore that just having killed a dead ratkin probably counted against having niceness in her liver.
Kallaster tapped her on the shoulder. “Lore, it's gone. Disappeared down a tunnel or something.”
Lore shook her head. “The ratkin can still hear us. Their ears are much better.”
“Oh, is that so?” Kallaster cleared her throat. “Hey rat, uh, ratkin! Don't eat the meat on the surface, it's not good, will make you sick, and then you... your body will attack everyone else.”
Lore sighed. Well, that was a good bit of advice, if the ratkin would follow it.
“The humans on the surface are all dead, or crazy. Eat the food from their storerooms, not dead humans.”
“Wait,” said Kara. “Are you sure that's a good idea?”
“Well, they have to eat something.”
“No, I mean that you're encouraging stealing.”
“I'm saving lives, m'lady. It's the gallant thing to do. Besides, I don't think all those corpses running around will care much about who steals what. We should probably raid some storeroom ourselves, for that matter.”
Kara looked unconvinced, but didn't speak further. There was a moment of quiet.
Lore stared down the hallway. She couldn't see anyone there, but Kallaster's eyes were better than hers. Magic, maybe? She didn't hear anything either.
“Also, my student, time for you to take over keeping that light on.” Lore turned and saw Kallaster handing Kara the light, and then everything went dark again. Lore reached back and picked up her thunderstick, from where it leaned on the coffin. Not that it would do much good in the darkness.
At length, the light glowed again, somewhat brighter than when Kallaster had been lighting it.
“Hey Lore, the ratkin know these tunnels well, right?”
“Yes... very well. Back when we attacked the cult down here, the ratkin were able to lead us right to them, despite how complicated the tunnels were. And they picked tunnels that even Perl could fit down.”
“Perl? The lady with the mechanical crossbow?”
Lore smiled and shook her head. She had made the same mistake, back when she had first met the Associates. “No, that's Selena. Perl was the big soldier.”
“Oh. Your names are strange. Also: You said something about a cult?”
“Oh... You don't know about that all, do you?”
“No? Was it a stirring tale of adventure?”
“Well... it was an adventure, but more horrible than stirring, really. And...” Lore trailed off. And they had broken whatever was going on down there, leading to the Life Temple being infected, along with them releasing more than a score of infected men and women into the city. Perhaps not something she should tell Kallaster. “Well, I'd rather not talk about it.”
The light went out. “Mr. Sunder told me about what happened,” said Kara. “I can understand your reluctance.”
Lore's skin prickled. What did Kara know about it all? And what did she think? Also, how well did she know Sunder?
“Hey, keep that light on, student.”
The gem in the arrow lit up again.
“Hey ratkin!” shouted Kallaster “If you lead us out to the edge of the city, we'll protect you the whole way.”
There was silence for a long moment, then Lore heard: “This nobody see meat, yes? New meat, fresh meat, good, yes? Then meat stand up, human again! Hide away, go tell momma strange thing happen. Momma sick, die, yes? The momma's meat stand up, momma again, yes! No! Momma crazy, not like momma, no. Momma bite and scratch brother, sister. Hide from momma, so strange, yes? Momma hear noisy one talking, attack! Not like momma says, yes? So strange, yes? Now momma dead again, this nobody see. Noisy one says all strange things. All things strange now, hm? Maybe noisy one right, says strange in strange now. Meat walked... momma dead, then walked, then dead... otherworld full of screams and bad meat. All strange now.”
The light went out again, and they all stood there in the darkness, for a few moments. All strange now indeed.
“Will... will you help us?”
“Momma says no trust humans, no niceness in livers...” There was a pause. “But all crazy, brothers dying, sisters dying, then walking, no like dead meat, hm? All things strange today. Humans in tunnels, say they have niceness in liver. No strange thing today. Help... perhaps yes, hm? No strange thing today.”
Kallaster Poe, Lady Adventurer
“Can you break it down, Kallaster?” asked Lore, her hand on Kallaster's boot.
Kall crawled forward, and felt the wall with her fingers. Brick, fairly well made. The cobblestones hadn't been cemented together like this. On a better day, maybe she should could break it, using the same sort of focused shockwave effect as she had back up at the hole. But now it was a strain just to keep her eyes open. Too much energy spent running and fighting. Too much energy spent breaking the cobblestones. Even too much energy spent on the silly little insignificant light.
No, a heroine is not weak, not tired. She is heroic and guileful, at the same time.
“Of course I could, but my method is... a bit noisy, as you might recall.” It was true, of course. Another valid reason not to use a shockwave spell, to hide her unseemly weakness. No, not to hide her weakness – to maintain a strong front and keep the group positive. Yes. A hero's duty. Kall smiled in the darkness.
“So we have to find another cellar?”
Kallaster frowned. It had been her idea to go acquire food before heading to Parveno. Lore said that it was a full day's journey, and there was no guarantee that they could simply buy food at a restaurant once they got there. Not that she had told either of the other women that.
“What about you, Mr. Helpful?” Kall was still not used to the name she had inadvertently coined, but such was a life of adventure in the exotic.
“Very Helpful wait and listen, see what noisy Kallaster Poe, Lady Adventurer does, yes? Kallaster Poe, Lady Adventurer understand strange, yes? Think better than this one.”
Kall shook her head. She liked her name and title, but now, in these circumstances, it just seemed silly, especially when repeated. The day was getting to her, apparently. “What would you do, Very Helpful?”
“Slimed stone very strong, maybe big humans break it. Not for ratkin. Momma says dig around, why break slimed stone if dirt right by? What momma say still right, maybe?” There was the sound of scrabbling in the darkness, over to Kall's right.
Kall grinned. Okay, everything was getting to her. She should have thought of that, easily.
“Is there enough room for us to help?” Kara asked, from somewhere behind Lore.
“Mm... big hole for big humans, yes?” The Ratkin continued to scrabble. “Very Helpful dig hole first, then room for big digging, yes?”
Kallaster adjusted her bow, then flopped over onto her side. Her knees were sore from all the crawling. She massaged one of them.
“Cellar still cellar, no so strange,” came Helpful's voice, still to her right, but with a different quality to the sound. Apparently the ratkin had already dug through.
“Should I start digging?”
“Mmm... yes. I pull dirt out front of hole, no kick dirt in faces, yes?”
“Right.” Kall would have to remember that, and not kick dirt into Lore's face. “Lore, hold my bow for me.”
Dig, dig. It wasn't easy, and Kall found herself wishing she had the ratkin's claws. The wall was packed dirt, but even when Kallaster remembered she could use her knife, the task was not easy. Where was Glynn when you needed him? Probably safely at Narma's, or perhaps long on his way to that Parveno town.
Kall shoved the dirt forward, and then wormed her way through the hole, finally flopping down into the darkness of what she hoped was a root cellar. Since Lore and Kara were both smaller than her, Kallaster figured they would need no help with the hole, so instead Kallaster took the time to enhance her eyes and look around a bit.
The room was large, much larger than what she expected from a root cellar. Definitely not just a family's cellar. There were rows of barrels, probably filled with wine or beer, and then a variety of boxes, with a small figure scrabbling at one of them.
“Here, let me help you.” Kallaster went over to the box, and pried off the lid with her knife. Helpful dove in, and reappeared after a moment.
“Dried meat, not very tasty, still can eat.” There was now a strip of the aforementioned meat in her hand. Things were starting to get hard to see, so Kall ceased the spell on her vision. “Kallaster Poe, Lady Adventurer says that no humans will be mad if we take meat freely?”
“No, not any more. Be careful, most humans will be crazy like your mother, but they won't care about the food.”
“No hunters in our tunnels, no cold metal, no burning flame?”
Kall shook her head. “Just the occasional crazy dead person, I think.”
“Many cellars up above, much food, maybe years, yes? Momma say not to eat too much from cellars – bring cold metal, burning flame. Eat meat on street, says momma. Old wisdom no so true now, yes?
Kall sat down and leaned back on the box. “Not so true, indeed.”
“This cellar, scary cellar, also close to wall, city edge. Before strange happen, heavy boots, cold steel, yes? We peep from hole, place of men with no niceness, guard big door, no niceness for humans, less for ratkin, hm?”
“This is the guard station for the gate?” That would explain the vast stores – if this were the barracks, it would be feeding a good score of men, at least. “Why are you telling me this?”
“This one is Very Helpful to you, yes? Bring you to cellar, and out of city, same time, yes?”
“Oh, right.” Well, they could just fight their way up, that was true. “So if we go up, then we can go out the gate?”
“No sounds from above, very silent. Maybe dead meat staying dead, no trying taste, Kallaster Poe, Lady Adventurer says, yes?”
“Will you be coming with us?”
“Maybe this one not so Very Helpful. Maybe just Helpful, yes? Bring you here, now go to talk with other ratkin.”
“You didn't travel with us for protection, did you. You just wanted to learn and see.”
“Kallaster Poe, Lady Adventurer says wise things, helpful in strange world now, yes? Helpful leads, listens. Now this one goes to say with brother, sister, say what wise Kallaster Poe, Lady Adventurer says. Maybe world not so strange for ratkin after saying. Maybe this one not sister, someday momma, say wise thing, make new wise sayings.”
Kallaster smiled. “You're off to be a heroine in your own tale, aren't you.”
There was a bit of a pause. “Maybe? If wise Kallaster Poe, Lady Adventurer says it, then yes, maybe.”
“Well, do what you have to do, and... save your family.”
“Indeed, yes. Wise noisy one not Kallaster Poe, Lady Adventurer, silly name, hm? Strangetime Momma, this one calls you. Eat well in strange time now, yes? Eat well, Strangetime Momma!”
Kallaster Poe sat there, frozen in half chew. Nobody had ever accused her of being wise before, and now... and now... now she was a mother to ratkin? Kallaster could feel herself blushing. A strange and unexpected honor, but a great one nonetheless.
When Kara eventually wormed her way through the tunnel, and lit up the room with the arrow, Kallaster Poe, Lady Adventurer and Strangetime Momma, was still sitting there, chewing dried meat with a smile on her face.
Sometimes it was all worth it.
Next: Chapter 14