The explosion was short and squelchy, but the blastwave shattered pots and toppled shelves, causing even more noise than what it already had. It toppled us as well, and I grabbed her close, shielding her from the blastwave and debris as best I could. The knife I'd plugged into Afs bounced and shattered off the other wall, across the room, and clanged against the stone floor a mere meter away, nothing but a snapped wooden hilt.
I looked up, and the room was a stained mess of drink, cheese, and sausage matter.
"Sofya," I gasped, "You okay?"
Sofya got up, wild eyed, at the crater which had been Afs. I got to my feet, unsure whether to grasp her hand to ground her.
But the noise had drawn attention. The boots of guards stomped against stone, and orders bellowed one after another. It was then that I grabbed her hand and jolted her face into mine.
"Escape comes first."
Sofya stammered her way into a nod before her conviction returned.
We moved through the kitchen door, and it didn't take long to find a butcher knife and a cast iron frying pan. Boots clanged inside the cellar now, and it was obvious that the Guards were scratching their heads trying to figure out what had happened.
The kitchen door opened, and a Guard Rat with a helmet, gambeson and poleaxe scanned the room. He twisted and turned around the corners of the kitchen, below tables, in cupboards and shelves. He shrugged, and left the way he came in, closing the door behind him.
We heaved a sigh of relief behind the frame of the door, our knives and pan drooping as the danger passed.
"I know a spell." I started, "I need to drink."
Sofya slid down her dress to expose her neck, and I drank. I took her by the hand and underneath the shadow of the table. I clutched her close, and cast Otherside Mirror.
We emerged in a spire turret, early morning light pouring in from a single arrow slit.
Loud snores echoed from a still sleeping guard sprawled up inside a heavy blanket. Tiptoeing around him, we made for the spiral stone stairs.
We heard a yawn echo its way back.
"Selleg…" It grogged, "Switch over with me will'ya? Need me shut eye already…"
The sleeping guard stirred, smacking his lips before I smacked a pan right down on his head.
"Help me roll him down the stairs," I whispered to Nora.
"Selleg? You alright mate?" The guard asked up, his boots picking up the pace.
We rolled Selleg down the stairs, his body twisting around the spiral staircase as a loud yelp was heard down below.
"Should buy us time." I said.
"We need that spell again, don't we?"
"Light messes with Shadow magic."
"It's dawn now I see…" Sofya sighed as she looked towards the arrow slit, "We'd need to get out through the front door then."
"The shops!" I said with excitement before I led Sofya back into the shadows.
Red Drapes barricaded the dawnlight away from the sleeping orgy of Rats that carpeted the floor. Limbs moved and bodies flipped on the layer of furs that had been set down as bedding, and the smell of incense and smoke blocked out the less favorable smells.
So this was where all the guards had gone…
We had emerged in the middle of it from the shadow of the central incense monolith, decorated with imagery that may very well have been a pantheon of fertility gods and goddesses.
I held tight onto Sofya's hand as we navigated in between the tide of Rat bodies. Suddenly, my foot got caught. I looked down.
A Male Rat had locked his arms around my ankle, nuzzling up against it like the shoulder of a Female Rat.
I squeezed out of his lock, only for my other ankle to get entangled in a Female's hold.
Then, a Rat yawned awake. He was a small intellectual sort, and he looked directly at Sofya and I.
"Lady Sofya, is that you? Sorry, my eyesight isn't what it used to be. Where are my glasses…"
I instantly stopped everything in my body except my rapidly beating heart.
"Those aren't necessary, Ryd, you go back to sleep now." Sofya said.
Ryd flexed and rubbed sleep out of his eyes. "Well my study calls. Last night was truly madness, what with us all getting acclimated and what have you, but today is a new day, and I have accounts to balance."
Sofya smiled with diplomatic agreement, "I suppose you do. But you must excuse me, I was trying to find someone. I believed he might be here but I have checked and it appears he isn't. If you would excuse me-"
"Who are you looking for my dear? I keep the books you know, and books are not to be disregarded in their utility." Ryd said, wagging his finger at Nora's twitching face.
"No, no. I know where he is. You rest your old bones now."
"Nonsense! The night has turned to day! Everyone! Up and at 'em! We have much work to do!"
"Shut it you old fart!" A Female Rat grogged as the floor of Rats groaned at the alarm call.
"OLD FART! Why I never- The nerve of you, striking your superiors like tha-" A cylindrical object smacked against his head with impeccable aim.
"Jus' shut it…" the Rat slurred her way back to sleep as Ryd and the floor of Rats did the same.
We did not stay any longer.
After tiptoeing around all those Rats, it was nice to feel sunlight again. I almost wanted to bask in the middle of the horse road to soak it all in, but we had little time.
"There's the gate!" Sofya said with an excited whisper.
A guard moped about at the gate's crenelations, thankfully looking out and not in.
"I know another spell." I said.
"It has to be much better than the other spell you've been using." Nora chided with a smile, absolutely delighted that the exit was so close in sight.
"This one's MUCH more reliable." I replied.
"RIDER!" The Guard Rat called out from the top of the gate, instantly forcing us to take cover, "THIS IS RODIENS TERRITORY NOW! STATE YOUR BUSINESS OR-"
From out of the crenellation's shadow, a Dire Wolf the size of a horse pounced on the Guard, tearing a hole out of the Guard's throat and torso with a single colossal bite.
What the shit.
Another Guard Rat, who had been doing nothing but rubbing his hands to ward off the cold, ran as fast as his legs could take him to a Guard Bell.
The Alarm Bell clanged, the Guard Rat roaring as loud as he could before the Dire Wolf turned its attention to him.
"TO ARMS! TO ARMS! TO ARMS!"
I grabbed Nora's hand and turned in the opposite direction.
It was then that I saw what we hadn't seen.
In the courtyard, next to the once awful Well, were six stakes, each holding a set of battered armor.
Herzt, Nathaniel, Artyom, Gareth, Mejg, and mine.
And in front of them was a sign that read the following:
"DEATH TO THE DEGENERATES!"