Flunder was looking at the gruesome scene before him. A court mage like him was insulted at first to hear that he was supposed to deal with some farm rats, he didn't spend such absurd amount of resources and hardwork to reach the height of magic, only to be used as some sort of pest control.
The scen before him was enough to make him change his mind. He had been ordered to complete this task so he will do it either way but things had gotten intresting. "Your sure this was done by a rat?" He asked.
"Yes, my lord mage." Answered a farmer who stood behind him. "How curious!" Flunder continued. "When did it first appeared?"
"Eleven days ago." The farmer answered. "We tried rat traps, poisons. We even bought a few cats but" he glanced at the scene, the answer so obvious he didn't need to say it out loud.
"No cat will bring this one down. I'll help you with your rat problem." The mage said. He could see the relief the farmer felt when the words came out his mouth. It was disgusting but he had to study the scene before him, there was bones of every size here, one glance and it was easy to see they came from different animals. It was hard to believe a rat did all this, and in truth he didn't believe it. He was convinced it was some sort of a small predetory beast the stupid farmers had mistaken for a rat. That had to be it, the pile of bone before him wasn't just a stack of leftovers some rat leaved. There was not a speck of meat left on the bones, no evidence of dried blood anywhere and the bones themselves looked thin and worned out. This was the liar of a beast, a small one but still a beast nonetheless.
"It just came one night." The farmer said. "We didn't hear any screem, no sounds of a struggle either, our chickens disappeared one after the other. At first it was the small one but soon other cattles fell victim to the rat. This one this rat is unlike any we have ever seen before, it's a monster."
Because it's not a rat, the mage wanted to say but he kept his words to himself. There was no point in speaking to the farmers any further, they still wanted to said more but he made it clear to the farmers that a further conversation was not needed. He was not happy he had to spend the night at some farm but his target came at night so he had to do so. Whatever it was he was going to catch it and shove it to the farmers face that it was not a rat they so hoped it would be.
Soon night came and he was ready for it. He had asked the farmer for a chicken to use as bait, the farmer gave him one with great reluctance. The mage could have said that he never planned on getting the chicken killed but he didn't felt the need to give relief to this farmers.
The chicken was a hen, currently egg laying too, most of the roosters were already bones so the farmer had to give him this one. It had a small string tied to its leg to make sure it stayed in place. The mage stood further away, he was hidden quite will an me he had a clear vision on the hen from where he stood.
He had waited till midnight, and the damned rat was not showing itself at all. He cursed the rat which he still didn't think was actually a rat but it was certainly acting like one. He cursed the farm, the farmers and all that lived in this backwater farm. He also cursed the people who had ordered him here.
He got up ready to leave, this whole thing was stupid. When he stood up, he saw the rat right infront of him, it was within arms reach. This rat was certainly different, it had an unnaturally long claws and a thick long tail but biggest difference form other rat was its skin, parts of it was covered with the skin of what the mage think was a lizard, some was alot thicker and the rat was also covered in bones.
There was only thing inside Flunder's mind, this rat was watching him for a while, waiting for him to see it, mocking his efforts. Anger boiled up in him. This rat is taking me for a fool. He thought. Death was not enough, he will torture it, make it feel pain till its rat mind goes mad. Only then would it have the permission to die.
His arms felt cold form the spell he was about to release on the rat. A split second was all he needed for a rat. It wouldn't be long, now stay just like that. When he was about to finish casting his spell, the rat flicked its tail and half the world went dark. The mage didn't know what happened but the rat quickly jumped to the side of the half that went dark and disappeared, the mage still went on with his spell, once it was released everything before him went still, ten steps infront of him were all frozen solid.
When his spell was finished, he felt the cold himself and though it was too much mana spend for a single little rat. He still didn't know how the world went dark, a few moments later he started feeling warm on his left cheek. He didn't expect the warmth, not in this farm and definitely not after the spell. He felt his cheek and it was wet. Was he crying, it would be a stupid thought, did some liquid gunk fell from the roof. Just the thought disgust him, the farmers will pay with there life for this. He checked what was wetting his hand and when it was within sight it shocked him to the core. His hand was blood red, he quickly looked up and see nothing was dripping from above.
Finally he realised what had happened, suddenly his left eye felt burning hot. It was an intense pain the like of which he had never felt before, he reached for his eye enduring the intense pain. There was something sticking out of it, he pulled it out, nearly fainting form the agony. When he brought it close to his right eye he could see what it was, a small piece of bone. The rat had fling a bone at his eye, he realised.
"AAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH" came a screem form the mage that could be heard throughout the farm.
One of the farmers nodded in satisfaction, "Should have listened to our warnings."