Chapter 10

  Deep in the Wildlands, a thick mist swirled, the light of a full moon barely penetrating through. In a small clearing to the far South, a large rock sat in the center, amongst the swirling mists. The mists parted briefly, admitting a large dark-furred creature, who silently padded over to the rock, casually climbing it and taking a lounging position at its crest.

  A tall, chitinous creature made its way out of the mist shortly after, its eight legs carrying it gracefully across the grass.

  “Must you be so casual? This is an official meeting after all.”

  “Good to see you too, Pars. I’ve merely decided that I’d rather spend the time we wait for the Leader making myself comfortable. Is that really such a problem?” The creature yawned, showcasing extraordinarily sharp fangs, and laid its head down onto its paws.

  “This is a serious matter, Delmar. One of your lieutenants was killed before finishing his task.”

  “A minor setback at most. You know as well as I do that that mission was suicide. We only had Grime go because he was growing rather impatient with our plans. His loss is regrettable but overall not a problem. Besides, shouldn’t you be focused on your task? Last I heard, your so-called Ferals hadn’t even made a dent in the Prey’s forces.”

  The creature’s eight legs tapped about in annoyance.

  “We’re working on it. They’re proving more resilient than originally anticipated. But we’ve got a plan to deal with those pesky–”

  A distant screech echoed as a presence descended over the both of them, causing their conversation to stop, the creature atop the rock lifting his head as his hackles rose. The light of the moon was blocked out by a large shape before a flap of its feathered wings cleared the mist from the surrounding area with a massive gust. Landing on the far side of the clearing from the two, the moon cast a shadow over the newcomer’s figure, only its glowing yellow eyes piercing through the veil, studying them.

  “I see you’ve both already arrived. Very well.” The new creature’s deep voice rang out with authority as it began to walk towards the rock, its claws gouging the grass with every step. Sensing the time for relaxation was over, the creature on the rock stood on all four legs, and expertly jumped down onto the grass to take its position in front of the larger winged-creature.

  “Why have you called us here, Strix? What’s the meaning of this?” The eight-legged creature spoke up first, a hint of fear present in her voice.

  “Straight to it then? Pars, tell me, why do you think that I’ve called this meeting?”

  Twitching her mandibles, Pars gave the question some thought before answering.

  “I suspect it’s to do with Delmar’s recent failings in the Valley.”

  “Oh? And why is this Delmar’s failings? Aren’t we all working together here?”

  “Yes, we are, but–”

  “Silence. His failings reflect on all of us, therefore all of us are affected, therefore all of us should care. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes, Leader.” The creature bowed its head. Strix’s feathered head turned towards Delmar, who had lowered his head hearing acknowledgement of his failure from the Leader.

  “Delmar, what do you have to report?”

  Sensing the direction of the conversation, Delmar adopts a far more subservient tone than he had before.

  “I may have…overstepped.” Delmar mutters before straightening and looking up to Strix. “Leader Strix, my Scouts say that Grime was killed by a group of Woodland Alliance soldiers while attempting to poison the Northern Sunfields. I take full responsibility for his failure, his original orders were to poison Lake Mirewater, but it seems he had reason to divert. My Scouts have also investigated the situation at the Lake, reporting to me that the Frogs and Otters have joined together and bolstered the garrison, having grown scared of the stray Ferals we’ve been sending them.”

  “And, pray tell, why have you been sending Ferals into the Valley through the Mountain tunnels? What do you seek to gain exactly? Your orders were to establish contact with the Rat clans, and to secure their allegiance. I don’t recall giving you additional instruction.” Strix’s yellow eyes burned into the Predator before him, who’s hackles rose at the intense stare.

  “Yes, well. I just thought that since we had the opening, we could try and weaken the Prey from the inside, seeing as how the warfront isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.” Delmar gave a sidelong glance at Pars, who pretended not to hear him, focusing instead on not fainting in the Leader’s presence. “I merely wished to have more promising news to report to you, Leader. Negotiations with the Rats aren’t going as smoothly as initially expected.”

  “And yet here you stand, down a Predator, with nothing positive to report. Tell me, what am I to make of this report, Delmar? Or do you have something else you wish to report to demonstrate that my faith in you has been misplaced?”

  “Leader, I do have something positive to report.” Delmar blurted out nervously. “We’ve located one of the Chambers you mentioned in the Mountain. Also, it appears that the Ridgeback has been spotted. I have Scouts following him with strict orders not to engage.”

  Pars looked over at Delmar, all eight eyes widened. She hadn’t heard this news. She knew that the Leader would surely go after Ridgeback himself if he could. There was a history there that Strix would rarely talk about.

  A distant look came over Strix for a moment, his eyes staring at the moon which so perfectly resembled the moon of that night. He returned his attention to his two subordinates, who stood waiting for his reaction.

  “I see. This is positive news. But do not think that I forget your shortcomings, Delmar. Though you have failed to answer my question about smuggling Ferals.” Strix casually pointed out.

  “Well, Leader, I was kind of hoping to lure some of the Prey into a trap, trying to figure out where the Ferals are coming from. But, they’re a little more organized than I thought. It seems they have orders to contain but not pursue.”

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Mmm. Do not be fooled by the Prey. This goes for the both of you. Their status in the natural order is lower than ours, true, however it was their paw alongside our claw that toppled the world into chaos. They are more clever and resilient than you give them credit for. Do not underestimate our enemy.” Strix gave them a baleful glare. “Pars, what report do you have?”

  The creature almost seemed to smile, if it could even manage that.

  “Leader, the err…recruitment…process is going well. The Boar Chiefs have been very effective in their duties to round up creatures from around the Wildlands for our cause. We’ve also managed to convince one of the Snake Mothers to give us some of her children for Phase 3 of our plan. If Delmar succeeds in recruiting the Rats, we’ll have a sizable force to attack the Fort with. More than enough to seize the Pass.”

  “Good. It’s important that we take the Pass. On our pride as Predators, we will take it, and destroy the Woodland Alliance in the process.”

  With those words, Strix turned and strutted away, the mists seeming to close around the remaining two creatures as the dark form of their Leader was slowly distorted. Two massive feathered wings exploded out from the creature with such force that the trees shook and a whirlwind picked up, before the wings flapped, taking the Leader into the sky with just one beat. Silence settled on the clearing after the Leader’s departure, the mists seeming to melt away slightly with his departure.

  __

  Benjamin LaPomme was pissed. In all of his years, he had never seen such a blatant disregard for honor. Now here he was, his back against the wall, surrounded by supposed comrades. Brothers-in-arms. Squad-mates.

  “Pay up, Benny. A deals a deal.” An angry Mouse stepped forward, brandishing a dagger, likely stolen. Ok, so maybe he had kind of expected to escape Evertree without having to see these guys again, and would therefore get to avoid paying them. But still. The audacity.

  “You misunderstand, my fellow critters. I had every intention to pay you after we had left Evertree. You see, the Guards are all on high alert, so the longer we take to leave, the more likely we’re to be caught. You see? So let’s all get a move on and–” Benny took a couple of steps forward with authority before being pushed back by the Mouse.

  “Ah ah ah. We’re not fallin’ for your rubbish a second time. Pay up here and now, and you’ll still walk away. Matter o’ fact, give us your share too.” The Mouse snickered, joined by his compatriots, an Otter and a Squirrel, of all things. The Squirrel must’ve been an outcast in his society to be wrapped up in all this. Put down by Big Bark, as the folks of Evertree liked to say. So what could’ve possibly led to Benny’s horrendously unenviable position? Well, honestly, it was the Critter Council’s fault. I mean, who just leaves the Museum of Modern Valley History so scarcely guarded during a Festival? A sad, sad miscalculation if Benny could say so himself. Though according to the dagger that is slowly inching its way toward Benny’s neck, that story can wait for another time.

  “Very well, friends. If you would just allow me to reach into my satchel here…” Benny slowly reached into his satchel, while also sliding his other hand around to his back pocket, where a fun surprise sat dormant. Well, fun for Benny. Benny flicked his ringed tail to the side, drawing the glances of the keenly watching thieves before throwing the black powder that he had grabbed a pinch of out of his back pocket. He held his breath as a black cloud of thick smoke exploded out from where the powder touched the ground, wasting no time as he slinked past the three thieves, out of the alleyway, and into the crowded street. Looking left and right, Benny spotted a cart making its way towards the city gates. Perfect. He slipped through the crowd of confused critters, who were now looking at the growing cloud of smoke and the Mouse, Otter, and Squirrel that had emerged from it, looking about with snarls on their faces.

  Carefully slipping between carts and crowds, Benny stayed low enough to the ground so that he didn’t draw any attention. Being a Raccoon, he was slightly taller than the average Evertree Citizen, which mainly consisted of Mousefolk, Squirrels, Rabbits, and others of the smaller Folk trees. Reaching his target cart, Benny pulled himself under the cart and straddled the bottom portion of the cart. Folk pulled their own carts, not having beasts of burden, so the Mouse pulling the cart grunted with a bit more effort, noticing Benny’s added weight and blaming the old wheels, muttering about replacing them soon. Bringing up his tail so that it wouldn’t get caught in the wheels, Benny held on desperately as he heard the crowd muttering in confusion at the sudden chaos.

  Benny felt his satchel begin to slip, and quickly brought his tail up to catch and cradle the satchel so that it wasn’t hanging. Breathing a sigh of relief, he waited for the cart to exit the city. Nearly home-free. Wait, what’s that glint? Benny could see something in the cart through the bottom boards. Curious.

  A sudden stop. Gods, what now? The Guards were questioning the Mouse? Looking inside of his cart, the Guards drew their weapons and leveled them at the Mouse, who tried to make a run for it. Of course the one cart that Benny picked happened to be a smuggler’s cart. And it just so happened to get caught today. Benny hesitated to step out from under the cart, lest he be struck by lightning and then meet the love of his life all in the same minute.

  Sighing with resignation, he lowered himself from under the cart only to see his former brothers-in-crime nearby, looking around, having no doubt been led here by some of the crowd who’d seen him. Bloody traitors.

  Shooting out from under the cart, Benny scrambled down one of the side streets that ran alongside the wall of Evertree. Noticing the movement, the thieves were hot on his trail once again, yelling after him with their weapons drawn. Oh bother. May have to get a bit creative with this. On his right were the shops and buildings facing street-side, while a 30 foot stone wall stood on his left. Obviously scaling a stone wall was a bit out of the question for most critters. But most critters weren’t Benny. Looking at what appeared to be the sheer wall of stone as he ran, his mind began to pick out and note various inlays, slightly weathered stones, and cracks that would serve as hand and footholds. Before long, he was able to pick out a route up the wall and scurried over to it, beginning his hasty ascent. Hearing the shouts from below him and the clang of a missed thrown dagger, Benny began laughing to himself, already celebrating his narrow escape. Absconding over the top of the wall, Benny came face to face with a surprised Squirrel Guard, out on patrol.

  Putting on his best winning smile, Benny stood up straight, dusting his vest off and meeting the Guard’s suspicious stare. “Greetings my friend, I do apologize for startling you so, I was just practicing my wall scaling. You know, the Valley Championships are just on the horizon, eh? One can’t be too prepared.”

  The Guard’s eyes narrowed. “What’s your name? What team you representin’?”

  Ahh, a test. Let’s see. Typical uniform, no personal effects, oh but what’s this? A bit of purple peeking out from his boots? Likely a true fan, then. Purple…purple…it’ll be either the Acornhold Ascots or the Troubadours of the Valley. Likely the former, due to being a Squirrel.

  “Well of course it’s only the best team in the Valley! The Acornhold Ascots of course!”

  The Guard’s mood visibly improved but he didn’t take his suspicious glare off of the Raccoon.

  “Best in the Valley, eh? Aye, that was once the case. We’re all counting on you to turn it around. You better not disappoint, yea?” The Guard leaned in threateningly.

  “Yes, sir! We won’t let you down!” The Raccoon gave a mock salute.

  “Be on your way then, but don’t be climbin’ this wall no more. Guards might get the wrong idea.”

  The Raccoon noticed the insignia on the Guard’s left arm.

  “You got it, Sergeant! I’ll see you at the Championships!”

  Benny scurried past the Guard along the ramparts, taking a peek down below to notice the three thieves arguing with a Guard over why they were throwing items at the wall a moment ago. Chuckling to himself, Benny made his way to one of the Guard Towers that were periodically spaced along the wall before using the spiral staircase to go back to street level. Escaping off the street into the alleyway, Benny took a short breather before determining his next move. All the usual safehouses were off-limits, either because of the Guards cracking down on the underbelly of society as they so aptly named critters of Benny’s profession, or because the ones on his trail knew of the locations. That left only one place. His own secret stash. Time to hit the sewers, and hope there weren’t any Rats about. They sure did know how to ruin good moods. He’d have to lay low and figure out a new way out of the city.