With My Freeze Ray I Will STOP the World...

[Venril]

Venril had paused just long enough to watch Bellona mutilate Captain Matukhana?s face before  being jolted into action.  The stoat didn?t feel much sympathy for the treacherous fox.  He had been shocked when Matukhana had decided to repay their subterranean hosts with slavery, and as much as he had protested to Matukhana over the decision, he had felt like an absolute coward for not having actually done anything while the corsairs had rounded up the confused, scared Fritterik.  Now, though, his truce with Bellona was giving him a chance to rectify that.

As things descended into chaos all around him, Venril dashed away from Bellona and Matukhana, sprinting towards the other side of cave where the scared, confused Fritterik were trying to press themselves into the rocky walls, some of them covering their ears or their eyes, trying to block out the sudden jumble of frightening sights and loud noises.

Venril hadn?t gotten far, however, when he was forced to stop, panting as he ducked behind a rock for cover.  He just couldn?t run like this.  The chainmail was too heavy.  He had never really had to run in it before.  When he had pursued the escaped captives into the caves he had just been jogging, really, confident that they were heading towards a dead end and he could catch them eventually.  The mail had been tolerable then, but not while sprinting full out across long distances.  The stoat made up his mind and began pulling the heavy protective garment off of himself.  Feeling much lighter but also much more vulnerable, the stoat kept running, dodging and weaving to avoid the combatants.

Venril finally reached the Fritterik and ducked down behind a stalagmite, feeling a little pang he hadn?t expected at the sight of two forlorn looking ferret kits holding each other so tightly it looked like they were trying to meld into one beast, crying and whimpering.  His resolve hardened, and any residual hesitation he might have had vanished as he saw that both of the remaining vermin guarding the Fritterik slaves were corsairs.

The rat and the weasel were both hardened wavevermin.  There would be no heroics today for these two.  They were crouching behind two boulders, having pushed the Fritterik away, and were now menacing the cowed beasts with their cutlasses.  Several of the Fritterik had slashes or cuts on their arms, and one unfortunate ferret was dead from a stab to the chest, having either tried to escape or tried to take the cover the corsairs wanted for themselves.  A little lump of anger welled up in Venril?s chest.

I could take them, a voice in the stoat?s head boased.  Come on, a rat and weasel with rusty weapons and no uniforms.  They?re not even looking at you.  You could rush them and take their heads off before they knew what was going on.

Yeah right, a more sensible part of Venril?s consciousness interjected.  How do you think they got all those scars and lived to tell the tale?  They?ve probably been fighting real battles since Rhodor and those two weasel twins you could never tell apart were punching you in the stomach and taking your scones before tossing you in Swiftflower Creek.

A stray arrow slammed into the chest of a Fritterik fox, who fell screaming, and Venril made up his mind.  Beasts were dying around him, and this was no time to be proving a point.  He would do what he always did when confronted with someone he couldn?t fight:  He would cheat.

Checking to make sure there were no other threats, Venril dashed to the position where the rat was huddling.  Venril had noticed that the rodent had a bow as well as a cutlass, and that had given him an idea.  

?Hey!  I found this little outcropping closer to the top.  Follow me, and I?ll take you there.   It?s right next to the entrance, and there?s lots of cover.  You can sit up there and snipe some of the woodlanders down if they try to
leave.?

The rat just sneered at him.  ?Whatcha want  me ter do that for?  I?ll stay right here, an???

?Did I mention that Matukhana?s giving a triple grog ration for the whole season to anyone who can kill that dormouse??  Venril didn?t know what grog was, but the corsairs seemed to love it.

The rat still didn?t look completely persuaded, so Venril shrugged.  ?Fine.  I just hope Matukhana didn?t really care about killing her.?

The rat sighed.  ?Arright arright.?  He turned to his companion.  ?Grimeclaw, I?m gonna try?n bag me some dormouse.  ?Old things down ?ere.?

Venril lead the rat just out of sight of Grimeclaw, pausing behind another large boulder.  The rat with the bow peered out around the boulder.

?I don? see n?gaack!?  The rat had made the fatal error of exposing his back to Venril for a moment, and the stoat had seized the chance, plunging his dagger into the rodent?s back.  The rodent tried to move, so Venril rolled him over and slashed him across the throat.  The mustelid had not expected this to result in a spray of warm, sticky blood splattering across the top of his tunic and his neck, and he gave a little yelp of shock.

?Stupid rat, you ruined my tunic!?  Venril gave the rodent a kick for good measure, then began dragging the searat back to the Fritterik.  When he got there, Grimeclaw ran up to them.

?Blimey, wot ?appened to ye, matey??  

The rat was, surprisingly, still alive, struggling to breath, trying to form words with his gurgly, wet rasp.  The weasel leaned in closer to him to try to understand him him, and Venril grabbed his head and slammed it into the rock next to them.

The effect of this surprise attack was not quite what he had hoped.  The corsair was not knocked out, or even stunned.  All that resulted was a pained expression, followed by a snarl, and then the weasel tackled Venril to the ground, raising his cutlass.  He was about to bring it down on the stoat?s skull when suddenly a pair of Fritterik, bolder than their peers, grabbed both of his arms and hauled him off of Venril.  The stoat wasted no time in whipping out his own sword and jamming into into Grimeclaw?s chest.

?Prakvi savesave Fritterik!?  Venril heard a familiar voice as Mripat bounded up to him. The Fritterik all turned to look at the stoat.  Venril felt just a little bit of a glow  at the fact that, for the first time, there were beasts who were really, truly glad to see them, who honestly thought he could help  them. The stoat?s grip on his saber tightened. He would not let them down.

The mob of newly freed beasts began to run around the outskirts of the battle, which by now had spilled out into the Oasis proper from the waterfall cave entrance.  Venril chanced a look back at the fighters, disappointed that he hadn?t been able to find Liza or Rath.  Liza would have probably tried to hide, but Rath was sure to be in the thick of things

I hope he?s okay?wait, what am I worrying about?   He?s Rath!  Of course he?ll  be okay.  The ferret was one of those beasts who just  seemed like he  should live forever.

The Fritterik moved deeper into the caverns, entering an area Venril hadn?t seen before during his time there, a wide, open cave with a very high ceiling, ringed by torches.  The Fritterik stopped to rest and lick their wounds, in some cases literally.  

What seemed like a little more than an hour later, Venril started at a sound near the entrance, but it was just the one eyed hedgehog, Baez, entering with  few straggler Fritterik.  

?Where did you come from??  Venril asked.  ?Were there more Fritterik?  I didn?t think there were, but maybe I missed some.?  

"I took the other Fritterik outside thy safekeeping and escaped when the fighting stopped. There was some sort of truce being discussed, but I'm afraid I didn't hear what it was."

?Who was talking?  Matukhana and Leftenant Know-it-All??

?I believe it was Matukhana and Bellona, yes.?  The hedgehog gave a knowing smile.  ?She can be hot-blooded, that one, but I believe she is also basically honorable.  Perhaps thy regard of her ought to be higher.?

Venril shrugged.  ?Well, at the very least, she kept them distracted long enough for me to rescue the Fritterik.?

?It would seemst that thy instruction in the arts of combat have served thee well.?  Baez?s face went rigid for a moment,  and he seemed to have trouble speaking.  ?I?I did not expect to ever see most of?it is good that thou didst retrieve them.?  The moment passed.

?Is there a place where they  can hide from the corsairs without the Srechrrl attacking them??  Venril asked.

?I believe there are, but I will ask them.?

?Good.  Take them there for right  now.  I?m going to take a few of them  up and keep  watch for anybeast else.?

?A sensible plan, but I would caution thee, they are not warriors.?

?I know, but if it?s a lone scout or something they can at least help grab him or something.   Not to mention that I?m not sure I want to meet with Bellona completely alone.?  The stoat pointed at the two stoat Fritterik who had grabbed Grimeclaw earlier, as well as Mripat, then gestured at them to follow him.

?I doubt she would attack thee without cause,?  Baez said.

Venril didn?t feel completely convinced, but didn?t feel like getting into an argument about Bellona.  ?Uhh, sure, I guess.?  Actually, he thought this was far from an outlandish concern.  The dormouse was a bit of a fanatic, and if it came down to honoring a truce or getting what she felt was best for her beasts, he was pretty sure Bellona wouldn?t feel much hesitation to backstab him.

Baez smiled at him again.  ?I thank thee for bringing them back, Captain Venril.?


~~
Venril and his Fritterik companions had been hiding in the rocky outcroppings near the tunnel for what seemed like some time when Bellona approached his position, along with a one eyed mouse accompanied by several woodlanders.  Venril ducked back down behind the outcropping before yelling.  ?Bellona, is that you??

An arrow whistled over Venril?s head, but only one, and it was quickly followed by the sound of harsh whispering, probably from the one eyed mouse.  Venril peaked up over the rock again.  ?Can I come out and talk to you now, or do you need to shoot a few more arrows and get it out of your system??

"That was hardly an irrational response to your behavior, stoat," Bellona replied sarcastically. "Didn't that ferret ever teach you not to startle beasts who're carrying weapons? You could've been an enemy."

The stoat stood up indignantly.  ?If I were someone who wanted to attack you, I wouldn?t have yelled ?Bellona, is that you?? before chucking a spear at you.  What happened during the attack??

?We fought,  and you ran as fast as you could in the opposite direction.?  The dormouse gave his now unarmored torso a disapproving glance.  ?And apparently threw your armor away so you could run even faster.?

Venril spluttered.  ?Hey!  Stop making it sound so cowardly!  I was rescuing the Fritterik!?

"Yes, a task that, conveniently enough, involved leaving everybeast else to face battle while you skulked in a cave," Bellona said coolly.

Sagaru cleared her throat, and Bellona turned to look at the other rodent for a moment.  "Apologies, m'am. Venril, this is Sagaru. She's the leader of the woodlanders who used to live in the Oasis before you vermin kicked them out. Sagaru, this is Venril. Some baron decided to make him captain one day, for no apparent reason."

?It wasn?t for no reason!?  Venril practically shouted.  ?He thought?uh??  The stoat wished he had thought out his answer ahead of time.  ?Well, I?m sure he had some reason for it!?

?Of course he did, Venril.  Whatever you say.?  The note of condescension in Bellona?s voice made him want to punch the dormouse.  

Yeah, right.  She could beat you up without breaking a sweat.  Venril thought to himself.  ?Are you done acting like a kit, or do you want to argue with me some more instead of getting anything done??  the stoat asked as maturely as he could.

"What're you blaming me for? You're the one who keeps contradicting me. Quit it!" Bellona snapped.

?You quit it!?

?It?s not my fault you can?t??

?IF YOU PLEASE!?  Both Bellona and Venril stopped talking as Sagaru begin to speak.  ?I am Sagaru, the Heir of Loamhedge, and the ruler of the woodlanders who used to inhabit the Oasis.  Bellona tells me that you rescued the vermin who dwell in the caves from slavery.  Am I to take it, then, that you wish to fight against Captain Matukhana as well, on behalf of the cavedwellers??

Venril had been wondering about this himself, and had had plenty of time to think about what he wanted out of the situation while sitting in the rocks waiting for Bellona.  ?No, not really.  I don?t care about the Oasis or whatever treasure that stupid robin probably made up.  I just want for everything to go back to how it was.  I?ll take what?s left of my hordebeasts and camp out here for a while with the Fritterik.  You won?t have to fight them, and they won?t have to fight you.  I?ll bring Rath and Eliza back here too.  Then, all you have to deal with is Matukhana and the corsairs.?

Sagaru nodded.  ?Hmm.  I suppose that would be an expedient way of thinning their numbers without risk to ourselves?but what would you do afterwards??

?Well, there were only about 25 of us to begin with from the horde, and some of us have died since then.  We?re not trying to be corsairs, so we don?t need a whole big ship.  All we would need to do is build a small little boat or raft, sail it down the coast and go home.  We could do that ourselves, there wouldn?t have to be any slaves or forced labor.?  Venril was pretty sure a few of his hordebeasts had once been corsairs, and even if they hadn?t, they really just had to sail or row up the coast in a straight line until they got away from the desert.  If they couldn?t figure out how to get all the way home, they could just ditch their boat when they found a port or an area that looked hospitable and then treck overland the rest of the way.

Bellona raised an eyebrow. "Quite expedient. We wouldn't even need to bother with that fox's sham of a truce. We can put paid to him and his before he gets any clever ideas. But then...why trust you, stoat? You could hide in these caves, then attack us from behind when we're busy with Matukhana."

?Why would I do that?  Then I?d just have to fight both of you at once.  Matukhana?s the only one trying to hurt the Fritterik or force my hordebeasts to stay here.  I just want to make sure the Fritterik are safe and then go home.?

Bellona snorted, unconvinced. "A wasp in waiting has nothing to fear from his queen. For all we know, you're in that fox's paw, preparing a pincer move."

"Well, thank you for thinking me so devious and clever." Venril rolled his eyes. "But I just want to protect the Fritterik and leave here. What do I need to convince you? A contract signed in blood?"

The dormouse opened her mouth as if to shout 'yes', but then shut it. She glanced at Sagaru and the other woodlanders, then sighed. "No. Fine. Just see to it you keep up your end of the deal and we'll have no quarrel." Her glared added: 'for now'. "When're you going to go get them, assuming they even listen to you anymore?"

?Matukhana likes to send my hordebeasts out as scouts because they don?t complain about it like the corsairs do.  I could meet one of the scout parties and talk to them then.  I don?t think they like Matukhana that much anymore.  Especially if leaving him meant they could go home.?

The stoat looked up at the sky, trying to gauge what time it was.  ?As for getting Rath and Liza, I think I might just go back and get them tonight.?

~~
Venril prided himself on knowing a bit more about the moon than most beasts did.  Keeping track of the lunar cycle was a handy way of recording events over long periods of time, which made Venril probably the only beast in Baron Proklyan?s horde who knew a waxing gibbous from a waning crescent.  Although he had become a bit disoriented during his time underground, the stoat had predicted based on what he could remember that the moon would probably be a waxing crescent, just short of a half moon, meaning that while he had enough light to see with he would not be lit up as an attractive target to any sentries.

The stoat reached the palm grove where the vermin were camping, and began poking his head into the tents and lean-tos to check them, looking for Rath or Liza.  He wasn?t absolutely certain that the corsairs would kill him on sight.  Although he had killed two of their number, he had no reason to believe that any of them had seen him do this, and they might well have either ignored his absence or else assumed he was captured or had gotten lost.  Or even run off and hid.  That said, however, he didn?t really want to have to explain his absence right now.  He had just stepped into what appeared to be an unremarkable cluster of palm and coconut trees, when suddenly he heard a voice.

?Venril?  Is that you??  The stoat froze at the sound of his name, and then his eyes widened as he recognized the voice.  He turned around, paw on his saber?s handle.

?Yes, and I?m really not in the mood for you to try to stab me again.  I?m here to rescue Liza.?

?My maiden is in peril??  Damask looked shocked, or at least like what Venril thought a shocked bird would look like.

?Yes.  Captain Matukhana is holding her hostage.  She was a slave once herself, so the the only reason she would have gone along with enslaving the Fritterik is if he forced her to.  I?m going to free her and bring her back with the Fritterik.  You can come too, assuming you don?t stab me in the back the moment I?m not looking.?

The robin hopped across the sand towards him.  ?Do you think me a churl who would place our mutual grievance before the safety of my beloved??

Venril rolled his eyes.  ?Damask?I?m not sure how else to put this, but?you?re a bird.  She?s a marten?don?t you think that might be a problem??

?Though you may think us starcrossed, I assure you that the bonds between us transcend such mundane fetters.  I notice that you yourself seem not to be dissuaded by species.?

?Yes, but I?m a stoat!  That?s pretty close to a marten.  You have feathers and a beak and?and??The stoat shook his head.  ?What would a bird and a marten even...even do.?

Damask puffed up his red-feathered chest in indignation.  ?I am not of so base a mind as to??

Venril hurriedly raised his paws in a calming motion, conscious of the risk that Damask might wake somebeast up.  ?Alright, alright, I?m sorry!  Can we forget about that for right now?  If we wake up anybeast else, we won?t be able to rescue Liza.?  The robin immediately piped down.  ?Good.  Now help me look.  If you find Liza, whistle a few quiet notes and I?ll come over.?

The two males split up and began their search.  It took a long time, but finally Venril found Liza, under guard by two corsairs.

"You two!  You're on sentry duty!  I'm taking over the watch here."  Venril snapped.

"Are you su--"

"Are you questioning my orders, scumsnout?"  Venril snarled.  "Get out of here before I--"  The stoat followed up with a number of choice phrases he had heard the other captains use.  The two corsairs hurried off obediently, sufficiently cowed by Venril's show of authority.

"Liza, I'm here to save you from Matukhana."

The marteness threw herself into Venril's arms.  "Oh, Captain Venril, I knew you would come and help me, just like you always do."

Damask suddenly showed up, hopping towards them.  "My glorious maiden, I--"

"Quiet, you!  Liza scowled over Venril's shoulder.  "You were here the whole time and never tried to save me, just like you never did anything about Verand or my dress!  Get out of here, and stop calling me your maiden, because I'm not!"

The robin flew off, crying softly.

Liza turned back towards Venril, pressing in even closer to the stoat.  "How will I ever thank you, Captain Ven--"

Venril started as he suddenly heard Damask sing a short, quiet but clear song to indicate he had found Liza, and cursed himself for daydreaming instead of finding her first.  He also cursed Damask for interrupting his thoughts.  Just getting to good part, too.  The stoat ambled over to locate the robin.

To his surprise, he found that Liza did not appear to be under any kind of guard at all.  She was sitting alone next to a fire.

?Venril, what are you doing here??  The marteness looked a bit confused and angry.  

?I?m here to save you from Matukhana.?  The stoat puffed his narrow chest out just a little bit.

?We came to save you from Matukhana,?  Damask clarified, fluttering out of the darkness.

Eliza's eyes widened. ?Damask? You're alive??

"I am, my lady. And..." the bird paused, eyes downcast, "still your devoted servant. We learned of your predicament, and now seek to save you from that foul fox?s depraved grasp!?

For some reason, Liza looked only confused at this, rather than being jubilant.  ?Well, umm, you see??

Before she could finish her sentence, Venril suddenly thought of the other creature he wanted to find.  ?Oh!  Where?s Rath!  I wanted to bring him back to the caves with me too!?

Suddenly Liza looked very somber, and the look on her face made Venril?s heart sink.  He knew what she was going to say before she said it.

?Venril?Rath didn't make it.?

Venril couldn?t speak, couldn?t think, couldn?t believe it for a moment.  

?Rath?s dead??  The stoat sank to his haunches, a devastated expression on his face.  Rath had taught him so much in the time they had been together, and as much as he?d prodded and provoked and poked fun of the stoat, he had never stopped teaching him.  Nobeast else had ever taken an interest in him like that, had ever tried to help him just to be helpful.  Rath had given him the confidence to save the Fritterik, to kill Verand?

Rath had been his friend.

Liza walked over next to him.  ?Venril?I?m sorry.?

Almost before he knew what he was doing, Venril had stood up and hugged Liza tightly, not wanting to let go, wondering if she might be the next entry on the ever growing list of casualties.

Rath was my friend?and now he?s gone.

If the Whirlwind could die, could any of the rest of them survive?