Only the Good Die Young

[Ashira]

   The silence they walked in deafened them with the sound of their paw pads hitting the soft stone floor of the cellars.  Despite the terrible danger they were walking into the mole continued to obediently follow Ashira.  She might as well.  The fate she might suffer at the monster?s paws would be sweet and painless compared to what she?d suffer at mine, she thought and the corner of her mouth twitched upward in amusement as she then considered the monster?s death.  Oh, the look on Silus? face when I haul its carcass to the surface.  He kills slaves and cowardly crewmembers, but I slay monsters, Ashira mused and her lips peeled upward into a vicious smile.

   She had paid the display above ground little attention as she had considered what she was to do to trap the monster below and see it dead.  Despite her inattentiveness, she had no doubt that Silus was the real culprit for the slave?s death and the crewmember was just some fool Silus used to cover his own hide.  Predictable. 

   Ashira shoved the thought from her mind.  She would bide her time until the perfect moment and then Silus would finally be removed from her life forever, but at the moment there was a monster to slay.  They came to an intersection and Ashira looked left and right before she moved to peer into the room straight ahead.  This was a storage room, I?m sure, she thought then she shoved the torch into the mole?s claws and crouched down on the floor.

   Clunk!  The fur on the back of Ashira?s neck stood on end and she growled at the mole as it fumbled to pick up the torch.  ?Hold onto it, you fool, or I will hand you to the monster,? Ashira glared at her before she bent down to the floor again.  ?Good.  It has been through here.  We can set our trap here.? 

   ?Go down that hall but not so far that you leave my sight, and then come back here and go into the room,? Ashira said.  ?Be sure to keep a hold of the torch so that I can see what I?m killing.?

   ?Burr hurr, yes?m Ms. Ferret,? she said obediently enough.

   Ashira shuddered in disgust at the awful dialect, but the mole did as she was told without complaint.  The ferret almost expected the mole to head down and stumble right into the creature?s jaws and her heart pounded at the adrenaline coursing through her veins.  Careful, Ashira, do not get too excited.  Stay calm.  She had faced badgers before, but it had been diffiicult to stand straight in front of this creature and challenge it back.  It can bleed, it is not a creature from the heavens.  It can be killed.

   It seemed to take no time at all before the mole had run back and into the room across from where Ashira was crouched.  The ferret pulled back from the circle of light and prepared to wait.  All she needed was the advantage, and she was certain that wolf would be dead at her paws.

   Hours passed or so it seemed to Ashira.  Time was difficult to tell when the only light was clutched in the claws of the mole, who kept glancing around the room and anxiously shifting on her paws.  You must focus, Ashira.  You cannot lapse in concentration, the ferret soothed her fur and kept still, hardly daring to breath.  All of this hinged on the wolf not finding her first.

   She almost jumped when she heard a guttural growl come from her left.  The ferret froze and she hardly dared to breathe as she recognized its vague out-line in the flicker of light from the torch.  For one wild moment Ashira thought it knew she was there.  My scent!  It knows I was there, maybe it also knows I am still here.  It can sense the trap.  It?s smarter than the crew, is I smarter than I?  All this raced through Ashira?s head as she continued lying there as if paralyzed, still hoping that it did not take another step this way.

   It did not, though.  It turned expectantly towards the mole and Ashira heard it licks lips.  ?Ah, more food for Mother.  On the thin side, but you will do just nicely,? it said with a deep grumble in its chest.

   ?Oi be too thin, sir.  Oi would appreciate it if?n ye didn?t eat me, sir, burr hurr,? the mole said in a surprisingly steady voice, but Ashira could barely see her between the monster?s legs.

   The ferret jumped to her paws and covered the ground between her and it so fast all she saw was a blur.  It turned slowly and then howled as her sword sunk into its side, and then she pulled it out and jumped back. 

   ?You,? it roared and swung its paw at her, but she ducked and rolled to the side.

   ?I will not suffer you to feed on my property any longer, fiend,? Ashira growled at it, baring her teeth threateningly.  Her display had little effect on it this time, though, and it swung its paw at her again.  She hopped back and squared her paws, her fur bristling as they started circling each other.

   It was hobbling and it seemed hesitant to make the next move.  Ashira smirked at its cautions.  ?Hear this, beast, I shall be dancing on your corpse when this fight is done.?

   ?You really expect so??   It suddenly threw back its head and howled long and loud, causing the ferret to shudder and flinch at the strength and echo of the noise. 

   ?Coward!  Can you not fight something as small as I??  And then it moved.

   It moved so fast Ashira could hardly keep track of its movements.  She swung her saber and howled at the splintering pain as it knocked the sword aside.  Then she was pinned against the wall, its rancid breath blasting into her face, and then she could feel its teeth tearing into her shoulder.

   Dignity be damned, she used every tactic she could imagine to shove the beast away from her.  Her back paws tore at its belly, and she managed to work both of her arms enough to claw and scratch at its face. 

?You are coming with me!?

Suddenly it let her go and she slid to the floor with a groan, panting heavily from her struggle.  She looked down on the ground to see the blood oozing into a puddle around her, even as her muddled mind still struggled to comprehend.  Is that my blood? 

It really did not feel that painful.  Death.  Basic movements such as getting to her paws felt like the greatest struggle of her life, yet this descent was completely painless.  The monster knocked her back to the floor with its great paw and stood over her, another gigantic gash forming across her stomach, and then it bent over her, baring its teeth maliciously and said, ?I doubt you will be meeting me on death?s doorstep soon.?

Its howl once again filled the rock corridors, a deafening scream from the terrible pain of Ashira?s teeth suddenly sunk into its neck.  It railed on her body, struggling to push her off, but even as she felt her teeth drag against its skin she latched on as though her very life depended on it.  She was swinging her paws again, putting all the strength she could manage in her weakened state to do it as much harm as she could.  It finally grabbed her around the middle and ripped her away, sacrificing a sizeable chunk of fur to her jaws, before it threw her across the floor and she landed with a thump!

?See you at the Gates, my friend.?  That wicked smile arced across her face even as those crude iron gates came within sight.