Battle Bard

[Kali]

And the crowd went wild. Drake had no idea what they were going wild over, but he could hear their shouts even while in the armory.

"Sounds like a good fight up there."

"I wouldn't call them 'good' fights."

The fox glanced at his fellow blacksmith. The elderly mouse was busy shining armor off in the corner, ever present scowl spread across his muzzle. A scowl that Drake now shared.

"Just be glad there is more use for you here than out there." The fox leaned against his own desk, a woodpigeon sandwich in one paw, a mug of ale in the other. "We have at least three sets of armor to get ready before the next match, so we don't have time to waste complaining about the arena, ya hear?"

The mouse stopped in his work, leaning back on his haunches to give the fox a most indignant look. Drake didn't understand why until he realized the irony of his own statement.

Rolling his eyes, Drake said, "My wife made this, okay? You think Nire has a temper? Try telling a wolverine why you didn't eat the lunch she made for you."

"Sure, sure." The slave turned back to shining armor, "So when do you think your wife your wife finally get done fattening you up for dinner dinner?"

"Just go get the next set of armor," Drake bellowed, sending the mouse to the back room of the armory with the wave of his paw. "Grouchy old rug..."

He turned back to his meal, opening his jaws wide for another bite, but hesitated. He looked at the delicious sandwich in his paw and then to the expanse of his own waist. With a sigh he set the sandwich down and muttered something harsher than 'grouchy' about the mouse.

And then nearly died of a heart attack as a beast came running through the door shouting for help. "Help! They are almost here!"

Drake recognized the pine marten frantically waving his arms in the air, even if only in passing. "Blazes!" The armorer shouted back, "Are you trying to get me killed? I nearly jumped out of my own skin..."

"It will be a better fate than what will happen if those slaves get ahold of you!" The marten's eyes were wide and fearful. "The revolt has come! The slaves are loose! They are right on my heels! I barely escaped with my life!"

The mug of ale dropped from Drakes paw, his tail poofing with fright. "Martin's beard..." He shoved the marten out of the way, "Don't just stand there! Help me barricade the..." The fox paused halfway to the door. "Wait, why are you even down here in the fi-"

Drake never saw the blackjack coming, but he sure felt it. He gasped as his brain matter bounced off one end of his skull to the other, collapsing forward.

But without completely falling over.

Slowly, the fox righted himself, glancing over his shoulder to the shocked looking traitor.

"Did that... even hurt?" Inkpaw raised a cautious eyebrow.

The fox scowled. "Not as much as this will..."

The marten flailed his arms at Drake, bashing him upside the head again with the black jack, but it was too late. Paw wrapped around his neck, Drake hoisted the marten off the ground and flung him against a weapon rack.

Weapons clattered to the ground around the baker as it fell backward. He struggled to sit up, eyes widening as the fox grabbed a battle ax from the wall behind him.

"Parlay?" The marten chuckled nervously. A moment later he rolled backward, narrowly avoiding being split in two by the fox's swing. The ax broke the stone where the marten was a moment before.

Drake cursed as his opponent rolled back onto his feet, the marten grabbing one of the fallen swords.

Clutching the weapon with both paws Drake brought the ax around for another swing, and another, and another. The fox didn't relent, each swing aimed in a different place than the first.

Some blows were dodged, others were met by the sword in a frenzy of sparks. Any other blade would have snapped in half by now, thought the armorer as he took both pride in his work and also wished he didn't.

The beasts parted to circle each other. "So, are you a spy pretending to be a baker, or a baker pretending to be a spy?"

"I prefer to think of myself as a distraction." The marten gave the fox a feral smile.

Ears flattening, Drake cursed himself for not paying more attention to the door as a tattooed weasel in a loin cloth came running through. "Hazah! Prepare to meet your ma-!" was as far as Rose got before the ax was thrown.

She managed a small 'yip' as the blade came towards her head... hitting the partly open door on the side. The momentum slammed the heavy wooden door into the weasel's face.

Drake threw himself against it as a four other beasts behind the weasel tried to force their way in. He didn't have to see their collars to know they were slaves.

And he didn't have to imagine what would happen if they got inside.

Expecting the marten to take advantage of the situation, Drake leaned to the side as Inkpaw thrust his sword forward, the blade cutting deep into the wood where the fox had been a moment before.

The fox kicked the marten in the gut, sending him stumbling. Grabbing the sword and ripping it free from the door, Drake moved to take a swing at marten to finish him off.

No sooner than he had done so then the door opened enough for Rose to get herself hallway through. Drake cursed, slamming his shoulder against the door again and pinning the poor bandit in-between. She yelped as the air was knocked out of her.

Swinging his sword to keep the marten at bay, Drake screamed when the weasel began clawing at his arm. He pushed harder against the door, tossing the blade to his free paw so that he might be in a better position to stab the beast.

That's when Inkpaw launched himself at the fox, one arm grabbing his wrist, the other trying to wrap around his fleshy neck.

"Ulrich!" The armor frantically screamed. "Ulrich!"

By then, the old mouse slave was standing at the entrance to the back room, eyes wide as he took in the sight before him.

"Help me!" The fox cried out, "The slaves are revolting! If we let them have the armory we are done for!"

There was a pause as the mouse took a moment to take this all in.

... and begin to smile...

"Ah... blazes..." Drake dropped his sword, and with a grunt of effort shoved the marten towards Ulrich. "Alarm! Alarm! Help me! Help me!" he continued to shout even as he slowly lost ground against the other beasts pushing on the door from the other side.

He felt the marten and mouse grab onto him, Inkpaw pulling at his chest while Ulrich bit into his leg. 

"NO!" The fox wailed as the combined efforts of the beasts pulled him away. The fox fell to one knee as Inkpaw spun him around and slugged him in the muzzle.

Drake fell hard against the ground. Images of his wife and daughter flashed across his mind as slaves flooded the armory. The fox sat up, refusing to close his eyes as inkpaw stood over him, rapier in paw.

The marten leveled the blade at the fox's throat. The cold metal against his flesh sent chills across his body. For a long moment the two locked eyes as Inkpaw decided his fate.

"Do you think the guards heard that racket?" the marten called over his shoulder without looking away.

"It would surprise me if they didn't," one of the slaves replied.

The marten cursed. "You, on your feet." The blade tapped on Drake's chin, forcing him to stand up. Ulrich drew the fox's paws behind him, binding them with rope as an oily rag was shoved into his muzzle.

"You ok, Rose?" The marten called out to the weasel. She was leaning against the fox's desk, clutching her chest and wincing. Drake was actually surprised that the little thief was still standing after being crushed against the door frame. 

"I will be as soon as I cut our foxy friend here open like a watermelon," the weasel bandit sneered.

"Later, we have more pressing concerns now. Go tell the others we have the armory. Go." The marten gestured for the door. "Go."

"Smash me against a door... this ain't over, fluffy." Rose pointed a finger at the fox as she stepped outside the door. Barely a step into the hallway her ears picked up.

"Guards!" She hissed.

"Go!" Inkpaw whispered a frantic shout at the weasel before slamming the door closed. He snapped his claws, gesturing for the others to help barricade the door.

Drake could feel the tension in the air. He could see the slave's fur rise as a beast on the other side of the door called out to them. "Drake? Are you in there?" A fist rapped against the wood. "The arena is on lock down. We have been order to secure the gladiator armory."

Hope began to flicker in Drake's heart. It was however, quickly squashed as Inkpaw pressed the sword tip into his chest, "Don't think I will spare you a second time..." He hissed into his ear.

Ulrich stepped forward, gesturing the others to be quiet. That little traitor.  After all the kindness Drake showed him! How dare he stab him in the back like this!

Coughing into his paw before he began, the mouse said, "This is Ulrich. Drake had to... leave. Something about his family. Personally I think his wife just cooked him some bad woodpigeon today and he is just-"

"That's fine," the guard replied quickly, eager to not hear the rest of that sentence. "Barricade yourself inside and don't open the door until the lockdown is over. We will be here in case there is trouble."

"O-oh, that's good. Not really needed though. It would take a battering ram to get through that door."

"Yeah, well, Nire's orders. We will be here until the lock down is over or until Drake returns."

The mouse bit his lip, turning to his companions for what to say next.

"What do we do?" One slave whispered.

"I say we grab a weapon, and take them on," said another.

Inkpaw however had nothing to say for once. Instead he grinded his teeth together, exchanging a heated scowl at their captive.

Drake returned it in kind.

Idiots...

Thought the fox as he sat down, getting comfortable for the long day before him...



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"This is really happening, isn't it?" Baxter's nervous laugh did nothing to calm Kali down, nor the growing crowd of beasts they found themselves with.

The bowery was starting to feel cramped with the number of beasts gathering here. Gladiator, laborer, staff worker; all wore slave collars. All except Baxter of course. Kali couldn't tell if the beasts here avoided them because of the blue tabard wearing bard, or the batty bard that helped get them into this mess.

The suspense in the air was smothering. Everyone could feel it. The anxiety, the fear... no one knew what was going to happen next, only that come tomorrow they would be free beasts.

Or dead.

"Life is funny like that," Kali found a comfortable spot to sit down on, somewhere out of the way. The bat kept her injured wing close to her body as she plopped down on her tail. "One day you are trying to find a paying gig, and the next you are working with a rebellion trying to overthrow a tyrannical despot. Show business, right?"

"I guess this means I'm out of a job again." The fox chuckled. His laughter faded as he glanced down at Kali's wing. "Does it hurt?"

Kali stretched out her arm, peering at Baxter through the hole with a 'yes, you dork. why wouldn't the giant hole in my arm hurt?' type stare.

"Will it heal?" The fox said again. He looked rather worried about the bat's answer.

"Yes. Maybe. I really don't know." Kali leaned back against the wall. Rubbing her eyes she said, "I've seen bats heal from worse, and I've seen bats with less... not get better. I really just don't want to think about it right now."

The fox nodded slowly, "I'm sorry. Not just for the wing but..." Baxter tried to smile while rubbing the back of his neck, "I should have said something a long time ago. When Nire threw you into the dungeons, when you were being thrown out into the arena. I should have..."

"Run your mouth off and get thrown into the arena with me?" Kali raised an eyebrow. She laughed, "If anyone is to blame for where I ended up, it's me. No, seriously. All I ever wanted from life is to be rich and famous, and look where it got me. I was blinded by my own ambitions to the danger around me and... well..."

"Blind, like a bat?"

"Don't you start," The bat stuck her tongue out at the fox. "But yeah. Now? Now I just want my friends to survive through the night. I just want-"

"BATY!"

The bats' eyes grew wide as the crowd parted for the familiar figure of a tattooed weasel. "KALI!" Rose shouted again before launching herself onto the bat, crushing her in a bear hug with more strength than Kali thought a mustelid could have.


"Rose... can't... breath..."

Despite the bard's pleas, the bandit weasel only squeezed harder. "Kali! Where have you beeeeeeeeeeeen! I heard you went on an adventure and didn't invite meeeee! It's been so boring here wi- WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR WING!"

Kali was released, but only so the weasel could stretch out the bat's arm, "Oh my gosh! Yer crippled! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY KALI BAT!" Rose suddenly rounded on the fox, who retreated behind the safety of his lute.

"Down, Rose. Friend. He's a friend." Kali brushed herself off, hoping the weasel did not have fleas. "I got stabbed by a guard while messing with the banner. It should be fine..." She said for her own comfort than the weasel's. "What are you even doing here? I thought you liked the arena life."

"Yeah, but the pudgy marten baker offered me CHAOS... and cookies. And you KNOW how much I love chaos cookies."

Kali blinked surprise. "You mean, Inkpaw? He's here? Where is he?"

Rose opened her mouth, raising a paw, and then promptly paused. Tenetively she tapped her paws together, "Yeah... about that..."

A quick explanation later and the room filled with Kali's shout. "HE'S WHERE?" Slapping her wing to her forehead, Kali groaned. "This day just keeps getting better and better. Who is in charge here?"

With the gesture of her paw, Rose pointed out a white furred mouse over in the far corner conversing with Blue and Thrayjen.

"Come on." The bat took the lead.

Behind her, Baxter leaned forward, whispering in her ear, "Are all your friends scary murderous psychopaths?"

Kali only laughed, unable to provide a better answer.

Rinam turned on her heel,  arms crossed as she looked the weasel up and down at her lack of weaponry and allies.

"What happened?"

"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell, funny story really. We, heh, we got the armory. But then a host of guards showed up and blocked off our escape."

"How many?"

"A lot. Like, more than I can count on one paw." Switching her gaze from beast to beast the weasel grumbled, "Sorry but math was not something they taught at bandit school, ok?"

Rinam rubbed her eyes. "This is... unfavorable. We stand no chance of holding the gates with just bows and tools. We need those weapons."

"I'll take care of it." All eyes turned to Thrayjen. "I only need a paw-full of beasts. Six should do."

"Are you sure that will be enough?" Rinam asked.

"In close quarters like this, the more we take will actually be a hindrance," Rose winced while clutching her sore ribs. "Hallways are only large enough for two beasts fighting side by side anyway.  We don't have the armor or numbers to press gang beasts like the Blue Backs."

"She?s right, aye." Blue cringed. Even Kali's imagination could fathom why the trainer would hesitate at sending beasts to fight her former comrades. "Somebeast would notice a large group movin? through the Drag. Alarms will be raised and you?ll find yourselves surrounded, and likely killed."

The ferret hesitated again, "Maybe I could go and... talk to them."

The others found themselves once again exchanging glances. Rinam spoke first. "I think you would be of better use here, helping us to plan our escape. Especially if Inkpaw is slain."

Rose laughed. "That and I wouldn't trust a trainer to help us fight against her friends."

"Rose!" Kali's cheeks burned with embarrassment. The weasel had such a tactful way of expressing herself.

"I would rather follow the Blue Back into battle than a Blackwhisker!" The voice came from a squirrel. A skinny beast, middle aged with a green tunic.

It was only a matter of time before someone picked up on the conversation, Kali realized, and not everyone was going to like it.

"Are you kidding? It would give me a chance to stab him in the back after what his family did to my family!" A rather burly fox pointed his wooden weapon at the rat as if it were real. "They were made into rugs. RUGS!"

Stepping closer to Kali, Baxter whispered, "Seriously, where do you find these beasts?"

Kali groaned. Every moment they wasted here was one less moment they had to rescue Inkpaw.

One less moment to escape.

"Everyone. We don?t have time for this." Rinam took charge of the situation, "Many have grievances you wish to act upon, but we as allies must work together. We need the Blackwhiskers? assistance to help Inkpaw secure the armory."

And then the situation left her control. It left all their control. "We haven't taken over the armory yet?" The words were loud enough to be heard by all and it carried like wild fire.

The Barrow Beasts and other such like minded individuals were ready for a fight, and willing to take it to Nire no matter the cost. But there were more than Barrow Beasts here and not all were completely keen on the idea of dying. They worked so hard to NOT die, after all.

"We can't hold a gate with just arrows and toy swords. We need real weapons!"

"We are going to be cut down!"

"I should have just stayed in my cell..."

Rinam made one of her curious symbols, then raised her paws in the air, trying to calm beasts back down. Even Kali could see how shaky the situation was. One would have thought that after being trapped in the arena beasts would be more willing to take risks to save their own skins.

But this wasn't the arena.

Not here, not now.

The arena was cruel, merciless, and grim. But it had rules. You fought well, you lived. Don't tick off Nire, you lived. Avoided Hargorn and any other lackey who abused their power, you lived.

This, what ever this was, had no rules. Either they succeeded or they died, and they had to rely on other beasts they never even met to make sure it happened. They were going against every instinct that had been drilled into them since day one.

Kali couldn't blame beasts for being afraid. Not when she herself was terrified.

"Enough."

Kali herself was the most surprised when her normally shrill voice cut through the crowd with the same impact as a falling anvil.

"I did not face down tigers, raced against killer hawks, and even rode a blasted snake to get this far and give up. I know you are afraid, because I know I am afraid. I'm just a bard, ya hear? And a pretty terrible one to boot! I'll be honest, I don't give myself the highest chances of surviving the night. But I'm still here."

The words just came to Kali. She decided not to think about it and hope for the best that she wasn't spouting out nonsense.

"So yeah, I might die trying to escape. But if I do, I can tell you now that it will be giving my very last breath trying to crawl out of this Light forsaken pit and NOT to entertain that smug, overstuffed, flee bitten, two bit, coward Nire is. I don't care if I have weapons, I don't care if I have to work with a beast I don't like, I'll bite through the bars if I have to, but I am NOT spending another night here in this blasted arena."

Kali threw her wings into the air.

"Who is with me!"

Kali waited patiently for the loud cheerful reply of the crowd, that never came.

"Really? You are just going to leave me hanging like that?"

Awkward stares were passed around the beasts assembled here, each wanting someone else to be the first to join in the bats rather nonsensical, but strangely logical rant.

"Freedom or Death!"

The shout came from Rose, of course.

The chant spread quickly, echoing off the walls as it was accompanied by loud howls and hoots. In all honesty, Kali found it a bit tacky but she wasn't going to argue. She was just happy beasts were listening to her.

Finally the conversation came back to Rinam. "Hope Lives," she said with a coy smile, "Now, our intrepid liason with the FTN seems to have gotten himself lost in the armory. Who wants to go help him bring us some actual weapons..."


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As it turned out, quite a many beasts decided to put aside their hatred of the Blackwhiskers if it meant going against the Blue Backs with something more dangerous than training swords.

Rose volunteered, of course. She thrived on chaos like a fish thrived on water. Water that is lit on fire and filled with sharp pointed knives. Something which she apparently hoped to arm herself with once they got to the armory.

There were four other slaves and gladiators that Kali only knew in passing. The fox who wanted to stab Thrayjen in the back was there. A scaly sand lizard slave. Apparently she was the janitor to blasio's office so Kali could easily see why she would be harboring enough resentment to go on this mission.

The other two were the squirrel from before, who also apparently also just wanted to find an excuse to shoot Thrayjen in the back with an arrow, and a ferret gladiator armed with a club.

Baxter came along too! Because he most certainly did NOT want to go. Unfortunately for him, Baxter was one of the few beasts who would not immediately be identified as an escaped slave. That could prove useful. Exactly how just required further imagination.

Kali was there because she simply wanted to save Inkpaw. Even more than that, she wanted to follow through on her speech to the beasts in the bowery. She wanted out of this arena and she was willing to do what ever it took to do so.

That...

And Inkpaw would owe her so many scones for this...

The idea of attacking the gates without weapons was, however, looking more promising after they saw what they were up against.

"Fifteen. Are you serious?" The squirrel nodded gravely to the fox's question. The beast leaned against the wall, clutching his training sword even tighter. "These guards, t-they are push overs, right?"

"They are all armed and dressed for battle." The squirrel spat, "Most of them have short swords, four of them half halberds. All of them are dressed in chainmail and bucklers."

"They are ready for us." Thrayjen rubbed at his chin as he tried to think of a plan. "We will need thin out their numbers."

Baxters ears stood up through his silly floppy hat. He bounced up and down excitedly, finding his inner rebel at last."I have an idea. Thrayjen. Quick. Hit me!"

THWACK!

"GAH! Not in the eye, you freak!" And the inner rebel died. He leaned forward, clutching his face. "You didn't even stop to hear me out!"

"I assumed you were going to run up to them and claim you were ambushed by escaped slaves and misdirect them elsewhere. I was thinking something similar so..." Thrayjen shrugged.

"It won't work." Rose finished tying an arrow head to the tip of her quarterstaff. "Even if it did work, you could only send them to the location you came from, and we don't have enough time to flank them. Besides, Inkpaw tried that on the tubby fox inside, and he hardly fell for it."

"Tubby fox?" Kali was taken aback, "You mean Drake?"

"What do you mean it won't work?" Baxter gave the weasel a most pitiful look.

"Won't work. And I called dibs on Drake's hide. Broad shoulders, wide pelt. I'm making him into a coat."

"You could have at least told me before I let tall dark and gruesome here punch my eye out!"

"No! We can't take Drake's hide! He needs that to live... and... stuff..."

"Children," Thrayjen interjected, becoming dismayed that the beasts responded to 'children'. "Time is short. We need to get into that room. If they block us off at the entrance, we are doomed. But if we can break their formation and flank them, we stand a chance."

Kali frowned. She didn't like the idea of causing harm to another beast, especially after throwing the guard to his death. But the thought of Drake laying dead in his own armory made her stomach churn even more.

But if she could prevent more deaths from happening.

"I'll lead them away." Kali smashed her fist into her open wing. "I can lead them away."

"Kali..." Thrayjen began.

"Can you even fly?" Baxter asked in a serious undertone.

"I have to find out some time, right?" Kali laughed. "I'll circle around and double back. That should help, right?"

Looking at the bat with a mixture of worry and... even more worry, Kali was surprised when Thrayjen simply nodded his head. "Keep running, and no heroics. Be safe."

Kali nodded in reply, unable to find a witty quip due to the butterflies flying in her stomach. "Just... save Inkpaw, ok?"

The bat gulped, setting off down the hallway ahead of the group as they finished setting up for their ambush. "Be a barbarian, be a barbarian, be a barbarian..." She muttered.

Kali fell into a run, a smile spreading across her face as a plan was formed. Tight spaces for great acoustics? No one here to tell her to keep her muzzle shut? Oh yeah, she was not going to let this opportunity pass by.

She opened her muzzle, and began to sing.

There was no better way to start a song than with an ear splitting cackle. Kali really must remember to start off like that in her next job, be in a mortal realm or... well, she didn't want to think of the alternative.

"Alas ye poor souls, for the death clock does toll..." Words from the darkest and gloomiest of songs she could think of tumbled out of her muzzle. It didn't even matter if it rhymed, "Doom! Doom on wings of darkness comes for both brave and coward. For the time has come for hunter to be hunted, for malice comes swiftly to those dressed in blue!"

The bat lept at the end of the hallway, entering the larger room filled with wide eyed, blue clad guards. Kali caught the rafters above them, clinging to them tightly and hanging herself upside down as she regarded the vermin with her most fearsome gaze.

"Beware the Banshee of Northvale! For she has come to feast upon your- GAH!"

Kali narrowly dodged a halberd as it was thrown at her.

"Kill the monster! Kill it with fire!"

Kali screamed again, dropping from the ceiling and falling into a low glide.

Horrible, mind numbing pain flowed through her wing as she stretched it out and she tumbled against the ground, rolling and landing on her back, facing the very guards she was trying to lead away.

"Oh snap..." Kali was quick on her feet, but the pudgy creature was obviously not quick enough to escape the guards.

Someone behind the guards cursed before giving an order that Kali missed. A moment later a guard screamed, collapsing with an arrow in his back.

"Take them down!" Thrayjen yelled before leaping into the fray. He was closely followed by the others, and quickly out paced by Rose.

She leaped forward, forcing an unfortunate guard to swallow the butt end of her quarter staff. She pulled the weapon back, spinning it around her so quickly it generated its own wind before thrusting the arrow tip into the belly of another vermin. The arrow snapped as she finished him off with a quick blow to the head.

Three down.

Many more to go.

"Enough!"

The word cut through the chaos, putting the battle on hold. Kali had never seen Inkpaw look so fierce, surrounded by more beasts as they exited the armory. Each one was armed and armored, and although Kali would normally have laughed at how Inkpaws leather vest failed to fit properly over his encumbered belly, she hardly laughed at how he lead Drake ahead of him with a sword to his throat.

"Drop your weapons and you will not be harmed." The marten pressed his blade closer to the fox, "Now! Or do you want the death of your armorer on your paws!"

The guards hesitated, looking to their own leader for guidance.

Not liking this hesitation one bit, Inkpaw growled, "Tell them to put down their weapons. Do it now."

Drake grinded his teeth together, "You heard 'em boys... put your weapons down." Eyes shifting towards the marten behind him, the fox's voice became deeper, "In their corpses!"

The fox kicked his head back, bloodying Inkpaws nose. Suddenly, the bonds came loose, the fox turned, striking Inkpaw in the temple and sending him falling backwards into his fellow beasts and bowling them all over.

A slender buck hare was all that managed to dodge the chaos, side stepping Inkpaw and lunging at the fox with a claymore.

Drake caught the beast by the wrist before elbowing him in the muzzle.

His blade wrestled out of his grasp, the hare was giving a show of flurried sword movements and the Dragon's iconic grin before Drake beheaded him.

"Don't just stand there!"

"Kill them all!"

Kali quickly lost sight of Baxter in the chaos that followed, but she saw that the other burly fox was almost immediately cut down, a guard opening his belly with his sword.

The slave ferret died shortly there after, impaled by a halberd as his killer was felled by an arrow.

Thrayjen and the lizard quickly closed the gap, stepping in to support Rose. The rat proved to be in top form, parrying a blow from below while slapping the nose of another attacker. A ferret guard cried out as the sand lizard made short work of him with her knives.

Kali didn't know what kind of war cry she used while entering combat. She imagined it didn't sound very threatening, given that nature overlooked her species when it came natural ferocity.

The guard could hardly tell though as Kali enveloped his head with her wings, biting on his muzzle with her teeth. He cried out, stumbling until he tripped over the body of a slain beast and slamming his head into the floor.

She rolled off of him, hissing at any beast that dared get near. Her eyes locked onto Inkpaw and Drake trying to murder each other with swords.

This isn't what she wanted. She didn't want to see her friends die or be maimed, she wanted... she...

She realized, with horror, that this was indeed exactly what she wanted. To escape meant combat, and combat meant death.

And all her friends were about to die.

With an earthshattering blow, Inkpaws weapon was cast aside, clattering at the ground before coming to a stop at Kali's feet.

The fox kicked the baker hard enough to send onto his rump. "Just as I thought." The voice lacked compassion as he raised his sword. "Just a baker pretending to be a spy."

Inkpaw closed his eyes as the sword came down.

"No! Drake don't!" Kali leapt forward, unarmed.

Suddenly the fox's sword redirected itself, finding a new target.

Kali didn't even get to properly scream as the sword touched her neck...

And stopped there, drawing a thin line of blood where the fox halted his attack.

Her eyes settled first on the sword coming so very close to separating her head from her body. Then up to the fox with the conflicted scowl and trembling paw. He seemed just as surprised as Kali was that she was still alive.

And then Rose's quarterstaff came sailing over the bat's shoulder like a spear, hitting Drake square in the forehead, right between the eyes.

The obese fox fell backward. His sword was quickly snatched up by Inkpaw. "Kali, are you ok?"

"Kali!" Inkpaw said again until the bat came out of her trance.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine." She rubbed at her neck. Remembering where she was, she turned quickly, expecting a fight.

But the fight was already over. The guards dispatched, the vermin were either dead or wounded, as were many of the slaves. The sand lizard remained intact, as did Rose and Thrayjen.

The squirrel was no where to be seen.

Three of the beasts who had accompanied Inkpaw on this mission lay dead at his feat. The others didn't look encumbered by their wounds.

Kali supposed it was her first real battle. Not an arena show to entertain an adoring crowd. Just quick, violent, and bloody.

She planned to retell it with much more flair later on...

"You won't... e-escape."

Rubbing his sore head, Drake propped himself up with his free arm. "You think you are doing these beasts a favor, marten? You are just going to get them killed like the last time. Or the time before that." The fox laughed darkly, "You won't make it a step past the gates."

A look of disgust crossing his muzzle, Inkpaw stepped closer. Coming so close to death, the marten seemed lacking on witty comebacks. He raised his sword, ready to give the final blow until a leathery wing wrapped around his arm.

The marten sighed, "Kali. Release me."

The bat offered no reply, but held his paw fast.

"Kali... this fox already tried to kill me twice. I'm not going to give him a chance for a third. He's a liability."

When the bat's grip only tightened the marten grew wrathful. "Blast it, Kali! We can't spare beasts just because they are your friends."

"He killed Joel." One of the slaves pointed to the slain hare. "Are we having votes now over who we keep alive? If so, I vote to have him gutted."

"We don't have time to argue about this, kali. Every Blue Back we come across is-"

"A Northvaler." Kali said patiently. "Slave, fighter, guard; they are all Northvalers, Inkpaw. They are all your neighbors, your fellow town folk, and at the end of this day you will have to look your town folk in the eye and tell them why their family and friends are not coming home."

"It's a little late to worry about that now," The marten gave a grim chuckle to the bodies laying at their feet.

The bat finally released the marten's arm. "If you really feel that way. Then go ahead. Finish off Drake and the other guards you already defeated, with out compassion or mercy.

"Just like Nire."

The marten cringed. His anger grew tenfold, tightening his grip on the sword until his knuckles grew white. He looked upon the armorer. The fox continued to give him a steady gaze of defiance.

"Is this going to come back and bite us? Probably. But we are not trying to just escape the arena, we are trying to free the north of the very ideals that brought us here in the first place. So you tell me Inkpaw, did I join the good guys, or are we just a rag tag group of violent dissidents like Nire claims us to be?"

A long moment passed until Inkpaw was able to compose himself again. He cast his eyes upward, clearly not happy with the answer he was about to give, "We will lock them in the armory."

"But they-" one beast began to protest.

"End of discussion. We have wasted enough time here as it is."

Kali let out the breath she was holding. It was nice to know that her faith in beast-kind wasn't always misplaced. She gave the fox one last glance but Drake was unable to meet her eye to eye.

Behind her, Thrayjen flashed a paw sign like Rinam had, smiling at Kali as the marten?s shoulders slumped.

Walking back towards the hallway they came from, Kali paused when she saw Baxter helping the squirrel to his feet,The archer bleeding from his leg.

This is all going to end in flames, Kali realized. Beasts were dying around them and many more would die before the day was through.

But if she could prevent even a few deaths, she called that a victory.

As the group gathered the spoils of their raid and left, the bat never saw the cracks starting to form along the floor, branching out from the pillars along the walls...