Hell Hath No Fury

[Minerva]

"Right, it's just this way."

After Jossia's attack, the rest of the journey through the tunnels was uneventful. The group pressed on through the corridors back in the direction from where Tavin and his friend had come, but the rising water levels made the passage much more arduous than they expected as certain paths and dips became blocked. Hellgates, Minerva thought to herself as she stepped through a pool as high as her knees. Around her, more water trickled down from cracks in the walls and roof. T' think, just some measly pumps were all that was stoppin' this.

Eventually, Fable's footpaws started to hurt, and Minerva passed her spear to Tavin so that she could carry her daughter. She stroked the back of the young one's head, hardly surprised when Fable's eyelids fluttered shut. After everything they had been through, she no doubt needed a rest.

Making up the front of the party, Komi kept in step with her son. Despite how lost they were within the dark tunnels, the smiles on the stoats' snouts were bright enough to light their path. Despite the cold of the water, their words were laced with warmth as they spoke of the time they missed in each other's absence and laughed at the stories they each had to tell. In the whole time she was a captive within the Crater, Minerva had never seen her partner happier. The otterwife wondered if one day, if Orran ever returned, would they be just as happy?

"Just warms yer heart, don't it, marm?" Tavin's companion, the shrew Nerra, came up to step beside Minerva, looking up at the otterwife and then back forward at the two stoats. "Vinny thought his mum was dead for seasons now, then he gets a letter sayin' she's alive and here of all places. I swear, he had his bags packed afore I even had the chance t' blink."

"Aye, when me and Komi first met, she was always havin' nightmares about losin' him. I don't think she'll be havin' those anymore," Minerva said, smiling towards the two stoats. She looked to the young shrew, noting the rapier at her hip and colored headband. "Ye're from the GUOSIM, aye? We used t' work with yer tribe back at Holt Summerdale when vermin like Galleran got too big for their britches."

"Oh? Ye're from Summerdale are ye?" the shrew said with a raise of her brow. "Figgered ye were warrior-born, what with all those scars on yer arms, but I wouldn't've guessed ye were so close t' home. I was a bit young when Galleran started growin' his horde, so I missed a lot of that action, but GUOSIM and Summerdale still work together from time t' time. Though I don't remember ever seein' yer face."

Minerva shook her head. "No, I left seasons ago."

The shrew scoffed. "It ain't like most riverdogs t' leave their holts. What made you?"

The otterwife adjusted her sleeping daughter in her arms. "I fell in love and wanted a family. It was hard t' do that with a spear in my paws."

"Well, even if ye dropped yer spear, that doesn't mean ye weren't a warrior. Yer young 'un must be proud t' have ye as her mum," Nerra said, and Minerva flinched. She was a warrior, but what was she now? A backstabber? A vermin? A monster? When Fable grew up, would she really be proud?

"Maybe, when she gets older, she'll want t' spend a few seasons in a holt too."

"No," Minerva said a little too harshly. Of all the stories she made up for herself, that was the only one she hoped wouldn't be a reality. "I'm sorry, but I don't want her t' spend her days patrollin' or fightin' for other beasts. It's noble, aye, but I don't want her t' be a warrior like I was. She can be more than that."

"What do ye want her t' be?"

Minerva caressed the back of her cub's neck lovingly, her claws gliding across Orran's smooth, dark fur. "Brave," she said.

"I think this is the way out," Tavin called suddenly to them as a set of steps came into view. "Nerra, what do you think?"

The shrew ran up beside her friend and peered at the stairwell. "I ain't sure, but it's worth a shot. Anywhere's better than here, right?"

Tavin nodded, holding Minerva's spear defensively in front of him as he ascended the stairwell with his mother. Nerra kept in step behind the two stoats, and Minerva held Fable close as she brought up the rear.

The stairs were carved into a tight, vertical tunnel, ascending two flights until they ended at a locked door. Tavin exchanged nods with Komi, and the younger stoat readied the spear as his mother found the key that fit the lock. A shaft of light spilled into the dark stairwell as Komi cracked the door open and peered outside. A moment later, she turned to the rest of the party.

"I don't see any guards. Looks deserted. I think it's safe," she said, pushing the door open the rest of the way and beckoning everyone to follow.

From the tails hanging from the ceiling, to the skulls and old weapons lining the walls, Minerva immediately recognized where the door led.

"Hellgates," Komi cursed as she stepped into the Hall of Greats.

"What is this place?" Tavin asked, his paw moving to the hilt of his sword for some sense of comfort in the horrific place.

"A bloody nightmare," Minerva said. The otterwife sighed in relief that her daughter was still sleeping and didn't have to see such a terrible sight." Nire showed me this place weeks ago, and it ain't somethin' easy t' forget. Let's keep goin'. I don't want t' look at it longer than I have to."

Everybeast nodded in agreement and began to make their way to where Minerva said was the exit. As they walked, she tried to recall the different tunnels and paths Hargorn and Nire took her down weeks before, but it proved difficult with everything around her. The otterwife's eyes flitted across the portraits and bones, before moving to the shining plaques adorning the walls. Only weeks ago, the names upon them were alien to her, but after Silas' teachings, many of them were now clear. A capital letter started each name, marking them important and she wondered what story each had to tell. Who did these names belong to? What life did they hold? And what finally did them in? Stories that nobeast remembered, stories that would go unheard.

And then Minerva stopped.

Komi slowed down, noticing a haunting look in the otterwife's eyes. "Min? Are you alright?"

Minerva hardly looked at the stoat as she moved beside her, the otterwife's eyes fixed upon one of the plaques on the wall. A torch blazed behind her, and the brass face shone bright and orange like a setting sun. Minerva raised a paw towards it, tracing her claws through the once unknown, now familiar, now haunting letters.

~~~?~~~

The sun was setting outside their farm when Minerva suddenly rushed out of the door, not wasting time to shut it behind her. Like the amber light through the trees, tears spilled down from the otterwife's eyes as she hitched up her dress and raced down the wooded path along the stream. Inside their home, a baby wailed.

Walking further down the path, another otter casted a look over his shoulder at her and sighed, adjusting his haversack before facing back forward and taking another step. When she caught up to the beast, Minerva angrily grabbed the back of his pack and his arm, yanking on both in an attempt to make him stop and face her.

"Minnie! Minnie, stop it! You can't..." Orran snapped as he pried her paws off of him.

"No! No, I'm not just gonna let ye-" Minerva choked on a sob as she buried her head into her husband's chest and angrily slammed her paw into it. "We can still fix this. Please, stay."

Orran shook his head solemnly. "I don't think that's possible, Min. You're a tree, and I'm the wind. I can try my damndest to push against you, but those roots are going to hold firm, and all I'll do is ruffle your leaves trying. What you want isn't the life for me. Don't you understand that?"

"Of course I do," Minerva snapped, looking out at the distant mountains. "But out there... it's frightenin'. We could run int' vermin or-"

"Hellgates, Min," Orran said, breaking away from her grip, "take a chance, for once in your life. Out there's a great, wide world to see, but we can't see it here. Sure, we might run into some trouble, but we'll make it through. Why can't you trust me?" The otter sighed, looking deep into his wife's eyes as he raised his paw for her to take. "Please. Come with me."

"Why can't you stay with me? Why do I have t' be the one t' take a chance!?"

The otter sighed, and lowered his paw. "Me and you... we want different things. I want to go north and you... you don't. That's fine, I understand, but, I can't stay here pretending to be a farmer anymore."

"And what about yer daughter!?" Minerva wailed. "Ye'll just leave 'er?"

Orran looked at the path behind him, his head low. "She doesn't need me." The otter turned away from his wife and back to the path. "Take care of her, Min... and teach her to be what we're not."

Orran pulled away from his wife's grip and Minerva could only watch through tears as he left them behind and grew smaller in the distance.

~~~?~~~

Fable blinked tiredly in Minerva's arms. "Mummy, what's wrong?" she mumbled through a yawn, concern beginning to paint the young one's features as she saw the tears in her mother's eyes.

North. He traveled north.

Minerva touched Orran's name on the plaque, her paw shaking as she traced each letter in disbelief. Komi put a paw on the otterwife's shoulder.

"Min... I'm sorry," the stoat said.

"I only thought he left... I didn't think he was..."

"You couldn't have known."

"I thought... maybe... maybe he would..." Minerva trailed off.

Tapap. Tap.

The otterwife's head shot up in alarm as footsteps echoed down the hall, followed by another set of voices. Further down the rounded corridor of the Hall of Greats, there were beasts that Komi must have missed because three sets of shadows approached along the walls.

"There are beasts coming. I'm sorry, Minerva, but we need to go," Tavin urged.

Komi pulled on Minerva's arm, but the otterwife refused to move. "Minerva, come on!"

"No. Wait," Minerva said suddenly, studying the shadows. One was much larger than the others, both in height and girth. The otterwife narrowed her gaze before setting her daughter on her own feet. "Komi. Take Fable away from here. I'll just be a moment."

"What? I'm not just going to-"

Minerva took her spear back from Tavin. "Komi, I'll be fine. Go on, just wait by the exit. I won't be long."

Komi hesitated, but then sighed as she took Fable's paw. "Alright. But if I sense trouble, I'm going to come running."

Minerva nodded. As her companions left towards the exit of the Hall of Greats, the otterwife strained her ears to hear the voices as they approached.

"...And he still refused. Damn him and his pride. He'd rather die fighting than give this place up. It's no matter though, we'll keep moving forward with the plan." The slick voice sounded as professional as it did patronizing, laced with false politeness and arrogance. Minerva knew that voice well. "Bariston, I want you to find Lady Eve and apprehend her. We need her alive if we're to have a scape-"

Blasio Timberfell rounded the corner and froze instantly as he turned from his two cohorts and met the cold gaze of Minerva.

"My apologies, did I interrupt yer little meetin'?" The otterwife scowled at the beaver.

Blasio looked anxiously behind him for an escape, but Minerva knew full well that all that laid at the back of the Hall of Greats was a dead end. The beaver turned back towards her, putting on his best smile as he clapped his two paws together. "Well, well, isn't this a surprise? The Monster of Mossflower, alive and unscathed. I feared Hargorn was still having his way with you, but it seems you've thwarted him. Pray tell, what happened to that vicious mongrel?"

"The same thing that's gonna happen t' you," Minerva growled.

The two beasts beside the beaver reached for their swords, but Blasio stopped them with a patient raise of his paw. "Now, now. There's no need to be so violent," Blasio said. "You must understand that you were a threat to all of FTN. Had I not stepped in- well... all of those beasts trying to bring this place down would be in chains because of you. But I fooled Nire, and now the revolt is going just as planned. And look! You even managed to escape on your own. A happy ending for everyone. Now, if you'd let us pass."

Minerva scowled, knowing the beaver was right. Had it not been for him, then the revolt could have been a failure before it even began. But, even still, the otter held her ground. "No," she said, causing Blasio to flinch. Jubilee Hetherton's letters burned hot under her vambrace. "Not after everythin' ye did t' Silas."

"The Reaper? Please." Blasio dismissed her complaint with a wave of his paw. "The fate that befell that beast was of his own transgressions. Burrfield was struggling. Had he had any education or foresight, perhaps he'd have chosen to leave those dying fields, but expecting intelligence from bumpkins is like trying to teach a Painted One to use a fork. It's unfathomable."

With every word from the beaver's mouth, Minerva's teeth clenched tighter and tighter. Everybeast in the Crater was scum. That was Nix's belief, and it was hers as well. This place had pried her child from her grasp. It had made her betray and kill her friends. And, now, it had taken her husband. It was beyond redemption. The Crater needed to be destroyed, brick by brick, and, while Nire was the obvious place to start, Blasio would just have to do.

Thunder boomed within the Crater and Blasio looked worriedly at the walls around him as they almost seemed to shake. As the otterwife turned from her departing companion and back to the beaver, his two guards grimaced.

"What are you flinching for? It's just one beast," Blasio spat at them. "Draw your swords! Take care of her so that we can leave."

"Mister Timberfell, sir..." Bariston said, "her eyes."

Blasio looked up to meet them, realizing quick what his guard meant. Anybeast who had travelled through Mossflower in the last six seasons had heard of the Monster of Mossflower Woods. While the stories started wild and asinine, over time they grew to be consistent. Long, daggerlike claws, fur matted with blood, teeth like a snake, and red, glowing eyes. Minerva's eyes were red now, but for once, it wasn't from tears.

The two guards hardly had time to draw their swords before the otterwife suddenly charged forward, roaring with fury. Bariston swung his blade but it only met the shaft of Minerva's spear as she raised it. Grasping it tight in her paws, she swung out with the haft and parried the blow, sending the weasel stumbling backwards against the wall.

Before Minerva could try to finish the job, the other guard, a fox, rushed to his comrade's defense. He lunged at the otterwife, but she was much too quick for him, effortlessly sidestepping out of the way. Immediately, her paws slid to the base of the spear shaft and she countered with a wide swing at the beast's footpaws. The shaft connected and Minerva followed through, the fox's snout meeting the stone floor as his legs were pulled out from under him. A spearpoint through his back made sure he didn't get up again.

As Minerva turned to face the remaining guard, she was greeted with a sting in her neck. The otterwife flinched, grimacing as the hallway suddenly grew long and narrow and the floor seemed to wobble. Minerva shut her pink-filled eyes to the sensation, breathing in and out before opening them again. The sea was calm, the corridor short.

Bariston desperately grabbed for another dart.

Minerva roared, getting a running start before she leapt at the weasel. She landed hard upon his chest, riding him down into the floor where she finished him with a thrust from her spear.

The otterwife pulled the dart from her neck, looking around her for Blasio. The beaver was slinking away further down the corridor, his limping shadow trailing along the wall. Minerva picked up her spear and trailed after him.

At the end of the Hall of Greats, Blasio found himself with his back to the wall, watching as the otterwife slowly made her way towards him. The beaver searched everywhere around him for something to defend himself with and saw a shining claymore mounted upon the wall. He threw his weight against it, desperately trying to knock it from its perch.

"How about a story for ye?" Minerva continued forward, her spear in one paw and Jubilee's letters in the other. As she walked, she read aloud. "Silas. We lost Artie t'day. It was this mornin', when I woke. I didn't see him movin'. I knew he was gettin' ill, but he must've froze in the night. If only I had more blankets. I'm sorry, Silas. I wish we could be with each other right now." The otterwife stepped forward, peering over the margins at the frantic beaver before she flipped to the next letter. "Silas. Heidi died t'day. The fleas in this place, the bites got infected and she didn't make it. This prison. It's colder than before. Artie, Heidi. I want to hold them both. Hellgates, why couldn't it have been me instead?"

"I didn't even know that rat before he came here. I hold no blame for what happened to his dead familly!" Blasio shouted, the sword sliding further towards the edge of its mount. "If they were thrown in a prison, it was because of his own incompetence! Why do you care anyway? They were just bloody vermin."

Minerva narrowed her gaze."No. Ye're the vermin."

Blasio crashed against the wall and the sword clattered at his feet. The beaver smiled, taking the blade in his paws. "Well, if you care about them so much, go join them, you bloody wench!" he screamed, running towards her.

Minerva didn't need to fight back. As the hulking beaver ran towards her, the wound Silas scored on his thigh stretched and churned from the sudden exertion. He grimaced in pain and stumbled forward, his weight making it impossible to stop his momentum. The sword clattered to the floor, and Blasio fell at Minerva's footpaws.

"You can't do this," he pleaded as the otterwife pressed her spear to his neck.

"Aye? And what reason do ye have for why I can't?" Minerva growled. "Ye deserve t' be sent t' Hellgates for all the lives ye've ruined."

Thunder boomed and Blasio looked worriedly to the walls and then up at the otterwife's eyes. "Do you hear that? That isn't thunder, the rain stopped hours ago. What that is, is the sound of the structural integrity of the Crater beginning to give way. I've set in motion a flood that's going to sweep through the Crater from the Northvale Tributary and, without its pumps, the arena won't be able to take it. The silt will dissolve. The tunnels will cave in. This entire structure will collapse. Only I can stop it. All it would take is a word. If you kill me, this entire place is going to crumble."

Minerva thought of Kentigern. Of Adeen and Aldridge. Of Silas. And of the plaque that bore the name Orran.

"Good," Minerva said, and Silas and his family became avenged.

Once more, the thundering sound echoed through the corridor and Minerva recalled her conversation with Lady Eve. No doubt, the beaver hadn't been lying, not with his capabilities, which meant that there was no telling how much time they had left before the entirety of the Crater collapsed with everybeast inside.

Without even a look to the dead beaver, Minerva raced back down the hall to warn the others.