Sleeping with the Fishes

[Ulrick Hammerpaw]

O valiant hearts who to your glory came
Through dust of conflict and through battle flame;
Tranquil you lie, your knightly virtue proved,
Your memory hallowed in the land you loved.

~

Ulrick and the five rats he was leading crept around the edge of the cavern as the others took up their positions. Cricket and Brooga as the bait, Dr Lowri and his daughter making for a high ledge. The marten?s climb wasn?t made any easier by having to help Wakeeha. The blind seer had to be pulled up some of the steeper sections, and it was costing Lowri time.

The badger took a deep breath as he took cover behind a large rocky outcrop. This was ridiculous. A suicide mission if ever there was one. But it seemed that there was only one way off this wretched island now, and that meant facing that? thing, again.

His blood ran cold just thinking of it. The unbelievable stench of its breath, the slime, the roaring of the water. He closed his eyes and tried to drive the image of the wolf vanishing into the darkness of its great beak from his mind.

?Stripyface is not well?? one of the rats cautiously shook his arm. ?Great Devourer be here soon, Queen need Stripyface be well.?

Ulrick shook off the rat?s paw. ?I?m fine,? he growled. ?Save your concern for your Queen when that creature?s finished with her.? She?ll still have me to deal with?

Suddenly a great wave crashed against the outcrop, covering the rocks in spray. With a mighty roar, the Kraken emerged from the water, tentacles flailing out of the water towards the two miniscule figures of Cricket and Brooga.

The mole stayed rooted to the spot for a moment, but Cricket was away, leaping about to try and draw the creature further towards the shore. It seemed to have the desired effect; the monster was moving closer, bringing more of its tentacles to bear. Soon there would be too many for Cricket to outrun.

Brooga had finally taken cover, Ulrick watched as the tentacles smashed around the small group of stalagmites that he guessed sheltered the mole. One withdrew sharply, the creature giving a roar of surprise and pain. Ulrick nodded in approval. Well done Brooga. The molemaid was no fighter, but she understood her part and would play it to the last.

One of the rats tugged on his shirt. ?Stripyface, Queen in danger. We go now??

Ulrick watched as Cricket danced away from the swipe of another tentacle. Lowri and his daughter had nearly got that crazed old seer to the top of the climb. The martens stood on a ledge that hung over the lake. All around them were stalagmites, stalactites hanging from the cavern roof just above them. With one last heave, the two martens hauled Wakeeha onto the ledge and vanished behind a stalagmite.

The rat tugged again, more insistent this time. ?Queen need us Stripyface. We need go now!?

The badger nodded slowly. Part of him wanted to hold back a fraction longer, it meant a few more precious seconds of not staring death in the face. It would also increase the chances of Cricket getting what she deserved. The moment passed. Brooga was also down there, and if the monster should claim her before the rat because he had held back?

Too many have thrown away their lives for a hero?s death. It has to end here.

?All right, we go.?

One of the rats handed Ulrick a short spear, the head carved until it was almost serrated. Ulrick gave a few test stabs before nodding again.

?Do your parts.?

It was simple, hardly one of Simeon?s inspiring speeches. But from the grim looks on the faces staring up at him, Ulrick knew they understood. They could very well be going to their deaths, but if it would help their Queen then they would do it. Ulrick hadn?t seen such dark determination since the last battle of the failed campaign against the Imperials. Those woodlanders that wanted to were being evacuated by ship. A company of them elected to stay behind, fighting to the last breath to give the ships time to escape.

Grasping tightly to the shaft of his spear, Ulrick stepped out from behind the rocks. The creature had almost pulled itself up the shore now, he could see its eye flickering about searching for new prey. The badger lifted his spear and roared his battle cry of old. The rats around him raised their own weapons and joined the shout.

The cry echoed around the cavern. There was a momentary pause, the creature?s attention diverting to this new distraction. The others had turned too, to see an aging badger and five half starved rats make their last stand.

Ulrick charged, the rats only half a pace behind him. The cavern erupted again as the monster sought to turn itself towards its new prey. Cricket and Brooga leapt about, keeping some of the tentacles occupied.

Time seemed to slow down for Ulrick as he pounded across the cold stone floor of the cavern. Strangely, the badger thought he could hear singing. Back at the Abbey, before his travels, there had been a hymn they had sung at the end of the day. The woodlanders wounded in the battle had sung it on the ships as well. It was a beautiful, almost haunting melody. It was odd, how it came back now.

The badger didn?t have time to reflect on it. A tentacle crashed past him, slamming into the rocks. Another took a swipe, sending one of the rats flying into the water. Time suddenly seemed to snap back. Ulrick stabbed at the tentacle with his spear, grazing the slimy skin with its viciously jagged edge. The beast roared again and withdrew its injured tentacle quickly.

The water seemed as if it was boiling as the creature thrashed about. Spray flew over the shoreline, even reaching the ledge where Dr Lowri and his daughter where desperately trying to dislodge one of the stalagmites that balanced precariously on the edge of the outcrop.

Ulrick stabbed again with his spear, trying to pin one of the thrashing tentacles before it could grab him. The badger leapt out of the way as one made a swipe at him, rolling across the ground to evade the grab of another.

One of the rats was less fortunate. The tentacle that had swiped at Ulrick grabbed him by the leg and lifted the screaming vermin high into the air, before almost casually tossing him into the great, gaping maw that was its mouth.

Another rat hurled his spear at the creature, the weapon digging into the monster?s soft flesh. Before he had the chance to savour his achievement though, a tentacle sent the rat flying across the cavern, crashing into a rock wall with a loud thud.

Ulrick glanced up at the ledge. Jonas and Dyera were straining against the stalagmite. The rock was moving slightly, but not enough to send it over the edge.

?LOWRI!? Ulrick hollered up at the marten. There was little time. If that rock wasn?t dislodged soon then the monster would have devoured them all.

Cricket and Brooga were running out of hiding places. While most of the monster?s tentacles were fighting off the rats, it still had a couple stabbing at the rocks sheltering the pair.

Another tentacle came shooting his way, and this time Ulrick wasn?t fast enough. The thick, slimy limb curled around his waist and lifted him off the ground. The badger cried out as he felt the suction cups dig into his skin. The creature lifted him high above the battle.

This is it.

Ulrick raised his spear. Up on the ledge, Dyera spotted the badger.

?Quick father, he?ll be killed!?

Dr Lowri strained against the rock again, but to little avail. Nothing he tried seemed to result in more than a small shift.

?Wakeeha see death.?

Ulrick found himself staring down at the creature, gazing into its deep, black eye. As its mouth opened for him, he hurled the spear with all his strength. The jagged point found its mark. The monster screamed in pain, letting Ulrick drop in its panic and confusion at suddenly being blinded. Tentacles thrashed wildly, slamming into rocks and shattering them.

?Heave!? Dr Lowri and Dyera gave another great push against the stalagmite, but still it remained standing. A tentacle smashed into the underside of the ledge, throwing the martens from their feet.

?Wakeeha see death!?

Half stunned, Dr Lowri turned to see the blind rat standing with arms outstretched.

?WAKEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAA!?

Moving faster than he had eve seen her, the seer launched herself at the stalagmite. There was a loud crack, and the stone began to topple, Wakeeha clinging to it like a limpet. As the rock took the blind rat over the edge, Jonas thought he could see her smiling.

Wakeeha and the dislodged stalagmite tumbled through the air. Cricket and Brooga watched them fall before the rock slammed into monster. The creature seemed to freeze, its mouth open in an endless scream. Then, with tentacles flailing in its death throes, the beast slowly slid beneath the waves.

Cricket ran to the water?s edge, closely followed by the molemaid. Brooga dipped a claw in the water, now turned a deep red from blood and the creature?s ink.

?D?ya think he?s dead?? asked Cricket, her young voice wavering slightly before returning almost to normal. ?Meanystripe I mean.?

Suddenly, with a great splash, Ulrick shot to the surface gasping for breath. The badger hauled himself up the shore and lay there panting for a moment.

?Zurr Ulrick! Yur aloive!? Brooga rushed across the badger and hugged him out of sheer relief.

?You?ll find? it takes more? than a sea monster? to finish me off?? panted the badger, grinning slightly, but looking highly embarrassed.

Lowri and Dyera climbed down from the ledge to join them.

?Well, I think that?s enough excitement to last me a lifetime,? Dr Lowri muttered, cleaning his glasses on his shirt. ?Now, I suggest we head back to the surface to see if we can spot the rescue ship. Or have you forgotten that there is still one more of those crazed wolves down here??