A Last Mountain to Scale

[Brooga Delfan]

And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?

~*~

Brooga was trembling as they filed towards the surface. The cold of the tunnels was creeping under her fur and skin. She couldn't understand why she felt this way now. The harshest trials were behind them ? the kraken lay rotting somewhere deep in the bloody shadows of the pool. Two of the three wolves were no more, and the mole refused to believe that the third could snatch away their dearly purchased victory.

Yet victory felt pathetic and broken, and not at all like the thing she had heard about in all the famous stories. The hero always came out on top in the end, even if the end was bittersweet. The end here was bitter, but there was no sweet. She missed Tassle.

?Where's your smile now, Brooga??

She started as Ulrick's voice rumbled from somewhere in the nearby darkness, sounding bizarrely like it came from the mouth of some old creature, well acquainted with the ways of the world and gently teaching some younger friend. Perhaps he meant it that way. Perhaps he didn't. It didn't really matter ? Brooga would have take it the same way no matter how he had said it. Ulrick was her friend, and it felt like he was quickly becoming the only beast in that position. She would have taken anything he said in the best possible light.

?Oi doan't roightly know, zurr.? Out of old habit, the expression on the mole's face softened a great deal, yet she didn't quite smile. ?Oi think it went daown with ee gurt monster.?

She paused, shuffling forward a little slower than before.

?Or with Mizz Tassle.?

There wasn't even the slightest semblance of a smile now, and the lack became more and more obvious the closer the little band got to the surface and the light that still shone there. Those walking next to her could hear her crying ever so softly anyway. Finally, she took a deep breath and brushed her tears away as best she could with one thick digging claw.

?Oi be surry, zurr Ulrick.?

The badger snorted quietly, though Brooga couldn't see his face through the shroud of the caves from where she walked.

?Don't be.?

They walked on in silence for several paces. Brooga retreated into her own thoughts, almost brooding. She wasn't sure when she had started doing that, other than the fact that it had begun somewhere, sometime in these damp caverns. She certainly hadn't done it before this whole mad adventure. Brooding required heavy thoughts, full of seriousness. Dark thoughts had been much harder to come by back home.

?Who goes there??

Brooga's head shot up, and she peered blindly through the lingering shadows. She hadn't recognized that voice, or at least she didn't think she had. Or had it been Doctor Lowri? Yes, that was it... Several of the survivors had shuffled to an almost complete stop, unsure of what was around the corner up ahead, and every beast was less than willing to find out for themselves.

What they found when they gathered enough courage to look was surely the most blessed sight anyone could have asked for on that terrible island. There were several beasts facing them. Civilized beasts. Beasts that were neither half-mad island rats or crazed wolves.

?Doctor Lowri? That you comin' out o' those caves??

A grey vixen stood at the head of a small group of assorted seabeasts, all of them armed to the teeth, as befitting any seagoing vermin worth their stink.

?Ha ha! We found 'im after all! I assume you'll be wantin' off o' this island just as soon's we can...?

The conversation faded from Brooga's hearing as the mole breathed a slow sigh of relief. She didn't care that their rescuers were vermin. They were still here, and they would still take them away from this terrible place. They had to.

?Zurr Ulrick??

She gently tugged on the badger's tunic until he turned towards her.

?'Ee made shurr we'd all get off of this oisland, roight? Oi'll see moi home again.?

The thought caused her face to break into a grin that was very nearly too large to fit across it.

Even through it, though, her eyes were still welled up with tears, one or two breaking the dam every now and again. How many of those shipwrecked had survived to tell the tale? How many had been there at the beginning? What of the other slaves? Who would tell their families how they had spent the last few hours, days, weeks of their lives? Who would tell Tassle's tribe of her heroism, her leadership, her friendship?

Brooga could. Brooga would.

Her smile was still there, still shining out from behind the tears. But it wasn't a grin any more, though it was just as sincere. Brooga looked down towards the ground, completely distracted by her own thoughts and the vague plans that she was making. As much as she didn't want to admit it or believe it, it would be hard to go home for a very long time. She couldn't simply stop fearing for her life and the lives of everyone around her at the drop of a hat, no matter how safe she actually was. You never can go home ? it was such a bitter truth.

But truth it was. And here she was making plans before she had even set footpaw on the rescue ship. And it was a rescue ship crewed by vermin, no matter how thankful she was to see them. Her mind jumped to the terrified thought that she would be shackled to an oar again.

?Zurr Ulrick? We all be going home, roight??

The badger didn't answer right away, and the faintest inkling of a doubt floated through the back of Brooga's mind, only to vanish a moment later. Despite everything that Ulrick had done, and how horribly selfish he had been, he had helped them the entire time. He had risked his own life battling the kraken. He would have made sure things were all right and good, for all of them.

?Zurr??

He was interrupted before he got a chance to answer.

A terrible, thin howl echoed through the caves. Mother mourned her two sons lost. And Mother swore vengeance upon those who had taken them from her.