Belle and the Prophecy of Bane

Chapter 19

Belle was about to let fly her arrow when something caused Bastet to veer back up into the air. They almost collided with Ares and had to loop wildly around him. A third rat with an unusual golden coat had bolted into the cone beneath them.

"That makes three," Belle murmured as Bastet shot up and to the left, but as the ground came back into view, she saw the golden rat snarl as it tore out the throat of one of the other rats. The rat spun around, bloody saliva flying from its muzzle, to face its remaining enemy.

"Don't be an idiot, Goldshard! They've come to kill the Bane!" snarled the dead rat's companion.

"I would rather have the Bane dead than have it trust you!" the gold rat hissed. Its voice was slightly higher pitched, like Twitchtip's, and Belle felt sure that this rat was female.

"All you guarantee is your own death!" the male rat said, crouching to lunge.

"Somebody will die, Snare, the question is who?" said Goldshard. As Snare sprang toward her, she leapt up, throwing herself into action.

Belle had never really seen a full-scale rat fight before. Of course, Ripred had killed two rats in a tunnel on the way to rescuing Gregor's father, but they hadn't had time to fight back. Then the big, scarred rat had gotten into a scrape with several of King Gorger's soldiers. But Belle hadn't really been paying attention to that. Now she had a bird's eye view.

When Goldshard had killed the first time, she had had the element of surprise. This time her opponent was on the offensive, and had a size advantage, too. The combat was vicious. The two rats would attack in short, violent bursts; they would circle for a few moments, searching for an opening, then one or the other would leap and there would be a frightening whirl of teeth and claws. As they pulled apart, circling again, each would have fresh wounds.

Snare had lost an eye; a sickening, gooey red hole remained in its place. Goldshard's ear dangled from a tattered strip of fur. The bone of Snare's shoulder was visible and gleaming. Goldshard's left front paw was snapped in two.

Finally, the gold rat came in on her adversary's blind side and locked her long fangs into his throat. In the final throes of death, Snare got his hind legs between them and raked Goldshard's belly. She lost her grip, staggered back, and collapsed, her insides spilling out onto the floor. The rats lay a few feet apart, eyes locked in cold hatred, bodies helpless. With a final, horrible gurgle, Snare drowned in his own blood.

Goldshard turned her eyes to Belle. The gaze was pleading, and Belle was sure the rat wanted to tell her something. "Don't..." she said hoarsely, but before she could finish, her eyes glazed over and her shallow breaths ceased.

"What just happened?" blurted Gregor.

"I do not know," murmured Belle.

"Are they dead?"

"Quite dead. All three of them," Ares replied, and he and Bastet coasted down to the ground. They landed, avoiding the pools of blood spreading from the dead rats.

"Do you guys know who they are?" Gregor asked. "Did you recognize the names; Goldshard, or Snare?"

"Not Goldshard," said Bastet. "But I have heard of Snare. He was one of Gorger's generals. He was at war when Gorger fell...he must have joined the Bane then."

"It makes sense," said Ares. "Whomever is closest to the Bane would have the most power when he becomes king."

"So why hasn't the Bane become king yet?" said Gregor. "You'd think a rat as big and strong as him would have taken over by now. What's he waiting for?"

"Even the Bane must gather an army about him," said Bastet. "He has his own enemies among the rats."

"Ripred, for instance," added Belle. "He desires the Bane's death."

That was true: part of Ripred's plan for his own rise to power included killing the Bane. Snare had wanted to keep the Bane alive, but Goldshard was willing to let Gregor and Belle kill it rather than let it trust Snare.

There was something else about it, though--about Goldshard. That last, desperate look she had given Belle. Like she was begging, almost. What was it the rat had wanted to tell her? Don't. Don't what, hurt her? It was a little late for that.

The bats' heads whipped around to a tunnel entrance. Belle heard a faint rustling.

"How many?" asked Gregor.

"Just one, I think," Ares said. "It is difficult to tell."

Bastet nodded, frowned, and shook her head rapidly. "The path spirals," she explained. The noise continued, but nothing emerged from the tunnel.

"It's the Bane," whispered Gregor.

Belle was sure he was right, it had to be the Bane. Other rats would just attack, but the Bane would know it was being hunted.

A stanza of "The Prophecy of Bane" came to her.

Hear it scratching down below, rat of long forgotten snow. Evil cloaked in coat of white, will a warrior drain your light?

Yes, a warrior would. That was what the warriors had come to do.

There was another faint scrape. The Bane was there, just a few feet away, waiting. The tunnel mouth was small, only about five feet by four. There would be no flying in on the bats. The Bane must know that, and it wanted to lure its enemies in alone. Fine.

Gregor took off his pack and set it on the floor. Belle loaded her bow. Gregor gripped his sword, and flicking on their lights, the two began to move toward the tunnel. Ares's wing came up to stop them. "You cannot fight him in there," he said, while Bastet fluttered unhappily beside him.

"Well, he is not coming out anytime soon," said Belle.

"Wait, then," Ares suggested.

"For what? Another bunch of rats to show up?" said Gregor. Reluctantly, Ares dropped his wing.

Belle looked up at the two bats. "It is supposed to be this way," she told him. "One of us has to do it, and we are meant to do it alone. But be ready for us, because after it is dead, we will have to run. All right?"

"We will be ready," promised Bastet. There were hugs all around, Belle and Ares kissed, then she and Gregor turned toward the tunnel.

In the dozen paces it took to reach the opening, Belle could feel herself slipping into battle mode. The heightened senses, the rush of adrenaline, the selective vision. Her entire body was numbing, preparing to kill.

Swiftly, she and Gregor moved inside and almost immediately encountered the spiral Belle had sensed. Another corkscrew path. Placing one hand against the wall, Gregor took the lead and they went around one, two, three turns and then came out into a square chamber.

The Bane was trying to hide. Belle spotted a flash of white fur and pink tail in a small cave off to the side of the chamber. She thought of Luxa, who would never be queen, of brave Aurora and loyal Temp, of Twitchtip bleeding out on the stone ground, Mareth's heart faintly beating, and Boots...sweet, trusting Boots...

Heart pounding, blind to everything but that patch of fur, Belle stepped forward. With every ounce of resolve she possessed, she pulled back her bowstring. But before she could let the arrow fly, the creature she was aiming for made a sound that hit Belle like a cannonball.

"Ma-maa!"