Black looked down. I couldn't see what was inside the portal.
He threw a pebble into the portal. Nothing happened. He held his hands over the top of the opening, as if warming them by a fire. There seemed to be no effect. After a moment, he stuck one hand in and removed it. Again, nothing happened.
Black was so engrossed in his examination of this new phenomenon that he had clearly forgotten that anyone else was in the room with him. A few minutes later he tried an experiment. He placed the box, sans trinkets, into the portal. Then he turned the key. The opening disappeared and the key was released. Black lifted the key up into the air and peered at it.
After muttering to himself, he lowered the key to the same position again, face down against the surface of the floor. He turned it. The portal opened again. Black reached in and retrieved the box, which was unharmed. Satisfied with these results, he put all the items, including the Hyrtstone, back into the box. He placed the box back into the portal, turned the key, and the portal closed again.
I had forgotten I was supposed to be asleep and I was now sitting up, watching Black’s every move. He caught sight of me.
"You!" As quick as a viper, Black's hand darted for a bread knife that was on the table. "What did you see? Speak quickly now, your life depends on it!"
I stuttered. "N-nothing, sir! Nothing!"
The knife was trembling in Black's hand. He was frightened and angry. "You haven't been awake all this time?"
"No, sir!" I lied.
"Are you sure?" Black moved the knife closer. "So help me boy, if you're lying..."
I lost all saliva in my mouth. "No sir, I swear it!"
There was a long moment where Black attempted to peer into my soul. "Ah, no, no you didn't. You're a kind lad, aren't you? Don't have it in you for the rougher ways of life, I suspect. But we can use that, we can use that."
I didn't know what he meant, but I was glad when Black relaxed his muscles and rolled the knife over his knuckles, playing with it. He thunked the blade into the wood of the tabletop as if it were all a game. I wasn't fooled.
"You'd better wash up," said Black. "We've a long day ahead of us."
I made my way over to the washbasin, walking over the part of the floor where the portal had appeared. I tried to move nonchalantly, as Black watched me closely.
"Come to breakfast. Piper's downstairs." Black ushered me out of the room and closed the door behind him.
* * *
Danger! My rat senses flashed a warning like a sharp knife through my dreams.
A gray and white streak flashed past me and then the branch we clung to was spun around furiously.
I caught a glimpse of Switch. "Eagle!" he warned. Then he dove into the water.
The shrieking bird wheeled around for another pass at me. I scrambled into the water and started swimming for my life.
Talons raked across my back as the full force of the diving bird plunged me into the river and then, with a mighty flap of its wings, yanked me out of it.
I wriggled and tried to bite at the thing, but one talon was clutched around my stomach and the other around my head. I could barely see, much less fight back.
My guts roiled as we flapped higher and higher.
I was a goner. The eagle would land somewhere and eat me, or worse, drop me on something hard and then eat me.
I had only one weapon at my disposal. I focused on the eagle, the part I could see, and blasted Jacko barking as loud as I could.
The eagle squawked and flapped harder. Who was I kidding? What did an eagle have to fear from a dog?
Well, that was it. I had nothing else in my repertoire. No more clever tricks, no enemies to play against each other. It was just me against nature, and nature was winning.
After some time, the answer to my problem came along quite suddenly. There was squawking from somewhere above me. A flash of shadow and wings. An angry exchange between the eagle that had me in his claws and another, larger eagle of the same species.
What did an eagle fear? Other eagles!
Talons snapped near my face. If the other eagle caught hold of me, I was about to become a loser in a very ugly tug of war. But the juvenile who had me in his grasp had to defend himself from the larger bird. There was no point in holding onto his lunch if he was going to become lunch himself.
The juvenile flinched from another attack by the adult eagle. He reared backwards, extending one claw and relinquishing his grip on me.
I wiggled and the next thing I knew I was airborne, flipping end over end.
And then I was caught again, this time in the adult eagle's claws. He held me much more expertly with one claw around my midsection. All the better to eat me later.
But it was only one claw. I saw my chance and took it.
With any luck, I was still over the river and not very high up. I turned, stretching my body to its limit, and bit down hard on the eagle's claw.
It was like gnawing on solid rock. There was nothing fleshy to bite on. I blasted the eagle with the angry screech I had just heard.
It shocked the eagle into temporarily relaxing his grip. I was ready for it, and with some more biting, scratching and wriggling, I managed to free myself.
And found myself falling.
I caught a glimpse of a giant beak snapping at my face, but it missed, and suddenly the eagle was getting smaller and smaller. The wind whistled past me. All I could do was hope that I wasn't that far up in the air. A rat's body could be extraordinarily resilient, but I would not survive a fall onto a rocky surface.
SPLASH!
Bubbles surrounded me. With significant effort, I surfaced and took a great gasp of air.
The eagles, still arguing over their lost meal, were left behind as the river's current continued to sweep me away.
Amazingly, I landed close to a large branch. It was a wonder I didn't land on it.
I paddled over to the branch, climbed atop it and clung to it for dear life.
After a moment, Switch surfaced. He had clung to the bottom of the branch and held his breath during the fracas. "You make a terrible rat."
I was inclined to agree as I dozed off in exhausted sleep.
* * *
It was after breakfast that I figured out what Black was really up to.
There was an odd conversation about a hanging, which I didn't fully understand at first. But I learned later that they were talking about grave robbing, or really pre-grave-robbing, since Black’s Boys often stole valuables from dead bodies before they were buried. It was another of Black’s sinister plans to get rich by pitting the poor against the wealthy.
After clearing breakfast, Black addressed Piper and engaged the boy in a curious game.
We entered a room built for nefarious purposes. It was a training ground of sorts, cluttered with debris and false doors to hide behind.
The older man placed a variety of items in his pockets: a watch in his waistcoat pocket, a ruby pin his shirt, a snuff case in one jacket pocket and a smoking case in the other, and of course silk handkerchiefs of all stripes.
Black spun around. "How do I look?"
Piper struggled not to laugh. "Quite ridiculous sir, if I may say so."
"You may, although I don't advise you expressing such opinions on the street!" said Black with obvious humor.
He was talking as he paced across the room, grabbing up a walking stick to complete his ludicrous interpretation as a wealthy fop. Black kept walking as he talked, and it was then that I noticed Piper stalking him, like a cat pursuing a mouse. Black knew he was there but pretended not to notice.
"Have you ever seen a rat snatch food?" asked Black over his shoulder. It took me a moment to realize he was addressing me. As Black looked over his shoulder, Piper shifted back into one of the doorways and out of sight.
"Yes, sir," I said. I'd seen too many rats in my days as an orphan.
"You will see that the rat looks for danger at all times. Marvelous animals, rats. They know how to survive. And
not only do they know how to survive, they know how to thrive in curious circumstances such as this." He paced past Piper.
Piper's hand flashed and one of the silk handkerchiefs was gone.
I was about to say something, but Black resumed his lecture.
"Rats, you see, are neophiles and neophobes. Do you know what those words mean?"
I thought for a moment. "Phile means to like, and phobe means to fear."
Black clapped his hands, and in that instant Piper snatched something out of his pocket. It was the snuff case.
"Well done, my boy, well done! You've training in the Old Empire tongue then?"
"I was taken in by a scholar once. He taught me some words."
Black chuckled. "Leave it to the educated to teach a pauper Old Empire. Doesn't fill your stomach, does it?"
He didn't wait for my answer.
"Neo means new. Rats both love and fear the new. They are curious creatures, but they are suspicious of anything different. This makes them a paradox."
As Black whirled around, Piper, hidden beneath a nearby table, grabbed an item out of Black’s other pocket.
"And yet it is the perfect combination of stealth and caution that makes them such expert filchers. They nip for their families because they will starve if they don't. And their families are quite large."
Finally, Piper zeroed in on Black's pocket watch. He stood nonchalantly in the open and waited for Black to pass him.
"It's all about knowing when to stand still and when to run," said Black, pretending not to notice Piper.
As Black passed the younger man, Piper shifted his position. That's all I saw, nothing more. Piper might have been staring aimlessly at the ground for all I knew.
With an exclamation, Black rapped Piper on the head with his walking stick. His other hand had Piper by the wrist. Piper was caught, the gold chain of the pocket watch dangling in his grasp.
"That's all right, my boy, you'll get it eventually."
With a wince, Piper rubbed his head. They were about to begin the game again when a pretty young lady came calling for Piper.
Black flipped Piper a guilder. With a nod and a wink, Piper was dismissed.
"Not a bad life, the life of a rat," said Black. "What do you think?"
"I think I have a lot to learn," I said slowly.
"You do indeed, and that means you've actually learned something." Black patted me on the shoulder. "You watch your friend Piper there. He'll be a great man some day, and if you follow him, he’ll lead you to greatness yourself."
I gave Black a hug.
With a surprise, the man patted me again on the head. "Now, now, no reason to get emotional."
A second later, I handed Black his pocket watch. His eyes nearly bugged out of his head.
I couldn't contain my broad grin, and soon Black was chortling at me in disbelief.
That was the day I became a thief.
* * *
The roaring is what woke me up this time, although by now I’d learned to keep one ear open even as I slept. Being nearly eaten by an eagle will do that to you.
"Is it just me..." I asked, staring down at the frothing water beneath us, "or is the current speeding up?"
Switch looked miserable, huddled on his end of the branch. We had decided that staying on separate ends of the stick would provide some ballast and keep the branch steady, even though it meant giving up some warmth.
"It's not just you," said Switch in the same way he said everything, as if he were remarking on the weather and not our imminent doom.
Up ahead, the water splashed and gurgled as it surged over rocks and debris.
"Maybe we should—" I started to say when one of the protrusions sticking out from the bottom of the branch got caught on something below the water. I suddenly vaulted into the air.
I landed with a plop closer to the riverbank and paddled desperately to pull myself up.
I managed to make it to a patch of reeds and caught sight of Switch, soaking wet but still clinging to the branch. Then the river bobbed and surged and Switch disappeared from my sight.
I scrambled up a large reed. Surprisingly, it held me long enough that I could see what was waiting at the end of the rapids.
It was a waterfall.
"Switch!" I shouted, but it would do no good, I couldn’t see him. Even if Switch could receive my mindspeech, I didn't know what to tell him.
The branch bobbed up again and this time it caught fast between two rocks. Switch huddled in the middle; harness, key, and rat all a soaking wet mess.
I looked around, desperate. What was I supposed to do? I couldn't very well trick the river into letting Switch go. Then the reed I was on moved.
I looked up and saw the feathery underside of a gigantic bird.
"Ahh!" I shouted and promptly fell off what was actually the leg of a stork.
"Ahh?" asked the stork standing over me.
I sputtered and splashed as I struggled in the water. The stork's great head leaned down to get a better look at me.
"A talking rat? That's new. What's wrong?"
"My friend is going to drown!"
I couldn't see Switch from where I was, paddling around in the reeds, and I was getting desperate.
The big head swung back to look in Switch's direction. "That little soggy rat clinging to the branch?" It was a she, or at least that's how I imagined it, because the voice came across as very motherly.
"Yes!"
"Whoops, there he goes!"
"WHAT?!"
"He just went under!"
Before I could say anything, the stork flapped up into the air, blasting me with a gust of wind strong enough that the reeds bent and I was forced underwater.
When I surfaced again, the stork was gone. That was it. Switch was tough, but he couldn't survive a waterfall. The key tied to his back would only drag him down faster.
Now even the stupid stork had left me. I started paddling for shore.
Exhausted from the effort, I dragged myself out of the river and onto the rocky embankment.
After all that, I found myself across the river and on the other side. Only now I didn't have the key. Or poor Switch.
There was a pounding of wings above me and another gust of air. The stork dropped a branch in front of me. And huddling there, at the center of the branch, was Switch—key and all.
"You saved him?" I reared up in shock.
The stork landed next to me and looked down with her great brown eyes. "I suppose I did."
"But...why?"
Switch wasn't moving. The stork nudged him with her beak until he finally hopped off the branch, shaking off the shock of nearly drowning and being carried off by a bird.
"I suppose I felt bad for him," she said. "I lost one of my hatchlings to that river. Also, you talk. I've never met a talking rat before."
"Thank you so much. You saved his life and that of many others."
"How so?"
"The key on his back is the key to many human children. I'm hoping to release them."
The stork lifted her head.
"I also lost one of my hatchlings to a human child," she said disapprovingly. "If I had known that I wouldn't have saved him." And with that, she flapped off.
"She was nice," I said to Switch.
Switch watched me for a long time, saying nothing, and shivering. "Good thing she changed her mind," he finally managed to say.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't think she meant to save me at all," said Switch.
"But she did?"
Switch twitched his nose at me, his way of sniffing with disapproval.
"Storks eat rats," he said.
* * *
"Now what?" I said. "We made it to the other side of the river." We'd survived attacks by two eagles, a dog, a cat, and goblins. In comparison, crossing a rushing river seemed simple.
"We must go to see the Rat Queen," replied Switch.
I blinked. "Are you serious?"
"Yes. The Rat Queen will know how to help the children. And she will not stand for the murder of so many of her people."
"You're joking, right? Rats don't have a queen."
"You're no rat," Switch said in disapproval.
"Maybe not before, but I am now, and I'm telling you...there's no way there's a Rat Queen. Have you seen her?"
Switch sniffed the air. "Yes," he said. "All rats know of her."
"After we nearly died crossing the river…this is our big plan? To find some mythic rodent royalty?"
"Yes?" asked Switch indignantly.
"Do we even know where to look?"
"In the Kingdom of the Violet Lotus. And we don't have to look. Our vision isn't very good."
Switch sniffed. "Smell the air."
I tried it. "I don't smell anything."
"Try harder," said Switch in irritation.
I tried again. Sure enough, there was a very peculiar scent in the air.
It was barely perceptible, but it was there. The scent was almost indescribable. It had a tang to it, but it was deliciously sweet, enough that I could taste it even through smelling its scent. It made me feel very calm.
"This way, follow me."
* * *
Following the trail of the violet lotus was torturous. It led us through hills and valleys, through dark forests and winding pathways. Life in the forest was scarier than life on the river, if that were possible.
"Are we any closer?"
"I can smell the Lotus. We're close," said Switch. "Just a little—"
Then a giant paw landed on top of Switch and he stopped talking.
The paw belonged to a striped yellow wildcat, its eyes blazing like fire.
"Dinner!" it cried.
"STOP!" I shouted.
The cat turned and another paw slammed down, but I dodged it.
"A talking rat?" said the wildcat. "Interesting."
Still holding Switch pinned under one paw, it prepared to swat at me.
"Wait," I said, remembering the stork. "You don't want to eat us!"
The cat remained in attack position. "And why not?"
"Because one day you might need my help. And because I'm actually a rat that was once a man."
The wildcat sniffed at me. "You smell like a rat to me."
"But I talk."
The tail flicked. "You've got a point." The cat peered at Switch pinned beneath his paw. "And this one? Does he talk too?"
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