Seeing one of Ura's eyes staring at my cage was terrifying. It was big and yellow with a cat-like slit for a pupil.
"I'm not so sure I want to do this."
Ura sighed. He put the cage down on the ground and then sat cross-legged in front of it. "And why not?"
"How do I know you won't hurt the children?"
"Hurt them?" The ogre seemed genuinely offended. "I'm not a monster!"
"You're an ogre," I said quietly.
Ura ticked off his huge fingers one at a time. "First, I'm an oni in my tongue, not an ogre. Second, I do not eat unworthy opponents, and a bunch of helpless children is not my idea of a worthy opponent. Third, you're one to talk. Where I come from, a talking rat is a sort of monster."
"You're Chapori," I said.
"In your tongue, yes. I'm from Onigashima."
"And what are you doing here?"
"We can discuss all that later." Ura looked visibly annoyed. He reached into a pouch hanging from his loincloth and pulled out the key with his fingernails. "You've got a job to do."
"And if I don't do it?"
Ura shrugged. "I'm really only satisfying my curiosity here. I can continue to siphon magic off this portal. I have no idea what it's doing to the children within, but if Sir Rat doesn't want to save them..."
I sighed. "Fine, fine." I scampered out of the cage and took the key from him. "Here’s what I’ve been able to glean from how I’ve used the key and how I’ve seen it used. The key opens a portal, but it takes some kind of cue from the user as to what size portal is needed or wanted. Black opened a large portal, but Switch opened a much smaller one. Later, you can place the key anywhere on the surface of the prior location of the portal and it will reopen it. If you place it against a different surface, it will open up a completely different portal."
"Interesting," said Ura. "Oh, I almost forgot." He shuddered and his form shrunk down to the size of a Chapori man with swarthy skin and wide features. He was dressed in a silk robe. "This should frighten them less."
I had to agree. "I don't suppose you could have looked like that when we first saw you?"
Ura laughed. "You should take it as a compliment that I decided to show you my true form. Some people never see it."
I pretended to be flattered. "If you could hold me up, please..."
"Oh, certainly." Ura scooped me up in his palm. It was a much smaller palm in this new form.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed the key against the surface of the mountain wall and turned it. Soundlessly, the portal opened.
And there were twelve children rubbing their eyes and stepping out of it.
"Where's Piper?" they asked.
Ura looked at me questioningly. "What are they saying?"
"You can't understand them?" I asked him.
"No. I have a difficult time teaching my servants Chaporese. I’m not interested in learning their language. And in case you're wondering, I can't speak the tongue of the form I'm in."
Fortunately this exchange was through our minds, so the poor kids were not exposed to a man chatting with a rat. There was still the peculiar spectacle of a foreign man staring intently at a rat in the palm of his hand.
I turned to the children. "Don't be afraid," I beamed at them. "We've come to rescue you."
One of the boys bounded over to Ura to stare me in my beady eyes. "You talk!"
The boys all crowded around Ura. I felt a little claustrophobic.
"Tell them we mean them no harm," said Ura.
I reared up on my hind legs. "Piper led you into a trap. I am knight in the service of the Margrave of Carabas, cursed in this form, to rescue you. This is the Margrave, Ura."
The children stared in wonder. And then the requests came:
"I'm hungry."
"Where's the bathroom?"
"Where are we?"
"When can we go home?"
"All will be answered in due time," I said.
Ura smiled at the children, but they didn't seem as interested in him. I turned back to Ura. "Can you return them to Black?"
"Certainly," said Ura. "But there's just one problem."
I had a sinking feeling there was a catch. "What?"
"Piper trapped the kids in there over a decade ago."
* * *
The kids were running around, stuffing their mouths full of food provided by Ura's servants, and generally being kids.
With a few moments to reflect on the events of the day, I realized that I had been broadcasting to all the children at once. They all heard what I was saying at the same time. I didn’t think that was possible, and I wasn’t sure exactly how I did it. I supposed that it might have something to do with my happiness at finding the boys—my instincts just took over.
Ura didn’t seem to notice the change and I decided to keep this new information to myself. I wasn’t certain what my relationship with Ura was going to be, but I had a strong feeling I should play my cards close to the vest.
At least Ura had the courtesy to not swing me about in a cage; I sat on the table, lapping some milk from a saucer.
"When were you going to tell me that the incident with Piper happened ten years ago?"
Ura popped a strange fruit I'd never seen before into his mouth. "I didn't want to discourage you. I wanted to see what was in the portal."
"Now we know," I turned to one of the kids, Lycus. "Do you remember what happened before you went into the portal?"
Lycus, a moppet with sandy-brown hair, shrugged. I couldn't help but notice that he had pocketed some of Ura's silverware.
"We were nipping for Black, like we always do. And then Piper got mad. He played some beautiful music, and off we went."
"What kind of music?" I asked.
Lycus shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked on his heels. "Hard to say, really. But it's still fresh in me mind—about chocolate waterfalls and candy walls ye can eat. And we’d get to see our real families. It was too good to pass up."
I quizzed each of the children in turn. Each boy's description of what the music meant to him was different, but the overall impression was much the same as the music I heard Piper playing to led the rats to their doom.
His music promised the best thing in the world, whatever that was to the listener. For some boys, that meant being reunited with families they never had. For others, it meant being so rich that they would never have to work. In Lycus' case, it meant a full stomach. The boy's ambitions weren't very high.
Ura watched the exchange curiously. The boys would speak out loud. I just responded as I always did, by thinking at them.
Ura threw down one of the plates in disgust, causing the boys to stare at him. Fortunately, he was still in his human guise or it would have been much more frightening. "Again, overcooked! I wanted this soup cold, why don't they understand that?"
Ura pointed at one of his servants, who crept up to his master. He was about to point at the cowering man with one finger when suddenly he froze, finger still extended, and turned towards me. "Tell my servant that I want the soup cold, it's a delicacy."
"He'd like the soup cold, it's a delicacy," I thought at the poor servant.
The man's eyes bugged out. "That's what he's wanted for these past two years? I've been trying to figure out what he's saying!"
"What's he saying?" asked Ura suspiciously.
"That he didn't understand you for the past two years."
Ura slapped his forehead. "I really need to learn the local tongue better." He dismissed the servant.
"They can't just learn your tongue?"
"Chapori? Difficult for academics, impossible for a peasant. It would take years."
I looked back at the boys, who had resumed eating and roughhousing. "So what do we do with them?"
"Have you asked?"
"The boys? Yes, they all want the highly unrealistic things that Piper promised them."
Ura swished the tea around in his teacup. "Just like boys. I can't offer them much except food in their bel
lies. We're not very rich here, not in the way they probably think."
"Maybe they should go back to Black?"
"They'd never make it alone. I can send some of my men with them. But is that what they really want?"
I asked. The boys all wanted to go, except for Lycus, who quite liked the idea of eating his fill. Despite his ambitions, he was a scrawny little thing.
"Yes," I responded. "Except for Lycus, he wants to stay."
"Great," said Ura. "He'll eat me out of house and home. Well then, tomorrow we'll send them off back to Black."
"And what about me?" I squeaked.
"You? Oh, I'm afraid you're not going anywhere."
My throat went dry. "Why not?"
"Why not?" Ura leaned forward. "I didn't elaborate on the deal we've made, did I? The boys were my source of power. I need a source of energy at least as strong, and your soul, Scrap, is it. There's a reason I couldn't open the portal with the key and you could; I used up much of my magic for shapeshifting. Everyone has a little magic inside them. But you…you're just chock full of power." He sniffed in my direction. "I can smell it on you."
I trembled. "How are you going to use me for your magic?"
Ura took a long sip from his drink, watching me. "Don't worry, it won't hurt. The boys never even noticed the ten years they were in the portal."
"But time passed for them in the blink of an eye. We don't know what the long-term effects are."
"No, we don't. But you're no good to me dead either, so trust that I won't abuse you too much." He gave a grin that, if it had been on his ogre face, would have truly been unpleasant.
"What about Switch?"
"The other rat? He's free to go. Compared to your soul, his is a tiny speck." That didn't make me feel any better.
Ura said something in a language that none of the children understood, so I translated.
"To bright futures!"
"To bright futures!" said the children, lifting mutton legs and sloshing teacups.
In reality, Ura said, "To my new familiar!"
* * *
I glumly watched the children go, except for Lycus, who was assigned as Ura's personal manservant. This seemed to suit the other servants just fine.
"They're going to cause quite a ruckus," said Ura. "The balance of power will shift once more in Stromgate."
"Maybe," I said. "What's to prevent Piper from leading the children off somewhere else again?"
"Nothing but his conscience," said Ura. "But there are far graver consequences these days for such acts. And besides, he certainly can't hide them here."
"I suppose not," I said.
"And now, it's time to say goodbye to your little friend." Ura gestured. Lycus scurried off, only to return with Switch in his cage.
"Well, this is goodbye," I said to Switch.
Switch looked confused. "Why are you unhappy?"
"Because I'm stuck with a shapeshifting ogre?" I provided unhelpfully.
"The children are free," said Switch. "You got what you wanted."
I hated it when Switch was right. "I guess I didn't think it all the way through."
"I will tell the Queen of your success," said Switch. "Farewell, my friend."
Ura gave up trying to follow our exchange, since we didn't even so much as squeak at each other.
"Are you two finished?"
I nodded.
"I'll have him set down somewhere near the violet lotus fields." I noted that the servant who kept bringing the wrong kind of soup was assigned to the task. The man saddled up on a horse and rode off.
I looked at Ura glumly. "Now what?"
"Now?" He chuckled, shifting back into his ogrish form. "Now we get to work." He placed me on his shoulder and strode towards his throne room.
"You're not going to dump me in a maze, are you?"
Ura raised one bright white eyebrow. "Why would I do such a thing?"
"Never mind."
"The only maze you'll be navigating here is the maze of politics, which you might find considerably more difficult." Ura sat down on his throne. "Please tell Lycus to bring in the first complaint."
To Lycus' credit, he didn't run screaming when he saw Ura's transformation. He warily approached the throne.
"Oh, right," said Ura. "And let him know that everything's all right and I won't eat him or something to that effect."
I took a deep breath. "Lycus, this is Ura's temporary form. He uses it to impress the other servants."
Lycus straightened up, a little less fearful. "Got ya." He winked at Ura, who rolled his eyes.
"Also, he would like you to bring in the first complaint. Hopefully you know what that means?"
"Oh yah! The peasants!"
He bounded out of the room, opening the double-doors to the throne room. Lycus disappeared around the corner.
"You'll like this," said Ura. "This will be fun."
I didn't think so, but kept that to myself.
A peasant shuffled in, hat in hand. Unlike Lycus, he assumed that the ogre sitting before him on a gilded throne was the real deal. He was terrified.
Lycus led the man over to the throne. "Here he is!"
The man just stared, slack-jawed, at Ura.
Ura shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Ask him what he wants."
"What do you want of the Margrave?"
"Are...yew a talkin' rat?"
"Yes," I said in exasperation. "I'm actually a knight in service to the Margrave. I can take different forms just like he can."
"Ohhh, right." The man lowered his eyes to the floor. "Well ya see, m'lord, we've been 'avin a dispute over a pig."
I translated. Ura leaned forward.
"With who?"
"With Boris, m'lord."
"Of course," said Ura. He gave me a look as if to ask, "Can you believe this guy?"
Then we resumed the translated dialogue.
"What's the problem?"
"It's over th' pig..."
"The Margrave understands that," I said. "Get to the point, man!"
"Th' pig was in me hut, and so's I decided that since it was trespassin', I should eat it."
"And?"
"I ate it."
"AND?"
"Well, now e's all mad at me, and 'e won't sell me no more pigs. And my family's starvin' now, and we need some good pork, with the fifth baby comin' along..."
Ura scratched one of his huge fangs with his nail. "Let me know when he's done babbling and then give me the summary."
"I think it's a dispute over a pig with someone named Boris."
"The pig farmer? Funny, I thought they resolved that dispute last week."
"You actually know the name of your pig farmers?"
Ura gave me an odd look. "Well, he made a bit of a ruckus when he came in here with his pig. But yes, I do. That's part of the job, you know, being a leader. You need to know who it is you're dealing with. The problem is that I couldn't understand them at all, and so we've been communicating with drawings and hand gestures. I thought one man's pig had destroyed the other's house. Now I see Boris' pig just got a little too comfortable in a stranger's house and the owner ate him. Let's ensure reparations are made and warnings all around to not let one's pigs wander into the neighbor's territory or something to that effect."
As I translated Ura's edict, I reminded myself not to get too comfortable in a stranger's house, lest the owner eat me.
And so it went. Peasants would come in with complaints, concerns, confusing issues, or just to pay obeisance before the Margrave. He acted in the traditional manner of a lord, which made me think that there was a Chapori equivalent of the peasant where Ura came from.
One day, the peasants brought us a different issue. Once the peasants realized that Ura could actually understand them, the pace of conversation quickened considerably. They began visiting every day with their issues. And they started addressing me directly rather than speaking to Ura. It was almost as if Ura wasn't there; if you were willing to ignore a twelve-foo
t tall blue ogre.
One of the peasants came in, yelling and gesturing loudly. He looked hurt. Ura looked at me expectantly to translate.
"Bandits. From one of the northern kingdoms."
Ura nodded. "They raid every season, when they think they can get away with it."
I elaborated on what territory it was.
Ura grinned. "Remember when I said that I needed you for magic?"
The creeping dread in the pit of my stomach returned. "Uh, yes?"
"You're about to see it in action." Ura picked me up, deposited me on his shoulder, and then suddenly dropped to all fours. "Hang on!"
Then he transformed into the wildcat and we were off.
* * *
We whistled through fields and forests as Ura quickly journeyed from one end of his territory to the other.
"The children, being the little thieves they are, gave off monkey energy," explained Ura. "I always found that odd—at first I thought it was just the portal itself. That's how I knew there had to be something living inside the portal. When I first tried to use the magic, I created the violet lotus fields."
"But didn’t you fall asleep in those fields?"
Ura looked over his shoulder and winked at me. "I was testing you."
"Why am I not surprised?"
"Monkey energy is different, tricky. It was very subtle. I couldn't use it to say, send lightning bolts at my enemies. But I could use it to create those violet lotuses. And only in summer. That kept most of my enemies at bay; I've been growing them along my borders."
"But they're getting around it?"
Ura nodded. "The bandits figured it out. They slash and burn their way through the lotus fields first."
We stopped at a hill, and sure enough, there was smoke and flames, with violet dust rising in the air.
I could see bodies lying unconscious on the ground; the bandits had knocked some of their own people out burning the fields. From the looks of it, there were peasants unconscious too.
"The other problem is that I couldn't bring the magic to the locations where I grew my lotus flowers. I had to create the flowers from my castle. So I had to personally inspect every field after casting the spell to confirm that it worked. And lotuses don't just spring up over night." He shook his head. "It was a lot of work."
"So you didn't even really want the children anymore, anyway," I said glumly. Ura just grinned at me.
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