Organization: Penn State University
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1992 14:00:25 EDT
From: <ASG102@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: [MI] Little Rat at Yirma's (part 2)

>"I'll come back after I kill your son.  That little rat has pissed me off for
>the last time," he said while entering the room that Little Rat was hiding in.
>
>She almost passed out.  The guard knew her name somehow and now he was going
>to find and kill her.  She couldn't even jump down because of the thing in
>her foot.  Little Rat pulled out the dagger she had stolen as the guard walked
>directly under her hiding place...

Her brother had always said, "Never kill unless you have to Rat.  If you kill
for no reason or kill for the sake of killing, you get looks from the Lady of
Death.  She will watch you and then take you to help her work."

Little Rat's breath was coming in short gasps.  She forced herself to relax
and breathe slowly.  The pain from her foot was almost unbearable.  She could
feel the nail moving around inside her foot.  To keep from cramping up, she
tensed and relaxed her muscles.  Her life depended on the outcome of the next
minute.

To try to forget her pain and fear, she looked around the room.  Asside from
the crates in the room were a blanket, some rope, two wooden chairs, and a
small necklace.  Little Rat squinted at the necklace and saw that it was
just like 'Mara's one.  She must have been captured by the Bad Men too!

A single drop of blood ran out of Little Rat's body, through the wound, out
of her ragged shoe, along the nail, and fell away.  She saw it fall in slow
motion.  It was travelling directly toward the guard's neck where he was sure
to feel it's warmth and discover its owner.

*Splat* the drop fell on the gurad's neck.  "WHAT the..." he said wiping the
drop away and looking at the red smear on his hand.  He looked up and saw
Little Rat, "Hey, come here you little bitch."  He reached up to the rafters
and pulled her down.  When she landed rather roughly on the floor, fresh
waves of pain from the nail shook her frail form causing her eyes to blur
with tears.

Little Rat took her dagger and sliced him across the wrist.  This caused him
to let her go.  She hobbled out of this room and down the hallway to the
stairs.  She could hear the curses of the guard behind her.  She knew that
she had to find Elfman or she would die.  What had he said that his pretend
name was?  She couldn't remember.  What if his enemies were around and they
found out where he was hiding?  The puzzle was too complex for her to figure
out in her weakened and paniced state.

She got to the landing on the first floor and the smell of cheap perfume
washed over her.  There were many pretty ladies here, but now that she was
close, Little Rat could see that their color was paint.  These ladies were
not very pretty at all.  In fact, their blank and vacant faces made her
pity them.

The guard came poinding up the stairs, "Cut ME will ya.  Rip out your gutts
you little bitch."  Little Rat climbed the stairs up to the next floor as
fast as she could, but every step was more painful than the last.  She wanted
to scream, but that would have been a sign of weakness.  As she was about to
reach the top of the stairs, a strong arm wrapped around her from behind and
lifted her into the air.

"ELFMAN!" she shouted.

     Love and Peace and Rusty Nails,
             -The Dreamer-