VIII: Rat

The former Lord Jitsu Van Yorling was an odd person in Rat’s eyes. That was one of the first things he noticed as they travelled west and south. Every morning and every night, he meditated—eyes closed and cross-legged—until at last he rose or lay down on the ground beneath him. When the time came to keep moving, Van Yorling kept quiet, choosing only to speak when spoken to or when there was something important enough that he had to warn them about.

Every now and then, he would stop dead in his tracks, distracted by something far off, before hopping off his horse and picking some plant from the ground. Sometimes it would just be what looked to Rat like some ordinary fern or moss from a tree. Other times, it would be a bright pink flower or a glowing mushroom. All of these and more would be picked and packed into the pouch on his belt.

When night fell, he would sleep away from his two companions. He wrapped himself in a long blanket, lay completely straight, and was breathing deeply in minutes.

If not for the irrefutable proof that was Jett’s miraculous recovery—the man had seemingly recovered completely in a matter of days—Rat would think he was being scammed. It didn’t happen very often, especially with the daggers strapped on Rat’s chest, but sometimes people would try to get money from them anyway.

They usually wouldn’t get this far if they were.

Finally, he reached a breaking point. As he heard Jett finally fall to sleep next to him, Rat got up and stood next to Jitsu’s sleeping lump. He waited a few moments, curious as to whether he would wake up on his own. Nothing.

“Hey,” he whispered, gently nudging him with his shoe. “Get up.” Jitsu barely moved when he woke; If Rat hadn’t noticed that his breathing had changed, he may not have noticed he had at all. Jitsu’s eye opened, but he didn’t move.

“Something bothering you, friend?” he sighed, his voice fuzzy with sleep.

Rat nudged him again. This time, he reacted. “I want you to tell me ‘bout this sorcery shit,” he said, dropping to the ground opposite him and facing away from the warmth of the fire. “No more bullshit. No more being vague. Just tell me.”

The sorcerer sat up slowly, his eyelids heavy, then sighed and climbed to his feet. He beckoned Rat to follow as he turned and began walking into the trees behind him. As he caught up, the forest swallowing the two of them up and plunging them into darkness, Rat began to feel uneasy. He and Jett had only encountered Tree-Demons once before. The tall wooden creatures slept in the shade of the trees during the day, but at night, they roamed free.

“You needn’t worry, Rat,” Jitsu’s voice cut through the air as he spoke. “There’s nothing in *this* forest, at least.” As they walked on, he thought he saw the shadow of a smile on the man’s face. *Asshole reads me like a damned book.*

They eventually came to a stop at a clearing. The trees gave way to a small trickle of water a span of the hands across and even less deep. Above, Rat could see the stars burning in the sky.

Jitsu approached the water and knelt down at its bank, he kept his eyes looking down as he spoke.

“Sorcery comes from plants,” his voice was soft. “Or rather, the energy stored in them. The sun feeds the plants, gives them energy. It’s that light energy that gives us the ability to do the things we do.” He picked a small flower from the grass next to the stream and held it up in front of Rat. The petals were pink and the centre matched the bright green of its stem. Jitsu handed it to him before picking another and rising. “This one will do. Not a bad taste to it, either.”

“What? Am I supposed to eat this thing?”

Jitsu nodded. “The petals will provide most of the energy, but you should eat the rest so you can get as much as possible,” he told him, dropping the whole flower into his mouth and chewing slowly.

“So, that’s it?” Rat asked. He still held his flower between his fingers, rubbing them so that the petals spun. “You’re some all-powerful sorcerer ‘cause you eat plants all the time?”

“As I said,” he shrugged. “Not everyone is as powerful as you or I. Go on, eat.” Rat hesitated for a moment, not relishing the thought of eating flowers. As he chewed, the only thing he tasted was grass and dirt. *The thing looks beautiful but tastes like shit. There’s probably some metaphor there or something.*

“Lovely,” he said as he swallowed, the flavour lingering in his mouth. Jitsu ignored the remark, stepping into the stream and signalling for him to do the same. Once more, he obeyed, his shoes filling with icy cold water.

“I want you to try and recreate what you felt that night,” he told Rat, closing his eyes and spreading out his arms a little. “You’re burning the energy from the plant, expelling it as force. Eventually, you’ll be able to concentrate it into proper sorcery, but for now, just try to let it out. Go back to that moment, Rat. The very moment you felt something come out.”

Like Jitsu, he closed his eyes. The night at Lorohein came back to him. Broken-Nose attacking him, club raised, a snarl on his face. The man was going to hit him—it was too late to stop it at that point.

Nothing. *Come on. The bastard was going to hit me.*

Nothing.

Rat squeezed his eyes shut. Broken-Nose. The club. It hit his arm and the moment it hit…

Nothing.

The man.

The club.

He was going to be hit.

They were *both* in trouble

The dagger in his hand fell as the club hit.

Jett got cut—

Suddenly, the water around his ankles disappeared and a large shockwave rippled away from Rat. It pushed the water on both sides of the stream backwards, the trees at the edge of the clearing swayed, and the grass around him flattened and pressed against the earth. Rat gasped for air immediately, the energy leaving his body as he fell to the ground. The water began back down on its path, soaking his trousers and hands as he held himself up, still panting.

Next to him, Jitsu Van Yorling hadn’t moved. He opened his eyes calmly and sat back on the bank of the stream. He was silent for a while, waiting for Rat’s breathing to calm down which, eventually, he did. He joined Jitsu at the side of the water.

“Why does it hurt?” Rat asked, his voice a little scratchy. Jitsu smiled.

“When you exercise your arm for the first time, does it not ache afterwards? Yes. Then you use it more, get used to it, and soon it doesn’t hurt anymore.” The sorcerer rose and brushed off his robes. “A few more days, and we will reach the path.”

Jitsu turned and began walking back. Rat hesitated for a moment, watching the stream passing him by. *No point in pretending, now.* He sighed, then climbed up to his feet, following the sorcerer into the trees once more.

\*

They kept their pace for two more days. They were walking up—Rat knew that much—but he had long given up on figuring out where they were. Jitsu, however, rode his horse with confidence.

Yes, the man was strange. Yes, he made both Rat and Jett uncomfortable many times a day. But Rat had found, after so much time together, that whatever he may be, he was not untrustworthy.

On the evening of the second day, they rested a small walk away from the path and fed on a couple of rabbits they had found earlier. Jett had waited until Van Yorling was sleeping to talk to Rat and by then, the fire was low and the sky was inky black. Rat could barely see Jett as he moved to sit next to him. He settled down on the dirt and began rubbing his thigh.

“Are we going to talk about this, or what?” Jett said finally, looking into the fire as he spoke. For the weeks they had been travelling, he had barely spoken to Rat. It was fine by him, he didn’t much like talking anyway—but he knew Jett, and it meant something was wrong.

“You wanna talk,” the silence that followed only lasted a moment, but he felt it.

“Sorcery, R,” Jett sighed. “Amatera, fucking sorcery?”

“Hey, if I remember rightly, you were the one telling me I did that shit,” he told him.

“Yes,” he said slowly, the word lingering for a moment. “But I didn’t think we’d end up joining some weird fucking religion. I mean, who the hell is this guy, really?” He gestured towards Jitsu at the other end of the fire, laying straight and wrapped in his blanket. Rat clenched his teeth together, a mix of emotions swelling within him. For so long, he had flipped between believing the man and thinking him a liar. But after the other night, what he had done himself had told him the truth. *I’m Rat. Nothing more. Nothing less. Just Rat.*

“If you don’t wanna go, you don’t have to, Jett,” he said quietly. Jett frowned.

“What?”

“You heard,” he didn’t look at him, but he could feel his eyes watching him. “I don’t know this guy, yeah. But I’m gonna do this. You don’t have to come with.”

“R—”

“You don’t owe me nothing. If you start heading south in the morning, you should be able to reach Cavernite or something,” Rat’s hand itched. “It’s not like we’d be very good Derra-Hans stuck up here anyway. This was only gonna end up with one or both of us dead, so think of it as a win.”

“Rat, I ain't leaving you, okay?” he looked up at him finally. “Jitsu told me he’d be able to find work for me up there.” Jett let out a little laugh.

“Oh,” he felt stupid but felt relieved nonetheless.

“I just wanted to say—”

“Get up,” Jitsu sat up immediately, his eyes alert, and began unravelling himself from his blanket. “Now!” Rat’s daggers were out immediately. Though Jett was slower, he followed suit, pulling his sword from his bundle on the ground.

“What?” Rat asked, stomping out the fire as best he could.

“Tree-demons,” Jitsu whispered as he pulled a small dagger from under his robes. “All directions. Coming fast.”

“Shit,” Jett peered out into the dark. “Maybe we can fight them?” Nearby, the horses were growing restless, whether they could tell that something was coming or they were startled by Rat and the others, he could not tell.

“This is their ground,” Jitsu told him, picking up his things. “If we fight, we die. Gather the horses, we have to run.” He and Jett saddled the horses as fast as they could while Rat watched. Close by, he heard the sound of wood breaking, snapping, creaking. Then, something wrapped itself around one of the trees. A tree in the shape of a hand. Its fingers extended out further than a man’s and thinned out until they were twigs. Another hand reached for a different tree and the creature pulled itself closer, dragging its thick, wooden legs towards them. Its entire body was as if part of a tree had peeled away and began walking—creaking—towards them. On its chest sat a large patch of moss and small leaves grew on sticks poking out at random places on its body. Its face, however, was a swirling gnarl that, upon seeing Rat, Jett, and Jitsu, opened wide, so wide that Rat could hear wood snapping. More emerged from the shadows, surrounding them as they lumbered forward. *More could be hiding in the shadows. Best stay in the moonlight.*

“Better hurry up, you two,” he said to them, not taking his eyes off the closest demon. *Not enough time for them to finish. Got to make it. Joints. Go for the joints.* He remembered the only other time he had come across a tree-demon. That one was dying anyway, but still stronger than he was. The wood at the joints was softer—that, he remembered well.

“Rat,” Jett’s voice made him turn his head finally. He was watching him as he tied the saddle on. “Be careful.” Jett tossed him his hat and he caught it with the tip of his dagger. He put it on quickly and turned back to the tree-demon, now only a few paces away.

Despite their huge size, they were slow. Lumbering. Rat held his stance—his blades up in front of him—waiting for the demon to come close enough. *Closer. Closer…*

The demon’s hand reached out, the tips of its roots almost touching the edge of his dagger and its howls louder than ever. Rat ducked to the left, kicking up dirt as he moved and thrusting his right knife up. The dagger sunk into the bark with a loud *thunk* and stayed there. *Missed!* The demon wrenched its right arm down, forcing him to let go of the blade, and twisted on the spot, trying to grab him with the other arm.

A step back. A turn to the right. Rat sliced with the other hand, cutting through a chunk of its knee. With a loud cracking, the demon dropped down, the ground rumbled as the damaged leg sunk into the dirt. Rat whirled around its back. His other knife was still lodged in its arm. If he could just get to it…

The demon whipped itself around, the thick branch of its arm hitting him straight in the chest before Rat could move out of the way. He flew back, skidding in the dirt a metre away. Breath left his lungs and his vision went blurry at the edges. He rolled forward in an attempt to get up, his chest begging for air. Behind him, the demon was walking his way, its legs thumping in the ground. *Recreate the moment. We’re going to be killed.*

He closed his eyes, squeezing the dirt beneath him with his hands. *We’re going to be killed. They’re going to kill us if I don’t stop them.* He felt something. A tug.

Thud.

*Concentrate!*

Thud.

He wanted to vomit. The tugging feeling was small, but he focussed on it with clenched teeth.

Thud.

“Rat!” Jett’s voice called out just as he felt the tree-demon’s fingers brushing his shoulder.

Then, nothing.

He heard crashing behind him and turned around to see the demon tumbling backwards. The branches from nearby trees sway wildly and the treetops rustle as if blown by a gale of wind. A ways away, Jitsu had his hand out in front of Jett and the horses. *He protected them. If he hadn’t…would they be okay?*

“Come on,” Jitsu said. “We need to go.”

\*

They rode until the sun came up. Until Rat’s legs were sore from the saddle and his back ached. Until his horse was sheening with sweat.

Until they saw the path that lead up into the mountains.

“This is it,” Jitsu said, dismounting breathlessly. Ahead of them, a dirt track wound up and through a distant wall of rock. “That path leads up the mountain and to the temple.” Jett, sweat sticking his hair and forehead, got down and collapsed to the ground.  Rat was the only one who stayed on horseback.

“How far?” was all he managed. Something was broken. He felt it in his chest, stabbing him. The blow from the tree-demon still rang in his body.

“An hour, at most,” Jitsu’s breathing was already recovering and he came to Jett’s side. “Come. Not much farther now. We needn’t run now that the sun is up.” Rat’s hand itched. He had left one of his daggers in the demon’s arm and now he felt unbalanced. Asymmetrical.

After they managed to get Jett back on his horse, they walked slower. Eventually, trees gave way to rocks as they gradually followed the path up the mountain. The closer they got, Rat felt like he could sense their destination. As if something was calling out to him. It left a bitter taste in his mouth.

“Hey,” Jett called out to Van Yorling, eyeing a particularly steep drop with uncertainty. “How much farther?”

“We’re close,” he told them, not looking back. He lowered his hood as he spoke, showing off his bald scalp. “Take your hat off, Rat. We’ll meet a scout soon, and you don’t want to be mistaken for someone with something to hide.” He did as he was told.

“What did you call this place again?” Rat asked. The idea of people seeing him before he saw them made him uneasy.

“We are going to the Temple of Gaius,” he told them. “We can’t decide whether it was built by the faeries or Gaius Themself. All I know is that the pea soup tastes horrible.”

“How can you mess up pea soup?” Jett asked.

“I don’t know,” he shook his head. “But Hammond finds a way.”

“Can we please stop talking about pea soup?” Rat told them. He was getting hungrier the more they rode and their talk of food—no matter how terrible—wasn’t helping.

Suddenly, their horses stopped moving. There was no warning and they made no noise to say that they were spooked by anything. Jett almost fell off, cursing as he righted himself. Rat squeezes his legs and leant forward to try to get it to move. Nothing. It was as if they all simultaneously decided that they didn’t want to follow orders. They were on an area flatter than the rest of the path. A wall of dirt and bushes lead up to the left and a gravelly cliff lay to the right. *If the horses get too spooked, we could end up falling off the side.*

“What time is it in Ethyr?” a voice called out—a woman, by the sounds of it—from somewhere he couldn’t make out. Rat’s hands went to his daggers, only finding the one.

“What the fuck is this?” Jett whispered, also trying to force his horse to move. Jitsu made a silencing motion with his hand.

“The same as in the Sun Realm,” he called out. “But Shinda’s Domain is damned.” A moment passed. Then another.

He heard her behind him. Rat’s legs swept him off the horse and he landed on the ground facing her. She wore thick leather armour around her chest and parts of her arms and legs atop robes of black. Her hair, just as black, was tied back haphazardly, leaving stray locks dangling around her face. At her waist was an array of small, thin daggers.

“Lord Van Yorling,” she said, looking past Rat and Jett as if they weren’t there. “How nice of you to join us.” Jett swivelled in his spot and, upon seeing her and Rat, climbed off his horse, gripping the hilt of his sword.

“Ah,” Jitsu turned in his saddle, a satisfied look on his face. “Annabara. Nice deception with the voice. Could do with some work on the spell, though. Felt it five seconds before it took effect.”

The woman, Annabara, sighed. “I know, I’ve been working on it.”

“What were you eating?”

“*Chorinthium versitalis*,” Jitsu clicked his teeth.

“It’ll do what you need, yes, but I find that *Amatae praecox* works well for something like this,” Jitsu dismounted and the two shared a hug. “It’s nice to see you, little one.”

“And you.”

“Excuse me,” Jett said, a little annoyed. “But, uh…what the fuck?”

Jitsu finally seemed to notice them. “Oh, yes. The temple. We should go.”

“I’ll escort you,” Annabara said. Rat and Jett stood watching as Jitsu climbed back onto his horse and their new companion began walking ahead. Suddenly, Jitsu twisted in his seat, looking at them.

“Almost forgot,” he said, waving his hand out towards her. “Rat, Jett, meet Annabara.” She turned around, walking backwards, and bowed.

“Welcome to the Sorcerers of Gaius,” she told them.