This is insane, Maly thought, eyes wide, as she pushed her way through startled and confused ratfolk. Their fur was faintly oily and left an unpleasant residue on her skin. Her hands, arms, shoulders, and thighs all felt unclean and, she was sure, stank of the same animal musk and trash odor that filled her nostrils. Yet she had no time to linger upon the press of small, furred bodies pushing against her from all sides, nor the wave of chittering squeals of surprise. Maly ducked and wove deftly through the crowd’s backs, as though swimming upstream through a river of bodies. She hoped the shock of her presence would delay and confuse the ratfolk mob enough that her own back was free of claws and stabbing weapons. So far, it had worked. Just keeping moving, she goaded herself forward. Be gone before they register you’re there.

Get the box! a savage voice roared over her thoughts. Destiny the panther had never, in their short time together, sounded so feral and filled with battle lust.

But why!? Maly answered desperately, shoving a particularly big ratfolk out of the way and stepping into the resulting open space. She ducked forward through the press. “What’s the plan?” she said aloud, knowing the panther could somehow hear her.

Just do it!

“You’re not a very good guardian,” Maly muttered. “You’ve gotten me in far more danger than before I met you.”

I’ve never been your guardian, child, the voice grated in her skull. Is that what you thought?

“What are you then?” she panted.

Vengeance! Always vengeance.

Maly ground her teeth. What did a jeweled box have to do with vengeance? She’d made it deep into the crowd and could, from her ducked position, catch glimpses of the robed figure atop the dais. It had stopped chanting and was pointing a finger to the back of the room, where Maly’s companions, she assumed, still stood.

No time for questions. With a grunt she redoubled her efforts.

Something clamped upon Maly’s bicep and spun her around. She gasped as she faced one of the hulking rat-creatures, like the one that had tackled her outside of the jail. It stood as tall as her, with broadly muscled shoulders, long and wiry furred arms ending in frightening black claws. In her brief battle with the other brute, those claws had torn through her leather armor. Maly jerked her arm free reflexively and pulled a dagger from its sheathe. The rat creature squealed hideously.

She was dimly aware that the mob all around her had turned in unison, their backs now to the nearby dais. An unseen wave rippled through the crowd, and they began chittering wildly. As a living tide, they swarmed past Maly towards the back of the room, even as she faced off against the large, primal ratfolk in front of her. The thing’s black eyes gleamed in torchlight as it lunged at her.

Maly sidestepped and swiped with her dagger, but the thing was as fast as it was vicious. Her blade struck only air, and she danced backwards to stay out of its reach.

Meanwhile, the mob of ratfolk had surged past the two combatants, ignoring them to rush the back of the room where Emah, Destiny, and Kami had been when Maly had begun this madcap plan. In shockingly little time, she found herself alone on the hard-packed dirt floor, she and the hulking ratfolk circling one another.

A flash of light drew Maly’s attention. The four robed creatures that had been nearest the dais now stood with their backs to her, behind the roiling mass of ratfolk. As they raised their arms, sickly green energy pulsed around their clawed hands. They lobbed glowing balls, like snowballs made of ooze, over the crowd’s heads and to the back of the room. Maly had no idea what the attacks were, but she knew that her time had more than run out. She needed to deal with this brute in front of her, get the box, and get out of here.

As if on cue, the creature dove at her, snarling, hands outstretched. Maly rolled to one side and rose onto one knee.

From the dais, the ratfolk leader was chittering madly, its attention now focused on her. It pointed a clawed finger in her direction. She swallowed. This was not good.

Growling, Maly used the ratfolk brute’s tactics against it, launching herself with dagger outstretched. The creature hadn’t anticipated the move and thus was too slow to prevent Maly burying her weapon into the thing’s throat. Hot blood spurted as she rode the ratfolk’s body to the floor, then rolled forward to the edge of the dais.

Without conscious thought, Maly leapt nimbly upon the raised floor. She had never been tall for her age, but she towered over the robed leader in front of her. In one fluid motion she sheathed her dagger and scooped up the jeweled box in both arms, her legs pushing her as fast as possible to a side curtain, which she desperately hoped was an exit.

“I have the box!” she panted to the empty room.

From behind her, the robed ratfolk let out a high screech, and for a fleeting moment Maly heard the word STOP! in her mind, the voice that of a teenage, panicked girl. Maly’s steps faltered, and then Destiny’s voice bellowed, filling her every thought.

Go, child! GO!

Maly blinked, shaking her head to clear it. Golden jeweled box clutched to her torso, she vaulted from the dais like a cat. As she landed, her legs were already pumping, her eyes wide in the fading torchlight.

Maly dove through the curtain in front of her, heedless as to what might be on the other side. As she tore through the hanging barrier, she could hear the fearful, urgent chittering of the ratfolk leader, alone at the foot of the rat-god statue.

Then the sound was gone and she was hurtling through darkness, panting and stumbling forward.

Next: Ruuuun!