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A swipe tore gashes in my pants, across my forearms…
And then more of them sniffed the sweet intoxication of my blood.
I backed away, giving ground, but the rats were coordinated now. They came at me with snapping jaws and swirling claws.
Every attack I made resulted in a counterstrike. I couldn’t keep fighting like this. Not if I wanted to survive.
I turned and ran in the last direction I wanted to go.
Toward Alice.
“The shield!” I bellowed at Alice. “Give me the shield now!”
She did.
“What the hell is that thing?” Alice said.
“The rat king,” I said. “And back away!”
The shield couldn’t buy me victory, but it could buy me time. I slammed the shield in the dirt and positioned it so it stood upright. As the creature drew down on me, I pressed against it. The rats tore at the shield, striking it and tearing it apart piece by piece.
I was doing the same with my arm—growing sore now—as I hacked one head from its shoulders after another.
There were so many rats! Too many! How many did I have to kill before this thing fell?
The rats gripped the shield and yanked at it. If it couldn’t destroy the shield, it could tear it away.
I changed tack and sliced at the gripping claws. But the shield wavered, losing its moorings and any second now it was going to—
The shield flew up and struck me on the chin. It knocked me back on my ass. Dazed, I knew I was in trouble. I ordered my legs to get up, to move, but they wouldn’t respond.
The Rat King was a shadow of its former self. Four rats left? Five maybe?
I swung wildly with my sword but a rat caught my arm and knocked the blade from my hand. It sailed through the air.
Too far for me to reach.
I kicked at the approaching heads with the heels of my boots.
But it was no good. It was only a matter of time before they closed on me…
The throwing knives!
I pulled one back but my vision was cloudy and unclear. I couldn’t hit a barn door if I tried.
The rats were on me. They seemed to grin as they bit at my boot. I felt blood gush from the wound as my boot turned soggy.
“Yaaaaaa!”
It was an Amazonian hunting cry.
A warrior flew into the fray, wild and stabbing and swiping, severing one head after another.
The Rat King was loath to give me up but if it wanted to survive, it had no other option.
Who was this wraith of death? Had someone taken pity on me from the crowd? Had the mayor seen how valiant I was and decided such a gladiator deserved life?
No. It was Alice. She had come to my rescue.
