Echidna Warriors
By Jeremy Cole
The expansion of the freedom fighter’s base had been going
smoothly. Everyone had pitched in, lending an arm to the shovel while
they tried to complete the half-finished base. The work had been
progressing nicely, and all had gone very well – until the rains came.
They began gradually, building slowly, until they finally reached their
maximum speed - heavy, hard, and fast. The rains hit that day, as the
freedom fighters were digging. It was all Tails could do to get back
inside, dropping the dirt that he was dumping by the stump entrance. He
didn’t need to close the door; the rain slammed it shut behind him.
Now all work on the base had stopped, and the animals were
confined inside. Food wasn’t a problem for the time being, but it was
an exercise in boredom. At least they had some breathing space now in
their half completed expansion.
Sonic lounged on his half of the couch, and sighed. The pounding
noise of the rain hadn’t slackened in the half week that they had been
cooped up. He chucked his eight onto the pile. “Your move, Sal.”
Sally glanced at her cards with a little more care. She threw out
a jack, showing a heroic looking squirrel wielding a sword on it. “Go,
Sonic.”
Sonic tossed a six onto the pile without looking. Instead, he was
looking over at Rally talking with Antoine over at the computer. “Looks
like ‘Toine finally found a good friend.”
Sally carefully considered her next move, then placed a king on
the pile. Then she looked over at the pair. Rally murmured something
and Antoine turned red. Rally didn’t notice. “Maybe he’s found a little
bit more than that…”
Sonic placed his entire on the pile without looking. “I win,” he
said.
Sally looked down at the pile. Then back at her hand. Then back
at the pile. Finally, she looked at Sonic, who was smiling smugly.
Sally grabbed the sofa cushion and started to beat Sonic with it. Sonic
covered his head, laughing, and ran past the computer into the next
room.
Antoine watched Sonic, and Sally right behind him, run by into
the third room, whapping each other with pillows. The freedom fighters
had been working on that room when the rainstorm hit, and had just
about completed the furnishings. That room now housed Rotor’s worktable
and the pallets that they slept on, leaving the room they were in now
to be the planning room, and the other to be a living room. Antoine was
pretty satisfied with it. It was what he and his father had meant to
do, before…
It was Rally’s turn on the computer. But she sure was taking a
long time. Antoine whispered conspiratorially to Rally “I think the
hedgehog and the princess might have bitten the love bug.”
Rally laughed at him, but didn’t turn away from her game. “Do you
think so? I guess one never knows.”
Tails ascended the ladder to try his luck with the rain. On his
previous attempts, he hadn’t been able to get the trapdoor to budge an
inch, even with all of his strength. Pushing at the door mightily and
not expecting any results, Tails was surprised indeed when the door
opened quite easily. Tails had put a lot of power into his push, enough
to send him sprawling gracelessly, ending up face-first in the mud at
the foot of the stump. Tails pulled his face out of the mud with a
squish and a grumble. Standing up and trying to wipe himself off, only
succeeding in grinding it into his fur, Tails looked about him. The
scenery was worthy of mild awe. The rain had pounded the remaining
leaves, twigs, and branches alike from the trees. Everywhere, mud was
splattered on the plants; the leaves that were still on them in the
winter months were sometimes coated with it. Small bits of bark were
plastered to the ground and collaged on the trunks of trees, with
splinters falling everywhere. The great forest looked like it had been
hit by a tornado.
As soon as he had taken in the scene, Tails turned around and
yelled down the open door of the base. “Guys! Come look at what the
rain did!” Hearing the sounds of movement from inside, Tails took off
from the ground, and began to examine the damage more closely. Here a
tree had been gashed deeply. Here one had lost all of its bark. And
there… Tails stopped his examination of the trees and landed. The tree
he had stopped in front of was one of considerable age and size, and
had been strong enough to hold most of its limbs even after the rain.
What gave Tails pause was the fact that the trunk seemed to have
something carved into it. Bending closer, Tails saw that the bark
carving was unmistakably a target. But, Tails thought, who would be out
in this rain to make one? Seeing the other freedom fighters outside and
wondering at the scene, he waved them over. This could be trouble.
The freedom fighters gathered around the tree, examining the
markings. The roughly scratched target had around ten holes in it, all
about the size of an acorn. The holes looked like something sharp had
dug the wood out of the tree. Most were centered about the bull’s-eye.
Rotor shook his head disbelievingly. “This was definitely not
here before those rains started. What kind of animal practices in that
kind of weather?”
Sally stood from a kneeling position. She held up a large
spearhead that she had found. A broken off top part of the shaft was
still attached to it, and it was about as thick around as an arm.
“Someone, or several someones, was practicing with spears here. Someone
strong enough to snap this huge shaft with their throw.” She tried to
detach the lethal-looking head from the wood, but it was too tightly
bound for her.
At the same time, Rally was more closely examining the bull’s-
eye. Pushing a hanging knot of wood back into place, she squinted at
the bark. She could barely make out a symbol etched into it, as several
spear holes were obscuring it. She interposed a few missing lines in
her mind, then drew back grimly. She knew that symbol. “Whoever it was
has a grudge against Robotnik, I guess. They were throwing their spears
at his symbol - and hitting it pretty hard, too.”
Sally blinked, and stopped her examination, realization dawning.
“I think I know who they are, guys.” She breathed slowly in and out,
closing her eyes. “The echidnas. The echidnas are back.”
The announcement was greeted with frozen silence from the freedom
fighters. Sonic unconsciously favored his arm where he had been wounded
a year before in their attack. Antoine felt his teeth clench as he
thought of lost friends. And Sally thought of her father, lost to her
forever in the attack. Only Rally was in the dark as to the meaning of
the phrase, and looked back and forth at the other animals distress,
wondering.
Then she perked up an ear. She had heard something. “Guys…” she
began.
It was sudden. The three spears came in swift succession, and
scattered the freedom fighters, thudding into the targeted tree.
Breaking cover and switching to tomahawks, the trio of echidnas let out
a fearsome war shout. It was a surprise attack.
Seeing the vested coyote dodge behind a tree, the echidnas
yelled again, and charged. The one in front smirked. This would be an
easy fight. The smirk vanished as he was bowled over by a sudden force
from behind, knocking him headfirst into the tree. A blue blur passed
over his head as he tried to regain his senses.
The echidnas were caught off guard. When they had fought these
animals last year, they hadn’t put up much of a fight! But they weren’t
given any time to recuperate. The coyote, now swinging a shining sword,
appeared out of the sparse bushes, and began viciously pushing the
stunned echidnas back. Barely able to parry the strong and frequent
strokes with this spear shaft, the unluckier of the two was unprepared
for the hand-sized stone that streaked down on him from a tree. He fell
to the ground, senseless and defeated. The second one took advantage of
his comrade’s fall to make a sweeping blow with the butt of his spear,
bodily knocking the swordsman to the side. But a swift swipe with a
branch took him in the head, and he crumpled to the ground. The
echidna’s enemies stepped out from their hiding places, and helped up
the fallen coyote. One nodded to two others, and each took an echidna
form in their arms, walking off into the forest. Wherever the echidnas
would wake up, it certainly wouldn’t be anywhere near the freedom
fighter’s base.
The freedom fighters were gathered in the planning room for one
purpose – how to deal with the echidnas. It was a sticky problem.
Echidnas could be very dangerous if provoked. Or even if left alone
entirely. The argument about what to do had been going on for some time
now, and neither side really had a solution.
Rotor looked across the table at Sonic, hard. “What can we do
against warriors this strong? Did you see that target? Did you see
those throws? They can be really deadly with those things, if I’m not
mistaken. We’re lucky to be alive! Just remember how deadly they were
when they attacked Mobotropolis. We’d all be pincushions before we
could blink.”
Sonic interrupted before he could say more. “Ok, maybe you’re
right. Maybe we can’t do much against them. But we took out those
three, no problem, right? Hey, we don’t even know how many of them we
have to deal with! Are we supposed to run and hide when there might not
be that many?”
“True, we don’t know their numbers for sure,” said Sally, coming
out of a bored expression to take charge of the conversation. “I guess
we’ll have to send someone to figure out just what we’re facing here.
Rotor, do you have anything that could help out with the scouting?”
“Sure, but it’s a prototype, so I’d have to be there to pilot
it.”
“That’s fine. You and me can be the scouts. Our mission will be
to bring back numbers, location, and a map. Two should be enough, we
know this forest pretty well by now.”
“Ok, will do.”
“What can the rest of us do, Sally?” asked Rally.
Sally thought for a second. “Just in case they reach that far,
and have better luck than Robotnik, we should warn Knothole, and as
quickly as possible. Sonic, Tails, you two are the fastest. That’s your
job. There’s no telling how far they’ve already gotten.”
“No problem, Sal.”
“Leave it to us, Aunt Sally.”
“In the mean time, Rally, this base should move too. If the
echidnas are up there practicing right outside our door, we won’t be
able to move in and out as freely. I only hope those echidnas that
attacked us didn’t know about us in advance, because otherwise, we may
not make it out of here. Antoine, Rally, you two are on moving duty.
Don’t leave anything that we might need. We are going to be based in
Knothole for the time being. Can you two do that?”
“Certainly, princess.”
“Antoine? Make sure you get all of my gadgets this time,
alright?”
“Don’t worry so much, Rotor.”
Sally raised her eyebrow, but let it drop. “Ok guys. This mission
is dangerous, and we could be attacked at any time, so just remember –
our forest is no longer safe. We might have to face down the echidnas,
and they may be strong. But the freedom fighters have never lost
before. Let’s move it!”
The freedom fighters nodded. They all knew their assignments, and
they all knew that failure might mean lives would be lost. They moved
out.
Sally watched them leave, worrying just a little, then motioned
to Rotor. They left just behind Sonic and Tails, taking one last look
back at their base and wondering if they would ever use it again.
They spotted their first echidna half an hour into the search.
Sally went as close as she dared, and tried to get a good look at one
of those hated beings. Creeping up behind a nearby tree, she stopped.
The echidna was a bright cherry red all over, with only a tan stretch
of skin between its cheeks to break it. Head spikes pointing downward
stretched all around its head. This particular one had piercing purple
eyes, and wore a feathered headband about his head. His only other
pieces of clothing were a pair of brown combat boots and a spear – one
that looked as dangerous as the rest of him. The echidna was hefting
the spear, and apparently gauging the distance to some far off target.
Suddenly, the spear left his hand, and the next instant stood quivering
in a distant tree. The echidna laughed, and went to retrieve his
implement. Pulling it out resulted in a crack, audible even to the
squirrel twenty feet away. The echidna cursed. The shaft of the spear
had been snapped as he yanked it out. He turned to hear a stick behind
him snap. But there was no one to be seen.
Sally was panting as she got back to Rotor, casually sitting on a
tree root. Rotor looked at her with a questioning look, but Sally let
him wait as she held her knees to catch her breath. Finally, she stood
up. On the inside she was badly shaken at the enormous display of
strength that she had just witnessed. But she didn’t let it show on her
face.
“Ready, Rotor. The camp should be a little north of here.”
“Mind telling me what just went on there?”
“I’ll tell you later. Right now, I just want to keep moving.”
Rotor shrugged and stood up. The two set off to the north,
towards the echidna camp.
It was a sight to see. The camp was centered just on the edges of
the great forest, and worked its way in a rough circle in and about the
trees. The tents were militarily constructed, and not a flap seemed to
be out of place. Yet the camp itself was stirring with disorderly
activity. An echidna warrior sharpened his spearhead on a rock. A group
of children, self-proclaimed generals, ran about, waving sticks at each
other. Mothers rocked their babies, sisters laughed at the antics of
their brothers, and above it all, a chief sat on a high throne,
surveying his domain. The throne was too elaborate to have been just
constructed as part of this temporary camp, with steps leading up to
it, and a large depression set into the middle of its base. Over in the
corner of the camp, far behind all the blissful show, sat a series of
large wooden structures, partially obstructed by the chief’s throne.
Anything more was impossible to see from where they were now.
Sally gave the thumbs up to Rotor. Rotor nodded back, and set
down his latest gadget. Rotor began explaining to Sally what the device
did as he did some last minute adjusting of the wires.
“This one is a portable scouting device,” he said, producing a
mini screwdriver and moving around a bolt that had come loose somewhere
along their trek. “I release it, and it glides over wherever we want to
see. Then it takes pictures of whatever’s under it. I built it to load
that data into the computer. Instant map.” He finished with his
tinkering, and stood up. “The only problem is the flight control… but I
think I can handle it.”
“Go for it, Rotor.”
Rotor cupped the device in his hands. Concentrating hard, he
pushed it up into the air and out of his hands. The device, now
revealed to resemble a metallic paper airplane, flew off into the sky
over the echidna’s camp. Soaring until it was a chore to pick it out in
contrast to the twilight sky, the plane leveled off, and began
circling. Sally noticed Rotor working furiously at a tiny remote
control in his hand and squinting up at the sky. Sally made a mental
note to go on another part run soon.
Moving her eyes stealthily around the camp, Sally tried to take
in more of the scene. On closer inspection, the depression in the base
of the throne looked more like a shrine than a mere hole. It was
possible to see a pair of priests standing on either side of the
throne, and in the hole itself was something large and glittering…
In that moment, Rotor’s movements became more frantic. Losing his
battle with gravity, Rotor could only watch helplessly as a chunk of
metal from his plane decided to drop to the ground directly in front of
them. The thunk was audible. Sally jumped in surprise, then grabbed
Rotor and scrambled back, away from the offending piece of metal. She
could hear the echidna’s wondering exclamations and surprised shouts
right behind them. The two got out of there as fast as they possibly
could. Glancing behind him and reaching up, Rotor neatly snatched the
injured paper airplane from its perfect arc through the air. Sally
looked at Rotor sideways as they fled. Rotor shrugged sheepishly, and
dropped the plane into a pocket.
Meanwhile, Sonic was running through the forest with Tails in
tow. The pair raced past the stripped trees and bare bushes of a
wintered great forest. Sonic glanced back at Tails and grinned
reassuringly at him. Tails tried to pull his arm into a thumbs up, but
the speed was too much for him. Sonic turned his eyes back to the road,
inwardly grimacing at the look in the little fox’s eyes. He knew just
how traumatic it must have been for Tails, losing another home to the
echidnas. And with troubles in his past that even he didn’t know… Sonic
closed his eyes.
Sally had been the one to find him. It had been a cool spring
day, just on the edge of being cold, and pleasant enough to bring just
about everyone outside in Mobotropolis. Deciding to escape her
princessly duties for the moment, Princess Sally had been taking a walk
outside in the great forest when she had stumbled upon the basket of
the fox in question. Wondering at her discovery, Sally had immediately
grabbed the heavy basket and hauled it back to her city. There was a
great commotion when the princess walked into her city carrying the
laden basket, but the young princess ignored the passerby. Marching
straight to her nanny, Rosie, Sally presented the snoring basket to the
aged woodchuck. Rosie had looked at the small fox curiously, then at
Sally. “Can you help him, Aunt Rosie?” said Sally in her small voice.
Rosie had smiled down at her and rubbed her head. “Of course,
Sally. I think I have room for one more kid at my place.” Rosie took
the baby fox from its basket, and gently cradling him in her arms, she
walked off with Sally back to her house. Shortly after Rosie had laid
the baby down to sleep, Sally came back with her friends to look at the
sleeping baby. And that was how Sonic had first met Tails.
Sonic remembered being quite taken with the tiny fox in his
youth, visiting him much more often than the others to play. Looking
down at him, Sonic felt something akin to brotherly affection for the
two-tailed fox – something just made him want to be around him. Sonic
would often talk to him, as he lay in his cradle, just glad to be near
his small companion as often as he could be. That vigilance paid off
one day, as Sonic entered Rosie’s home. Tails opened his eyes from
sleep and looked directly at the child hedgehog, and in a soft, clear
voice cried “Sonic!” Sonic had been shocked, then moved to amazement,
and then had smiled.
Now, Sonic was still Tails’ hero, and Sonic tried to live up to
that. Sonic and Tails were linked as much as any siblings can be.
That’s why it hurt so much to see his pain.
Sonic lay his mind back on the trail ahead. Grinning, he shocked
Tails out of his own worries by running up the curve of a tree’s trunk
and along the bottom of an outstretched branch, trailing the fox
haphazardly behind. Leaping back to solid ground, Sonic hit the ground
running. Glancing back again, he caught an admiring smile from his one
fox audience. It felt good.
They reached the village in good time. This part of the country
had managed to catch a little snow in the winter climate. A wintering
Knothole was still a place of life and vigor, with children running
around having snowball fights, and older people going about their
business or sitting about a fire. Wooden huts were everywhere, housing
hundreds. Large clearings were covered in watery slush, the remnants of
the snow that hadn’t been washed away. The villagers, the survivors of
last year’s attacks, functioned well, even in the absence of their
king, who had been among those missing. Sally’s father was sorely
missed, but the inhabitants of the hardy village wouldn’t let that get
them down. They still had their allegiance to their princess. It was
enough.
Sonic and Tails walked calmly into the village, greeting old
friends and nodding to acquaintances. Sonic hadn’t seen much of these
people in the last few months, with all of the freedom fighting that he
was doing. It felt good to see a few old faces again. There was Nate
Morgan, engineer and computer specialist. There was Doctor Quack,
Knothole’s main physician. There was a parrot that he had lived next to
for half of his life, and there an armadillo that he had lost touch
with over the years. All of these people felt distant now, as if he
held them all at arm’s length. Freedom fighting was taking a lot of
time from him.
Tails followed Sonic onto memory as he walked along the familiar
paths of Knothole. Slowing, Tails recalled the memories that he had
made here, ones that were among the first that he could recall. The
people of this village had raised him, and taught him all that he knew
about life. Everyone here was his family, and every one of them was
special to the small fox. Every face represented a time of fun, and
most had taught him something that he could never forget. Knothole
might not be his true home, but the people that had made it up were
still his family. When Tails looked around though, he began to notice
more and more the smiling faces that had been there for him before the
attack, but would never be there again. Tails silently closed his eyes
in memory for a moment. Then he jogged to catch up to Sonic, who was
quietly talking to an old male dog in the center of the village.
The dog nodded as Tails pulled up next to Sonic, then walked past
the two, heading for the largest hut on the outskirts of the center
square. An elder of the tribe came out to greet him, then, glancing at
Sonic, turned to walk in with him. Sonic looked down at Tails. ”We’re
finished here, little buddy. You wanna go visit Rosie for a while?”
Tails nodded vigorously at the chance to see his longtime guardian. The
two walked off among the huts to Rosie’s.
Crunch! Antoine cursed at the sound. Another box dropped, and
another few lumps that Rotor would give him for the broken metal. Just
how many gadgets did the purple walrus really need?
Rally giggled at the muffled noises he was making, but kept her
comments to herself. She stooped down and grabbed the box that Antoine
had let slip. She placed it carefully atop the others, then leaned
against the pile and wiped her damp fur. How the freedom fighters
managed to keep so much stuff in what little space they had, Rally
could only guess. But they had more to transport than they could have
ever guessed. They would have to make a few trips, and laden as they
were, they’d all take a while. Not to mention the temperature, and the
dirt turned mud that they’d have to slog through. Rally rubbed her
eyes. She didn’t relish the prospect. But at least there would be a
little company on the trip. Rally glanced over at her comrade. He was
leaning against his own pile of boxes, and staring at her as well.
Their eyes met for a moment, but Antoine looked away before it was
over. Rally grinned again, shaking her head. This would be a fun trip.
They set off with the two biggest boxes, with Antoine barely able
to get his arms around his and staggering under the weight. Antoine led
the way, but Rally had to point out a few trees that he hadn’t noticed
over his box now and then. The two soon settled into pleasant
conversation, talking about anything that came to mind. It was either
that or pay attention to the unpleasant task ahead.
“What a mess the rain made! This mud will be here for weeks. How
are we going to get anything done with this stuff around?”
“You may be right, Rally. The princess would probably be pretty
depressed once this is all over.”
“I hope we get it over with soon. Those echidnas look pretty hard
to beat.”
“Don’t worry yourself. The two of us can take care of ourselves,
and the four of them can watch our backs.” Antoine did his best
impression of puffing out his chest. Suddenly, his foot hit a tree
root. Antoine did a much better face plant in the mud, sliding almost a
yard on the slick ground. The box crunched again as Antoine’s nose hit
it full on. Rally dropped her box and jumped over to him, alarmed.
Antoine groaned and pulled his face out of the mud. He grinned through
the thick layer of liquid dirt. “Rotor is going to kill me for that.”
Rally shook her head at him, then grasped his arm and pulled him up.
They had just started up again, after Rotor’s gadgets had fallen
a fourth time, when Rally felt her ears burning. Blinking twice, she
twitched her ear, then turned to her companion. “Antoine, I think that
we might have been followed.”
Antoine kept his eyes straight ahead on the path. “Can you tell
how many they are?”
“Seven maybe, at least five. They’re doing a good job of keeping
silent, but their boots are squelching in the mud.”
“Can we outrun them?”
“We can’t. Our path would be much too easy to follow. We’d lead
them right to the village.”
“Once we get there, we’ll have Sonic and Tails to help us, not to
mention whoever can fight in the village.”
“What kind of damage would they do beforehand? And what if they
aren’t enough? No, our best bet is to just avoid the village, then when
they’re a safe way
away – “
Rally was cut off by a wild war shout. Two echidnas appeared on
the path behind them, and four more on either side of them. All held
spears in their hands, and all looked ready to fight. Eyes bulging,
Rally and Antoine took off down the only path left to them, straight
ahead. The echidnas angry shouts were right behind them. And then the
spears started flying.
One after another the spears came, sticking in the mud,
quivering in a tree, or whistling past Rally’s shoulder. A spear flew
out from the right, catching Rally’s vest and jerking her to the ground
with a cry, leaving her forgotten burden to fall from her hands.
Wordlessly, Antoine leaned back for a moment, then let loose a powerful
kick to the spear shaft. The spearhead left the mud with a sucking
sound, freeing Rally to be helped up by Antoine. An uncomfortably close
spear got them both running again, leaving Rally’s box forgotten where
it lay. The box was ignored by the jeering echidnas, who kept up the
chase at an easy lope. Their quarry would be theirs soon enough.
Antoine ran on, fleeing only on adrenaline now that his strength
was gone. He couldn’t go on any longer, through the deadly hail of
metal and wood, but he knew he must. He looked over at the determined
countenance of Rally. She had stayed with him, even though he knew she
could have gone on ahead without her box. He knew if he stopped, Rally
would stay by him beyond all protest, and she too would be cut down by
the echidnas. For her sake, he must keep running. It was as he thought
this that the echidna behind them found a mark on his form, and threw
with the strength of a hunter. Antoine felt the box in his hands jerk
forward for the fifth time today, taking him with it to the ground,
hard. Dazed, Antoine could vaguely feel himself and the box being
dragged into the shelter of a huge tree’s roots. He heard the sound of
flexing metal and tried to remember where he had heard that sound
before. Then he remembered. Rally’s wire made that sound when she swung
it.
Idly, Antoine attempted to get Rally to save herself. “Rally, you
really should…”
Rally cut him off with a look of fire. “I wouldn’t leave you, or
anyone, to die like this, Antoine.”
“Heh. I thought as much.” Getting up, Antoine drew his sword. It
had come to a fight then. So be it.
The pair of them held their weapons between them and the
advancing echidnas. The echidnas, now revealed to indeed be seven in
number, advanced in a group upon them, slowly. Two of the more
overzealous echidnas were weaponless, having thrown the last spear from
the immense quivers on their backs, but they were quickly supplied with
more by the oldest of the group. The echidnas raised their spears, and
charged, voicing a savage yell of triumph. Antoine and Rally braced
themselves for their last stand. But then the progress of the group
slowed. The mud seemed to be clinging to them, and pulling them back.
The foremost, youngest echidna tried to continue, spear still raised
and yell still ringing. But as he went farther, his stature began to
shrink, and his legs seemed to get shorter and shorter. Eyes widening,
he turned to escape the mud. But the mud had already claimed his waist,
and he began to sink even farther down. Seeing this, his companions
turned to flee the mud as well. But as the unfortunate echidna went
gurgling under, the sinking began spreading wider. Antoine didn’t wait
to see what was next, instead prying the spear out of the box with both
hands, then grabbing it and Rally to run. They could hear the much-
changed yells of the echidnas behind them as they fled. They didn’t
look back.
They halted half a mile away near a river bloated by the rains.
The two flopped down, mud-stained and tired, onto the banks. Heaving,
they looked at each other breathlessly. Rally was the first to recover.
“What… do you suppose… that was?”
Antoine had to wait another minute before answering. “I suppose…
it was… a very… convenient sinkhole.”
Rally put her arm over her eyes. “A sinkhole? Why would… oh, from
the rains. Just how hard did those rains pound this place?”
“Hard enough to be incredibly lucky for us.”
“Not lucky for us. Unlucky for them.”
They rested peacefully for a few minutes. Then Antoine sat up and
put his arm on the war torn box. “I suppose we had better go back and
try to find your version of this beauty.”
Rally rolled to her feet and stretched. “I’m ready when you are,
Antoine.”
Watching her, Antoine got up himself. “And Rally… thanks.” He
walked over to her, and gave her a quick hug. Rally’s face warmed, and
she gave Antoine a squeeze back. Then the two set off to complete the
task that Sally had given them, their duty as freedom fighters.
The echidnas had settled down for the night. Some of the families
returning late from some task ushered children inside the tents,
fastening the tent flaps behind them.
Most of the echidnas were abed by now, the stragglers in that
crowd had more important things on their mind, and the sentries hadn’t
yet resumed their posts – now was the time to move.
Rotor moved as stealthily as he could around the outskirts of the
camp. Stealthy for Rotor came down to looking at his feet so that he
didn’t step on any twigs. Snap! Rotor froze. He had missed one.
Reflecting that stealth wasn’t something that came naturally to most
walruses, Rotor looked carefully around for signs that he had been
heard. The camp was still. Rotor sighed with relief, and started
picking his loud way around the camp again.
Whether or not the walrus stealth helped, he made it around the
camp without being spotted. Still walking carefully, Rotor came up
behind the wooden structures, and moved his head brazenly up to the
bars. He had reached the slave pens. They were here, as predicted, and
as imposing as the pictures had made them out to be.
Slavery… slavery had been outlawed in his land since almost
ancient times, as the rulers had always tried to keep the races unique,
but equal. But still, the tales of other nations that practiced it had
filtered down to Rotor as a child. The stories were horrific – people
that were perfectly nice and normal otherwise mistreating,
malnourishing, and even beating slaves unto the brink of atrocity.
Rotor closed his eyes against the images of what the echidnas, already
warlike and cruel, must do to their slaves. He reminded himself that
them taking slaves was better than the alternative. Before, the people
of Knothole had lost all hope of seeing the ones lost in the attack
again. Now, if some of them had been enslaved instead of killed… It
would be a dream come true, to most. But for now, the slaves weren’t
just a target for liberation. They were a potential source of allies.
One that the freedom fighters intended to exploit.
It took a second for Rotor’s eyes to adjust to the darkness
within the pens. But an abrupt whisper from directly in front of him
sent him jumping back, startled, and almost crashing into a bush.
“What is it that you want?” asked the harsh voice again, ignoring
Rotor’s undignified hop. The voice was young and female, but had a
commanding tone to it that reminded him of his late king. Rotor
composed himself, and moved back to the cage to challenge the voice.
“Want? We want to help you, if you’ll let us.” It was the truth.
Just not all of it.
The voice remained guarded, not taken in by the statement. “Why
would you want to help us? No one has cared in the past.”
Rotor twitched his nose. “We have a bone to pick with those
echidnas. Call it a hunch, but we thought you might too.”
A curt laugh, and the voice moved closer, revealing itself to be
a haggard looking mongoose not much older than himself. She was
searching him, sizing him up, as he did the same to her. The mongoose
had smudged yellow fur, and an abundance of dark purple hair. Her face
was dirty, but largely unmarked. The expression was tired but serious,
and her eyes were bagged, yet held a certain quality – a deepness, or a
glint, that wasn’t easily identifiable. “Its been tried, walrus. What
makes you think that this will be any different?”
Rotor was silent a moment, trying to decipher that look. But the
eyes kept shifting as she waited for the answer, and he couldn’t get a
hold of it for long enough. Finally, he said, “We are the freedom
fighters. And we haven’t lost yet.”
The girl’s face moved into what might have been a thin smile, had
the dark not obscured it. “And is that really good enough, walrus? We
slaves might get killed, or worse, if we’re caught.”
Rotor ignored her attitude, still searching, then acted on a
hunch. “Right now, it’s all you’ve got.”
The mongoose paused for a second. Her eyes stopped their
movement, and for a second her face was illuminated perfectly by the
dim moonlight. In that second, Rotor saw it – the hope of a young
optimism. Then the eyes were gone, as her form faded back into the
darkness of the pens. “All right walrus, you’ve got yourself a deal.
The slaves are with you - give us weapons, and we’ll fight.” Rotor
heard the sound of hay crunching as a body laid down to sleep.
Rotor smiled, and asked the darkness “Does the mongoose have a
name?”
A pause. Then the voice called back to him, “Mina.”
Rotor turned to go. He might have overstayed the sentries’
welcome with that conversation. Just as the darkness was about to
swallow all further conversation, he turned and called back “I’m
Rotor,” to the empty bars of the cage. No answer returned as he turned
to leave. But he didn’t need to wonder if she had heard.
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