Lucky Rabbit

“Get them up,” said a voice Pandy hadn’t heard before. It was deeper than the smooth voice, and held a hint of an accent. Something about the way the consonants landed sounded a bit familiar, but it took Pandy a few more words to figure out why. “There are only thirteen. I ordered twenty.”

He sounded like Saskia, the seamstress from Lanthorne Court. Or at least he sounded like Saskia might if she was good at languages and had spent a lot of time trying to sound like a native speaker. Pandy didn’t actually think Saskia cared enough to put in the effort, but this man obviously did.

“Then you should have set up a dropoff sooner,” Smooth snapped back. “I had to dump the ones that didn’t make it.”

“I told you not to give them the venom until after I sent for them,” New Guy responded, clearly unhappy.

“You also told me to make sure no more of them escaped. Healthy people aren’t just going to sit in a basement and wait for us to ship them off, but sick people do.” Smooth said, but he didn’t sound so smooth now. There was a definite growl in his tone. These two men didn’t like each other.

There was probably a response, but at that point Augustus was hauled up by his arm, and it sounded like he wasn’t the only one. Several people grunted or moaned, but soon enough they were being thrust out of the boat, which swayed and bobbed beneath them. Chains rattled again, and then they were shuffling along, with Augustus still curled protectively around Pandy.

Pandy watched her Mana anxiously, but was glad to see that it was staying fairly steady. She definitely couldn’t maintain the spell to stop the poison in a dozen other people, but Augustus should be fine. Now she just had to wait until he made his move, and do what she could to help him.

Except that he didn’t make his move. Not any kind of move, other than stumbling after the other prisoners. And then they were being thrust forward again, and Augustus fell to his knees, then his side. Someone else tripped over him, and a thud announced the closing of a door. The chancellor lay in place for ten long, slow breaths, then rolled over with a fluidity that belied his apparent weakness. He leaned forward, almost crushing Pandy, and a few quiet clinks reached her ears.

“Time to go,” he murmured softly, rising to his feet so he could untuck his shirt and remove Pandy from her hiding place. She stared around at the dark space in which they stood, seeing far more than twelve other bodies sitting or lying around the outside edges. A few seemed more aware than the rest, the whites of their eyes bright in their shadowy faces, but no one spoke.

Looking down at Pandy, Augustus said, “We’re in some kind of complex. Not slavers, I think. Not even the worst scum in Knightmere would help with that, if only because they know what the punishment would be. Not a ransom plot, though, either. They don’t seem to know or care who their victims are. Which means it can only have to do with whatever they’ve infected everyone with. But what does that have to do with the attempted abduction of our young friend? Or have I wandered into something else entirely unrelated?”

He shook his head. “Things like this never used to happen to me,” he told her, a grim kind of amusement in his voice. “I have to wonder if it’s your influence. The oddest things seem to happen when you’re around.”

Pandy ducked her head. He was right. It wasn’t even that she simply had bad luck. Bizarre events happened to her on a regular basis, and had since the day she was born. Rather than looking angry, though, Augustus smiled slightly. “Well, at least it keeps things interesting. Now, shall we see just how interesting this is going to be?” He crouched, setting her down. “You go left, and I’ll go right. It would be nice to find a way out, other than the door, which we should probably assume is heavily guarded.”

Pandy nodded, and they split up. A surprising number of the people she hopped past sat up and watched her. Much of her mud covering had dried and fallen away, probably inside Augustus’s shirt, and her white fur seemed to catch every speck of light that found its way into the room through what looked like barred and boarded-up windows, giving her a soft glow that drew far too much attention.

When she met the chancellor coming from the other direction, he crouched down beside her, frowning. “The windows are the obvious exit,” he murmured, “but I don’t have a way to get through them at the moment.”

That…was honestly a bit surprising. Something had obviously happened to Zephra again, but where was Cieris? If nothing else, the little sprite could let Professor Beeswick know where they were, or maybe request backup from whoever Augustus worked for. And what about that big elemental who watched over the school? Yes, it obviously already had a job to do there, but surely it could stop staring at things for an hour in order to rescue its master. Were those the only three elementals Augustus had?

As if she’d spoken her doubts aloud, Augustus gave a self-deprecating smile. “I don’t have much power at the moment. In fact, I’m not sure why I’m doing as well as I am, though I suspect you might have something to do with that.” Pandy felt her ears grow hot as her eyes slid away, and he chuckled. “I thought so. Now, do you have any ideas?”

Pandy turned to look at the closest window, and Augustus’s brows lifted. “You have a way to get through the bars? Any chance it’s a quiet way?” She almost felt a bit insulted, but the question was fair, so she just lifted a paw and pointed, indicating that she wanted to get closer. He picked her up, nestling her in the crook of his arm, and as he did, a shadowy shape nearby spoke up.

“D’you think you can actually get out?” The voice was slightly raspy, but firm, and a few more of the slumped figures sat up, turning toward them.

“Yes.” Augustus didn’t hesitate, even as his arm tightened around Pandy.

“Take us, then,” another person said, this one sounding thready and old, but just as certain as the first.

“We just want out,” a third spoke, bracing a hand against the wall as they slid their way upright.

“I don’t want to die here,” a female voice whimpered, and Pandy’s guts twisted.

Now Augustus did pause, the dark shadow of his head turning as he looked out over them all. “I’ll take two. Whoever is strongest.” Voices rose in protest, and he held up a hand. “I’ll get you out, or die trying. I swear it. But first, does anyone know what they’re doing here?”

Someone coughed, and the weakest voice yet said, “Using us to spread disease. Heard ‘em…talking. A day ago. Maybe…two.”

“It was at least three days, Noel,” a woman said, leaning toward the mound that had produced the shaky words.

“Bah. Three…then,” Noel said, somehow still managing to sound peevish. “Said they were gonna dump…the ones they took…into nearby towns.”

“I’m a healer,” the woman said, reaching out to press a hand to the prone figure’s shoulder as Noel began to cough. “But I’ve never seen this before. Several of us were bitten by a giant spider, and after that, they became ill. That should mean this is caused by some kind of venom, but it acts like a contagious disease. Anyone who comes in healthy becomes extremely ill within a week. The ones who were bitten die hard and fast, but for the others the progression is slower, and once they reach a state of delirium, they’re taken away.”

“To these other towns,” Augustus said.

She sighed. “That’s what Noel says he overheard, but…he’s been here a long time. Longer than anyone else. It’s amazing he’s not out of his mind or dead.”

Noel gave a wheezing laugh. “Can’t tell th’ difference…between raving mad…and sane. Not much of a…healer, Joan.”

“Good enough to know you need to stop talking, you old fool,” Joan said, but she laid a gentle hand on his head, one shadowy shape merging momentarily with the other.

“That’s all we know,” the shape who’d spoken first said. Pandy couldn’t tell if they were male or female, but they weren’t very tall, so she was leaning toward it being a woman. “Now how are we getting out of here?”

Augustus sighed, then pointed to the first figure and another one, who had managed to separate themselves from the wall entirely, and stood unsupported. “You two with me. Pandora?” He looked down at Pandy again, face a pale blob, and Pandy pointed a paw at the window again. Augustus hummed thoughtfully, then pointed to a different dimly-lit aperture. “Will that one work?”

She attempted to shrug, without much success, but apparently that was enough confirmation for him, because he walked toward the window. The two he’d indicated fell in behind them, and when Augustus paused to open the shackles around their ankles, Pandy took the opportunity to hit each of them with a Minor Heal, seeing them both straighten slightly when she did so.

Minor Heal successful.

Healed Empress Glory for 20 HP.

Minor Heal successful.

Healed Beau Bradorf for 20 HP.

Only 434 uses to reach level 24.

In case you were interested.

It’s not like you listen to me, though.

And now her System was sulking. Pandy ignored it, motioning Augustus to lift her up until she could reach out and press a paw against the first of the bars. They were thick, rusty, and probably hadn’t started out as prison bars. In fact, their twisty shape reminded Pandy of some rebar she’d once dropped off of a five-story building during a particularly memorable temp job. That one had barely lasted until lunchtime, but fortunately the elephant was fine, so she considered it one of her better days.

Pandy thought, chomping down on the metal bar. It was too big to get through in one chomp, and flakes of rust filled her mouth, but Pandy ignored it, biting again and again. It took four Bites to get through it, and by the time she did, she had a feeling that she was now as red and crusty as she had been brown and crusty not that long ago.

There were four vertical bars blocking the window, and by the third one, Pandy had figured out how to get through them in only three Bites. That left them all still attached at the top, and all of the humans except Augustus were now much further away than they had been in the beginning. It was almost like they weren’t used to seeing undead rabbits, foaming rusty red at the mouth, biting through solid iron. Which was fair.

Augustus suffered from no such concerns, however, and he motioned the figure Pandy was guessing was Empress Glory forward. Honestly, Pandy was desperately curious to know who she was and how she’d gotten a name like that, but now was not the time to ask. Augustus – who didn’t know he was speaking to an empress – told her to hold onto the bar and prevent it from falling to the ground when Pandy bit through the top. Her Imperial Majesty just nodded, and Pandy went to work again.

Beau caught the second bar, and Augustus himself made sure the third didn’t fall and make noise, though Pandy thought he was showing off a bit as he held the heavy metal rod and Pandy at the same time. The Empress seemed properly impressed, in any case, offering a small gasp of surprise that became an “Ooo,” when Augustus settled the bar to the ground by their feet.

The wooden slats were significantly easier to remove, since the nails holding them were as rusty as the bars. Augustus just pushed on the end of one, and it popped loose with a short but startlingly insistent squeal, at which point everyone froze. When no shouts came, and no one poked a sword or other weapon into the small gap, the chancellor leaned forward and peered out.

“It’s clear,” he said, speaking so quietly that Glory and Beau had to lean in to hear. He said nothing further, just pushed at the next board, which resisted for a moment before the nails slid from their mooring with another small and terrible screech. Still nothing happened, and in a matter of moments, the two boards had been completely removed and pulled back into what Pandy could now see was an old warehouse of some kind.

“The old docks,” the Empress muttered, leaning out. Her hair was tangled and greasy, and when she pushed it back impatiently, Pandy could see that her face was delicate and attractive, but in a very androgynous way. Pandy had a sudden suspicion that her name might be one she’d given herself, rather than receiving it from her parents. Glancing over at Augustus, Empress Glory said, “Do you know about them?”

He looked thoughtful. “They were shut down when the river was diverted around the city, weren’t they? There’s not even supposed to be water here.”

She snorted. “Tell the water that. Probably some elementalist decided they needed their own little underground shipping business, and here it is.”

Underground? Pandy leaned forward, peering upward, and sure enough, there were no stars or moon overhead. Instead, darkness stretched into infinity, broken only by a few flickering lamps on poles. Somewhere in the distance, the soft sound of waves lapping against wood broke the silence.

“Let’s just get out of here,” the other man, Beau, said, shoving the Empress out of the way so he could swing a leg over the sill. Almost immediately, however, he tumbled back inside, letting out a horrified shout that was not quiet at all. Attached to his leg, fangs sunk deep into the flesh, was a spider, just like the one Pandy had killed.