Ratshank redemption

I edged closer to the door of the room I was in listening closely for sounds on the other side. 

Silence. 

Pushing the door ajar I looked into the new room to see a long corridor. The corridor snakes around with multiple doors lining the walls. A staircase was located around the centre of the corridor. 

I made a move to enter the corridor when a small squeaking sound rang out from down the corridor. Quickly closing the door as quietly as I could I stuck my ear close to the colour and listened intently. 

"They are reluctant to make their move"

"huhuhuhu, those cowardly fuckers don't dare move against our city. Not with an artisan like Skulk leading us"

Artisans have an odd way of describing that crazy bastard. 

The good news is that I'm pretty sure I'm still in the city. I also haven't missed the attack against the city yet. 

The two goblins continued in idle chat as they steadily walked. I held my breath as they strut past the door I was hiding behind. Even two goblins as weak as this would have long enough to scream before I could take them out. 

I waited for the footsteps to thud up the stairs before peaking out again. The coast seemed clear. 

Stepping into the corridor I began checking doors listening to try and hear what was going on in some. Behind one seemed to be a large group of goblins playing some sort of game where they bet over something called 'smolks'.

Finding a door which was deathly silent I peeked in before slowly creeping in. The room was a storage room of sorts however what piqued my interest was a shiny white armour set mounted on one of the walls. It looked a lot like my original armour but much more new and less worn down than when I had received it in the clan warrens. 

I pondered bringing it with me however stealth was key right now and a large set of metal white armour would be quite the opposite of stealthy. Maybe I'll find it once we burn this place to the ground. Moving on I donned the darkest clothes I could with a hood and picked up a few daggers I found lying around the room. 

It felt much better to be clothed. Sneaking back out of the room I continued prowling the corridor. After some more doors with no luck, I came upon one where only the light snoring of a goblin could be heard on the other side. 

I crept in keeping as quiet as possible and being as gentle as possible with the door to prevent it from squeaking. The inside was clearly a more luxurious-looking bedroom with one huge bed which lay in the centre of the room. Felt and fluffy-looking rugs lay strewn across the room. A large wooden box in the corner remained open displaying many fancy-looking clothes. In the corner sat a large wooden desk which lay in front of a large closed window. 

The place was fit for royalty. It worried me for a second that I may have accidentally stumbled upon my worst enemy. However to my glee what lay in the bed was nothing more than a slightly pompous and fat-looking goblin. 

On top of the desk seemed to sit many small and large books. I snuck over and gently pulled a few out to read the fronts. Many were seemingly educational or boring books however 1 or 2 were named important-sounding things like Exchequer Ledger. In fact in the end I just picked up anything with the word ledger on. There were only around 3 so I just buried them into my cloak and patted slowly over to the bed. 

If I was to leave this shithole I wanted at least some damage to be done. Unsheathing the small knife I took I held it firmly in my claws and made my way around the bed to where the goblin slept. 

I trace the knife across the unknowing little goblin's throat before digging it into his throat. It tore through like butter ending the poor bastard's life before he even knew it had happened. Crimson-red blood oozed out over the comfortable-looking felt bed. 

In his final moments, the goblin still held the comforting look of unconsciousness as his spirit slipped from him. 

Fucking goblin bastards. 

I crept over to the closed window and inspected it. The windows large size made it easier for me to see out into the city. It seemed I was located in the same large building I snuck my way into prior. However now on the bottom floor. 

I inspected the rest of the room picking up a few expensive-looking jewels before exiting. I still had plenty of time until they found his body. It's unlikely they would disturb him as he slept. 

As I opened the door and stepped into the hallway familiar voices began echoing down from the staircase. 

"My prince we are in utmost certainty that you should just kill the little rat. If he awakens his characteristic those chains will not stop him". 

"Heheheh, you grow bold in your old age. I will hold him there as long as I want to play with him. If he tried to awaken his characteristic then it would devour him alive. Do not forget my old friend what I myself went through to awaken my characteristic"

"I'm sorry my lord, I spoke out of order"

I thundered back through the door the way I came. 

Shit. 

Just my luck this bastard would want to come visit me at this hour. 

I no longer had the luxury of time. 

Walking to the window I stirred the dormant power inside my body. The vibrant colours beckoned to my command and began to slowly move towards the window. Flooding through the bars I watched as the once solid barred window joined the flow of colours.

A feeling of fullness panged inside of me. It seems the colours can only absorb so much.

I beckoned them back to me and stared at the results. Where once a barred window stood now had been replaced by a large hole in the wall. Even the little bell contraption had been devoured alongside it. 

A twang of fatigue washed over me. It seems for now I only have a few more uses of this ability. 

I trod carefully through the door checking for any guards before rushing to a nearby house. Using my claws I nimbly climbed up it and began sprinting full speed across the roofs. It felt almost natural now with how much I had been doing it lately. 

Time was running out. Soon enough Skulk would find my cage empty and most likely pursue himself. I know firsthand his speed. He would also alert the other guards to my presence. 

I continued running at full pace ignoring any tiredness in my legs. About halfway across the city, I heard a familiar bell sound ring out. It seems my time was up. They had discovered the cell empty. Upon hearing the bell I dropped down into the streets and pulled my hood over my head. 

Using the shadows as cover I stared down at the ground as I walked through the streets. Skulk would no doubt expect me to leave vier the rooftops. I would have to deceive him if I wanted to escape unscathed. 

Even now with my powers a battle with Skulk who seems to have much more control over his powers and is able to use them more often. I walked with a brisk but natural pace attempting to blend in along the streets. I adopted a hunch to try and hide by increased height in comparison to the goblins. 

The occasional guard troop came running past however with the noise they made it was all too easy to slip into an alleyway when they patrolled past. 

The goblin guards were not my biggest issue, however. Almost twice had I already been almost caught by Skulk who came barreling over the rooftops. It seems he has used his illusionary clones to scout around the city for me. 

I was almost caught the second time as he managed to jump right over the alleyway I had ducked into. 

It took almost double the time the first half took but eventually, I managed to reach the edge of the city perimeter. The large wooden walls looked imposing however I knew first-hand of their ease of climbing. 

Finding a particularly shady spot hidden from the rest of the city's view by a few larger wooden buildings I began my ascent. Coming near the top of the wall I clambered up and onto the small walkway. 

Dusting myself off I began preparing for my glorious trip out of this shit hole when my vision blurred. 

It was so minor that it felt almost like nothing had happened however the power which not sat dormant in my chest exploded into movement. A feeling of distress and impending doom loomed over me. 

An illusion. 

Skulk had found me. 

I immediately followed the natural instinctual feeling which now flooded my mind and released the endless sea of colours from my body. However, the scene before me was much different. Surrounding my body was a thin blue layer. 

The swirling tornado of colours quickly began attacking the layer of blue causing it to slowly seep away from my body. 

My vision returned to normal as the colours returned to me. 

I gazed out across the city to see around 10 figures darting across rooftops before me. 

Skulks clones most likely. 

Using the time before they reached me I hopped the other side of the wall and slid down it as nimbly as I could muster. 

I began pelting it across the grasslands. 

Skulk was quicker.

I eventually slid to a stop as 10 Figures created a wide encircling of me.

Thankfully it seemed I just about made it out of the radius that the goblins could shoot at me from the city walls. 

Unhelpfully I now had to face this 'artisan'. 

I can not yet beat Skulk in a fair fight. The illusion he placed on me earlier was easily detectable however even now I could not tell apart the ten figures which stood around me. 

However, I did not need to beat Skulk in a fight. 

I just needed to reach the camp alive.

I readied myself for battle letting the colours seep from my body to spread across the ground around me. 

The same grin appeared on all ten figures. Then ten voices echoed across the grass field. 

"Let's see how strong you are little rat"