Rodent of Unusual Size

"Oh, an actual rat..." Mairwen took a moment to reframe her thinking as the massive rodent lurched and dove into the crowd. 

It caught one of the gnomes in its massive maw before anyone was able to react. The gnome screamed. Blood flowed.

"Stop it!" Lukoss bellowed over the crowd. "It will destroy the market!" He dashed forward to help, but not before yelling over his shoulder, "Take shelter. This is not going to be pretty!"

Alaron and Renat seemed as stunned as the princess. "What do you want to do?" Alaron asked his sister.

The princess shook off her surprise and reached into her saddle bag to assemble her bow. "Help, of course! You protect Hanna," she told the Guardian. "Eira! Gather any of the troops willing to fight and rally them, especially the archers. Put as many arrows in that creature as possible!"

Eira hurried into action while Mairwen got off her first shot.

The instructions had barely taken a moment, but already the rat was attacking the first building. The stone structure crumbled under the pressure of the rodent's stomach sending the pulverized dust sifting through the air.

The gnomes rushed at the monster, grabbing whatever they could to maim or injure the beast. Some had knives or shortened swords but most found unconventional weapons like stones to beat the rat into submission.

In response, the rodent only thrashed harder, spilling more blood.

Mairwen's initial shot landed in the rat's paw. The creature broke off the shaft, but the head remained lodged. The rat screeched, deafening those closest to it.

Its cry echoed through the chamber, met by a shout of defiance from the gnomes.

The battle intensified. More and more beings joined in the mayhem to slay the beast.

"Ropes now!" Eira screamed.

In two dozen archers divided half. The first group, like the princess, looked for any weak point that they might exploit. The second used larger arrows with cords attached to overshoot the vermin. 

The gnomes were confused by the ropes at first. They were flimsy and the gargantuan rat easily broke half of them. But as the second set streaked through the air, the rat's back paw became inextricably entangled. 

"The ropes!" The call rippled through the crowd as the gnomes started to take hold of the cords. 

Together they slowed the progress of the rat in a deadly tug-of-war. 

Tying two bolas together with a rope, Alaron ran forward. He did not have the strength of a Guardian just now, so he needed to get close enough to lob the weapon exactly where he wanted it to go.

Coming to a screeching halt, the fallen prince tossed the first ball over his head right at the rodent's gaping maw. The rat snapped at him in defiance before the bola arced and caught on his snout. 

"Watch out!" Mairwen could see that the trap was going to slip off before it was tightened. 

She shot an arrow into the creature's chin to secure the metal chain before it could slip. 

With the mouth and one leg subdued, Lukoss dared to climb onto the rodent's back. He was bucked away, thrown into the market, and crashed through the awning of a fruit stall. 

Covered in some sort of melon, he leapt to his feet and tried again. "Die, you fiend!" 

The rat objected to the command, trying to scratch at the binding at his foot with claws. A few of the ropes snapped against the strain.

The bindings would not hold for long, but they did not need to.

"Here!" Renat held out a spear to the king as he ran past.

Understanding his meaning, Lukoss sheathed his sword and accepted the alternative. The spear would work at a longer range, and if needed, could be thrown at the beast instead of stabbed like his blade.

Unfortunately, the rat anticipated the motion. He brought the front paw forward to swat the gnome away like the ant he was. To the rodent of unusual size, these insignificant beings were merely snacks. The indignation of being held down was already too much.

Lukoss braced himself for the hit but did not slow down or alter his path. One way or another, the spear was going to pierce the rodent's insidious little heart.

The creature's paw came down on the gnome with a tremendous crash. Mairwen gasped. A human would have died instantly under the pressure, and she was not sure if the rocky gnomes would fare any better.

"Try this," Renat came running from the wall carrying one of the torches. In his other hand was a canister of a waxy substance that he held out for Mairwen to dip the metal tip of her arrow. 

Mairwen immediately recognized what he was doing. This was the same concoction that had been sent with the Empress, which Aurora had seen fit to make sure each archer had a jar of in their quiver. 

The princess had not used the most recent concoction, but she coated the metal before Reant lit it in a bright woof of hot flame. 

A moment later Mairwen sent the shaft streaming through the air like a shooting star. Lodging just below the rat's right eye, the arrow bit deep into the flesh of the terrifying monster. It let out an unearthly howl and rolled on its back to prevent another shot from hitting the same spot.

Its paws came to its face, trying to extinguish the flames that were now singeing the long, wiry whiskers. 

The gnomes who had tried to climb on its back were now thrown to the ground, leaving the creature's grey fur and skin clear of any obstacles. 

"Give it all you got!" Eira yelled to the archers. A hail of arrows rained down on the rat's soft underbelly. 

The rat convulsed and screeched so that Mairwen was forced to drop her bow and cover her ears. It wasn't even a magical sound, just indescribably loud. 

Then everything fell utterly silent. Opening her eyes, which she had unconsciously shut, Mairwen viewed the monstrous rodent. It lay completely still. The shaft of a spear was sticking out from the rat's chest, having pierced the heart and finished the job of its smaller cousins. 

Slowly but surely, a figure climbed onto the belly of the beast. His clothing was torn and he seemed to be struggling against his injuries. 

Gripping the spear, he pushed it farther into the creature's chest to confirm that it was truly dead. Then he addressed the crowd. "Tonight, we feast. Break down the creature and rebuild the broken structures. We owe this quick victory to the humans. Their methods will help us deal better with these types of issues until the magic is restored." Lukoss looked across the way toward the soldiers. "Thank you." 

There was a muttering of thanks among the rest of the gnomes. They were not particularly expressive people, so the muted display was actually very effusive. And Mairwen knew it. 

She smiled and dipped her head. "We are glad we were able to help, Your Majesty." 

"The cave-in!" Someone shouted. 

The quiet energy once more became tense. Because the gnomes usually could clear rocks just with the flick of their hands, the creatures had not initially been concerned with one of their tunnels being cut off, but now they realized just how serious the situation was. 

Lukoss's shadow wavered in the torchlight as he hurried down the carcass. "We must clear the rubble. Now!" 

"Help the gnomes! Use the horses if you can," Mairwen ordered her people while pulling her own horse forward. The steeds could help pull away the rocks that were loose and carry debris to clear the way faster. 

Comping alongside the gnome king, Mairwen began to fill a pack with dirt to haul away. Lukoss's greenish skin looked even more green in the torchlight.

"Forgive me, Your Majesty, but is there a reason that we are so worried about the tunnel? Is it likely to cause other cave-ins?" Mairwen shoveled a larger stone into the bag. It was quickly becoming quite heavy.

The cavern was wide and open. It did not have any support structures in the middle of it like the palace did to support the weight. If this major passage was significant to the integrity of the hall, Mairwen at least wanted to warn Alaron to get Hanna and Renat to a safer location. Not that any of them were likely to leave her behind. 

"It isn't that at all, passage leads to the most important place in all of the kingdom." Lukoss groaned as he and a couple of other gnomes strained to move aside a boulder as large as them blocking the path.

Mairwen wondered what could be the most important room. The throne room? The treasury? 

Somehow the gnome king did not strike the princess as particularly vain or greedy. And all the other gnomes seemed just as anxious as he was to have the passage cleared. 

"Where does it lead?" Mairwen asked when the stone was rolled away. 

Lukoss took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from his brow. 

"The place that holds our entire future existence...the nursery."