A Cat, a Thief, and a Wizard

I had to ask myself, philosophically, what do you do when a scorpion five times your size and made of ink wanted to eat your face? Do you stand your ground?

No, you fucking bail.

What do you do when that scorpion has you trapped on a roof? Do you question the life choices that brought you to this dire predicament?

Shut the fuck up brain, and run faster.

Round and round on the roof the fucking thing chased me. There was one of those square ventilation things on the roof and I used it as cover a few times, or the fucker would have got me in the first ten seconds. But keeping the cupola between me and the scorpion was a feat, seeing as the monster could just climb over it. Then round and round we went again.

Running in circles did bring me a needed level of calm that being attacked by a giant bug tended to disrupt.

I needed to get away from this thing before it caught me. I also needed this thing to stay here and not go after the little kids when I got away. Two opposite goals.

As I darted around the cupola again I noticed the lattice near the top. Perfect. I jumped up and bounced off the lattice to the far side of the barn, scratching with my hind paws as I went. The scorpion rounded to chase me and I led it in another circle. If I bawked a time or two here and there, I claim innocence. No one saw me do it.

I launched off the cupola a second time, and this time I felt the lattice work shred beneath my paws. One more time around, and I darted inside the hole I had made.

Being a vent and all, there was no floor. It opened directly into the loft below, forcing me to cling to the sides or drop down. If I dropped, the scorpion would leave and go after the kids. I had to hang on here as long as I could.

It wasn't super hard. It was just the right size for me and I could get paws on opposite walls. Then the scorpion stuck its claws in the hole I made and tried to grab me.

It's funny how the creepy factor of a scorpion's claws saved me. They were narrow at the tips, that was dangerous, but the back end of them was fat. And that fat end couldn't get into the cupola far enough to grab me.

Now I just had to move around, bang the side, and knock on its claw just enough that I kept it engaged. And wait for the guys to come rescue me with a fancy spell.

You know, if they ever finished yapping downstairs.

I pointed an ear at the little ones. Hopefully they had something they could do and were not just waiting around to be scorpion fodder.

I was relieved to hear Selendrith's voice.

"Hiding in here is pointless. They know we're here, so we need to get away."

I heard the sound of the loft door rolling a little bit.

"Does anyone see the one that went outside?" Selendrith asked.

"There's one above us," Alley said. "You hear it?"

"Yes, but I don't see any more. Let's get down to the street," Selendrith said. "We can run to the warehouse over there."

"What if another scorpion is down there?" Alley said. "We'd be fat ducks."

"There is! I saw it!" Pantry said. "I saw it running that way!"

"I don't see nothing," Hayfield said. "You sure you seen it?"

"I did!" Pantry insisted.

I heard the door roll some more.

"It's fine," Selendrith said. "We have to assume there is at least one more down there, and there might be more." There was a pause. "I can't think of anything better. We'll have to hope it doesn't look up. Okay, we are going to get you all over to that warehouse over there. We'll get down to the street from the other side where they won't see us. Here, help me with this ladder," Selendrith said.

The youngest girl, Loft, was crying. "I don't like this. I want to go home."

"Hush, this is what we was running from. They found us and we needs to get away," her older sister said.

The girl just cried harder.

"It ain't long enough," Hayfield said. "No way it'd reach."

"It extends. See how it's doubled? Untie that, and we'll tie it again there," Selendrith said.

So Selendrith was going to try to move the kids to the warehouse roof using a rickety ladder that needed to be fully extended. That was a plan that reeked of desperation, not good sense.

I whacked my tail on the side of the cupola and the scorpion stabbed its claw in at me again. I considered my chances of killing this thing. They honestly weren't good. Even as I clawed at its pincers, the cuts healed.

As I continued to scratch it, I noticed the size of the pincer got smaller. So, healing had a cost.

"Still short," Hayfield said.

"I've an idea," Selendrith said, and cast a spell. "Stay off it unless you are the one crossing. It uses mana faster when you're on it. There. Alley, you take the baby, and go across as quickly as you can. Be careful. On the other side, you can hold that side of the ladder steady."

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As Alley crossed the ladder, I clawed the scorpion's pincer again. The thing got enraged and attacked the cupola with its stinger. Dumb bug. Venom won't hurt wood.

Loft, still sobbing, started to panic as Alley got further away. "No! I want to stay with Alley!"

"Then you next. Be quiet or the monsters will find us," Selendrith said.

Yeah, that's totally not a terrifying thing to say to a child. It being true probably only made it worse.

The scorpion pulled its pincer out of the cupola, and stuck the other one in. It was a delicate balance, to damage the scorpion enough to reduce its power, and not so much that it went after easier prey.

Alley must have made it safely, because Selendrith sent Loft over a moment later.

"Stay kneeling, like Alley did, and don't let go. Hurry," Selendrith said.

Sometimes you can sense a shift in the room. The yapping downstairs changed in tone. The scorpion stilled. The kids were quiet in their concentration.

Abruptly, the scorpion turned away from me and darted at the kids. I scrambled after it, but it took me precious seconds to get out of the cupola. By the time I was out, it was nearly to the far side of the barn. I did the only thing I could do. I thumped my foot and made a mad dash bunny run after the scorpion.

The run ended with me in mid air just past the end of the roof. I looked down and took in the scene in an instant. The scorpion descended on Selendrith's spell, and shattered it. The ladder fell with Loft on it. Hayfield dove after Loft, grabbing her arm, but falling himself. Selendrith dove after Hayfield, one hand grabbing his leg and the other held onto the doorway.

Everyone was screaming.

The scorpion got a pair of legs on the side of the barn. It wasn't going to fall to the ground below, and would have free access to the kids still in the barn loft. I twisted in midair and aimed to come down on the scorpion.

I'd be exposed to that tail, but I'd get that fucker away from the kids for at least a few moments. Claws out, I came down on the scorpion and started tearing as hard and fast as I could. I was digging for China on that thing's back.

I knocked it off the wall and we headed for the ground. The scorpion stung me on the back of my neck. You know. The place with all the nerves and blood vessels, and the fastest place to send venom all through my body.

We hit the ground. The scorpion splatted into a puddle, and that was it for me too.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Seth realized when the screaming upstairs started, that he'd let himself get carried away with pumping Ned for information. The priority right now was killing the scorpions and keeping the little ones safe, not obtaining information.

The fight in here was nowhere near certain, and none of them could go rescue the kids without tipping the fight. Except, maybe, for him. He was having the least impact at the moment.

"I'll go!" Seth said, and scrambled up the ladder. He mentally prepared a Barrier, in case the second scorpion was there.

It wasn't. What he saw instead was Selendrith hanging out the loft door, slowly sliding out, and screaming coming from outside.

He jumped forward and grabbed Selendrith, pulling her back inside.

"No, no! I'll drop him! My hand is slipping!" Selendrith cried.

She was holding Hayfield by the ankle, and he was slowly slipping out of her grasp. His shoe was already half off. Hayfield was holding Loft by the arm, and she was kicking her feet like crazy, making them swing. The barn was tall, and it was more than a storey fall to the cobblestones below. With both children hanging upside down or sideways, they'd land on their heads in a likely fatal fall.

Seth lay on the floor and scooted out as far as he could and grabbed Hayfield.

"Not his clothes," Selendrith said. "They're loose and will pull off of him. Can you reach his arm? If you can get him up a little more, I can grab the girl and then you can pull him up."

"I can't easily change my grip. Can you get a better hold on him now?"

"Don't let go! Don't let go!" Hayfield cried.

"If you can't pull him up, I think I have enough mana left for a Barrier. I'd need two hands to cast it," Selendrith said.

"I don't have him yet, let me get a better hold," Seth said.

Seth held onto the side of the barn with one arm and one leg, and reached as far down as he could. He wondered if there was a spell he could do here. Gust generally blew away from him. He hadn't learned any spells that blew towards him. Something unstructured might help, something more like what he'd used during the Gauntlet.

It didn't matter. He didn't have a hand free for casting anyway. The best he could do was silently ask his talent for help, and imagine a cushion of air breaking their fall. And then do his best so none of them would fall.

Hayfield reached back as far as he could, and Seth grabbed his hand.

"I've got you. Now pull up your sister and give her to Selendrith."

Hayfield struggled to get Loft up to Selendrith, but after a few agonizing seconds, Selendrith got a hand on her.

"I'm letting go of Hayfield," Selendrith said. "I need two hands."

"Not yet!" Seth cried. "Hayfield, get your foot hooked on the side, then I can pull you up."

At that moment, Pantry screamed and started crying. Seth looked over his shoulder and his heart clenched.

Ned had an arm around the seven year old, and was holding a knife to her. He had a cut on his face, and blood on his clothes.

Both Seth and Selendrith froze, the other two children were still hanging out the loft door.

"Don't let go, don't let go," Hayfield still chanted.

Booth was up the ladder a moment later. His arm was dripping blood and his clothes were torn. "Oh you fucker," he snarled. "Let her go. Do you really suck so bad that you can't beat a kid five years younger than you without a hostage?"

"Drop the knife and get away from the ladder, Booth. Me and her are going for a walk," Ned said.

"The fuck you are." Booth put the knife behind his back like he was putting it away. Once it was out of Ned's line of sight, Seth saw Booth transform the knife into a white ring. He didn't cast a spell to do it, so it had to be his talent.

Seth didn't understand it. The knife wasn't stone. But the way Booth held the ring wasn't quite right either.

"You're after this, aren't you?" Booth said, holding up the white ring where Ned could see it. "The skull ring. The real one."

Ned laughed. "I knew you had it! All that bullshit about getting it from someone else. You faker!"

"Let my sister go, and I'll go with you to talk to Matthius. You get the ring, and you get me," Booth said, still holding the ring up.

"No," Pantry was shaking her head and sobbing. "Please, Booth, no."

"I don't need to let her go. I can take both of you to Matthius." Ned touched Pantry's face with the knife. "And I've got all the leverage I need for you to behave."

"Let her go or I'll destroy the ring. You can explain to Matthius why you let that happen."

Ned scowled. "You won't do that. That ring is way too valuable, even to you."

"You really willing to try me? You already told me Matthius is going to off me. Might be nice to hurt him back. Where did he get this anyway? Are they going to want it back? What'll happen if he can't deliver?"

Selendrith got the five year old, Loft, up while Seth had been distracted. He still had a hold of Hayfield, and looked down at the boy. Hayfield now had one arm hung on the doorframe, and was kicking a leg up too. Seth thought about the cushion spell he'd been trying to form, and was thankful he wouldn't need it.

Ned shouted, and Seth looked back at Ned and Booth to see Ned charging Booth. Pantry scrambled away. Ned collided with Booth and grabbed for the ring. Booth punched him with the hand holding the ring. They both stumbled, and then together they tripped over Seth where he was on the ground at the loft door.

All four of them, Seth, Hayfield, Booth, and Ned fell from the loft loading door on the barn's upper story to the cobblestones below.