The Seeker from Above: A Gregor the Overlander Fanfic

Chapter 21

Previously...

Although Stella and Gregor were well out of range, the rats began to leap for them immediately. They could not reach them, but they prevented the bats from flying down low enough to escape through one of the tunnels. Eventually, they'd would have to fight them, and it was best to do it now, before the bats tired or more rats showed up.

How was she going to fight? She hadn't discovered her powers yet.

Stella heard Gregor whisper, "now," and then the bats began to dive.

.

.

.

They were almost within striking distance of the rats when something caused the bats to veer straight upward. A third rat with an unusual gold coat had bolted into the cone right beneath them.

Ugh, now there's three to fight, thought Stella as Orion veered off to the side.

But as the ground came back into view, she could see the gold rat tearing the throat out of one of his attackers. Then it spun around, blood flying from its muzzle, to face the other gray rat.

Stella shook her head slightly, to clear it. What was going on?

"Don't be an idiot, Goldshard! He's come to kill the Bane! And he's bought the Seeker as well!" snarled the gray rat.

"I would rather have the Bane dead than have it trust you," the gold rat hissed back. The rat's voice was slightly higher pitched, like Twitchtip's, and Stella felt certain it was female.

"All you guarantee is your own death!" The gray rat crouched down to lunge.

"Someone will die, Snare, the question is who?" said Goldshard. As Snare sprang toward her, she went into action.

Stella had never seen a full-scale rat fight before. Never. But Now she had a bird's-eye view.

When Goldshard had killed the first time, she'd had the element of surprise on her side. This time her opponent was on the offensive. And Snare, who Stella was pretty sure was a male, was a lot bigger than she was.

The combat was vicious. The rats attacked each other in violent bursts. They'd circle for a minute, looking for an opening, then one of them would leap and there would be a blur of teeth and claws. As they pulled apart to circle again, both would have new wounds. Snare lost an eye. Goldshard's ear dangled from a shred of fur. You could see the bone in Snare's shoulder. Goldshard's left front paw was snapped in two.

Finally, the gold rat came in on her opponent's blind side and locked her fangs on his neck. In the final throes of death, Snare got his hind feet between their bodies and slashed open the length of Goldshard's belly. She lost her grip, staggered back, and collapsed. Her intestines spilled out on the ground. The rats lay a few feet apart, eyes locked in hate, bodies helpless. With a terrible gurgling sound, Snare suffocated in his own blood.

Goldshard turned her gaze to them. The look was pleading, and he was sure she wanted to say something to them. "Don't...," she whispered. But before she could finish, her eyes glazed over, and she stopped moving.

"What just happened?" Gregor blurted out.

"I do not know," said Ares.

"It was much of a confusion," said Orion.

It was a confusion. Stella hadn't understood anything that had happened.

"But... rats aren't supposed to fight rats..." Stella trailed off.

"Are they dead?" asked Gregor.

"Quite dead. All three of them," Ares replied. The bats coasted down to the ground, avoiding the pools of blood that were spreading out from the rats' bodies.