[Boboiboy] Made by History

Rocks and Hard Places

Warnings: deadly rat plague (mentioned), fire & burning, near death experiences, poisoning via snake venom, collapsing building (implied), ominous prophetic vision.

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The snake loomed above, head almost touching the ceiling, sizing Blaze up like a particularly tasty piece of meat. Which he supposed he was.

Why wasn't it attacking, though? It was just swaying its head side to side, the rest of its body coiled neatly in the shadows.

"Smoke and essential oils," Solar muttered behind him; he hadn't realised he'd asked that out loud, "Like the rats."

Greetings, Blaze of Del, the snake hissed. Blaze wasn't entirely sure that the sound hadn't come from inside his head. He gulped. It took him several moments to find his voice again.

"How do you know my name?" He asked in what he hoped was a steady tone. Though, hadn't Dad mentioned something once about animals sensing your feelings? He really hoped that wasn't the case.

I have the gem that shows the future. I am all-powerful. I am Reeah, the Master's chosen one.

"A-And who is your master?" The snake had eyes only for him. He could no longer feel Halilintar or Solar at his back. Apparently, he was to be the distraction this time.

The one who gave my kingdom to me. The one they call the Shadow Lord.

Out of the corner of his eye, Blaze saw two things. The first was Halilintar, just behind Reeah, climbing a broken column that had once supported the roof. The second was Reeah's body coiling up tightly, preparing to strike.

"Your kingdom is very grand, as are you, Reeah!" Blaze called in panic, pulling out phrases he didn't even know he knew in the process, "You must have been here for a very long time!"

Reeah hissed proudly and drew itself up. So it was as vain as it was big – good to know.

I admit– a mere, snivelling worm I was when I first came to this city, hiding in the sewers as the humans hunted me. But the Master's servants found me. In secret they bred rats to feed me, and as time passed I grew larger and stronger than they could ever hope to be.

It almost seemed to preen. Good grief, it was worse than Solar as a toddler.

Then they bred enough rats to start a plague, killing off many, and led the surviving humans away – for they were the city's rat catchers, and amidst the infestation of rats their word was law. Alone at last, I left my hiding place and roamed my new kingdom as the King of Rats, growing ever larger, until I became what you see today. I earned my grandeur, Blaze of Del.

Yeah, nice backstory, real interesting. Halilintar had pulled himself onto the top of the broken column, which placed him just below and behind Reeah's exposed throat. His sword was silently unsheathed.

"Where did the people go?" Blaze was still very much playing distraction, but a small part of his mind genuinely wanted to know.

I was not told. It hardly matters; they are long dead now. Human lives are so insignificantly sho–

The glint of a blade. The swoosh of a swing. The sword–

– bouncing off rubbery skin.

With an enraged growl, Reeah's tail lashed out, knocking Halilintar's sword out of his hand with the first swing and the boy himself off the column with the second. He barely managed to grab on to the edge with a slipping grip, but Reeah's attention was already elsewhere.

Blaze found himself diving wildly out of the way of dripping fangs, the torch flying out of his hand and setting another column alight. A pod flew out from behind a pile of rubble and splashed harmlessly on shiny scales.