The Rats

The three rushed towards the blacksmith's shop to see if they could help Thea's mother in time. Granny's old legs pushed her forward with urgency the likes of which Arne had never seen. Arne thought she ran like someone in their prime, which made him wonder how old Granny really was. Mr. Gregory had explained in the past that those with higher ranks live longer, so what rank was Granny? Arne pulled himself out of his daydream as he remembered the fragile equipment he was carrying. There was no way he would risk the life of Thea's mother by getting lost in thought.

Soon, Thea's home came into view, and they rushed inside, clamoring towards the door upstairs. The forge was still silent. They quickly navigated their way around the front counter and to the door upstairs, when they opened it, they were met with a staircase lit only by the light of the flickering candle on the wall. As Arne turned to close the door behind them, he noticed an assortment of cards hidden behind the counter. Most likely, they had weapons and armor sealed within which made both sale and storage a simple matter. He shook his head, shut the door, and followed closely behind Granny and Eli, who were walking up the stairs.

The stairs were very simple, just the essentials. A simple handrail was on the right side, and the steps themselves were planks stretched between the two walls. Arne looked up the stairs as he walked, and there stood Thea's father. He was the same as before, exhaustion prevalent on his face, but the lines of stress eased when he saw the entourage quickly ascending the stairs. His tense body relaxed at the sight of Granny.

"Thank the gods you are here ma'am. It has taken all we've got to keep her still. I've been trying to keep her fever down all morning, but it only seems to get worse. I could barely keep myself together when she started turning so deathly pale, let alone keep her stable. I've sent Thea to get cool water from the well several times, but it doesn't seem to help all that much. Is there anything I can do? She's in the bedroom." rambled Thea's father, obviously still nervous. He led the trio into their bedroom, and Arne immediately noticed the severity of the problem.

Thea sat in the corner of the room with dark bags underneath her eyes, and her face was raw with old tears. On the bed beside her sat a kind-looking woman. She was deathly pale, and the rise and fall of her chest was slow and pained. Her eyes were shut, but her ears perked up at the sound of people entering the room.

Granny immediately got to work.

"Set those things around the bed and on the nightstand for me you two." said Granny, a hard and lucid focus clear in her eyes, like a charging stallion.

Within seconds, she had grabbed what she needed and methodically examined Thea's mother's body. Luckily she was still dressed in her nightgown, but Granny made the two boys turn around nonetheless.

"It is as I thought," said Granny, as soon as she noticed the small rash around Thea's mother's ankle.

"When did she first appear sick?" asked Granny, as she changed the wet rag over the mother's head for a new one.

"It was this morning, when I first woke up." said Thea's father, "She was hotter than the forge, and it took everything from both me and Thea to keep her fever down. Something must have happened last night when she went to get water for dinner. She never really leaves the house for much else." he speculated. It was clear that Granny's presence gave him great peace of mind, as he was not made for the more delicate matters such as medicine.

Granny was one of the oldest residents of the village, being an old friend of the former mayor. Arne had heard that she was quite the gifted mage, and even graduated from one of the magic academies. At least that's what Lily told him, she has a habit of exaggerating things a tiny bit.

Granny has birthed almost three generations in Lumin Town, in fact, she was the doctor for Thea's mother when she was young. It gave the burly blacksmith solace knowing that someone who has taken good care of his wife her whole life is here taking care of her now.

"Luckily," said Granny, "this disease is not something entirely new, over the past day we have had almost twenty similar cases. They all have something in common besides the symptoms, and that is this strange rash around the ankles." She points to the irritation on her ankle.

"Normally rashes would be all around the body, but what is so strange is that apart from this rash, there is no semblance of any other rash across the whole body. Unless of course the rash was there prior to the illness." She looks at the smith into his eyes.

"Are you absolutely certain that she has only gone out for water in the past day?"

"I am."

"Then that narrows the cause. She must've gotten sick somehow from her trip from here to the well in the evening." said Granny, before explaining how to continue to care for her throughout the next few days until she is back on her feet, and let's the smith know to find her if anything strange happens.

Arne and Eli looked at each other and nodded. Then they approached Thea since Granny didn't really need their help for anything besides carrying medical tools. As they approach she straightens her posture in her chair and looks at both of them, to express her gratitude.

"Thank you for getting help. I'm not sure how my mother would've fared without a medical expert. I would have gotten help myself, but training yesterday tired me out. I really don't want to admit it either, but the prospect of Lily teaching us some magic training made me lose some sleep." her eyes drift away from them and she trails off, slightly embarrassed.

Eli blushes at the praise, and scratches the back of his head. Arne just flashes his signature wide smile.

"No trouble! That's what friends are for, right?" said Arne, before leaning in a little closer.

"Also, I have an idea for something us three can do tonight, since you are in no shape to be training."

Arne leads Eli and Thea out of the room, and puts his finger over his lips, a signal for them to be quiet. He then explains his master plan for them to sneak out that night.

When night fell, and the three had escaped from their families homes, Arne walked confidently ahead of Eli and Thea.

"Are you sure we won't get into any trouble doing this Arne?" asked Eli, his tone putting on full display his skepticism of Arne's plan.

"When have I ever gotten either of you into trouble?" asked Arne as his eyebrows furrowed looking towards Eli and Thea.

Eli and Thea looked at each other.

"..."

"The baker's when we-" started Eli.

"Okay, but that was different. We had no way of knowing the baker was awake." interrupted Arne.

"But what about the-" started Thea.

"Alright alright I get it." Arne said. "But this time is different."

"You said that last time." said Eli, glaring suspiciously at the rope Arne carried diagonally across his chest, like a bandolier. "And where did you even get rope from?"

"I borrowed some from Lily's barn." replied Arne.

Eli's eyes widened as he grabbed Arne's shoulders and turned him around to face him.

"You plan to return the rope right? What will Lily do when she finds out you took rope from her?" Eli exclaimed in an outburst of worry.

"I said borrow didn't I? Don't worry about it." replied Arne. Eli sighed in exasperation and trudged along behind Arne.

Thea interjected as soon as a pause in conversation, or quarrel, rather, came. She was curious as to why Arne took them out in the middle of the night, and with rope. After resting all day, she was curious as to what she would be using her energy for.

"Where are we going in the middle of the night anyway?" she asked. At the sound of her voice, Arne smiled.

"I was waiting for someone to ask about our destination." Arne quickly spun around to face the two. "But before I explain our destination, I must explain my train of thought. Eli, do you remember what we found this morning when we looked around for Thea?"

Eli drifted into thought before saying, "Rats?" unsure of his answer.

"Exactly!" exclaimed Arne, almost jumping with joy. "Rats! Do you remember Granny talking about the rashes around people's ankles?"

As Arne finished, Arne's plan fit together in Thea and Eli's head. All but what major piece.

"Then what is the rope for?" probed Thea.

"Well where do you think the rats are? We haven't seen any running around the streets since we left."

"You're right..." said Eli, just noticing the strangely silent streets.

"They are underground," said Arne, "in the sewers. While we were running around looking for Thea this morning I saw someone leaving the sewer from an alleyway. I wasn't sure how we would get down there, so I thought that rope might come in handy. I also brought this."

As Arne finished he pulled a sharp iron knife out of his pants, it was wrapped crudely in what appeared to be tattered cloth from some old shirt or pants Arne cut up.

"What do you expect to do with that?" asked Eli.

"We could use it to kill one of those little rats if they get to close." Arne explained, much to Thea and Eli's disgust. Despite training brutally, all three had never killed anything, and thus, had never increased their ranks by any percentage.

"Well at least you came prepared." said Thea, following a little more closely.

Little to Thea's and Eli's knowledge, Arne was not telling the full story. He had spent all day thinking up a way to explain his deduction about the rats, because what truly gave it away was his racial skill Prismatic Eyes. The lines underground, the strange white aura around the people's ankles, and the rats. While Arne and Eli were taking medicine to Thea's mother with Granny, Arne realized those rats he'd seen weren't white. They were glowing white. Arne had never seen summon magic in practice before, but those connections made him believe that something more than just a few rats in the sewer was taking place. Since Arne was the only one of elven blood in Lumin Town to his knowledge, he would have to either reveal himself as half elf for the town guard and military to take care of the problem, or he would have to take matters into his own hands.

It was time to find out the truth about these strange rats.