She Who Lurks In The Shadows

A hundred sharp pains awoke the Man, like tiny knives stabbing him all over. He didn’t move, but his eyes cracked open just enough to see the furry vermin that haunted the cells all around him. He waited for everything to fade to black… but something wouldn’t let him go just yet. Frantic noises filled the cellblock, reaching his ears and anchoring him to reality.

The prisoners in the cell, in all the cells, were in the process of escaping. Somehow, they’d grabbed one of the guards, killed him, and taken the key. They were running wild, using whatever makeshift weapons they could find.

Let them have their fun. He rolled over and settled into his rest again. Pain flared all over his body as the bites started anew. Despite lying perfectly still, the teeth of the rats weren’t breaking the skin. They were just nipping at him.

My friends, please take me away, please…

Rise, my Lord. A gravelly female voice echoed in his mind suddenly, rousing him. He sat up, the rats scattering when he did.

“Who said that?” the Man asked, but nobody could hear him over the cacophony. The prisoners were cheering; they’d clubbed another guard, then advanced to the stairs leading to the exit. There’d be more guards there, but it was late at night and the cells weren’t designed to protect from a full scale escape.

Rise, my Lord. Follow the little ones. He held his head as his vision darkened, the pain almost overwhelming him for a moment before it cleared. A rat jumped onto his lap and squeaked. In the dim light it almost seemed like it had… gold teeth?

“Leave me alone! I just want to die here!” he shouted at the creature.

No you don’t, not yet. The rat stared into his eyes. Was the voice coming from it? I can give you the one thing you really want.

The rat hopped off his lap and ran down the now empty hallway. The others looked at the Man, tempted to try one more nibble to get him moving. He waved them away and limped down the hall, following his fuzzy guides.

Following rats to escape a prison break, he thought, his dry lips crinkling into their first smile for months. Maybe I really did die and this is the afterlife?

Pent up anger from months of mistreatment was unleashed in the cellblock. Some prisoners had been killed but more guards were. He followed the trail of carnage to the ground floor, the doors wide open and completely unattended; any still living guards were probably chasing down all the escapees.

Whistles were blowing and he heard shouting in the distance as the city roused. Soon every guard and probably even the Adventurer’s Guild would be hunting them down. He ducked down an alley as he heard heavy footsteps behind him, praying nobody saw him.

“Alright, now where?” he hissed to the rats guiding him. They led him to the edge of the canal, towards the bridge.

He spun around suddenly as a hand gripped his shoulder. It was a person wrapped in a heavy cloak, their face wreathed in shadows. They plunged a dagger into the Man’s stomach. He stared in shock for a moment, hoping for a reason, a moment of understanding why this was happening to him.

The mask of shadow stared back blankly, then pushed him over the rail.

He landed heavily on the ledge below, his vision fading fast.

…

He drifted in and out of consciousness as the world moved around him. The cold, dripping tunnels of the sewers were above him, and dozens of small fuzzy bodies beneath him. He was being… carried by the horde of rats?

A woman’s voice, low and gravelly, whispered in his ear. “Oh, gentle one. You have offered succour to my little ones, so I offer it to you now.”

He blinked and tried to focus on the source, but couldn’t. “Who…?”

“Entrust your life unto me, tend to the lost and lonely little ones of the city, and in return I shall bind your soul to your body and give you the power to take vengeance."

"No... I don't want to…” he weakly shook his head. “I want to go into the darkness..."

"Little one... I am the darkness, and you shall be my sword and shield.” Her voice echoed through the stone halls. “Take my oath and save others from the same fate you suffered."

"I..." His sister's face rose in his memory. His kind, caring, warm sister… He longed to meet her again, and maybe he could if he let go, but… what would she want him to do? His vision of her face changed to gaunt from the plague, the red flecks from her bloody cough on her lips.

"I... I accept. I take your oath."

"Heh heh heh... sleep now, little one. You must rest."

…

The Man awoke with a throbbing headache, but a hand was gently brushing through his hair and his head was resting on something soft and warm. Someone’s lap? He opened his eyes slowly to pitch darkness and heard a yelp. His head fell to the stone ground as the pillow and the hand being so quickly withdrawn he hit his head on the ground.

“Ow!”

“My Lord, I-” the same gravelly female voice as before came from the darkness around him. “Ahem- you’re finally awake, my Lord.”

The Man looked around the room. His left eye could only see pure darkness, but the other could see vague glimpses of the stone catacomb-like structures that made up the ancient sewers. He raised his hands to his face and tried to clear what was impeding his vision. There wasn’t anything there. At all.

The eye was missing.

A large rat with a beard of grey fur around its mouth—and what appeared to be a scowl—trundled over, carrying a lit oil lamp on its back. It lit up the area around them, but the room was massive. The end opposite the door stretched forever into the darkness.

“My Goddess,” he growled, looking beyond the ring of light.

Did that rat just-

The rat cleared his throat. “Our esteemed guest, you find yourself in the presence of the protector of the lost and lonely, the one who answers prayers in the deepest night, the gnawing below, she who lurks in the shadows…” He raised an eyebrow at the Man’s lack of reaction. “Nivel, the Rat God.”

“Rat god?” The Man chuckled. “What is-”

“KNEEL”

The word resounded through his skull like a thousand hissing rats. The pressure forced him to take one knee and looked down. It came from the direction the old rat was looking. Slow footsteps echoed, but it sounded like claws scratching on the stones.

“Lift your head, Lord.”

His vision swam as he tried to understand the shape that was just beyond the edge of the light: a massive rat skull with burning green eyes atop a cloak of the purest darkness, thousands of rats scurrying up and down it. Waves of Shadow magic pulsed out of her, buffeting his body and mind.

Overwhelmed and dizzy, he staggered and knocked over the lamp, causing it to roll over to where the shadow was. The rats around the god scattered as the shadows were chased away. The room didn’t seem that large, and the god had nowhere to run. She squeaked in surprise as her true form was revealed.

“Are you… is this… what?” The Man was dumbfounded.

The god turned around quickly and covered herself with her cloak, the rats jumping up to shield her from sight.

“Don’t look! You’re not prepared for my true form!”

Nausea overwhelmed him. He turned around and threw up in the corner.

“W-w-what? Am I that scary?” She sounded disappointed.

“No, I…” he held his head. “I feel a little better now. The dizziness is gone.”

“Ahh!” She turned around, triumphant. “That would have been from my herbal mixtures. You’ve had the honor of surviving on my tender care for two weeks now.”

Now that she was in the light, he could get a good look at this “rat god”. She was shorter and appeared younger than him, with pale skin and shining green eyes. Her clothing was straight out of the stories of the Druids: dark, long cloak and robes—but hers were almost just scraps. Covered in stains with tattered edges, the robe ended abruptly above her knees, and her bare feet were somehow spotless despite being in the sewers. Fingerless gloves could be seen beneath the long sleeves.

Her rats had worked hard to adorn her with trinkets befitting her station, though. She had a gold necklace, headband, and belt, which had a golden sickle and stained pouch attached to it. And, appropriate for her status as a “god of rats”, she had a rat’s tail curling out the back of her robe, and the tips of her large round rat ears poked through her wavy black hair.

“Are you… actually a rat god? Or are you just some crazy herbalist running around the sewers?”

The lamp snuffed out as her eyes began to glow a blinding green. He strained against the waves of darkness that began to emanate from her again, and the room began to fill with hundreds—no, thousands of red eyes.

“You accepted my oath and knelt before me, and now…” she re-lit the lamp beside him, the dark energy subsiding. She smiled. “Now I will teach you how to use the shadows.”

So I didn’t dream it the first time… that was definitely not a herbalist’s magic, he thought. 

“Alright, I understand- actually, I don’t understand… what do you mean by the ‘lost and lonely?’”

“Why, all of my beloved little ones, of course!” She opened her arms and her cloak dissolved into a mass of rats that swarmed through his legs. He jumped back, careful not to stand on any.

“The humans above are so cruel to them, always so cruel, and nobody was looking out for them…” She bent down to pet the head of one of the rats at her feet. “...until you came along, that is.”

Did they have such little kindness that a slum kid feeding them scraps was enough? He held back a smile. It would have been enough for me.

“But my little ones aren’t the only lost and lonely ones, are they? You are, too.” She stepped closer and opened her arms. He flinched, expecting the rats to burst out again, but they didn’t. She smiled softly at him and waited until he felt the warm darkness radiate from her. “I’m here for you, too, my little lost Lord.”

He tentatively stepped closer, then collapsed to his knees and hugged her. He felt her arms wrap around his head, and it was warm, so warm. Tears welled up in his eyes as she stroked his hair.

It’s not fair. It’s never been fair. The words repeated over and over in his head.

“No. Not for you,” the words were in the air and in his head at once. “But maybe you can make it fair for the others.”

The goddess released him and wiped away his tears with her thumbs, her bright face smiling above him.