Half A Hero

2

“Stay together!” Old man Logue commanded as the pack of gigantic rats slowly approached them. “Hold you ground and make sure you don’t step on the waterway or you’re dead!” His voice boomed as his steel sword glistened in the light while slashing the giant vermin as hard as he could.

Ghwyr was able to dodge in and out of their annoying attacks despite having difficult footing. Since he was unable to pull out his sword, he used spade as his weapon. He poked and bashed the attacking rats, and even gutted a few of them as they carried on with their mission.

No one was backing down. The rats, as big as it were still couldn’t outmatch them in terms of skills. Ghwyr and the rest of the men were able to kill a substantial amount of the vermin that the rest of them scattered and ran away.

Ghwyr was still able to kill one more rat when he threw the spade towards it and immediately skewered the rat on the head. The monster fell to the murky water, unmoving and dead. After their skirmish, they pulled the carcasses of the rats into one corner and cut up their tails as evidence of the battle. They were able to pile up a good amount of giant rat carcasses, thirty-five to be exact. Not bad for a small number of them.

“Has everything been accounted for?” The old man asked while heaving hard. “Check the others and make sure everyone is alive.” He added.

“Everyone is alright, save for a few scratches.” Another man reported.

“Was anyone bitten?” The old man asked again.

“I think there was none.” The man answered.

“You think?” Logue raised his eyebrow. “Give me an exact detail of that!” He commanded.

The man nodded and went back to check on them, asking about what they felt and checking for signs of a bite. Luckily, they had none. After collecting the tails, Ghwyr went back to the group and waited for the others to harvest their own proofs.

“That was a normal scenario inside the sewers.” The old man explained. “I am glad that all of you survived that!” He smiled. “Let us count our boons later. For now, let’s continue with the mission the guild has given us.” His voice boomed all over the place.

Although tired and weary, they agreed and immediately dragged the carcasses away, while some of them were starting to break the berg of manure blocking the drainage. After disposing the rats, he went on and helped out the other men.

He looked and saw in their eyes how tired they were. Their looks also told him how they loathed the job so much, but could no longer get away from it. The men broke the berg by pieces and threw the chunks into the water.

Ghwyr climbed the berg and broke it from the top. It took them a while to finish it and when it did, the drainage became a little better. The water was shallower, it was already up to his waist. He sighed in relief. However, it wasn’t over yet. There were still seven more drainages yet to be cleared.

They moved on to the next drainage. The second drainage way was at least peaceful. There were no signs of monsters lurking around, and thus they were able to easily clean up the place without any hassle.

The water was now up to his waist. Finally, he wasn’t having a difficult time walking around. The only thing hindering him was the thick muck and his unshakable feeling of dread. They already killed the giant rats, but still, there was that unshakeable feeling of someone or something stalking them from the darkness. He wanted to report it to them, but he mostly likely would be laughed at for his ridiculous idea.

He simply ignored his feelings and carried on with the clearing mission. After arriving on the third passageway, old man Logue instructed them to split into two teams, so they could finish the job quicker. However, just as they were about to choose their teams, they heard a weird sound from the dark part of the passage.

They tried to ignore the sound, thinking it may be one of those giant rats.

“Nah, those bastards wouldn’t be comin’ here after what we did.” Old man Logue said in his calm yet booming voice. “Best if we continue, or we might be here until sundown.” He advised.

“Yes, boss!” The men chorused.

As they were choosing which men goes to which team, the audible gurgling sound coming from the darkness was heard again. Everyone slowly turned around stared at the dark corner of the passageway. With the old man’s firefly magic draining him of his energy, they weren’t able to see the corners of the passageway.

One brave soul discreetly approached the corner with his own light and took a peek at it. Everyone stood still while nervously holding their sword handles in case something pops up once again.

Ghwyr could hear his heart thumping out of his chest, as he anxiously waited for the man’s reaction. It was the longest one minute of his life. He stood there as he waited for his signal, but still, there was none. The man tiptoed and hid behind the wall near the opening of the passageway.

Afer a few more minutes, he turned around and shook his head.

“There’s nothing here!” He shouted.

“Good! Now, go ahead and follow him!” Old man Logue ordered.

Ghwyr along with the other men, nodded and approached him. However, just before they could reach to him, the man waiting for them at the other passageway suddenly vanished right in front of them. From the distance, they could hear him scream.

“W-what was that?!” Ghwyr immediately stepped back and raised his spade. “That was no giant rat.” He looked at Old Man Logue.

“Oh, no… It wasn’t.” The old man’s voice shook. “All of you, come here fast! But don’t make any jittery moves.” The old man ordered.

Everyone walked away as fast as they could, without making a fuss. Ghwyr moved as fast as he could, but unlike the rest of them, he didn’t turn his back against the passageway. He stared at the eerily dark corner as he took another step towards the other men. Just as he took another step, the gurgling began once again.

He paused and with batted breath, waited for the gurgling to stop. The gurgling sound stopped a few minutes later, but this time, a huge silhouette with moving appendages moving towards them. The mysterious creature’s arm leaned against the wall while its nails scratching the hard stone, producing an irritatingly shrill sound, a sound of their demise.