Nibbed to Death

“I think she is still being influenced by it,” Erel mentioned, watching the blind girl. Her head seemed to be pointing toward the sound of the children being led away in the distance, but instead of following them, she stood by, waiting.
“Perfect! She can help us track them,” Lyra mumbled.
The other two children looked confused about the conversation happening between the adults. The deaf boy, Cirin, finally spoke, his voice quivering with both confusion and fear. “Miss, do you know what happened to all of them? I, I hea-heard the sound so I came out, but no matter what I did, my mother wouldn’t wake up.”
“Shh, shh… don’t worry, they are all right. They just need a bit of our help now,” Lyra said, bending down to pat his head, her voice gentle as she tried to comfort him.
“Ou-our help?” Cirin echoed, still trembling.
“Yeah, we will need to go after them and help them back,” Lyra replied, her tone kind but edged with urgency.
Mae, meanwhile, seemed completely gone, lost to the tune. Words didn’t seem to reach her; her head kept tracing after the direction of the marching children, her face empty of any emotion. Ren, the dumb boy, on the other hand, seemed the least concerned about everything that was happening, his face somehow glowing with a blissfully content smile that unsettled Erel.
Erel felt unsure of how to approach the boy. The expression Ren wore just seemed wrong, and it made Erel feel uneasy, leaving him clueless about how to interact with him.
‘Why is he even here?’
“Oo… Of-off them goo…” Ren mumbled, his finger wavering as he pointed towards the group that was growing smaller and smaller, their figures blending into the forest’s overgrowth.
“Come on, we need to move, now!” Lyra called, already on her feet and moving quickly toward the trees. Cirin took Mae’s hand, guiding her after Lyra, while Mae followed helplessly, as though her body had no strength left of its own.
‘Wait, the hell! Don’t leave me with this guy.’ Erel looked at the now disappearing figures of Lyra and Cirin, then over at Ren. He hesitated, then extended his arm, trying to coax the boy.
“Come on now, good boy, don’t bite, let’s go…”
Ren simply tilted his head in confusion, then suddenly darted off after Cirin on his own, leaving Erel sighing heavily before he hurried to catch up. The melody had stopped, but in the distance, the sound of a hundred children walking through the forest echoed faintly. The sound of footsteps, the rustling of leaves, and the breaking of branches carried through the air as the night sky deepened into an even darker hue.
The five of them moved just behind the main group, keeping themselves hidden as best they could behind trees and undergrowth. The children ahead continued their aimless march, apparently still controlled by whatever force had grasped them. Cirin seemed the most affected, his figure trembling as his eyes darted with anxiety, though he managed to find some comfort by staying close to Lyra. Mae had no expression at all, her face blank, her head still fixed on the group ahead. Ren, for once, walked quietly beside Erel, following in his wake.
“Lyra, what do you think happened to the rats?” Erel suddenly asked, breaking the heavy silence with his voice, which was little more than a whisper.
Lyra looked over at him, her face thoughtful. “You think he might still be controlling them?” she replied, almost echoing the question back.
“It would be foolish not to consider that possibility,” Erel said quietly.
“You could be right. For one, the myth never really specified what the Piper did to the rats, or even the children for that matter,” she continued, her voice trailing off as she glanced at Cirin, who looked distracted and oblivious, his face still fixed on the group of children in the distance.
They continued to follow the group, though time seemed to drag as minutes passed. Cirin started slowing down, his breath coming in laboured puffs, but Mae showed no sign of fatigue. Ren, too, didn’t seem concerned at all, just continuing to march in his own strange way.
‘We won’t be able to keep going like this for long. He’ll give out soon.’
Lyra, too, seemed worried about Cirin. She turned back to Erel and mumbled, “We should slow down our pace.”
Erel looked at Cirin, who was panting, and considered suggesting they leave him behind, but the words refused to come out.
‘What’s the point of fighting for humanity if you give it up in the process, even if it’s just a construct inside a plane?’
“What about the group?” Erel asked, glancing at the children as they slowly disappeared into the shadows.
He was aware that they could simply follow Mae’s guidance; however, knowing where they were walking and what was going on in the group were two entirely different things.
Lyra held out her palm, and her crow materialised, dissolving into the night as it took flight after the group. Erel nodded in understanding, but Cirin’s eyes widened in disbelief at the sight, fear and awe mixing on his face. Even Ren, who had seemed so aloof before, now looked oddly excited, his eyes tracking the crow’s flight. Noticing their confused and surprised expression, Lyra tried to put them at ease.
“Just a magic trick,” Lyra shrugged, trying to play it off.
“Y-you have the gift… Fr-from the gods,” Ren stammered, drool glistening at the side of his mouth as he stared at her with something close to reverence.
Ignoring Ren’s rambling, they carried on, their pace more measured now, Lyra keeping an eye on where Mae’s head pointed. Every few steps, she would glance up, searching for any sign from the crow.
A few minutes later, Lyra suddenly raised her hand, halting them. The sound of something scurrying echoed through the woods, not just a single animal, but many things wriggling through the brush and leaves. The sound seemed to multiply with every breath they took, filling the air with uneasy energy.
“Rats!” Lyra muttered, her eyes narrowing as she scanned the undergrowth. Erel crouched and crept forward, wanting a better look.
Just past a twisted canopy, his eyes landed on the rats. But these were nothing like the ones he’d seen before. Even compared to the rats in the village, these were monstrous, their bodies bulging and misshapen, as if something had forced them to grow beyond their limits. Their eyes, tiny as buttons, glowed with a sinister red in the dark. Their tails, curved and splintered, whipped through the brush as they moved, the woods barely able to hide their grotesque shapes. Each was nearly as large as Erel’s arm, and there were dozens of them, maybe more.
“What should we do?” Erel whispered, glancing at Cirin from the edge of his eyes, who was now paler than ever.
“It-it w-was the Piper!” Ren mumbled, almost to himself, though his voice was oddly clear in that moment.
‘Wait, is he really dumb? That was actually smart for a kid…’
“We need to fight them. There’s no way around without alerting them,” Lyra said in a low, urgent voice.
“But if we fight them, the Piper might be alerted to our presence,” Erel countered, his mind racing with possibilities.
Lyra seemed to weigh the risk, her lips pressed in a thin line. “It’s a possibility, but I can’t think of any better way.”
“Okay, how do we do it?” Erel asked, glancing between the rats and his companions.
Lyra’s lips curled into a crooked grin, her eyes glinting. “We? No, this is your chance to get accustomed to fighting things smaller than you. Go ahead and swat away.”
‘This woman!’ Erel shot her a glare, but there was no choice. He unsheathed the sword that Lyra had asked Nobu to get for him. He still couldn’t turn his fragment into a weapon, so he had to make do. Lyra always carried her bow and dagger, made from her own abilities, a luxury Erel envied.
The sword felt heavier than anything he was used to, being double-edged and long, something foreign to him, but it sat comfortably in his hand. He scanned the darkness, trying to come up with a plan.
His tattoo hadn’t reacted yet, which meant the rats were not aware of him lurking close by. They were busy scurrying in the clearing between the trees, seemingly aimless.
Crouching low, Erel took small, careful steps toward their position. ‘Fighting them head-on will be suicide. They’ll swarm me in seconds. I need to be smart about this.’
That was when he noticed the clearing where the rats were feeding. It was surrounded by enormous oak trees, each one with hundreds of thick branches. If he could bring down even one, it could crush the entire horde of rats in a single blow.
‘What are these rats even doing in one spot?’ he wondered. As he crept closer to the tree he planned to cut, he got his answer. The rats were feeding, tearing the flesh from the remains of what looked like a deer. The animals writhed over the corpse, pushing and biting for a better share, the sound of flesh tearing and bones cracking filling the air.
‘Perfect, while they’re distracted.’
Erel readied his sword, shifting into the stance that Lyra had drilled into him. He drew the strength of the ouroboros into his arms, obsidian scales forming along his skin. Taking a deep breath, he raised the sword above his head, then brought it down in a clean, powerful arc. The blade sliced through the tree with barely any resistance.
The cut was clean and silent, but the aftermath was anything but. As the tree gave way, its bark groaned and split, leaves rustling and branches cracking as it fell. The rats, sensing something was wrong, froze, heads snapping up in unison. But before they could react, the massive trunk crashed down, crushing most of the horde beneath its weight, the sound of squelching and snapping filling the air.
‘That’s what you call a job well done.’
He turned to Lyra, who had a genuine smile on her face. Even Cirin seemed to regain some composure, looking at Erel with wide, amazed eyes.
“Good one,” Lyra said approvingly. “When fighting a swarm, always use the environment to your advantage.”
She closed her eyes for a moment, her mind elsewhere as she looked through her raven. Her brows furrowed. “They’ve stopped. It’s a cave. They’re entering it…”
Mae seemed to be growing duller with every passing minute, her face drained of life, her steps faltering. Ren hovered near her, watching her with curiosity but offering no help.
“Come on, we need to hurry. I don’t think we have much time left,” Lyra said, urgency rising in her voice.
They pressed forward, pushing through the last stretch of forest until they saw a clearing ahead. Through the trees, they spotted the mouth of a cave, a jagged opening in a rocky cliff, wide enough to swallow them all. The mud before the entrance was churned with hundreds of footprints, evidence of the group that had passed by.
Despite being so close, they could hear no sound from inside. It was eerily still, nothing but their own breathing breaking the silence.
“What do we do?” Erel asked, feeling his tattoo growing warmer, a sure sign of danger.
“It’s up to you. We’ll follow whatever plan you suggest,” Lyra replied, a sadistic grin on her lips.
Erel sighed, thinking carefully. “There’s clear danger inside. It’s best to leave the three of them here. Going in blind, especially when it’s dark, is suicide. Let me enter first. My cycle of rebirth will help us figure out what’s waiting. I’m pretty sure just walking in there is going to get me killed, but that’s the only way to learn what to expect.”
Lyra’s jaw clenched, her fists tightening at her sides. “I’ve told you countless times to stop using that ability like a joke. Do you really enjoy dying so much?” Her voice was sharp, but her eyes betrayed her worry and vulnerability.
Her words hit Erel harder than he expected. He understood where her concern came from, but before he could stop himself, the words slipped out. “So what do you suggest? It’s not like I asked for this. It’s not like I wanted this damn ability, or to be forced into a plane.” His voice was harsher than he meant, and he paused, catching himself.
“I don’t have a choice. I need to get used to it. It’s the only way…” he muttered, barely above a whisper.
Lyra looked away, clenching her fists in helplessness.
“Pl-please don’t fight. They need your help…” Cirin mumbled, his voice trembling as his eyes glistened. He held on tightly to Lyra’s arm.
Lyra crouched and patted his head gently, forcing a half-smile that never reached her eyes. She gave Erel a small nod, and he stepped forward, his heart already steeling for what was to come.
His steps were slow and measured, each one deliberate. The serpent tattoo on his neck blazed with heat, almost pulsing. ‘Without a doubt, death waits for me inside; the question is how.’
He entered the cave, feeling mud give way to rough stone beneath his boots. Darkness swallowed him up, the air turning cold and damp. The tattoo on his neck burned hotter with every step.
He felt it before he saw it, the stone around him rumbling, the cave itself trembling as something moved deeper within. Before he could raise his sword, he understood what it was.
‘Fucking rats!’
The walls seemed to come alive, hundreds, maybe thousands of rats pouring from every crevice, screeching as they swarmed toward him. Before he could react, before he could even scream, they were on him, suffocating him, biting and tearing with sharp teeth. He stumbled, barely able to swing his sword before he fell, not onto stone, but onto living, writhing bodies. They ripped into his hands, his arms, his legs, his torso, his face, he felt every bite with vivid clarity, until the darkness took him, and all was silent.

Chapter end