The stinking mud went all the way up past Tim’s boots, making the already unpleasant journey through what seemed to be a sewer system even worse. With every step, his boots filled with more and more of the disgusting mixture. Ahead of him, far enough away to be barely seen, Philbert scurried along across the crust of sewage like a pebble on a pond. Figures that a rat would be unaffected by raw sewage.

Every mushy step drained his willpower further. He had to step heavily to break through the mottled skin of sewage, then yank his other foot free with a slurp, sending crunchy unmentionables flying onto his clothing. They were sticky on the other side. “Hey buddy, how much further do I have to suffer for?” Tim called out in vain hope after some sewage made it into his mouth, with only an annoyed squeak as a response. Tim could only hope for the journey to end before the battle outside finished.

Of course, it was quite easy to tell that it was still going on, since the shuddering of the sewer walls and the faint crashes and screams coming from the outside were pretty good indicators.

You know, I’m not even sure who I want to win out there… Tim realized, On one side, the heroes all seem to be dicks at best and psychotic murderers at worse, while the demons are an unknown. Tim’s sense of right and wrong – hate the demons, love the heroes – was rather unstable lately, given the revelations of the past few days. But this group of demons and monsters very well could have been involved with what happened to my village. Tim sighed with a faint hint of depression.

Tim was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he did not notice the sewage shallowing out, and it was not until he heard a squeak of rage and saw that he had accidently stepped on Philbert’s tail that he noticed the two of them had reached a heavily corroded, cracked iron grate. He probably would have been bitten as well, if not for the fact that his boots were so nasty. It seems even rats have their limits.

“Tim. This is it, Tim. Follow, follow me.” Philbert said as he squirmed through the gap in the bars that was closest to him. With an exasperated laugh, Tim squeezed through a Tim-sized gap, and found that it led to a hallway that could only be described as something that would be in a stereotypical dungeon. Even the air felt cold and dreary, sapping away at the warmth and strength in Tim’s very bones. Tim slowly stood up and followed the ever-quickening rat down the dark hallway, tracking drying sewage everywhere.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

A few minutes later, a now-shivering Tim stood outside a single prison cell, one so dark that it was impossible to see inside without a torch or some kind of magical vision. “Um.. is this where that friend of yours is staying? I think he might be out on vacation,” Tim joked, trying and failing to lighten the mood.

Philbert only stared at Tim, and then said with his usual monotone voice, “Yes Tim, this is where my friend, my good friend, is imprisoned. Bound by cruel shackles of cold steel.”

Tim sighed, knowing in his heart that the rat really was telling the truth, and hoping that the part about that friend helping him was true as well. “I guess there’s no sense in standing around waiting,” Tim said, staring at the cell doors. “I don’t suppose there are any handy key rings laying around, or a nice warden to open this for me.”

The scratching of paws climbing up Tim’s pants was his only answer, as Philbert reclaimed his usual spot on Tim’s shoulder. “Helpful as always, little buddy.” Tim looked at the rat, and Philbert looked at Tim, until finally the poor half-elf gave the cell door a halfhearted push to break the uncomfortable silence. And, break it that did, as the door opened with an ear-piercing creak and a squeal. “Well that was easy,” Tim said, doing his best to hold back his laughter as he pushed his way into the cell.

Just as Tim stepped through the doorway, the oppressive darkness that had cloaked the contents of the cell lifted, almost as if it was meant to only obscure the sight from people staring in, and Tim got his first real look at the ‘good friend’.

The floor of the cell itself was engraved with many different runes, ones that Tim had never seen before, and they pulsed with a fearless and holy light. Inside of the circle of runes, a thick barrier of salt and flakes of silver was scattered, leaving not a single gap in between the flakes and grains. And, in the middle of all of that, a rather large rat, one much bigger than any Tim had ever seen before, lay weakly on its side, not even acknowledging the addition of two more living beings in the cell.

“Well, I guess it fits that your friend is a rat. But, what’s with all of this magic stuff? These runes are obviously there to combat some kind of evil, no use in making them holy otherwise, and the circle of salt seems to reinforce that fact, but all for just a giant fucking rat?” Tim stroked his chin in confusion. None of the facts were adding up.

“Tim. If you still wish for help, to be able to do something against those ‘heroes’, use your fingernail to scratch the runes, the ones that fill our bones with cold, and scatter the cruel salt and silver away. Only then can our friend, our good friend, help you. And help you he will, for a life debt must be repaid by all, no matter their alignment.”

Tim stared at Philbert, noticing that was the most his ratty friend had spoken since they met, and feeling in his bones through that detail the importance of this matter.

“Well, you haven’t led me wrong so far…” Tim shook his head. “Fuck, you might even be my best friend now I suppose. Screw it, even if this backfires and I die, at least whatever your friend is can fuck with the heroes.”

With that said, Tim leaned forwards and used his fingernail to scratch out the runes. The light drained from them and scattered outwards, glittering in the salt and silver. Tim brushed these away. The circle was no more. As the light faded from the last grains of salt the enormous bedraggled rat in the middle of it all opened its eyes.

Tim cautiously backed up, but on Tim’s shoulder, Philbert merely bowed in acknowledgement of the giant rat, then opened his jaws and spoke. “Tim. You are also my friend, my good friend. Allow me to introduce this great existence. His majesty, the great rat king, once more may challenge all who wronged him. His majesty, the rat king, first and only of his line, comes forth once more to consume all.”

The rat cracked open its jaws and let out a primal scream. Even Tim could feel the power, emanating from the rat king, weakened as he was, and Tim could hear the distant squeaks of rats and the pitter-patter of their feet as they too came to pay homage to their lord.

“This should even the scales a bit.” Tim laughed, with just a hint of madness in his voice.