Nightshade City (32 page)

Two soldiers, clearly brothers around the same age as Carn, stood up. “We remember too,” said the taller one. “We remember Julius Nightshade. He made sure our mother had enough food for us when our father was killed in a Topsider’s trap.”

Carn’s eyes brightened. The whispers in the hall turned into a low rumble. “Did Trilok or the Citizen Minister ever once ask your family for Stipend? Did they ever ask your parents to will you and your brother away to an army formed by criminals, once exiled for their despicable misdeeds against their fellow rats? Did they forcibly take your sisters and condemn them to a life of misery, serving the Kill Army majors and High Ministry day and night?”

The shorter rat answered. “No—never. No one ever asked us for anything.”

Carn’s voice grew desperate. “Then I ask you all again, who are the devils? Who are the true demons?” he shouted, spinning on the carpet, trying to see every soldier.

“Easy, Carn,” said Juniper, trying to keep him calm. “We hear you. We all hear you, and you are right. That’s why we’re here.”

It was too late. Carn could not be calmed. He shook his head, then faced the stage and pointed at Billycan and Killdeer. “It’s them!” he yelled with all his vigor. “They are the devils. They feed happily off our suffering!”

Carn jumped on a chair. The room thundered with noise. Soldiers were shouting at the stage, growling and cursing. Someone threw a
clump of dirt, clipping Major Foiber on his hairless head. Billycan glared menacingly at his sector majors in the front rows, urging them to take action. They complied.

A squat, thickset sector major in the middle of the front row jumped to his feet and threw his chair at the nearest Nightshade rat. The Nightshade rat and his comrades came at him with their spears, while the other majors stood behind their stout associate, brandishing their weapons if they had them and using their claws as blades if they did not.

Juniper grabbed Carn’s arm, pulling him down from the chair. “Son, we didn’t want another Coup! This will lead to needless bloodshed, bloodshed of the ones we came here to protect, to set free! This is not what we wanted!”

Carn looked at him bleakly. “This is not what anyone wanted.”

A major came at Carn from the rear, wielding a newly-sharpened knife. “Carn, behind you!” blurted Juniper.

“Traitor!” shrieked the major.

Carn, much taller than the major, pivoted. With a laugh, he swiftly kicked the knife out of the major’s paw, landed his foot squarely on the major’s throat, and pushed his face into the ground. The other soldiers looked on in awe.

Carn grabbed the blade off the ground and pointed it skyward. He shouted, his words ringing through the hall, “Long live Trilok, long live Julius! Leaders of the true High Ministry—the only High Ministry! Let their deaths, my father’s death, finally be avenged!”

The horde of soldiers, down to the smallest training lieutenant, bayed and hollered, breaking their chairs into crude weaponry, attacking the majors, whom they outnumbered twenty to one.

“So be it,” grunted Juniper, as he hit an attacking major in the head with the back end of his spear, knocking him out cold. Five young
lieutenants jumped on the fallen major, tying him up with a shredded tapestry and dragging him over to Ragan and Ulrich, who sat him on the ground among the growing pack of captured majors.

Juniper fought side by side with Carn. A gutless major had been hiding under his chair; he swiped at Juniper’s ankles with a razor blade, hoping to slice the tendon to the bone. The major bawled pathetically as Carn plunged his dagger through the rat’s paw, pinning it to the floor.

Cole, Virden, and Suttor kept their weapons trained on Billycan. He had been known to take out two rats at a time using nothing more than his claws. Foiber and Schnauss, daggers drawn, stood in front of Killdeer as the other sector majors tangled with the Nightshade rats. Major Lithgo was nowhere to be found. It seemed he had escaped.

More majors jumped in front of Killdeer, holding off the Nightshade rats. As Virden dealt with the pack of majors, Cole and Suttor tightly bound Billycan to his chair, while Killdeer followed Lithgo’s lead and nimbly leaped off the back of the stage, creeping towards Ellington’s Pub. If ever there was a time he needed a drink, this was most certainly it.

Victor saw Killdeer take his leave and motioned to Vincent, who had just skewered a major in the flank. Vincent watched as Killdeer slipped into the tavern. He quickly wrenched his metal spear from the writhing major, who wailed in agony. He and Victor ran behind the stage and into Ellington’s Pub.

The tavern was eerily quiet. Killdeer had his back to the Nightshade brothers. Leaning over the bar, he searched for a bottle of Oshi, a keg of ale, any form of spirits. Vincent banged his bloodied spear on the ground, forcing Killdeer’s attention.

The High Minister slowly turned. His face dropped as he saw the
rat before him, aiming a menacing spear at his gullet. Victor stood just behind his brother, sneering at Killdeer, all teeth. It was evident the pair were siblings.

Killdeer looked Vincent up and down. “Well, as I live and breathe,” he said glibly, “a green-eyed Julius back from the grave. I’d know that face anywhere. Come to kill me, eh?” Killdeer casually examined his nails, as if the situation were a typical one.

Vincent stepped closer, raising his weapon. “Something like that,” he hissed coldly.

Killdeer was unnerved by Vincent’s calm. He looked out the front entrance of Ellington’s, hoping to spot one of his majors. He saw no one. “Listen, boy,” he said coolly. “I’m well aware there is no love lost between my Ministry and your family, but you’re wrong about me—dead wrong. I’m sure Juniper has filled your head with lies, telling you how evil I am. You think I killed your family, don’t you? Why, it’s written all over your face. He told you that—didn’t he? A rat of great power, I’m quite used to being blamed for the crimes of others, but if you want my advice, I think you’d be wise to investigate Juniper. He always sought the limelight, and Julius was always the one to get it. Jealousy is a dangerous weapon. It can turn the best of rats into monsters.”

“I don’t believe you,” said Vincent. “You murdered my family.”

“Believe what you want, but if I were you, I’d watch my back. Clearly, you have the gift your father had, charisma, magnetism. You may not like it, but Julius and I were very much alike—you and I are very much alike—born leaders.”

Vincent stepped closer, positioning his spear, ready to strike. Killdeer put both his paws in front of him, as if trying to calm a wild creature ready to attack. His voice softened. “You must remember, at the time of your father’s death, we had just won. I had no further
interest in killing anyone. I only wanted to form my Ministry. In fact, I wanted to give your father a title as a peace offering.” Vincent did not waiver, unmoved by Killdeer’s version of events. “Think about it, lad. Juniper could kill two birds with one stone. He murders your father in an envious fit, and then places the blame on me—shameful, really. I’m sure you already know what a great storyteller he is. He can weave a tale like no other, all the while treating you like the son he never had. Am I wrong? I’m sure he has built up your confidence, convincing you that I am wholly responsible for all that is wrong in our world—”

“Enough!” shouted Vincent, his rancor building with every word from Killdeer’s lips. “You waste my time! You will not sway me. I am not a child, nor a frightened recruit of your army. I know the truth! I know my family was slaughtered by you and that white devil! All that time in the Combs, I should have been plotting my revenge on you, biding my time. Instead I feared you. But no longer! Sadly for you, you didn’t kill my father soon enough. He taught me well. I know the ways of liars and killers. My ill will towards you knows no bounds!”

Vincent stepped closer, his brother trailing on his heels. Killdeer backed up to the bar, hitting it with his back, as Vincent prodded his soft belly with his spear. Killdeer swallowed nervously. “Now, listen, boy, you’re starting to put me a bit on edge,” he said, delicately reaching for a half-filled bottle of Oshi left on the bar from the night before. “Now, I’m just going to have a little drink while we talk this out. I need to calm my nerves.”

Killdeer pulled off the cork with his teeth, spitting it on the ground, eagerly guzzling the contents of the bottle. “Ah,” he said, exhaling, “that’s better.” He held out his thick paw. “See? Steady as a rock.”

Vincent pushed Killdeer’s belly with the spear, purposefully trying to goad the Minister. “You know,” said Vincent, “my father said
your kinship with alcohol would lead to your downfall. If you’d like more, don’t let me or my brother stand in your way. Every rat deserves a drink before dying.”

“You have your father’s intellect and Juniper’s sharp tongue, a dangerous combination for a young rat,” said Killdeer. “This conversation grows tiresome. Now, once and for all, boy, I did
not
kill your father or your family. Neither myself nor the High Ministry had anything to do with it. They are dead, and tragically so, but not by my claws!”

Victor had been listening silently. He finally spoke up. “Vincent, I thought Father died in the flood. You said so yourself. You said our entire clan drowned. Didn’t they?”

Vincent kept his eyes trained on Killdeer, not daring to turn his back. “No, Victor. They did not die in the flood. That’s what the High Ministry wanted everyone to believe, a way to keep the peace and still carry out our family’s killing. The Great Flood provided a perfect cover for murder. Juniper told me the truth. I didn’t think it right to tell you, not until you were ready. I suppose you’re ready now. Maybe you always have been. I swore Juniper and the others to secrecy. I’m sorry.”

Victor came forward, stepping next to his brother. “You should have told me, Vincent.” His eyes started to burn. “There is no right or wrong in what you did. Had I been the older one, I would have done the same. The only wrong you’ve done is to yourself, in keeping the burden on your shoulders. Had we been with our family, I’m sure Billycan and his majors would have us dead and buried next to our brothers and sisters. You and I, we are all that’s left. We are together in this.”

Victor stared at Killdeer, who struggled uncomfortably against the wooden bar. “You gave the orders, didn’t you? You wouldn’t want
to get your own paws soiled, now, would you? So how was it done?” He sobbed as grief mingled with rage, then swallowed, and said, “Did your soldiers hold them down while Billycan slit their throats? Did he cut out their tongues and watch them bleed out one by one, as he so likes to do? Did he bring my father’s head to you on a silver platter?” Tears ran down Victor’s face, leaving small wet trails in his black fur.

“Victor, is it?” asked Killdeer. “Victor, I may be a hardened rat. I may be everything Juniper says and more, but I would never murder a family—never children.”

Victor ignored him. “What has made you so depraved, so vile? What evil burns inside you? What force lives in your heart, breeding such malevolence? I just want to understand. I need to understand you!” He stared at Killdeer, bewildered.

“Greed, gluttony, lack of conscience,” said Vincent. “There is nothing for us to understand. You and I will
never
understand the workings of his twisted soul.”

Victor started to shout. “My family, you killed them all! My mother, my father, brothers and sisters I never had a chance to know! I barely remember them! I
don’t
remember them!”

“Now, boy, calm down. This is all a misunderstanding!” barked Killdeer. “Victor, I’m not the bad rat you think me. I’m not a killer! It’s Juniper. He’s the reason your family is dead!”

Victor looked at Killdeer with disgust. Without warning, he ran at Killdeer, charging him, shoving his steel spear clean through the dazed Minister’s shoulder, the force so great it threw Killdeer over the bar, pinning him to the back wall of Ellington’s, as bottles of Oshi fell like missiles, smashing on the hard dirt floor. The spear lodged in the wall. Killdeer tried desperately to pull it out but couldn’t get a grip on the blood-slicked metal. Victor dug his claws into Killdeer’s neck,
anchoring himself solidly to the Minister. Vincent tried to pull his brother off. Blinded by rage, Victor accidentally kicked his brother in the head. Vincent fell to the ground, unconscious.

Killdeer writhed in pain as blood surged from his neck and shoulder, turning his gray coat a thick, matted crimson. With his free paw, Victor pounded on the Minister’s face, striking him again and again, crushing the socket of his eye.

Killdeer reached behind his head and grabbed a bottle of Oshi. He shattered it against the side of Victor’s skull. Victor hung loosely to the Minister, temporarily stunned. Killdeer was losing blood rapidly, his wits fading. He laughed as blood gushed from Victor’s ear. Frothy red spume gurgled from the Minister’s mouth as his raucous laughter carried through the empty tavern.

Vincent awoke to the sound of Killdeer’s freakish laughter. The deranged cackle sent a shiver through his body. He sat up and grabbed his throbbing head. His vision returning, he saw his brother still clinging to Killdeer, still striking him, his blows growing weaker and weaker. Killdeer laughed louder as he slowly lifted his uninjured arm and made a tight fist, aimed at Victor’s head.

Vincent rushed to his brother, who seemed trapped in some hypnotic frenzy. He jumped over the bar, pushed in underneath, and wedged himself between Killdeer and Victor. He grabbed hold of Killdeer’s silver medallion. He thought of his father as he wrapped the chain around his fist and elbow, winding it tighter and tighter around the Minister’s ample neck. He twisted the chain until it felt like it might snap. Victor weakly threw punches at Killdeer in a mechanical motion, his strikes no longer effective.

Killdeer’s fist suddenly unclenched and his arm fell limply, slapping the back wall of Ellington’s. He stopped laughing and grabbed
for his chain, now a silver noose, desperately gulping for air. His eyes bulged, and he coughed and gasped as red foam bubbled out his mouth. Killdeer suddenly went silent.