“After them!” the civet Reclamations leader called from within the storage chamber. “They shall suffer for their insults to our person!”
“B-but my Lord!” protested the chief guard. “I gave my oath!”
“We gave no such oath. Seize them!”
Jiao Tu exchanged looks with his companions. “Run!”
Chooha had just enough time to shoot the lagomorph an I told you so look, and the trio was on the move. A pawful of lesser Reclamations servitors stood before them, dressed in black but not in the full hooded robes of the guards. The three pushed past them before they could react, angry shouts chasing them down the corridor.
“Where now?” Zhu Song asked as they ran.
“No time for the ducts,” Jiao Tu responded, his mind racing as fast as his feet.
“Be…guarding ‘em…now…anyway…” The gang leader was having a difficult time keeping their pace. At the next junction Jiao Tu turned left down a random corridor, but he did not yet dare to slow.
Where could they flee? Away from Reclamations territory, perhaps to try to reach Systems? He had already found the mousling, so he no longer needed Mistress Zhu’s information. Yet he had not solved the problem of the mist creature. And he had exposed the son of the leader of the Systems faction to great danger, likely increasing tensions between the factions in the process. He doubted they would find Mistress Zhu very welcoming.
Besides, they could not retreat completely until he was absolutely certain they had exhausted every option to save Farrah. Or if no other remedy presented itself, Jiao Tu wanted to be close enough to deliver the blow of the ultimate option himself. That would mean staying close enough to Reclamations territory to come to her aid one way or the other.
But where could they go that would give them at least a respite from their pursuers? They would be checking the storage chambers now, and the trio could not afford to be trapped in an enclosed space again.
Help.
The word sounded clearly in Jiao Tu’s mind, though he was not sure if Black Fang was requesting help or offering it. He took hold of the hilt of his sword, and a…tone rang out, almost a melody but not quite. Chooha and Zhu Song did not react to the sound, so apparently the lagomorph was the only one who could hear it. The sound called to him, like a musician inviting revellers to dance.
“This way…”
The two ratlings followed him without hesitation, through branching corridors and past closed doors. They saw no one else as they ran, which Jiao Tu chose to take as a good sign.
“Bunny…” Chooha wheezed out the words. “Have to…stop… At least… for a minute…”
Black Fang pulsed in the lagomorph’s paw, almost as if it had understood the gang leader’s request. Jiao Tu did not feel tired at all, and he realized that he was scarcely even breathing hard. Given how long they had been running, this was unusual even for him.
They slowed to a fast walk. The sound the lagomorph was hearing still grew louder, to the point that he was astonished that the others could not hear it too. But if they did, they said nothing about it. It led Jiao Tu to a dimly-lit corridor and then into a dark chamber that felt long but narrow.
“We should be safe here,” he whispered. “At least for a short while.”
Though he could not see their forms in the dark, he sensed the two ratlings relax. Zhu Song passed around his canvas canteen, and the trio drank in silence. The lagomorph did not know what they were waiting for, but he could sense Black Fang’s anticipation.
As they caught their breath, the blade in Jiao Tu’s belt began to glow, faintly at first, but with increasing intensity. At the far end of the room, an answering glow appeared. Chooha poked the lagomorph in the side, but there was really no need. The scent of rotting meat had already announced the other presence in the room.
It was the mist creature…
Jiao Tu’s Endeavour 