Ratface woke up to a delightful surprise; the act of waking up.

She checked herself and found that even better all her body parts were still attached. She even had her, admittedly stolen, stuff.

It was even better than that. Her once swollen leg was now looking fine and dandy. She put some weight on it and found that it was handled it okay. She’d only really know when she tried to walk. All in all, a real great start to a day after falling asleep in front of a goblin’s mortal enemy.

It took her brain a second to catch up with that last thought and she quickly scrambled around and looked at Abigail.

The old woman hadn’t move too far. She’d was over by the fire with a pan draped over it. There was an unmistakable sizzle coming from it and Ratface took a deep whiff of the sweet greasy smell of bacon. She had never been so well rewarded for failing to steal from someone.

She tried not to let her failure sit too firmly with her. It wasn’t like she was a thief by trade. It had been an exciting opportunity provided by the risk of starvation. Strictly speaking her actual profession had been child. That’s what her mum had said when she asked.

Abigail passed her a plate of bacon and eggs and Ratface did her best to savour the meal. A task she failed in spectacularly as she wolfed it down. The rat squeaked at her in indignation, but she was too deep in bacon bliss to notice its complaints.

After breakfast, Abigail directed her to do the dishes. Ratface gathered up the plates and was about to set off for the swamp before Abigail stopped her.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

Ratface gave her an odd look.

“The dishes?”

“You’re just going to take food to the edge of the water in a swamp and you don’t see a problem with that? Didn’t you ever go camping before?”

Ratface shrugged.

“Sure. Just not in a swamp.”

The older woman handed her a jug with a rune attached. Ratface pressed the rune and water gushed out into the pot which she used to start cleaning the rest. Abigail watched her in silence as she saw to her own chores. Her face was thoughtful.

Once that was done, they packed up and headed out for the day. The old woman set a brisk pace. Ratface worried about her leg at the start but found that it held her weight easily. She could even carry the rat which had attached itself to her shoulder. She was so pleased with her working limb that she dug out another quarter of her sandwich and fed it to the rat. The thing munched away on her shoulder, and she resigned herself to become a person who had a rat. She’d have to name it.

She’d heard a story about a master adventurer turned thief once. In the version Ratface had heard he’d take a goblin treasure from a goblin sorcerer, taking away their magic.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“You shall be Halmir the Sly,” she announced. She gave the rat a single pat which it did not appreciate, and smiled to herself. A fitting name for a rat who’d made her life more difficult.

“I’m glad to see you’re having fun but keep an eye out. With the golem gone monsters are going to start coming back into the area,” said Abigail. She had her greatsword out as a walking stick again.

Ratface kept an eye out but only saw more swamp. There were logs on the side of the road but they seemed to be just logs. The most dangerous thing that approached them was the mosquitos she kept slapping or that were grabbed and eaten by Halmir. That probably had to do with the giant of a woman she was travelling with. Beasts weren’t stupid and something that big and metal had been quite literally hammered into wildlife to avoid.

“The golem was meant a guardian?” she asked, “also what’s up with your sword? No way it works as a walking stick.”

The old woman laughed. She lifted the sword and handed it to Ratface. She was surprised to find it was about the weight of a walking stick.

“The scabbard is enchanted to lift its own weight and help support mine.”

“That feels like a waste.”

“It was a gift from my partner. She got sick of me complaining.” Abigail held out her hand and Ratface handed back the sword. In the shadows she saw something approach them, but it quickly backed off when Abigail turned towards it.

“City gator,” Abigail murmured, “Not much different to their alligator brethren other than their smarts. It’s probably going to gather the local alligators into a tribe. I’ll have to warn the artificers that come to fix the golem.”

She kept walking but Ratface noticed she was more alert now. She gestured for Ratface to come closer which she did with some trepidation. The woman might want to use her as bait. While not killing Ratface had made her more trustworthy. That was a low bar to clear.

“It’s probably got a group that’s set an ambush ahead,” Abigail said softly, “act normal but stay close.” In a louder voice, she continued her lecture, “to answer your other question. Golems are often used in the far-reaching villages to keep the local monster population down. Surely there was one in your own village if you’re from around here?”

Ratface kept an eye on the road. She imagined the alligators ambush would look like a whole bunch of logs, but she didn’t really have a frame of reference. Maybe they’d come from the trees? She eyed the top of them and tryied to imagine a climbing gator.

“There were no golems where I’m from. Tribes were expected to take care of themselves.”

“I’m surprised given you’re out here. Where’d you say you were from?”

“Lurian.”

Abigail stopped and turned to her with surprise. The information making her lose her focus. The City Gator used the opportunity to strike.

It came from the trees and Ratface had to commend it on its athleticism. It didn’t help it though. In one smooth movement Abigail drew her sword and cleaved the thing in half. The rest of the alligators, which had just been beginning their ambush saw that and recoiled. Only one continued. It lunged towards Ratface, and she darted to the side. Its teeth snapped shut where her ankle had been a moment ago. It was going to be the same leg she’d twisted too.

Ratface hissed and stabbed forward with her knife. She followed her mum advice about fighting creatures and went for the eyes. She slammed the knife into the creature’s eye all the way to the pommel. It twitched once then stopped moving.

The other alligators, seeing the swift punishment of the two who’d struck, began to back away deeper into the swamp. There must still be a city gator with them Ratface thought, because that was the smart move. She grabbed her knife and tried to pull it out of the alligator’s eye. It was a few tugs before she realised it was a futile effort. She’d really jammed it in there.

“What gives? You told me to watch out for an ambush,” she complained. Abigail said nothing for a moment. She grabbed Ratface’s knife out of the eye before handing it back to her pommel first. Ratface wiped it on her pants then put it back on her belt.

“Lurian is in another country. It’s in elf territory. How’d you get here?” she asked.

Ratface shrugged.

“I walked.”

She could tell by the older woman’s face that it wasn’t a satisfying answer.