It was dark out as I climbed up the side of the mountain. Mes had been right. I needed to push my skills in new ways and this climb was perfect. The mountain was mostly rocks and shrubs, but there was the occasional tree.

The incline wasn’t bad, but the tricky part was avoiding being spotted and climbing up silently. That was the entire point of this approach. To stop the Quackening from happening in the first place. My pace was quick and there was heavy cloud cover blocking the light from the moons.

I kept my claws retracted so the glint of metal didn’t catch the attention of any duck that was keeping watch. The white around my paws was coming back in strongly. While it was tempting to dye it black. I had decided to let it remain white. I was Mittens and while I took after my father, the white color reminded me of my mother and her white fur.

After an hour of climbing, I reached the top of the mountain. I took a moment to steady my breathing and cool down a bit and stretched out of sight of the compound. After a couple of minutes, I began moving again.

Racing forward, I made sure not to knock over any small stones and quickly got to the top of the plateau. The top of the mountain was very flat. Around the outside was a gravel path. While near the center of the mountain was a visitors’ center, and then a compound like before. A short wall, so the ducks could have some privacy.

Ducking behind a boulder I looked up and noted four ducks flying about and several on the wall. The wall for their compound also had lights strung up as well. They weren’t taking any chances. This was going to be tricky.

A stealth skill would be useful. Honestly there were a lot of skills that would be useful. I also couldn’t wait around forever, since Mousethief would be pulling up with the truck in about an hour from now. To gun down any fleeing ducks.

We were ending the Quackening here at the second Quack. It really was a catchy name, no wonder the Apostates were able to convince the ducks to do this. Also, their ability to mesmerize creatures probably helped a lot as well. Snakes really were overpowered including their ancestral spirit.

There! I could see a gap forming in the ducks patrols since they had become out of sync. I raced forward, and quickly reached the concrete wall. I went up and over. I pressed my body into the darkness on the other side of the wall and listened. No alarms or gasps of surprise had been issued.

This time I carefully scanned the nest area for any signs of an Apostate, but nothing. There was a building in the center of the compound, with four ducks on top, but they weren’t being attentive. The door was ajar and unguarded as duck cultists carried up small amounts of dirt and rubble. Their black coloration giving them away.

Digging into a dormant volcano after the last ritual confirmed in my mind that they were up to no good. Thankfully the ducks were a lot less attentive inside the compound. I made my way quickly over to the building. Timing my arrival as a duck turned back inside after just dumping some debris into the back of a truck.

I darted inside and positioned myself behind some barrels in the dimly lit room. A duck set down a bucket. “You see that?” he asked.

“What?” another one asked. The first duck made their way over to my hiding spot, but I maneuvered around the barrels, since I could hear where they were and stayed out of sight.

“See nothing Honk. You are just tired from all that flying,” the second duck said.

“Yeah, probably right.” They made their way back to their little beak buckets and I maneuvered myself back behind the barrels, carefully sniffing the air. I could only smell duck, but the last Apostate had a way to mask their smell. Another one of their myriad abilities.

I carefully peaked out of the barrels. It was the same setup as before. A single concrete staircase going into the depths. It would be impossible to hide myself while descending with ducks going up and down. I had two options, I could start killing by murdering my way down the stairs, hoping an alarm didn’t go out. Or I could pretend to be an Apostate and try and bluff my way down.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Neither of those felt like a good option. Or I could go with a third option do something kind of insane, but I should be able to pull off with my skills. I considered the angle of the staircase. The height of the ceiling. I even managed a quick peek to confirm it was straight down about five floors.

I went back behind the barrels. Time was slowly ticking down and I would need to act soon. There was a gap in the procession of ducks coming up the stairs. Time to act. I got up and sprinted around the room. My hind claws were digging into the concrete floor to give me traction as I built up speed in the room. I then turned towards the staircase.

Leaping forward, I adjusted my angle and went right over the top of the center of the staircase, head first. My front paws extended to either side as the stale air rushed past me. I carefully adjusted the positioning of my paws, so only the very tips of my claws, struck the ducks’ necks. They had made it easy, since one side was for going up, the other side was for going down.

My claws sliced through their flesh with barely any resistance, as I quickly descended. About one floor before the bottom. I retracted my claws as much as possible, and pulled in my arms. I hit the bottom and rolled a few times, coming back up to my hind paws.

The screams of injured ducks sounded from the staircase as they came tumbling down behind me. Looking around, it was another ritual chamber, but nowhere as completed as the previous one. I immediately picked out the head duck cultist with their seven duck head pendant and raced over.

There was still shock as they tried to process what was happening and the confusion at the staircase. I ripped open the head cultist’s neck and whipped the pendant off with my other paw. They stumbled backwards and collapsed to the ground dead.

The remaining ducks went into a panic. I rushed to the staircase to prevent any from escaping. My paws slashed out as I dodged their beaks. I wasn’t always able to give a mortal blow, but even leaving an injury was acceptable right now. There was still enough confusion at the base of the staircase, and I had acted quickly enough that none of them were climbing up.

I felt my danger sense begin to rise, but I had cut off any ducks from retreating and was quickly killing the ducks. The alarm shouldn’t have gone up. I spared a glance up the staircase while taking out the ducks, and saw three cloaked figures quickly descending with swords drawn.

I finished killing the rest of the ducks, leaving a small pile at the bottom of the staircase as I retreated backwards to the center of the ritual room. The level of danger began to spike as three Apostates entered the room. I needed space to move and the stair case would have been rough with three of them.

Their silver trim on their robes gave their ranks away. There was a female black furred fox with a wicked grin and a pair of daggers. A large male rat with white fur that had a spiked metal mace. Finally a cat. He had a large metal claw on his right paw. A cat claw, a rare and dangerous weapon. All of their eyes were a dark red. Visible proof they channeled the power of the Snake Ancestral Spirit.

“Think she is the one to kill Whiskers?” the fox asked with a sneer.

“Of course. Those Church whelps have a tight leash around their neck. I will enjoy the taste of her flesh,” the rat replied as he swung his mace a couple of times.

“Perhaps. But she is capable. I am Faststrike. May I have your name?” the cat asked. I stood proudly and burnished my claws.

“I am Mittens,” I replied. The male cat was slightly taller than me and we both stared at each other as the tension rose.

“The Church lies you know. The teachings of the Warrior are not but distorted over the centuries. Twisted by those corrupt mice in power. You know this to be true Mittens. Their oppression of creatures. Under the snakes, all are equal,” Faststrike said.

“As food,” I replied.

“For the weak, yes. But for the strong. Well, there is always a need for strong creatures to fight. There is no escape for you Mittens. Not against the three of us. We know your church sends you assassins out alone. Against one you might triumph. Two, we might kill each other. But all three of us, you stand no chance,” Faststrike replied.

It wasn’t looking good. Three against one would be hard. And one of them was a cat. I had seen how they all held themselves and came down the stairs. It would be an impossible fight. But I couldn’t falter now, no matter what. It was also almost time for Mousethief to pull up and act.

“You seek to erupt this volcano. Killing countless creatures,” I replied while making my voice waver slightly to make them think they were convincing me.

“Indeed. I won’t lie to you Mittens. For the truth will set you free. We are at war with the Covenant Church. Their guns, their bombs. They seek to oppress the world and all creatures behind a vale of complacency. Feel the power of your blood within you. Join us Mittens,” Faststrike said.

“She won’t. It is in the eyes,” the fox replied.

“She is right, I won’t Apostates. Now come, and face the wrath of my claws,” I said with a lot more confidence than I felt.

“I can smell your fear, cat. I will enjoy the taste of cat flesh,” the rat replied.

“Bloodtooth take point. I will flank her. Vilefang, guard the staircase and provide support,” Faststrike said. They were used to operating as a team. “We will present her as a gift to Master.” That was not good. That could only mean a High Apostate was present somewhere.

Bloodtooth the rat began to advance on me swinging his large metal mace side to side. Faststrike was right behind him, ready to respond if I dodged to either side. A very strong formation.