Size Doesn't Matter
By Rami Abdo
The rat poked
its pinkish snout out of the rock wall only as much as was absolutely
necessary. It took a couple of whiffs, savouring the myriad of aroma’s
emanating from the dark room before it honed in on one smell in particular. It
was a musky antiquated odour that caught its acute nose. After a short pause in
which the silence of the room was reaffirmed, the rat emerged from its little
hole and made a dash across the granite floor, pausing under an old sofa before
heading straight for a large sturdy oak table. It clambered up one of the legs
and found what it was looking for. Scattered haphazardly across the tabletop
was a pile of ancient books of all shapes and sizes. Half were open, others
were sealed shut with locks, and some weren’t even books at all, but more a
collection of yellow stained parchments sown together with dried toad intestine
For a moment
the rat felt overwhelmed with the wondrous buffet that lay before it, but it
only lasted a moment. It hadn’t just climbed its way up the entire length of
the tower only to marvel at the tasty morsels laid out so generously. Besides
there was no time for dawdling, outside the open windows there was fire and
chaos. A battle was furiously being waged between sorcerers and all the
creatures they summoned to act out their bidding. Giant feral beasts pummelled
each other on the grounds below. All manner of flying creatures soared across
the sky, swooping and diving upon victims unaware. Occasionally a colourful flash
of raw magic would burst forth from some obscure source, cutting a swathe of
destruction across the hapless creatures. They would be incinerated in a shower
of crimson fire or fall prey to another such gruesome death from the spells
power. Even as the rat watched, a bolt of bright blue energy pulsated out from
some part of the tower above him. It arched its way through the night sky like
a lightning bolt before fully enveloping a ferocious dragon with a sapphire
aura. The dragon froze in the air for a brief disengaging moment before it
disappeared with a pop and a puff of sulphurous smoke. In its place there was a
very confused pig. Unfortunately for the swine however, its uninvited
transformation did not grant its wings to go with its new form, and so it fell
squealing hundreds of feet below. It was promptly welcomed by the gaping maw of
a gigantic muscular beast, which was only too happy for the unexpected meal.
The rat wasted
no time and snatched the closest parchment it could find. It gnawed greedily at
the dried snack, its sharp teeth working overtime to break down its food as
fast as it could. It had barely gone through a single sheet however before a
trapdoor opened up from the ceiling and a hooded male figure swathed in azure
clothing descended from a ladder. His attire bore intricate swirls of white
designs and a few shiny pendants hung loosely from his belt. The rat was so
transfixed by this radiant display that it just froze in place, morsels of
mashed paper still stuffed in its cheeks. The man glanced up suddenly and
glared at the rat with glowing ivory eyes.
“Why you dirty
little rodent!” the sorcerer yelled angrily as he raised his finger straight at
the animal.
The rat
squeaked and jumped off the table just as a wave of hot sparks struck where it
had been feasting a split second ago. It fled from the shower of scorched
papers and headed straight for the window. It scuttled through the opening just
as another jolt of pure energy narrowly missed zapping its tail. It scrambled
up the outside wall as fast as its little feet could take it, only pausing to
rest when it reached the roof. Its eyes darted back and forth hastily,
searching for an apt hiding place lest the hooded wizard find it again. Unfortunately,
as it scoured the ground, it was blind to the new threat looming from above.
With a piercing screech and a flurry of feathered wings the poor little rat was
suddenly snatched right off the roof. The rat found itself fully airborne, held
firmly in the clawed grip of a vile harpy. It bore the wings and feet of a bird
of prey, but the body and head of a female. The rat struggled fruitlessly in
its razor sharp talons, but when it caught a glimpse of its visage, which
resembled that of a demonic succubus, it was paralyzed from fear and ceased to
squirm. It resigned itself to its fate, for surely it was going to end up
either as baby harpy food or as a stain on the ground far below. Instead it
chose to marvel at the beautiful scenery and the monsters clashing below as its
captor circled the plains, it’s tiny little brain barely comprehending the
series of events unfolding over its wretched fate.
The harpy rose
high up in the sky, suspending itself in the clouds for a short fleeing moment
before descending once more into the battlefield. It dove at breakneck speed,
the wind assaulting the poor little rodent as it felt its bones rattling under
its skin. The scenery was zooming in faster than it cared for, and its little
meal of parchment was slowly making its way back up from where it entered. Just
before they met the ground the harpy spread its wings and lifted itself into a
swooping arch and headed straight for the tower. Just as the rat was
considering that with his luck he had been kidnapped by the one suicidal harpy,
he was suddenly released from his confinement and found himself soaring unattended
through the brisk night air. He watched the harpy pull away and veer out of
sight, and with that danger gone, he decided to simply close his eyes and let
sink in that joyful feeling of weightless freedom that all birds must quite
take pleasure in as they breeze through the air. It was better than pondering
over the ominous hard surface of the tower wall approaching rapidly behind him.
Instead of
meeting his maker, the rat zipped right through the open window, bounced off
the spongy cushion of the beaten sofa he had scampered under previously and
landed with a plonk right on the oaken table of books from which he had just
recently dined upon. Being a rat of the flexible nature and of fleeting
disposition he found himself unharmed and thought why not continue his delicious
appetiser with the main course of a pocket-sized leather notebook that he had
been eyeing previously. That very same nature however had also caused him to forget
the reason why his meal had been
unceremoniously interrupted the last time. That reason was now seated right in front of him on a stool in front of
the table, scowling furiously at the ravenous little rat as he was about to
take a big bite off his most precious of diaries.
“How the?! Come
here you!” The man bellowed madly as he tried to grab the rat with both hands. Not
knowing any better than to submit to its instinct of fight or flight, the rat
leapt forward, the notebook still in its jaws, and scampered up the wizards
chest and face. Its unforeseen assault took him by surprise and he fell back
off his stool in a heap. The last he saw of the rat and his diary was a long
writhing tail which gifted him with a cheeky slap on the nose before it
disappeared in a hole in the wall.
The rat found
its way out of the complex maze of stonework that made up the tower and
vanished into the undergrowth of the neighbouring forest. Behind it, the hooded
blue mage was shaking his fist furiously as he expelled countless curses upon
the poor rat. Fortunately they were not of the magical kind, and all they
served to do was appease the man’s anger, for this measly little rat had gotten
the better of him not once but twice in the matter of a few minutes.
As the rat
happily munched upon the aged pages of its leather bound prize, hiding safely
in its burrow deep underground, the war above raged on and on. Unbeknownst to
the innocent little animal, that little book possessed a lengthy and
complicated chant which was integral to the completion of a very vital spell,
one that the mage had started numerous years before and was the key to ending
the war. Its mind was too tiny and feeble to comprehend the consequences of its
actions, or whether its acts that day were of its own volition. All it cared
about was that it had woken up from its afternoon nap with a hankering for some
dry parchment, and now it was nibbling away as merry as can be, all thoughts of
evil wizards and despicable harpies having escaped its mind.
The End.
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