But to no avail.

Ash fell silent, and the light in the tunnel had gone out, leaving them in pitch blackness. Creatures could be heard moving toward them, surrounding them, and none of them could see a thing. There were all sorts of terrifying conclusions: giant rats, huge cockroaches, massive underground spiders. Something patted Claire's arm, but then I heard the low babble of familiar voices.


A yellowish beam clicked on in the darkness: a flashlight. It illuminated the curious, wrinkled faces of a half-dozen pack rats, blinking in the sudden light. They chittered at her in their odd language. Several surrounded Ash, pulling at his sleeves.

Kerri keeps picking at the lock, determined to free himself.

She smiles brightly, chuckling. "I feel like I'm the friendliest person here. I befriended an ogre and packrats, gosh, your all welcome." She jokes, watching the packrats.

They jabbered nonsense and tugged on their clothes as if trying to drag them away. The pack rat with the tricycle stepped forward. He pointed at Clare, then Linna then Ash, and finally Kerri, then at the back of the room. In the flashlight beam, the mouth of another tunnel was able to be seen, nearly invisible in the shadows. It was only partly formed as if the miners had started digging only to abandon it. A way out? The pack rat jibbered impatiently and beckoned them forward.

(Aren't they bound to the wall though??)

(Yes, they are, but the packrats don't understand)

He continues picking at the lock, trying harder now that there's a legitimate chance to escape.

She frowns, thinking of a way to tell them. She nods to her arms which were bound to the wall. Then nods to Ash, who was also bound.

He chattered at the rest of the packrats, finally seeing the locks and chains, and they shuffled forward. One by one, they reached behind them, to the lumps of trash on their backs, and began pulling things out.


"What are they doing?" Ash muttered. One of the pack rats produced an electric drill, showing it to the leader, who shook his head. Another pulled out a butterfly knife, but the leader declined that, too, as well as a lighter, a hammer, and a round alarm clock. Then one of the smaller pack rats chittered excitedly and stepped forward, holding something long and metallic.


A pair of bolt cutters.


The lead pack rat jabbered and pointed. But at the same time, there was the clank of steel boots coming down the tunnel, and the scuttling of thousands of claws on rock. The knights were coming back, and so were the gremlins.

He growls, and suddenly whips around and bites the cuff. The lock breaks, but so do several of his teeth. He hisses in pain, dropping the broken cuff, and begins trying to free the others.