Escape from the Isle

On a small island known as the Isle of Bloodbane, there was a castle.  In the castle, where Bloodbane ruled, there was the Gaol.  The Gaol was a damp, dingy dungeon, where Bloodbane`s army put creatures that they captured.  In one small cell was chained a squirrel, newly captured.  So newly captured, in fact, that she was still unconcious from the sleeping potion a fox had put in her drink.  The squirrel`s fur was reddish-brown, except for her tail, which was a strange rusty-gold.  She wore a mottled forest-green and brown tunic, and old battlescars heavily covered her body.

The squirrel, who`s name was Riala Goldentail, stirred in her chains.  Slowly her eyes opened.  When she realized where she was, they flew open in surprise.  Riala`s memory began to come back.  She remembered being in a tavern… Feeling sleepy… It had been a sleeping potion.  The waiter`s face… A fox, it was.  She had seen him somewhere before… Probably when she had come to Bloodbane to rescue a Wanderer.  Riala`s eyes narrowed as she remembered the name.  Kitsune.  He had captured a few Wanderers before.  How could she be so foolish as to trust a fox!  A fox, of all creatures!  The creatures she was most wary around were foxes, ferrets, and weasels.  And of course, wolverines.

The squirrel shook her head to clear it.  She took a look at her surroundings.  The cell was good and sound, no cracks in the bricks or weak spots, and no windows.  The door was heavy steel, and when she jiggled it, nothing happened.  The hinges and lock held fast.  Riala inspected her chains.  They were sound, too.  Not a simple twirl lock that she could undo with her dagger…

Her dagger?!  Riala searched through her clothing.  Ah, there it was.  Hidden inside the fold of her tunic.  But that mangy-furred fox had stolen her roce!  The squirrel almost laughed at herself.  What, could she expect him to leave it for her to kill the guards?  Hah!

Pawsteps outside the door interrupted the squirrel`s thoughts.  She crouched, watching the cell door expectantly as a key jingled in the lock.  The door opened, and the vermin Riala recognized as Ragsentin appeared in the doorway.  The squirrel waited as he came toward her, armed with a whip and a club.  She watched him carefully.  When he bent to unlock her chains, she pounced.  Riala wrestled away the whip and club and started beating him with them.  However, he guarded his head well, and the squirrel bared her teeth angrily as she couldn`t kill him.

"`Ey!  Wot`s goin` on in 'ere?  Ragsentin!" a voice said, and then Riala felt a whip`s agonizing sting on her back and head.  The stronger soldier, Blackgard, wrestled the squirrel off of Ragsentin and pinned her on the ground.  Ragsentin stood up painfully.

"Arr, Blackgard, I think she broke me back!" he whined.

Blackgard snarled at him. "If she broke yore back it`d hurt a lot worse!  Y`wouldn`t e`en be able ter stand!"  He turned to Riala. "As fer you, yer comin` wi` us!  Y`ve got t`learn sum lessons!"  He unchained her, then tied her paws behind her back.  Ragsentin took a rope and tied it 'round Riala`s neck, then jerked forward, almost knocking the squirrel off of her footpaws. "Yarr, y`ve got t`learn lessons an` learn 'em good!" he snarled. "I`ll make shore y`don`t fergit 'em!"

Riala glared at Ragsentin. "It`ll take you a while to forget the lesson I taught you!" she snapped. "Watch your pawstep around a Wanderer!"

Ragsentin growled and yanked on the rope, throttling the squirrel. "Aye, an` 'ere`s a lesson fer you!  Don`t insult a soldier when yer on a rope, an` 'e 'as th` lead!"  The squirrel started to say something else, but then Blackgard punched them both.

"Stop bickerin` an` git a movin`!" he yelled.  Sullenly, Ragsentin pulled on the rope, and Riala had no choice but to follow.

They came to a small room, with torture weapons of different kinds hanging on the walls.  Ragsentin saw the squirrel looking at them a bit nervously, and he smiled wickedly. "Arr, naw, we won`t use those this time!" he said. "We`ll jest use th` whip fer naow!"

Blackgard and Ragsentin tied the struggling squirrel to a post. "C`n I whip 'er, Blackgard?  C`n I?  C`n I?" Ragsentin asked excitedly.

"Arr, all right," Blackgard agreed.  With a look of evil pleasure on his face, Ragsentin snatched a heavy whip off the wall.

"This`ll 'urt, squirrel!" he sniggered.  Ragsentin drew the whip back, and brought it down with all his force, tearing into Riala`s already scarred hide.  The squirrel bit back a scream of pain.

"Well, another scar to add to all my other ones," she said between gritted teeth, trying not to scream in agony.  Ragsentin scowled and layed the whip on thick and heavy.  Riala clenched her teeth, and kept silent.  Waves of pain racked her body, and soon she was exhausted from holding back screams.  Her body shook uncontrollably from fatigue and agony, but Ragsentin didn`t stop.

Finally Blackgard snatched the whip from Ragsentin`s paw. "Look, Bloodbane may want ter question 'er.  So leave 'er alive, will ya?"

That gave Riala an idea.  She waited for her chance, hoping it would come.  Ragsentin curled his lip in rebellion. "Once more," he bargained.

Blackgard sighed. "All right."  Ragsentin rubbed his paws together, took the whip in both paws, and struck Riala with all his might.  This time Riala couldn`t hold back the screams any longer.  She screamed, immensely in agony, unable to control herself any longer.  Her back felt as if it were on fire!  The squirrel quickly tried to get herself under control.  She slumped in her bonds and breathed lightly.

Blackgard looked from Riala, to Ragsentin, to the whip. "I think ya killed 'er!" he complained.  He went over to Riala.  She held her breath as he passed his paw in front of her nose. "She ain`t breathin`.  Lemme try sumthin`." He laid the whip on three times, as strong as he could.  Blackgard was not tired from whipping, and he was stronger than Ragsentin in the first place.  The squirrel exhaled quietly before each lash, and gritted her teeth.  As a result, she had no breath with which to scream.  Blackgard was satisfied that Riala was dead.  He whirled on Ragsentin. "Look whatcha did, ya toad brained idiot!" he yelled. "Bloodbane was s`posed ter question 'er!  She can`t question a dead pris`ner!"

"Er… er… there`s allus another Wanderer t`question…" Ragsentin stammered.  Blackgard sighed.

"Take 'er outside an` throw 'er inter the water," he ordered.  Ragsentin untied Riala and slung her across his back sullenly.  Then he threw her into the water, and left.  The squirrel swam back to the shore, wounded and tired, but there was no time to waste.  She crept back inside the castle and found her roce easily.  Undetected, Riala came back to shore.  The squirrel dashed into the woods, where she found a hollow log.  In this log, she laid down and slept.

Riala was not one who gave up a grudge easily.  She would make a raft in the morning.  When she was fully healed and her wounds only more scars, the squirrel would return to the castle.  She would capture Kitsune, and then return to the Wanderers.

A few days later, a Wanderer found a note in a bottle.  It read: "I`m safe.  Staying at Isle to capture Kitsune.  Be back soon with prisoner.  ~Riala G."