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Chapter 3

The Forbidden Valley

Tek had never imagined in his life he would see plants with so many colors. Blues, purples, reds and so much green. Never had he imagined he would see so much green in the world, let alone a single valley. In The Burrow, the only colors nature provided him were reds and browns - but here it was so beautiful it was no wonder the foxes wanted to keep it to themselves. He balled his fists at the thought that all this was kept away from his people while they starved in their dark and cramped tunnels.

“Tek, come look at this. You can actually see your reflection in the water here. It’s so clean.” Gimmick said, just as astounded by their surroundings as he was.

Plucking what appeared to be a fruit from a nearby tree, Tek examined the ruby orb closely, not entirely convinced it wasn’t some kind of jewel. It was too colorful to be a fruit. Tek squeezed and juice covered his fingers, then he sniffed the object. “Gimmick, it’s an apple. I’ve never seen one so red. Everything here is so colorful.” Tek quickly bit into the fruit, letting the juices splash over his tongue. Never had he tasted anything so divine. He grabbed another apple and tucked it away in one of his leather bags. “If Gritta and Gretta could see this they wouldn’t know what to steal first.” Tek turned to see Gimmick biting the head off a fish she had pulled from the river.

“What?” She asked, spitting out chunks of chewed fish. She swallowed before continuing, “The fish here just let you grab them. All the kobold traders I’ve talked to always said it was difficult to catch fish. Maybe I should become a fisherman.”

“I’m not entirely sure it’s this easy in every river. There’s something about this place that’s just perfect for living in. To think the world hates rats, while the foxes get to live in such luxury.” Tek said, grabbing new fruits he had never seen before to try.

There was a loud crunch and Tek spun around to see Myra lounging back on a bush. The plant buckled from her weight as she popped what appeared to be a vine of small purple orbs in her mouth. Such strange fruits that grew here.

Gimmick continued splashing around in the river for fish, frowning as they began avoiding her. “Gimmick, stop all that splashing! We’re not supposed to get caught, remember?” Tek whispered as loudly as he could manage without actually raising his voice.

“These fish are more slippery than the last bunch.” Gimmick said, falling forwards into the water in another failed attempt to catch a fish with her claws.

As Tek approached the river he could see the fish moving further and further out away from the shore. “Gimmick, get out of there! It’s time to leave!” Tek said, turning back to look at the dense foliage. He swore he could hear subtle movement when the breeze died down.

“There’s a big one over here. Just let me catch this one and it will be enough to last me until we reach the Skunk Kingdoms.” Gimmick said. Tek turned to see her eyeing a long spiny looking fish.

Tek tried to shout a warning, “Gimmick, don’t touch-”, but she had already leapt at her prey. Recoiling upon touching the fish, the kobold thrashed in the water, writhing in pain. Tek ran to help her when Myra shouted after him.

“Heads up, rat boy!” Myra shouted, hurling her fruit towards him.

Tek jumped back, enraged that the mole had the nerve to assail him at a time like this. The fruit exploded in mid air, as if it had struck some kind of invisible object. It was then Tek realized it wasn’t him that Myra was aiming at.

Colors changed, and what had been invisible became clear as prismatic patterns revealed the creature that had been camouflaged. A prism fox. The fox bared its teeth before lunging at him. Tek dove into the river, grabbing Gimmick and letting the deeper water carry them downstream. The problem was it was taking them away from the direction they needed to go and further into The Forbidden Valley.

The sound of Gimmick coughing up water and whimpering in pain kept Tek focused. His armor was heavy and the kobold was heavier. He could feel himself being dragged under water. His mind raced as he tried to think of a plan to keep them alive. He couldn’t draw runes underwater, nor did he have the strength to keep both himself and Gimmick’s heads above the river.

Pain shot through Tek’s body as the water slammed him into a rock. He opened his mouth to yell, but was met with water entering his mouth, causing him to gag. Pulling himself and Gimmick as best he could onto the rock, he gasped for air. One arm holding the kobold as best he could, while the other clutched the rock for dear life. The water pulled at his body, threatening to drag him under at any moment.

“Tek, I don’t feel so good.” Gimmick cried.

“You’re going to be fine. I’m going to fix you up, I promise.” Tek said, looking around desperately for any kind of help. Not again. Tek thought, more memories flooding into his mind. Not again!

“I… I can’t see anything.”

Tek looked at Gimmick’s face. Her eyes had grown cloudy. Cursing to himself quietly, Tek did the only thing he could think of. Throwing his head back, he cried for help as loud as he could.

“I know you’re out there!” Tek pleaded, “Please, save my friend. You can’t just let her die.” There was no response except for the sound of the water crashing against them. “Useless fucking creatures! Do you have no hearts!? I always thought foxes were supposed to be among the most cunning creatures. Yet you can’t even keep a rat and a kobold out of your valley? If it weren’t for that damn fish and this river, I would’ve stolen every fruit from under your nose!”

A net caught around Tek, and in a moment he was flung back into the water. Gimmick slipped from his grasp and was pulled away by the river. Tek tried to scream in rage, but was muted as he began to drown. His vision blurred, before fading. Then darkness.

*****

Pain shot through Tek’s chest as he coughed up water into the grass. He was alive. This was a surprise to him. Immediately he began looking for Gimmick. There was no sign of her, but a dozen foxes stood around him, scowling. Tek glanced behind him and noticed his spear was still on his back. They hadn’t taken his weapon, so if it came to it, he could at least try to fight his way out. So arrogant were the foxes that they apparently didn’t consider him a threat, even while he was armed. Now if he could just draw a rune without them noticing.

“Who are you, rat?” One of the female prism foxes spoke.

“Tek.” The rat said, crossing his legs and slowly etching the soul splitting rune in the dirt behind his foot. The rune was small, so if he had to use it he would only be able to make a copy of himself for a few seconds. Hopefully this would be enough to distract him while he escaped.

“Tek, that’s it?” The fox asked, raising an eyebrow.

“My family numbers in the thousands. We don’t have time for complicated names,” Tek said through gritted teeth. He despised being looked down upon. He had seen animals give him the same look the foxes gave him now. The way the world looked at rats. He hated them for it. “Are you the one who caught me in that net?”

“We saved you,” The fox corrected, “And you will call me Acre. You’d be wise to be more polite than you were when you were drowning. I’m quickly running out of reasons to keep you alive.”

“Where is my friend?” Tek asked.

“The kobold has been retrieved,” Acre started, “But she will not live long. No creature foolish enough to grab a needleback by the spines ever does.”

“There has to be a way. You have everything you could possibly want in this valley. You’d have an antidote. Foxes would never risk their young getting injured and perishing from one of those things. It wouldn’t be paradise otherwise.” Tek said.

Acre’s tail flicked in irritation. This got a smile out of Tek. There was an antidote. “Give us a reason we shouldn’t let your friend die and kill you for trespassing and violating our lands?”

“Because you saw the crimson moon two nights ago. The same as the rest of the world. The Iron Doors have weakened. If I don’t warn the rest of the world. If I can’t fix it. Then what do you think will happen to your precious paradise when those doors open?”

The foxes were silent for a long moment before Acre opened her mouth to speak. “Very well. We will let you leave with your life, but your friend must die. There must be a punishment for your crimes.” Acre said, turning to leave.

“Then take this in exchange for her life,” Tek shouted, pulling the ruby from the chestplate of his armor, “The queen’s seal. The world's most perfect ruby. If it’s good enough for a guardian, then it is good enough for you.”

Acre turned, raising an eyebrow curiously, before approaching and taking the ruby from Tek. Her movements were subtle, but Tek did notice her mouth curve ever so slightly to a smile. Acre turned to the over foxes and gave them a nod, then two of them disappeared into the foliage. “We will save the kobold, but then you will leave immediately. I will escort you out of the Forbidden Valley, and you will never return again.”

*****

Relief flooded over Tek. After waiting for hours under the fox’s watchful guard, the two foxes that had left finally returned with Gimmick. She looked dazed, but healthier. Sighing in relief, Tek swallowed his pride and thanked Acre. She turned her nose away from him, then gestured for them to follow her. Moments later four more foxes escorting Myra joined them. Myra appeared unharmed, and her escorts took a step back as she let out a belch and began scratching at her armpits.

“I’m sorry Tek,” Gimmick said weakly, “I messed everything up.”

“Don’t worry about it. Let’s just be happy we got out of this alive.” Tek said.

“I told you we should have just kept digging.” Myra said. Tek ignored her comment.

“Tek, your ruby is gone.” Gimmick said.

Tek hushed her, “Save your strength until you’ve fully recovered. We can discuss the queen’s seal later. Acre, why do the foxes hide away in this valley, shut off from the world?”

Acre scoffed. “Would you leave this valley if you could stay? Our world is perfect. We’ve made sure of it. Everything else simply isn’t worth our presence. Where would we go? The East is full of savage creatures and bickering goblins, the kingdoms to the South seem to let anyone who wants to move into their walls. It’s disgusting,” She chuckled to herself before continuing, “Everyone except for rats, that is. Best of luck with that.”

Tek watched as with every step Acre took, her fur changed color, making her feet practically invisible as she walked. The rest of her body seemed to fade making her nearly invisible, the strange prismatic fur patterns changing to match her surroundings. The only constant was the queen’s seal, which she clung onto greedily. The rat hated to admit it, but Acre was the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen.

“You know, you could kill us and deliver the news to the other kingdoms yourself.” Tek said. Acre remained silent. “What if we returned to The Burrow? What if we chose not to warn the rest of the world of The iron Doors weakening? Would you leave your precious valley then? What if the world, your world included, was at stake?”

“I suppose,” Acre said, pausing and showing off her claws of the paw not holding the ruby, “I would take my chances.”

“I never knew something so beautiful could cause me so much disgust.” Tek said.

“Are you talking about her or me?” Myra asked.

Acre spun around baring her teeth at Tek, but he already had his spear in hand. He swept Acre’s feet out from under her, and the queen’s seal slipped from her grasp. Tek snatched it out of the air, and with his other hand pointed the spear at Acre’s throat. “I don’t need you to justify a reason for me to let you live, Acre. I’m not like you. Consider this our new arrangement. I keep the ruby, and in return I won’t tell the world about the rat that bested a prism fox.”

Acre snarled, before her fur changed colors, causing her to vanish into thin air. Tek kept his guard up, but he wasn’t her target. The sound of claws cutting through bark rang out in the night and Tek barely managed to push himself into Gimmick, knocking her out of the way of the oncoming tree. He felt Acre snatch the ruby from his grasp, cackling as she did.

“You're a clever little rat, I’ll give you that - but you have a weakness for your little friend there. If you want to be as cunning as a fox, you should consider dropping that scaly burden of yours.” Acre said. Then she vanished with the queen’s seal, leaving them alone at the end of The Forbidden Valley.