The Reader: Book Two

by GnollReader


Chapter 8: Old sins

"Well, come on then. Where are the others?" Senquine's eyes scanned the room, as far as his almost blind eyes allowed him to.

"The other what?" Purple Haze asked, still confused at the little mouse's strange behavior.

"The other gnolls, of course!" Senquine laughed.

"There's more?" Meck asked with a trembling voice, already seeing himself on a dinner plate.

Scar only shook his head and scanned the other mice carefully peeking at them. "Aren't any others."

"What?" Senquine asked with confusion. "But gnolls always run in packs! There have to be others!"

"Mouse is right." Scar answered with a heavy voice. "But all gnolls went to sleep... Scar is only one left."

The sentence hung in the air, everyone silent and Senquine staring up at the gnoll with an empty face.

"You're... you're the only one left?" Senquine asked, feeling his hopes and dreams shatter as the gnoll nodded with a grim face. "Oh, oh no... I..." he hung his head. "This is terrible... I never thought..." he looked up at Scar. "I'm so very sorry, this is all our fault."

"Your fault?" Purple Haze asked with an inquisitive voice. "How is this your fault?"

"We should have done something..." Senquine whispered to himself and shook his head. "I should have done something." His shoulders sagged.

"Senquine?" Peck carefully spoke up as he walked to the old mouse, all the while keeping a weary eye on the gnoll. "What's going on? You're not making sense."

The old mouse let out a tired sigh, heavily leaning on his stick. "Peck, Meck... go get the others, we're done with hiding... and I need to tell you all a story."

"There's so many of them." Kelba whispered in awe. "They're so cute!"

Aethris had very different views of the situation. Guided by the two mice, countless others had appeared and slowly had gathered in the room; making each of them look down at their feet as the mice went around them and gathered in the center of the room and around the old mouse.

"How did they stay unnoticed by us?" Vayu asked in disbelief. "There is no way all of them could stay hidden right under our very beaks..."

"There are many holes and empty passages in the walls." Vayu looked down at the sudden voice and into the face of a little female mouse with an oversized bow in her hair. "You're Vayu..."

"I am..." Vayu replied with a raised eyebrow. "Is that my old bow?"

The little mouse nodded with a small smile. "You threw it away. Mommy got it for me."

"Gather around little ones." Senquine spoke up, already surrounded by most of them. "This is important."

The little mouse passed Vayu another smile before heading of to join the others; sitting down among them and staring up at the gnoll with big eyes. "Huge..." she whispered in silent wonder.

"Old mouse." Scar spoke up, feeling incredibly at unease with all the little eyes staring up at him; even more so when they all flinched as one hearing him talk. "What is this?"

Next to Purple Haze, Blackbeak carefully leaned to her. "Should we do anything, Marshall?"

Purple Haze slowly shook her head. "Let's see where this is going. I'm curious to know why they've been hiding here... and how they're connected to the gnolls." She gave her squad a short glance. "Stay on the ready though, just in case." Blackbeak and the others gave a short nod of understanding, careful watching the mice for any sudden movement.

"Aethris." Blackbeak turned to his wife. "We should get the little ones out."

Aethris gave a short nod. "You're right," before turning to her little ones. "Go wait outside." The little ones started to protest. "I am not arguing about this. Wait outside."

"There is no need to be scared." Senquine spoke up, his little voice rasping in an effort to be heard. "We don't want to hurt anyone... and we are done hiding." He turned his attention back to the gnoll. "And there is much to be explained, to everyone."

"Does that mean we can stay?" Illeon asked. "Please, mommy?"

Aethris sighed. "Very well, but stay close to me." She would tear any mice to shreds should they make a wrong move towards her little ones. At the same time she couldn't help but wonder... how long had they been hiding?

"Settle down everyone." Senquine addressed the mice. "It's time you all learned something about where we came from."

"Didn't we always live here?" Meck asked with confusion, the other mice nodding their heads in agreement.

"You were all born here, as were your parents." Senquine sighed. "But we didn't always live here. A long time ago..." he scratched his head in thought. "I think it was forty years ago."

"That's not that long, is it?" Greenfield whispered to Whistler.

"For you maybe not," Senquine remarked, his little ears having caught the comment. "But for us, it certainly is. We don't grow very old." He rasped and cleared his throat. "Now, forty years ago; we lived in a far-away land, where there is only sand and the sun burns hotter than everywhere else."

"We lived peacefully, and everything was fine. But one day, things became... difficult. The dark brethren returned, former banished cousins to our race with twisted minds and evil hearts." Senquine sighed. "The Izelim were always wretched in their ways, but never before had they been so powerful. We had always been able to hold them off, but on that day they stood united by a force we did not know... and our whole kind fell into slavery."

"Did he just say Izelim?" Berryshakes asked with a quiet whisper.

"Keep listening." Purple Haze merely replied in wonder.

Senquine shook his head with sadness. "And in slavery, our ancestors were loaded upon ships like cattle, and brought to these lands to serve the Izelim in their terrible plans."

"So why are we living in the castle then?" Peck asked.

"Patient little one. This is where things become important." He turned to Scar, who had been quiet throughout the whole story. "And where we come to the gnolls."

"Our ancestors where forced to work underground, driven by the whips and knives of the Izelim. They never told them what it was they were doing, but it wasn't long before they started to find out." A long breath escaped Senquine. "What they found, was terrible. The Izelim were seeking to poison the lands and those that lived there..." he shook his head. "When they found out, they were terrified. But out of that terror, a new resolve was formed."

Senquine took a moment to collect his thoughts, the old writings their ancestors had left them with passing through his mind. "They started to secretly leave their prisons, following the very tunnels they had to dig and looking for a way out of their misery." The old mouse turned to Scar. "And it was on one of those excursions, that they found the gnolls."

"They brought back stories of huge beasts that roamed the mountains of these lands, and that they were the protectors of the earth and forests." Senquine gave Scar a sad smile. "And hoping they would be able to help us, our ancestors made a decision. One fateful night, they set fire to the installations of the Izelim, collapsed the tunnels they had dug... and escaped. Two parties were formed back then; the majority of them headed towards the griffon castle, seeking cover in the night and within its walls while the other few selected would seek out the gnolls... and ask for their help."

Senquine shook his head with sadness. "But they never returned... and our ancestors grew fearful. They decided that we should stay in hiding, and wait for the gnolls to arrive... and generations passed, spent in hiding and fear... hoping for a sign that never came." He turned to the gnoll again. "Our sabotage should have put back the Izelims' plans for years, whatever terrible goal it was they hoped to achieve... some of us even hoped they would give up and simply go away." His head dropped. "But if you are truly the last... then we were terribly wrong. And I fear that our failure may have lead to the disappearance of your brethren as well..."

The old mouse stepped before the gnoll, laying down his staff and bowing his head. "I am sorry, this is all our fault."

The gnoll stood above him, observing the mouse before him in silence; his face unmoving and only the hand on his maul trembling ever so slightly. ...And then, he simply turned around, and he left.