Two weeks later, we had mostly cleared out the giant rats. I had to use a few infused coins to reinforce the riot shield with increased defensive capabilities otherwise we’d have used up 5 or 6 of them in the process. Even though the nest was heavily weakened, there was still a mystery to be solved. There was no reason for the nest of giant rats to even be in this city. Something, or someone, had driven them from their usual countryside environment into the urban jungle. JR and I were at a diner across the precinct to discuss our progress.
“These things are a symptom, JR,” I mentioned to the detective. “They’re not the disease. They’re very big magical rats, true, but they’re really just animals who were driven from their natural habitat. We need to find out where that used to be and why they moved here.”
JR arched an eyebrow. “You think this isn’t the last of them?”
I nodded. “They’re the vanguard, the most easily displaced. They are still rodents, after all,” I reminded him. “The tougher ones will take longer to move but if the cause remains and is strong enough, they’ll come here and disrupt this city.”
The detective nodded in understanding. “We need to find where they came from and what changed there. How do we do that? We can’t exactly interrogate a giant rat. Can we?” At this point, nothing could surprise him anymore. I chuckled at the look on his face.
“No, we cannot interrogate the giant rats, JR,” I confirmed. “But every pack has a leader. And we haven’t run into him yet. The leader of a giant rat pack is intelligent and can be interrogated.”
“The leader? Let me guess,” JR sighed at the thought. “He’s bigger, stronger, tougher, faster, and smarter than any of the minions we’ve dealt with so far. And because we’ve been killing his pack, he’s not gonna be happy about it. We’re gonna need to isolate him from the others, restrain him, then interrogate him. Got a plan?”
I shook my head. “Not right now. You do know that the leader of a giant rat pack isn’t a rat right?”
“Not. A. Rat?”
I laughed out loud. “The leader of a giant rat pack is human actually. Think dog whisperer, only with rats and other vermin. You were imagining a talking man-sized rat weren’t you? It’s an easy mistake to make but just because he’s human doesn’t make him less dangerous. Even more so, this type of scum can even cast spells and have superhuman abilities, not to mention being armed and dangerous. His lair will also be protected and booby trapped, with multiple exits for a quick getaway.”
The detective shook his head. “Fighting him on his turf would be suicide. We need to make him come to us.”
I nodded in agreement. “Find us a place we can convert into an interrogation room that’s accessible from the sewers. We need to make preparations. And we’ll need bait.”
“I’ve got a couple of places in mind already,” JR noted as he rose from his seat. “Let me make a few calls. Anything you need for your preparations?”
“Chains. Around 3 feet should do. Police issue bulletproof vests for us. And 2 pairs of cuffs. I can take care of the rest.”
***
True to his word, JR was able to come up with everything I needed in a few days’ time.
The chains were the greatest challenge. I had to carefully etch runes into each and every link of the 3-foot long chain, rendering it stronger and tougher than normal chain. Also, it would respond to my commands. I took a run-of-the-mill 1-inch nail and used a pair of pre-enchanted tongs to hold it in place. Like a ballpoint pen, I poured magical power into the nail, allowing it to etch fine lines onto the metal of the chains. Repeating the process for every link took me the better part of two weeks. I did the same for the cuffs. Once I finished the rune etchings, I placed them on an altar directly over an intersection of ley lines and lit candles at each cardinal direction. Focusing my energy, I drew the power into the metal. “Animo metallum! Suffragium revincio!” With the incantation, the etchings glowed red, then yellow, then white before receding into black.
For the vests, I infused them with a commonly used armor spell, making it the equivalent of magical chain mail. Ordinary magic marker (yes, I see the irony there) was more than sufficient for that job. Drawing runes in blank ink on black kevlar made the runes practically invisible. Once completed, I placed my hands on the runes and spoke the incantation. “Magus armatus!” The runes flashed a bright green before fading into invisibility.
In addition, I prepped a few contingencies. Just in case.
Aside from my usual red pen, I now had blue, green, and black pens in my coat pocket, as well as 4 pencils. I had a long leather coat over the vest. On my right wrist, I wore my Charriol bracelet made from twisted metal cables on which I attached several metal coins with nylon string. On my left wrist, I had my Rolex Oyster Perpetual wristwatch, a gift from my teacher. I had more coins and a few paperclips in the pockets of my jeans. With this, I set off to meet with JR to take on the leader of the giant rats.
***
“You sure this is going to work?” JR whispered.
“If I scattered the remains of your mates in the sewers, I think you’d be pretty mad,” I replied. Eyes narrowed, I tapped on my glasses. “Visio tenebrae,” I hissed and my vision in the pitch dark sewer lit up like it was early afternoon. From afar, we heard an indistinct roar. “I think we got his attention. Get the shield ready.”
JR hefted the shield and turned to face the sewer tunnel in the direction of the roar. Taped to the inside of the shield were 4 coins. I waved my hand at the coins to replenish their power. “Suffragium.” We were at an intersection of two tunnels and I had placed a pencil at each corner of the intersection. Our position led eastward if we opted to retreat. Soon, loud splashes and grunts could be heard coming our way.
“Rat-killers! You’ll pay with your lives!” He sounded enraged even as he ran right towards us. He spotted us as he turned a corner. He was massive, a full 8 inches over 6 feet with broad shoulders and muscular arms. His hair was long and stringy and so much dirt covered his face we could barely make out his features. He wore a shirt and jeans but dirt and grime made everything just look black. “You! I’ll kill you!”
“Freeze! I’m a police officer!” JR pointed his gun at the man. “We just want to ask you some questions.”
The man roared and charged. Clearly, he didn’t feel like talking. We started to take a step back, a bit at a time. The moment he reached the intersection, I pointed and released the spell. “Inretio!” The pencils sprouted vines which quickly wrapped themselves around his feet and legs. The entanglement wouldn’t last but it delayed him a bit.
He stared when I released the spell. “Mage! This is all your fault! Your fault!” He roared again and, with a surprising display of strength, tore the vines apart with his bare hands. He reached behind him and pulled out a huge handgun, a 44-caliber Desert Eagle. We quickly hid behind the riot shield as he shot round after round at us even as we retreated backward at a steady pace. With a grunt of disgust, he threw away the gun and charged at us, slamming his shoulder into the shield. Even braced for impact, JR was no match for the force of the charge and flew backwards, slamming into the nearest sewer wall. I managed to dodge to one side and dropped a coin directly in front of me. “Scutum vitae!”
A shimmering wall of force sprang up in front of me as the enraged pack leader turned and smashed both fists right at a seemingly defenseless mage. His massive arms stopped short, blocked by the wall of force I had conjured up. He pounded on them repeatedly as I quickly took out my blue pen and pointed it at him. “Infriga!” A visibly blue beam of arctic cold hit him in the chest slowing his actions and dropping his body temperature. I took the chance to run to JR and help him up.
We took a left at the corner and kept on running until we saw a metal doorway. Without hesitation, we dove in and closed the door behind us. In a moment, we heard the pounding of his fists on the door and the metal shuddered as it seemed about to give way.
I nodded at JR as he placed the chains carefully to the side of the door, behind it when it swings open. We crouched near the opposite wall and I took out my black pen.
The pounding was relentless and unceasing until the door gave in with a screech of protesting metal. It swung ponderously open. The moment I spied our target, I rose and pointed the pen. “Oculus tenebrae!” A beam of darkness shot out of the pen but the rat pack leader dodged to one side.
“Puny mage,” he said, voice a deep bass. “I will break every bone in your body. You will scream but no one will hear. And your policeman friend will accompany you.”
I drew out my red pen and pointed it at him. “Ignis!” Bolts of flame shot into him but he slapped them away like flies. JR began firing his gun but the bullets didn’t seem to have any effect on the brute. Step by step, he entered the room.
I dug into my pocket and drew out a bunch of paperclips which I threw directly into him. “Fulmen prendo!” Sparks flew between the clips, electrifying the air and catching the brute unawares. Like a taser, it zapped him into temporary paralysis.
Raising both hands, I shouted the activation spell at the top of my lungs. “Coercio relligo!” The chains we had stowed away rose from their spot and snaked around the brute’s paralyzed form, wrapping themselves around him and binding him into immobility.
As silence descended, JR rose from his crouch. “I really need a bigger gun.”
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