Mucum aimed his words at the biggest and meanest of the creatures, fixing it with a stare. “I mean, fair’s fair. You spend all this time wandering around in darkness, dining on Diana knows what, when along comes lunch on legs, eh?” As he spoke, Mucum ignored his instincts and reversed his direction, walking slowly, ever so slowly, toward the apparent leader of the beasts.

The rats were fascinated. Prey normally ran away, fast.

“What are you doing?” Ark whispered, horrified as he hovered behind Mucum’s bulk.

“Shut up and hand me yer hammer!” Mucum hissed.

Ark had no idea what one tiny tool would do against a hundred pounds of muscle, claw, and tooth. Anything was better than becoming dinner, though. As Mucum continued speaking, Ark slid his hand to his side and eased out the hammer from the folds of the plumbing pouch before passing it over to a held-out hand.

The talking went on, the river of words confusing the rats. “We’ve got more important fings to do than bein’ eaten, yeah? Like savin’ the country, for starters.” Still Mucum came on, until he was within a yard of the leader and leaning down, almost face-to-face. “That’s the be all and end all of it. I don’t ’ave no choice. Old Mucum ain’t known for running away. Anyways, I’m doin’ you lot a favor. If Maw gets ahold of these trees, trust me, there won’t be no nice sewers to play in no more. So …” Mucum launched himself forward, bringing his arm up and heaving it down in one smooth motion.

Before the lead rat could even move, the end of the hammer made a perfect landing right on the crown of its matted head. As the rat finally reacted, trying to reach up its claws to rip out the throat of this interloper, the hammer smashed through its thin skull and straight into its brain. There was a dreadful squelching noise and the rat toppled over dead, the contents of its skull oozing out on the platform.

The other two rats stood stock-still, glittering revenge in their beady eyes. A moment later, there was a sudden screech as the furry fiends took flight, accelerating straight toward them in a frenzied blur.

Mucum stood his ground as Ark prayed the end would be quick.

However, instead of sinking their claws into soft Dendran skin, the rats made a split-second decision. The spirit of the pack was already broken. Instead of pouncing, they brushed right past and vanished into the tunnel’s depths, hoping to find a dinner that didn’t fight back quite so ferociously.