“Yes. I could taste the bitterness in my teeth. I sucked out as much as I could, but it was moving fast through his body. The king managed to get to his feet. I asked him why he was out at that time of night but he wouldn’t tell me. We walked slowly back to his owner’s house. We walked for what seemed forever. He weakened with every step. I was growing weaker, too, and the poison was starting to make me dizzy. He told me that out of nowhere they came upon him and one of them struck him. Then they took off quickly. We finally made it to the house and there we lay.

I watched him as he closed his eyes for the last time and then

I passed out from the poison.”

The room was silent and somber, heavy with grief. “My king!” cried a wailing hedgehog.

The rat-terrier gathered himself and cleared his throat. “Alright, everyone. There will be enough time for mourning. Now we need to think straight. We have no king and, if I heard right, an enemy that no one has seen or survived is coming to kill us all.”

There was silence for a moment. Then suddenly a rooster yelled, “FARANGIS?! NOT HIM!”

Paco looked down and sighed. “I’m afraid so. And the next full moon is five nights away.”

“He doesn’t know where to find us, right? We’re safe, aren’t we? “The worried rooster’s head bobbed back and forth.

“Very clever, waiting for the full moon.” Paco looked up at the hole in the ceiling.

“Why? What happens on the full moon?” A mole looked around at the others.

“Well, I’ve only seen it once,” Paco said. “King Pugsly and I were walking in the pastures above our kingdom one cloudy night long ago. As we talked, the full moon was overhead, and all of a sudden a light shone from out of the hole in the top of this room. A beam of blue light shot up into the sky from the reflected moonlight off the pool. King Pugsly told me it was the only way for the other animals to find our hidden kingdom. For years the wild creatures who live above have known that, if they want to join our kingdom, they need to find our beacon on the full moon.” Paco looked over the crowd. “Some of your ancestors found us that way. What happened between our king and those snakes is a mystery,” Paco took a deep breath, “but assassination is an act of war.”

“There’s no way we can defend ourselves from Farangis and his army, Paco,” clucked a chicken hysterically. The other animals agreed.

“And without a king!” An armadillo paced back and forth. “I vote for Paco as our king, effective immediately.”

Animals shouted their approval. “Yes, you’re the only one who can lead us!”