There were times when the world begged you to ask questions about the life you were choosing to live. For Ratface, that question came up while moving through a bug infested tunnel.

  It wasn’t even the first tunnel she’d been in this week, that was the concerning part. She moved through the place, her eyes scanning the darkness as she waited for another creature to jump out at her.

  The tunnel itself was made of dirt that had been packed together into stability. Bugs had made it, and the architecture reflected that. A lot of the tunnels were set up with the idea that climbing up a wall was no big deal. Ratface’s legs already burned from walking up steep inclines and her hands were covered in dirt from where she’d had to climb. At least her current path was flat.

  A quiet squeak from her shoulder stopped her. Halmir was on her shoulder in his rat form. He’d spent most of the day sitting on her rather than walking around. She felt a twinge of jealousy. She wished she could just ride on someone’s shoulder.

  She shook her head. It wasn’t like he was in that form for fun. His senses were better when he was in it. Didn’t have opposable thumbs though so who was the real winner?

  He gestured above her with his non-thumb having hands. A tunnel was directly above her. He sniffed at her then gestured up again. He must be able to smell the queen. She focused and found faint lines twisting up there as well.

  One of the first tricks she’d learnt since her sudden ability to see magic was that monsters left trails of mana wherever they walked. Most of the time it was useless, it only lasted a few minutes. It was great for her right now in the bug’s lair.

  She scrambled up the tunnel. Hopefully it’d straighten up the closer she got the things lair. It’s not like it could sleep sideways right?

  She was about to move up a particularly tight part of the tunnel when she paused. An ant the size of a dog was waiting just above in a tunnel it had dug for itself. No doubt it was waiting for her to climb past so it could grab her. Halmir hadn’t noticed it because the thing was using magic to hide its scent. Hilariously that made it stick out to her way more than any smell. She gripped onto the tunnel and reached for her knife at her belt. The ant realised its trap wasn’t going to work and lunged forward. Ratface let herself drop down the tunnel a bit and the ant slammed into the wall. She dug her feet into the tunnel to stop herself going any further and stabbed up into its stomach. Unfortunately, she’d slid a little far and while she did stab it, it wasn’t enough to kill the creature. It rushed down at her with its pincers out.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Halmir scrambled up the tunnel wall past it. He switched into his humanoid form and pulled the thing back. Its pincers snapped just in front of her face.

  Ratface didn’t give it a second shot. She slammed her knife straight through its face. The thing twitched once then went still. It would have fallen on her if Halmir wasn’t holding it up.

  “Thanks,” she whispered. He gave her a nod then dragged the thing into the hole it’d come from so she could climb past. He switched back into his rat form and jumped back onto her shoulder.

  A bit more climbing and she was able to find a spot that was levelled out. She pulled herself up and lay on the ground with a sigh. She hated that she was getting used to fighting in tunnels.

  The tunnel had opened out into a much bigger area. It was still small, but it was less of a tunnel and more of a cavern. Actually, it was exactly the sort of place that a queen might be. Ratface shot up when her brain connected the dots. Halmir had frozen on her shoulder as he stared past her.

  She turned around and found the queen looking down at her. What was left of her anyway.

  In the middle of the room was the dead queen. She looked like she’d been ripped apart by something from beneath. Ratface stepped back. She didn’t know what exactly had got it but whatever it was had left in another hole. It looked a lot like the one Ratface had climbed up. In hindsight, that ant may not have been waiting to ambush her so much as hiding.

  She walked over to the queen ant. Halmir sniffed at the air and dropped off her shoulder to investigate a pile of ants on the floor.

  Ratface drew her sword and sliced the queens head off. She may not have killed it, but it was still dead. It’d be a shame to let whoever’s hard work it had been go to waste. She looked over the queen’s body, as she’d guessed before it looked like it’d been ripped apart. On closer inspection it looked like the thing that had killed her had bitten through her. She doubted it had been another adventurer then. Her face wrinkled at the idea of calling herself an adventurer. It wasn’t wrong, it just felt like it was.

  Halmir let out a squeak and she looked up. The pile he was on had started rumbling and he was jumping to get off it.

  The jump was all that saved him. A head with giant pincers burst out of the pile followed by way too many legs. It was a giant centipede, and it was wholly focused on the skittering rat. It chased after Halmir who transformed into his rat humanoid form. It brought its head up and lashed out at Halmir.

  The rat boy blinked next to Ratface then transformed back into a rat. She grabbed him out of the air.

  The queen’s head dangling in one hand and Halmir in the other, Ratface followed her keen goblin instincts. She jumped down the hole and ran away.