"When his mother, the last of his family was dead, Nydourl resolved to speak with the only other Bone Gnawer that he knew - the Wise One, who lived in a cave in a hill not far from the village. Nydourl travelled to the cave and spoke to the Wise One, who was old and creaky. Nydourl wished to know why Rat, the protector and teacher of his people, had turned so harshly against them. The Wise One said that only Rat knew what Rat knew, and that the rats do as Rat says. Nydourl said to the Pointless...er...Wise One that he would seek to find Rat. He would learn why it was that Rat had turned against his people and he would make Rat stop."
"Having cremated his family, Nydourl left his village with only a bit of food, a small knife and the clothes he wore. He travelled for many days upon many roads and he had many adventures. But he could not find Rat anywhere."
"One day, Nydourl was walking, when he spied something glittering on the road. He picked it up and saw that it was a ring made of gold, with engravings of feathers on the outside. Nydourl, being an honest sort of fellow, resolved to return it to the owner if he could."
"That evening, Nydourl approached a large town. He strolled in and began to look for a place where he could sleep the night. As he walked through the town, he came to the market place. By a large stone plinth in the centre of the market place, a line of people were standing. The hands of each were tied and each was tied to the person in front and behind by rope. A slave master was near-by, settling his slaves down for the night to be ready for the market in the morning. Nydourl could see that one of the people in the line, a young woman, was one of the Changing Breed, even if she was in her human form. Nydourl resolved to free the woman and the other slaves."
"That night, when everyone in town was asleep. Nydourl crept back to the market place. The slaves were sleeping near the stone plinth in the centre. By stealth, Nydourl crept up to the slaves and cut their ropes with his knife. The woman he freed last. When the slaves realised that they were free, they leapt up and began running in all directions. Nydourl and the woman slipped away into the night."
"Nydourl told Bethsheba his story, and of his search for Rat. Bethsheba was wiser than Nydourl and knew that Rat would not give up a secret except for a secret in return - one that he could not refuse. Likewise he would not give a gift (the gift of lifting the plague) without a gift in return. Bethsheba said that she would help Nydourl find a secret and a gift."
"Now Rat had thirteen children, seven sons and six daughters. Bethsheba knew that Rat's seventh son, Tenacity, had disappeared and had probably been kidnapped. Rat was searching everywhere for his son. If they could learn where Tenacity was, that would be a secret that Rat would give anything to know."
"Bethsheba also knew that Tenacity had been last seen in a large port city to the west. She told Nydourl what she knew, and they resolved to set out immediately for the city."
"They travelled for many days and had many adventures on the way. Then one day they came over a hill and down into a large city beside the western sea. Nydourl had never seen such a large city before. Nor had he seen so many cats before. They were everywhere: in the streets, in the alleys, on the rooftops, in the houses, in the shops. Nydourl asked a shepherd about the cats. The shepherd said that only recently had the city been swamped by cats, and that no-one knew where they were coming from."
"Nydourl and Bethsheba walked through the city until they reached the docks. Several galleys waited by the docks, but one galley Nydourl spotted straight away because of the foul Wyrm taint that drifted from it and it's crew. A nearby pottery vendor told them that it was a pirate galley, and that everyone was too scared of the pirates to do anything about them. Nydourl and Bethsheba resolved to keep an eye on the pirate galley and it's crew."
"Late that night, Nydourl and Bethsheba watched the galley from the shadows. No-one else was in sight when pirates started carrying large crates down the gangway from the galley to the docks. The pirates opened the crates, and dozens of cats leapt out and ran in every direction (although not back to the pirate galley)."
"Bethsheba suddenly realised what was going on. The pirates were bringing in cats in order to keep all the rats out of the city. As long as there were no rats in the city, they would have no way to find out the Tenacity had been here or where he had gone. Since the pirates were involved in keeping the rats away, they must know something about what happened to Tenacity."
"Bethsheba told this to Nydourl, who decided to sneak onto the galley to see what he could find. While the pirates were busy with their cats, Nydourl quickly and quietly ran up the gangway and onto the galley. In the galley were many slaves, tied to the benches from where they pulled the oars. Nydourl spoke to one of the slaves, an old man who had been there longer than anyone. The old man told Nydourl that just before they started their regular cat-carrying trips, the galley had made a voyage to a small rocky island far out to sea, and that they had carried no cargo except for a rat in a box. He knew that it was a rat in the box because it kept gnawing it's way out of the box and running around the ship, with all the pirates chasing it. The pirates would catch it and put it in a new box, but it always managed to chew it's way out."
"Nydourl crept back off the boat and told Bethsheba what he had learned. They decided that they must get to the island. The easiest way would be on the pirate galley. Bethsheba said that they should approach the pirates and offer to pay them gold for passage to another city along the coast. The pirates would wait until the galley was out at sea before attempting to steal the gold, whereupon they could defeat the pirates and take the galley. Nydourl agreed to this plan."
"Nydourl and Bethsheba approached the evil pirate captain in a dock-side tavern, and offered gold for passage to another port. Bethseba used her powers of illusion to create the image of gold to fool the captain. The captain agreed and said that they would be setting off in the morning. Nydourl and Bethsheba agreed to be there."
"The next morning the galley left port. Bethsehba knew that the pirates would probably wait until they thought the passengers were asleep before they tried anything. Sure enough, that night, while Nydourl and Bethsheba pretended to sleep, half a dozen of the pirates crept up to attack them. Nydourl quickly killed the pirates before they could raise the alarm. He then crept up to where the slaves were being held and freed them. Before the pirates knew what had happened, they had been overrun by slaves and tossed over board."
"The freed slaves had managed to defeat the evil goblins, and a great cheer went up. They spent the next few days searching the halls and tunnels of the castle. Many of the room were filled with chests stuffed with gold and gems. Nydourl, being a humble sort of lad, took none of the riches for himself, but gave it all to the freed slaves in return for their years in bondage. After they had taken all they could carry, they sailed away from the island."
"Nydourl and Bethsheba discussed what they should do next, now that they had a worthy secret to give to Rat. Bethsheba said that the gift they should give should be of use to Rat in rescuing his son. Anyone who sought to enter Malfeas to rescue another would need strength and courage, two characteristics that Rat lacked. They should therefore make a gift to Rat of strength and courage. Bethsheba said that they should go and seek Lion, who was renowned for his strength and courage. Bethsheba knew that Lion lived far to the west, so off they sailed, into the setting sun."
"The journey west took many days, and they had many adventures on the way. Eventually, they reached the far western shore. Here Nydourl and Bethsheba bid farewell to their crew, despite their entreaties to stay, and headed inland."
"They travelled for many days until they reached the lands where Lion lived. Both Nydourl and Bethsheba were in animal form when they came across mongoose running through the long grass. When asked where he was running to, mongoose said that Lion had pronounced that his daughter was to be married to the most worthy, and that all the animals were gathering. Then mongoose ran off."
"Bethsheba thought that this would be a good opportunity. If Nydourl in wolf form could be chosen as most worthy, then he could reveal his true nature and perhaps bargain with Lion for what they really wanted. Nydourl agreed, so off they went towards Lion's home."
"Eventually they reached the rock in the grasslands where Lion lived. A great throng of animals had already gathered, and more were arriving all the time. By evening, all the animals had arrived, and Lion appeared on the rock. After telling the hyenas, who were squabbling over Elton John's carcass, to keep it down, he proclaimed that there would be three tests to determine who was the most worthy to marry his daughter. There would be a test of speed, a test of strength and a test of courage. The testing would begin in the morning, so all the animals settled down to sleep. Bethsheba pointed out to Nydourl that they would probably have to cheat in order to win, and as Nydourl was Bone Gnawer, he thought that was cool."
"In the morning all the animals assembled at the rock again. Lion pronounced the test of speed. Basically, all the animals were to run towards the sun until they reached mandrill. The first animal to do so would be the winner."
"Bethsheba thought fast, and as the race was about to begin, she told Nydourl to delay the race somehow. Nydourl took a stick and crept up behind gazelle, then broke the stick. Gazelle, being flighty, took off before the signal to start was given. Other animals also took off and a great deal of confusion reigned. It took quite a while to get everything back under control again."
"As the race was about the begin again, Nydourl thumped the ground behind rabbit. Rabbit shot across in front of leopard, who gave chase. Once again chaos ensued for quite a time before everything was settle down again."
"Meanwhile the sun was moving across the sky. Finally, after several false starts, the animals were ready, Lion gave the signal and the animals were off, running towards the sun. But Nydourl had delayed the race for so long that the sun had shifted across the sky. Bethsheba had marked the point on the horizon where the sun had stood at the time the race was supposed to begin, and she flew in that direction, with Nydourl following."
"They ran alone across the grasslands for hours until they spotted mandrill waiting alone under a tree. Nydourl ran up, and the somewhat perplexed mandrill declared wolf the winner. Nydourl, Bethsheba and Mandrill headed back towards Lion at a more leisurely pace than before."
"It took the other animals a long time to realise that something was wrong, whereupon they started running in all directions. It wasn't until late afternoon that they started to trickle back to the rock, where they found mandrill and wolf waiting. By evening all the animals had returned, and Lion declared that wolf had won the test of speed. There was much murmuring and muttering amongst the animals, but there was nothing that they could do. They all lay down to sleep and await the next test."
"In the morning, Lion pronounced the test of strength. A single great rock stood near the rock where Lion lived. The animal who could push the rock the furthest without stopping would be the winner of the test of strength. One by one the animals attempted to push the rock. Bethsheba figured that there were enough animals to keep this going all day and told Nydourl that he should go last."
"The rock was so big that most of the animals couldn't move it at all. Only the strongest animals could budge it, and it was no surprise that Elephant moved the rock the furthest of all those tested so far. The day wore on as the animals pushed and it had become dark when only Nydourl was left. Nydourl suggested to Lion that perhaps they should leave his testing until morning, as not all animals could see well in the dark, and he wouldn't want any of the contestants to harbour any doubts about his success or failure. Lion agreed and declared that the final contestant, wolf, would attempt the test in the morning. Again all the animals settled down to rest."
"Once all the animals were asleep, Nydourl and Bethsheba crept away. Bethsheba was looking for something in the few trees in the grassland, and soon she found it: a large bee's nest. She told Nydourl to remove the bees nest and take it back to the rock. The bees were all sleepy and didn't give Nydourl much grief when he pulled the nest off the tree and carried it back to the rock. Under Bethsheba's direction, Nydourl climbed to the top of the rock and looked for a large crack. When he found one, he opened up the bee's nest and carefully poured the honey into the crack in the rock. Nydourl and Bethsheba then headed out into the grasslands again."
"This time Bethsheba was looking for something on the ground, and soon she found it: a large ant's nest. Bethsheba called to the ants and told them of a very special rock that she had found that produced honey. The ants were very excited, and all immediately headed off in the direction she had said. Nydourl and Bethsheba headed back to Lion's rock to get some sleep."
"The next morning, the animals awoke to watch wolf undergo the test of strength. The ants had travelled slowly all through the night, and as Nydourl walked up to the rock, he saw the last ant disappearing underneath the rock. Nydourl placed his front paws against the rock and began to push. Much to the surprise of all the other animals the rock very slowly began to move. What's more it kept on moving. The animals slowly trailed after wolf as he kept pushing the rock, past the place where even elephant could push the rock no further. Wolf pushed the rock at least twice as far as elephant had. Raven, actually Bethsheba, circled overhead, crying that they should all head back to Lion to hear his verdict. All the animals turned and headed back to Lion, which was just as well, because they didn't see that the rock was inclined to keep moving even when wolf was no longer pushing it."
"When all the animals were assembled, Lion declared that wolf had won the test of strength. Again there was much muttering and mumbling amongst the animals, but there was nothing that they could do. Lion declared that the test of courage would take place after nightfall."
"When it was dark, Lion led the animals away from his rock across the grasslands, until they reached a small village of humans. In the centre of the village a fire was burning. Lion declared that whatever animal could enter the human village and bring back fire would be the winner of the test of courage."
"One by one the animals attempted the test of courage. Most could not bring themselves to even enter the human village at all, and of those that could enter the village, not one could bring themselves to take fire away with them. Finally, Nydourl trotted into the village, picked up the end of a burning branch in his teeth, and trotted back out again. All the other animals were gobsmacked."
"Nydourl trotted up to Lion, threw the brand in the air, changed into human form, and grabbed it as it descended. Immediately all the other animals began to scream and roar and screech. Lion demanded to know what was going on. Nydourl pointed out that Lion had placed no restrictions upon who was eligible to be tested. In theory even a human could have entered the contest, had he been privy to the event and had some desire to be married to a lion. However, said Nydourl, if Lion was prepared to grant a gift at least as valuable as his daughter, then Nydourl could be persuaded to renounce all claims to her."
"Lion, perhaps realising that there are few things worse than having one of the Changing Breed for a relation, agreed. Nydourl asked for the gift of Lion's strength and courage. Lion muttered a bit but agreed again. Returning to his rock, Lion wrapped his strength and courage up in leaves into a pretty parcel and gave them to Nydourl. Nydourl and Bethsheba took their leave of Lion and the other animals."
"Nydourl and Bethsheba travelled far and wide for many days, and they had many adventures. Wherever they went, they spoke to rats that they met, telling them that they had a valuable secret and gift for Rat, and asking where they might find him. Eventually, they found themselves at the biggest city in the world, where they were told Rat lived. They made there way to a great palace, and by secret ways found their way to a golden room under the palace, where Rat lay on cushions surrounded by food. Nydourl said to Rat that he had travelled far to see him, as there was a secret that he wanted to know, and that he would give Rat a great secret in return. Nydourl was strangely insistent that Rat should agree to give up his secret in return for the secret offered (?), and hinted that the secret concerned the whereabouts of Rat's son Tenacity. Eventually Rat agreed that he would give his secret if Nydourl's information was valuable. Nydourl told Rat that Tenacity had been taken to the Rajah of Madness in Malfeas. Rat agreed that this was a valuable secret and that he would grant a secret in return. Nydourl asked Rat how he could go about finding (???) Marion Perry (??!?$@%&(*89....