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[Thrax]

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To Pack Rat, there was nothing quite like the fishing off the coast of Nujel'm. The sun shined brighter; the waters were warmer; the cloudless sky more blue and the fishing better than almost anywhere else, including the fresh waters near Papua, his native homeland, or the bay of Alderglen, where he now lived. He liked nothing better than to anchor his boat not far from shore and fish all day long.

He leaned back, fishing pole in hand, soaking in the sun and the wind, as he listened to the steady drone of the waves that lapped softly against the hull of his boat, Rat-San Maru.

His dreamlike state was abruptly disrupted by a shrill scream.

Sitting up straight, and looking in the direction of the cry, he saw the unmistakable bat-like shape of a daemon flying toward him. Terrified, and not at all able to fend off such a beast, he tried vainly to steer his vessel out of its path. As he manuevered the ship, he kept an eye on the monster and its movements. He observed that the creature held someone under one of its huge arms; a woman, no doubt the source of the scream.

"I will be sorry for this," he muttered, as he prepared one of the few necromancer spells he knew. "In Sar!" he shouted, aiming the spell at the daemon, who had veered slightly away, paying him no mind.

Up until now.

The spell struck the beast and it growled angrily, dropping the woman into the sea. Snarling, and coming to a hovering halt in the air, it located its antagonist and fixed its yellow eyes on him, ignoring the woman who quickly disappeared beneath the waves.

"I'm dead," Rat sighed, feeling his whole body go limp with the resignation of impending, and gruesome, death. He closed his eyes, accepting his fate.

Nothing happened.

He opened one eye, then the other. The daemon was nowhere to be seen. Breathing a sigh of relief, he nearly jumped for joy. "I'm alive!" he yelled, not believing his luck.

Then the woman's head popped out of the water scant feet away from his boat and she swam toward it. He helped her into the boat.

"Thank you! I owe you my life," she said, gasping.

He looked her over. Except for a few bruises and torn clothing, she only looked as if she had fallen overboard. "You're welcome," he told her. "I know you!!" he shouted. "You're Thrax's maid, Poppy, aren't you?! I've seen you in Alderglen! What in Baal's barbels are you doing out here?"

"Well, we weren't on a dinner date if that's what you mean," she retorted, squeezing the water out of her hair. She explained to him what she had been doing in Nujel'm, concluding, "I think someone tried to kill me."

Rat scoffed. "Nujel'm is crawling with monsters, daemons included!"

"Well, in case you didn't notice, that one was summoned. It disappeared before it got to you."

"That would explain it," Rat muttered. "Who do you think tried to kill you?"

"I can't say with absolute certainty, but I am sure enough to believe that I need to disappear for awhile."

"What about your job?"

"Don't worry about that. Just promise not to mention this to anybody, especially in Alderglen. Do you hear? Anybody! Unless, that is, you want another daemon to finish what that one started."

Rat nodded. "I swear."

"Besides," she added, "I would not be its only victim."

"Eh?"

"Well, if whoever it was learns you saved me, they could not take the chance that I wouldn't have told you something. They would need to---"

"Kill me too," Rat finished.

Poppy nodded.

"Where will you go?"

"Take me to Papua. I have friends there who can hide me until I sort through this."

Rat agreed, setting sail for the sea portal to Papua.