Beast Tamer's Rebirth National Treasure Edition novel Chapter 291

Chapter 291

While Sierra could only gawk at Elliot in stunned silence, he was so panicked by the rats that he didn’t even look at her.

Elliot was fearless about everything, except rats. Those things genuinely freaked him out. Especially this one. It looked creepier than any rat he’d ever seen.

Most rats were no bigger than your hand, but this one was almost the size of a small dog. It completely caught him off guard. This thing was basically a mutant rat.

Elliot tried to steady himself, his heart still pounding. Then he turned to Sierra. “Sierra, don’t be scared. I’ll protect you.”

Sierra said, “But I think that rat wants to talk to me.”

Elliot just stared at her, lost for words. Elliot stiffly turned his head and stared at the massive rat plastered against the rock, completely motionless. He thought, “That thing’s gotta weigh at least 11 pounds.’

Gritting his teeth, Elliot trudged over. He pulled a handkerchief from his suit pocket, carefully grabbed the rat by its long tail, lifted it, and swung it through the air.

The rat protested with a squeak, “Are you kidding me? What am a spin cycle? Quit swinging me around!”

The rat, which had been knocked out, was jolted awake. If Elliot kept swinging it, the poor thing would probably get knocked out all over again. Sierra heard the rat gagging nonstop and quickly told Elliot to stop.

Elliot heard the rat, too. Even though he couldn’t understand what it was saying, the way it glared told him it was cursing him out with some seriously foul language.

Elliot nudged the rat with his shoe and said, “Hey, big rat. If you’ve got something to say, spit it out. If not, then scram. I’ve never seen a rat this ugly like you before.”

‘No way I’m letting Sierra’s eyes get polluted by this thing,’ he thought.

The rat shouted, “Hey, human. If you’re not gonna use your mouth for anything useful, why not just donate it to someone who actually needs it?”

The rat scurried over to Sierra and let out a snort. “Whatever. A self-respecting rat doesn’t argue with small-minded humans. I’ve got important business. Speaking of which, you down here looking for someone? Think you could help my friends?”

Sierra stared at the rat. It was about as big as her arm, and it starek right back. She’d never seen one so huge. No wonder Elliot freaked out. A thing like that would scare the daylights out of anyone.

Sierra crouched down, but she didn’t reach out to touch the rat. Instead, she gently asked, “Where are your friends?”

The rat’s eyes bulged. “Wait, you can really understand what I’m saying?” It had just been trying its luck. Never in a million years did it think a human would actually get what it was saying

Sierra nodded. “Yeah, I can. Are your friends animals or humans

Everyone knew rats could be as smart as an eight-year-old kid. Sure, there was no real science to back it up, but rats were seriously clever.

The rat took a second, then blurted, “They’re humans. A whole lot of them, all decent people. For five years, I’ve been living in these dark tunnels, and they always shared their food, keeping me from starving.

“I know humans aren’t supposed to live down here. They can’t handle it. But my friends aren’t even as sharp as I am. They just keep coming down.

“The folks outside won’t let them leave, just keep making them work. If they get sick, there’s nothing they can do but wait to die. And if they don’t hit their quota, they get beaten.

“Hey, human. I’ve seen you around for a while. There’s this white glow around you. I can feel you’re a good person. Can you please help my friends? If you don’t get them out tonight, they’re not gonna make it.”

“You mean they’re going to die tonight?” Sierra’s eyes widened in shock, barely able to believe what she was hearing.

The rat blurted out, “I heard the people outside talking. They think the cops are getting suspicious. They’re terrified, so they’re planning to kill all of my friends. If they do, there won’t be anyone left to tell the truth.”

Suddenly, a screeching blast went off in Sierra’s head. ‘Why is Cesar moving so fast?’ Sierra thought, her heart pounding.

“Where exactly are your friends?” Sierra said, her voice tight with worry.

The rat pointed at the wall of the mine. “The people outside forced them in there and blocked the entrance with rocks. It took me a ton of effort to finally track them down.

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