Deltora Quest #3: City of the Rats by Emily Rodda Page A

as he drove his prisoners towards it.
    Barda and Jasmine had plainly come to the same conclusion. Jasmine was shrieking, vainly tearing at the Ra-Kacharz’ thick garments with her nails. Barda was struggling to hold his ground, his arms wrapped around his head to protect it.
    The leather whip flicked viciously around Lief’s ears. He staggered back, turning away, the stinging pain bringing tears to his eyes. Again the whip cracked, and now the warm blood was running down his neck and shoulders. The blackness of the Hole yawned just in front of him …
    Then there was a dull, ringing thump. And suddenly there was no more cracking of the whip, no more stinging pain.
    Lief spun around.
    Tira was standing over Reece’s crumpled body. The kitchen door gaped wide behind her. Her eyes were glazed with fear. In her left hand she clutched the companions’ weapons. In her right was the frying pan she had snatched from the kitchen shelf and used to hit Reece over the head.
    With a gasp of horror at what she had done, she threw the pan violently away from her. It struck the stones with a ringing crash.
    Lief, Barda, and Jasmine raced to the girl’s side and took their weapons from her. She seemed paralyzed with shock. She had sprung to their defense without thinking, but plainly in attacking a Ra-Kachar she had committed a terrible crime.
    “Barda!” hissed Jasmine urgently. She pointed. The handle of the red door was turning.
    Barda flung himself against the door and leaned against it with all his strength. Jasmine added her weight to his. An angry thumping began and the door shuddered.
    “Run, Tira!” hissed Lief. “Go! Forget this ever happened.”
    She stared at him, wild-eyed. He hurried her towards the kitchen door, pushed her through, and shotthe bolt behind her. Now the Ra-Kacharz trying to beat their way through the red door would have no help from the people in the kitchen, and, with luck, Tira would be able to reach the stairs and climb to the walkway unseen.
    He spun around again just in time to see Barda and Jasmine knocked sprawling and the red door flying open. He sprang to his friends’ aid, and, at the same moment, three Ra-Kacharz charged through the opening. Though they had been roused from sleep, they were fully dressed in their red suits, gloves, and boots, and their heads and faces were covered.
    Their eyes were already burning with rage as they burst into the little room. But when they saw their leader lying on the floor, and the three prisoners standing over him, they roared and lunged forward, cracking their whips without mercy.
    Barda, Lief, and Jasmine were driven back, their blades slashing uselessly at the empty air. Lief cried out in frustration as a whip curled around his sword and tore it out of his hand.
    Now he was helpless. In moments he heard with horror the sound of Barda’s sword, too, clattering to the ground. Now Jasmine’s two daggers were their only defense. But the Ra-Kacharz were pushing forward, driving them into a corner, the lashing whips whirling together in the air like a terrible, cutting machine.
    “Stop!” cried Jasmine piercingly. “We mean you no harm! We want only to leave this place!”
    Her voice echoed against the stone walls, soaring above the cracking of the whips. The Ra-Kacharz did not falter. They made no sign that they had even heard.
    But someone had heard. Through the red door hurtled a scrap of grey fur, chattering and squeaking with joy.
    “Filli!” exclaimed Jasmine.
    The Ra-Kacharz shouted in horror and disgust, lurching out of the way as the little animal scuttled between them, leaping for Jasmine’s shoulder.
    It was just a moment’s distraction, but it was all that Barda needed. With a roar he hurled himself at the two nearest red-clad figures, throwing them against the wall with all his strength. Their heads hit the stones and they slumped together to the ground.
    Lief twisted and kicked at the third Ra-Kachar, feeling his foot connect with the