The Adventures of Trash Rat

By Daniel Aegan

Magic lies in the center of Raminath, but the path that leads there is full of pitfalls, predators, and an army of Acolyte soldiers. However, one rat has made a vow to find the Core and set things right in the land once and for all.

 

Only he can't do it alone.

 

After a foretold disaster tears his life apart, Almond, a rat from the Heaps, gathers what he can and sets off on an adventure to make good on a promise he'd made to his sister. His best friend Oumar, a raccoon who knows his way around Raminath, joins him on the journey to Raminath's Holy Land.

Hungry mouths, deadly claws, and a group of religious zealots who want to stop Almond and Oumar from finishing their quest surround them. Even Oumar's father, a former warlord named Zed, is out for the blood of his son as the duo makes their way across Raminath to find what secrets have been stored at its Core. Can they get through treacherous places like the insidious Haven Ghetto, the nigh impossible maze of The Rat King's Passage, and the putrid Sea of Cockroaches while being pursued in every direction?

 

The Adventures of Trash Rat weaves the reader through a perilous world of garbage and magic. Giant, hulking beasts called Providers bring bounties of food and supplies, but they come with the cost of an ever-changing landscape. The animals of Raminath have dug deep into the land creating a maze of tunnels and hiding places as they live their lives while playing the never-ending game of predator and prey. There's no telling what lurks in darker places. If anyone knows for sure, it's the Acolytes, and they aren't telling anyone their secrets.

 

This marks Aegan's tenth book, and his first foray into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic characters inspired by books like The Rats of NIMH and Watership Down.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Daniel Aegan
• Release date: Jun 17, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223980483

Book preview

Copyright 2022 Daniel Aegan

Published by Freedom Lane Publishing

This book is not to be copied or distributed, electronically or otherwise, without the express permission of its author.

Trash Rat cover image by Zack Loup - @InfiniteLoupArt

Internal artwork by Daniel Aegan using copyright-free imagery & fonts.

Edited by CK Knight–cknightwrites.com

This is a work of fiction. All names, locales, businesses, and events are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or events is purely coincidental. No rats or raccoons were harmed in the writing of this novel.

****

Also by Daniel Aegan:

Blood Drive

Lost Women of the Admiral Inn

Kai the Swordsman: The Imprisoned King

Excalibur Nights

Double Zero: An Anthology

The New Council: Blood Drive 2

I’m in Sci-Fi Hell

The Unholy Mother of the Demonic Child

Reign of the Unfortunate

Bad News

Read more at DanielAegan.com

Follow on Twitter: @Daniel_Aegan

For Heather

Diagram Description automatically generatedDiagram Description automatically generated with medium confidence

"Wake up, Almond! The Providers are coming!"

Almond stirred. The Providers? But it’s—

You slept straight through most of the morning. If you don’t get up soon, you’re going to be left with nothing but scraps!

Almond couldn’t tell the time in the blackness of his nest in the Heaps. Once he realized this, he regained his senses that his siblings, along with the rest of his family, had all awoken already to see the Providers and left him undisturbed. He raised his head to smell the air that had wafted inside his home, and he could tell mid-afternoon had come. If he didn't hurry, he would miss the gathering.

Thanks, Theo. Almond almost shot past her into the open tunnels of their den, but something occurred to him. Did you stay behind just for me?

Theo looked away, acting as if she were cleaning her whiskers. No. Yes. She looked into Almond’s face. You can get to better food than I can, and you always share.

Almond sighed. His sister was the only one of their siblings smaller than him. She wasn’t as aggressive as her buck brothers of their small pack, and the rest of the rats had always pushed aside her in their litter.

Alright, Theo. I’ll help you get some food and whatever else you need. You need to be more aggressive, though. I don’t want you to starve if I’m not around.

Don’t talk like that. Theo shook her head. Come on. Neither one of us can get any food if we stay in our den.

She scurried through a small tunnel and left the den. Almond followed. He squinted as the daylight hit his face. The sun hid behind the clouds in the autumn sky, but it remained bright enough to sting his sensitive eyes. Rats were more attuned to the darkness than the light by nature, and being outside always required a little time to adjust.

Being out in the open also was dangerous. There were a lot of rats living in their heap, and most of their enemies knew it. Large black birds, vultures, stayed high on the edges, always watching with hungry eyes. They liked to eat that which was already dead, but they’d fly down and grab an unlucky mouse or rat for a snack if it were hungry enough. They were the most prevalent where Almond lived, though they weren’t the only scavengers in Raminath.

Wait for me! Almond called. Theo scurried alongside the piles of garbage, jumping from part to part. She was agile as well as quick, but she had to be. As a runt, she’d always be targeted by some scavenger or another. Even the other rats were known to cannibalize one another if faced with starvation.

But the Providers always came, and the rats made sure to stay close, dangerous as this area of the dump was for them.

The atmosphere itself rumbled as the Providers arrived, and the reek from the putrid smoke that rose from their bodies filled the air around them. It stung Almond’s nose, but he ignored it. They would be gone once they delivered their bountiful gifts, giving the rats and other animals of the Heaps time to gather and eat after the Pushers had done their part.

Look! Theo exclaimed, climbing atop a faded brown box. The Acolytes are beginning their ritual!

Almond climb aboard the box alongside his sister and watched as the rats cloaked in red raised their arms to the sky.

They’re thanking the gods for sending the Providers to us, Almond explained. We are treated well by their generosity.

You always get too excited and explain what I already know. Theo rolled her eyes. And what of our enemies? Do the gods provide them with rats as their meals?

The Dark Ones move against us. They always have.

I don’t want to get into another debate about gods and the Dark Ones. We’re all just part of their eternal games if what the Acolytes say is true.

You’re the one who got all excited to see them worshipping the Providers.

Only because it means we’ll be fed. Let’s get closer.

Theo scurried into the midst of the mischief that had gathered around the seven cloaked figures. She could play at having misgivings about the Acolytes and the gods all she wanted, but Almond knew she wouldn’t have scurried as fast toward them if she weren’t a believer. It almost made him smile as he chased after her.

The Providers of Raminath come! the Acolyte in the center proclaimed to the cloudy sky. We thank our gods for the meals we are ready to receive. Thank you, oh gods, for keeping our bellies full and our families intact! Please continue to keep the Dark Ones and their allies at bay! Please do not allow their agents to take any more of us than what they need to feed themselves in the balance of all things!

Almond looked downward as the Acolyte’s prayer washed over the rats waiting for their food. The Dark Ones had taken his father a month ago in the form of a hungry cat. He had scurried as fast as he could, but the claws and maw of the cat had gotten him and dragged him off.

Almond had been there when it happened.

This is the path that leads to the edge of Raminath, Almond’s father said, leading him away from their nest.

It’s getting dark. Almond looked around the shadows as he followed his father. What about scavengers?

You’ll be safe if you keep your mind smart and your senses sharp. We don’t have too much to worry about as long as the Providers bring enough for all of us. The vultures would rather eat the rotted meats that are given than hunt. They’re too lazy for it.

Almond followed. He stayed silent for a moment, but something popped into his head. Why do the Providers feed the agents of the Dark Ones like the vultures? Why not just feed the believers?

Don’t you see, Almond? The Providers feed the scavengers so they don’t turn to us for meat. It’s all part of the plan. We’ve been given this place to live and thrive, and the rules are clear. If the scavengers can eat what’s provided, then we are safer.

What do I need to see? Aren’t we supposed to stay away till the Acolytes tell us otherwise?

The Acolytes aren’t always right. They know the will of the gods and interpret what they’ve heard from their trances in the Holy Land, but they still don’t know everything.

What’s there at Edge City?

Secrets. It’s where we go to congregate. It’s a sinful place, though. That’s why the Acolytes encourage us never to venture to Edge City, though I find it a little odd that I always find one or two of them there. Hurry, Almond. We’re getting close.

Almond leaped along with his father, landing on the other side of a gap in the garbage. He looked down the slope, and he could see others gathering. There weren’t just rats but raccoons too. A couple of possums waddled out from under some metallic canisters, and a gull was standing atop a small pile.

Do they always meet here? Almond asked.

No. The landscape here is constantly changing. The Pushers are always razing and rebuilding the Heaps. It’s why we have to move our nest so often. Come on, let’s go down and meet the others.

Are you falling asleep? Theo asked.

Almond shook his head. He hadn’t meant to go off and remember the last lesson his father had tried to teach him. He was grateful his sister had snapped him back into reality before the vision of the cat’s yellow eyes appeared out of nowhere and targeted his father.

I’m fine.

The Providers let out a series of hisses that filled the Heaps with their call, and their backs lifted from their bases. They came two or three at a time, dumping their bounty upon the ground. When they drove away, the Pushers came with their flat fronts, shoving the piles toward the edges of the Heaps, building them up while razing that which they deemed necessary to destroy. Almond kept an eye on their nest in case the Heaps toppled over it. No one remained there during the Providers’ ritual, but his family would have to find new homes if it toppled inward upon itself.

Isn’t that your friend down there?

Almond looked where Theo faced. A family of raccoons had come out. They were nocturnal, like the rats, but all came on the days of the Providers. He saw who Theo had mentioned; a young, smallish raccoon. He and Almond had run into each other quite often, and they had spoken about many things when they had the time.

That’s Oumar, Almond replied. He’s friendly for a raccoon. He didn’t want to go into details since he wasn’t sure what a friend really was. Aside from his siblings and mother, he didn’t have anyone else he’d consider kin.

The Pushers rumbled and shook, moving on their round legs. Their task had been completed, and now the time for them to leave once more had arrived. Almond watched them go down the Providers’ Road, heading toward wherever they knew as home.

Go forth and gather! the lead Acolyte called to his followers. Feast, sons and daughters of the gods, and be wary of the Dark Ones and their trickery!

The rats scurried toward the piles that had been left for them. Gulls swooped down from the sky to nab some food, grabbing and flying back into the sky. Oumar and the other raccoons hurried and grabbed what they could, ripping open black and white bags or taking what had fallen to the ground. They took the biggest pieces, that which the rats couldn’t carry without breaking down.

Greedy bastards! an older rat snapped. We all need to eat, you heathenistic lot!

There is plenty for all of us, an Acolyte said. He placed a paw on the old rat’s shoulder. Come, elder one. I shall help you find some food if you need it.

Bah! I don’t need your help! If the gods want me to starve to death, then I’ll starve and feed the maggots with my rotting carcass!

Do not speak that way about yourself. All life in Raminath is precious, and yours is as well.

The old rat turned away. If that were the case, your lot of red-cloaked bastards wouldn’t preach as much about the sacred food cycle and how our meat will eventually become part of it.

Almond and Theo hurried past everyone coming and going and made their way to the fresh piles. He found some of his siblings tearing open the plastic of one of the bags. The food poured from it as they made their way over.

Good morning, Almond! Heath, one his brothers, said. I’m glad you woke up long enough to help gather food.

I would have been awake in time if you had told me you were all leaving the nest so early. Lucky for me, Theo didn’t forget.

Calm down, the both of you! their mother snapped. Get what you can and bring it back to the nest. We only have a few more days till we have to move, and I don’t want to starve to death before then!

Yes, Mother. Almond joined his siblings and started sorting through the bag to take what they needed. They ate some of what fell out and kept a small pile near them. When they were satisfied, they carried all they could back with them to their nest.

Did you find anything good today? Almond asked his sister once they had settled with the goods they had brought back.

I did. Theo kept her voice low, and she looked around to make sure none of their many siblings listened. She pulled a flap of cardboard up and revealed a shining trinket underneath.

What is that?

I don’t know, but it’s beautiful. I grabbed it the moment it fell from the bag.

Theo leaned down and picked up a ring of shining yellow metal with a sparkling gem affixed to it. Almond stared at it, unable to take his eyes away from its luster.

It’s a gift from the gods, Almond whispered, given through the Providers.

Don’t say that. Theo put it away again. If Mother hears you, I’ll have to send it to the Acolytes to take to the Core.

I won’t say anything.

Good. Theo moved to the corner, lay on the ground, and let out a huge yawn. I’m going to take a nap till the evening. Will you be OK without me for a bit?

Almond laughed. I think I can manage. Have a good nap, Theo.

Theo fell asleep a moment later. She had done a lot, and it had taken its toll on her tiny body. There would be plenty to eat when she awoke later. The Providers had been good to them, and they were able to bring a good haul back to their nest with no fighting. The days and nights before their next move were going to be good ones.

Almond didn’t want to go back to sleep yet. With his sister lying in her nest, he left into the daylight.

Diagram Description automatically generated with medium confidence

Stagnant water pooled in a concrete bowl that had formed on the ground. Oumar leaned over it and took a drink, ignoring the flies buzzing all around it. There were too many of them to scare off by waving at them. They’d only return a moment later anyway.

He had eaten something salty and crispy, and it had stuck in his throat. He gulped down the water in the hopes it would alleviate the scratchiness. Once he finished, he turned and climbed up the hill of debris, carefully finding the paw and footholds he had used to come down.

Hello, someone said.

Oumar looked around himself. As far as he could tell, no one had come to greet him, and he wondered if he’d imagined the friendly greeting altogether.

I’m up here!

Oumar looked upward and found the source of the voice. A rat stood suspended above the ground, looking downward from a bridge made from rope and rotted wood. He didn’t know many rats, but he knew this one well.

Hello, Almond. I didn’t expect to see you scurrying around the Heaps today in the daylight.

Almond laughed. It’s odd seeing a raccoon out in the daylight as well. Unless… Are you ill?

Oumar shook his head. No, Almond, I am not ill. I fancied a wander around the Heaps after my kin and I gathered food from the Providers is all. What about you?

There’s not much to do, Almond replied, so I’m going to see if I can find anything worth finding. We may have to move again soon, so I’m hoping I can find something helpful in the tunnels.

I can go with you if you’d like. My ancestors built those tunnels and some of the bridges. My mother told me some of them even lead to the Core.

Thank you, but I don’t need to go that far. I might use the smaller rat tunnels, though. I don’t want to chance anyone bigger following me.

Oumar nodded. He knew as well as Almond that a rat in the raccoon tunnels would be an easy mark, and scavengers used them often. Raccoons were known to eat rats if they were hungry enough, dead or alive. Almond’s kind weren’t innocent, though. If they came across a fresh corpse of a raccoon, they’d make a mighty meal out of its flesh and innards before the flies came to lay their maggots. Some rats were even known to make nests in the discarded ribcages of bigger species.

Good luck, Almond.

Thank you. Almond crossed the bridge and scurried toward the tunnels.

Oumar watched him go for a moment and turned back to climbing over the heap. Some gulls flew away as he crested the top. They cawed at one another, seeking out discarded food to eat before flying away. Two vultures sat atop another tall heap and watched him. He didn’t scurry away or hide like a rat would have. A raccoon was too big for them to harass or try to eat while they were still alive. If he happened to fall and become paralyzed, though…

It had happened to Scuzz, Oumar’s litter brother. He climbed upward when the heap became unstable. A large metal can fell downward, knocking him off his footing. He tumbled until his body came to a rest, pierced by a jutting piece of metal.

He’d been rendered unable to move from his fall. The vultures were already there after hearing the commotion. Scuzz tried with frantic gestures to get them away from him, but his struggles had been in vain. His screams were heard all the way to the edge of Raminath as they stripped away his flesh, but no one came to help. There was nothing anyone could do but let him become a meal for the hungry scavengers.

Oumar had seen it happen. He watched another heap, unable to get to Scuzz to help. He left when the vultures made his brother a meal, crying for someone to come and help. Even their mother, as distraught as she’d been, refused to go to her son. There was nothing anyone could do. Nobody had gone to claim what was left of Scuzz’s body when the vultures and vermin were done consuming it. They let it sit there like everything else that had been discarded. And he wasn’t the only sibling Oumar had lost. Each death he faced served as a grim reminder of the stakes of life in Raminath.

You’re home early, Pal, another of Oumar’s litter brothers, said. And empty-handed too.

I brought home plenty earlier, Oumar retorted, walking past Pal. Besides, I need some sleep.

Who am I to stop you? Figured you’d need a rest after playing with your pet rat.

Oumar stopped moving. Pal had been watching him and saw him interacting with Almond by one of the rope bridges the rats used to get around the Heaps.

We only greeted each other in passing. What’s it to you anyway?

Do you know why rats stay close to the ground? It’s so they can get the putrid juices on their bellies. They mate based on stink!

I don’t think that’s true.

You would know, rodent lover.

Oumar ignored his brother and crawled into the heap cave that led to his family’s home. His mother acted as the matriarch of their community, and all her children were to check in with her when they returned home. She rested in her alcove, burrowed into the ground under the solidness of the heap above their heads.

I’m home, Mother.

Oumar’s mother looked toward him. She only lifted her head and opened her eyes a little. She took in a long, labored breath and whispered to her son.

Did the Providers treat you well?

They did, Mother.

Beware the maw of Zed.

Oumar sighed and shook his head. Zed isn’t here.

He is never far. When your father comes again, he’ll come for you, Oumar. I’ve seen it in my nightmares. Don’t let him do to you what he did to Hamby.

Oumar looked away. I’m going to leave you to rest now, Mother.

Be safe, my son. She closed her eyes and went back to sleep. Oumar left her there to her breathing, walking through their hollow halls toward the comfortable darkness of his den.

Oumar’s mother’s role in their community had come into question a lot as of late. Her mind had become demented, and it hadn’t been a surprise to any of them. She had skill as a seer, but no sow who’d become a mother of a litter from Zed’s seed could escape the eventuality of their mind’s deterioration. As inevitable as Oumar knew it’d be, it still saddened him. It would be best for him to put it out of his mind as they did with all the troubles life in Raminath wrought them.

It won’t be long now.

The new voice belonged to Amber, one of Oumar’s two sisters. She had waited near the entrance to her den. She was too far into her pregnancy to go far, so she stayed in the cavern across from their mother.

Oumar looked into his sister’s face. Mother…has she been having dark dreams again?

Amber nodded. She sees Zed whenever she closes her eyes, so she’s been trying not to sleep much. I’d hoped by now that someone would have killed him.

Do you think he’s still out there then?

No…I don’t know. Amber sighed. If she’s dreaming of him, he can’t be far.

He can’t be nearby. It’s been so long since we’ve seen him. For all we know, he’s left Raminath altogether to terrorize some other land.

Mother may not be the strongest of mind, but her dreams have never been proven wrong. She knew about my pregnancy even before I mated. She knew Scuzz was in danger the day before his fall.

It was easy to believe the dreams were just dreams. Especially since the dreams were saying that Zed was going to target Oumar. He didn’t tell his sister that detail of the prophetic dream, though. He didn’t want to worry her too much.

I need to get some sleep before dusk, Oumar said, walking past Amber.

Bring a weapon next time you go out! Amber called after him. It’s better to be able to defend yourself!

Oumar waved a paw in the air, acknowledging his sister’s request. She had the gift of foresight like their mother, though it hadn’t manifested as strong. Even if it hadn’t been a premonition of danger, he’d remain careful. There were those in Raminath who abhorred anyone carrying weapons through the Heaps. No one wanted to be seen as a threat and some were killed for carrying a shard or a spear. Even having a shield near Edge City might act as an invitation for trouble, though anyone who’d gone there would argue that going without protection would be a foolish endeavor, to say the least.

Silence reigned throughout the cavernous home that housed Oumar’s kin’s dens. Most of the others were sleeping away the daylight. Oumar wanted nothing more than to do the same, crashing down on the soft bed of cushions and balled-up cloth of his bed. He took a deep breath through his nose, taking in the aroma of mold and rot. He smiled as he drifted into sleep.

Despite everything going through his mind, it felt good to be home.

Diagram Description automatically generated with medium confidence

The sun set on Raminath. Almond rose at dusk from his long afternoon nap. That morning, he had gone as far as he could before it got too dangerous. He had come home with pieces of metal, some cloth for clothing, and some forgotten snacks. They weren’t too fresh, but one never knew when they’d need the food, spoiled or not.

The others were up as well, scurrying about their den, speaking over one another. Almond could barely make out any of the words. They had grown from a small family into a bustling community in a matter of weeks. Stragglers who had lost their families had joined them as well, and there were always pups being born. They needed to breed to keep the gods happy. A rat who didn’t mate was an agent of the Dark Ones.

Or so the Acolytes often told them.

Almond! Theo called, finding him awake. Follow me!

She ran off, heading toward one of their exit burrows. Almond sighed and followed his sister, pausing only long enough to grab his cloak and hers from a nail hanging on the wall next to him, draping it over his shoulders as he moved to catch up.

Theo hadn’t gone far. Almond caught up to her atop a huge, rectangular piece of metal. The sky was still pink in the distance. The dangers of the night would be upon them soon, but they’d be safe as long as they stayed somewhere close to a hiding spot or one of the smaller escape holes that were all over the heap.

What’s wrong? Almond asked, draping Theo’s shawl over her shoulders. She didn’t stop him from doing it. She didn’t even help him. She just stared off toward the edge of their land.

I saw fire, Almond. I saw dancing flames and black smoke. I saw an inferno of burning fur and flesh. It was our home. It was gone in a matter of moments, reduced to embers and ashes by the time the rain came to quench it.

Almond felt a chill from Theo’s words, even though they had been about fire and burning. He knew the fear resided only in his mind, but he pulled his cloak over his arms and body regardless of how silly he knew it seemed.

Is that a poem you’ve written? he asked. It’s a little too dark if you ask me.

Theo sighed and shook her head. Remember the ring and gem I found earlier today?

Yeah. What about it?

I was holding it in my nest earlier. I couldn’t help it. I wanted to keep it hidden so no one turned it over to the Acolytes. But I felt it. It called out to me, but it made no sound. It wanted to be with me. It wanted to show me things.

Maybe it should go to the Acolytes then. Almond shuddered. I wouldn’t want something that would show me such lies.

Lies? Theo turned and looked into Almond’s face. What it showed me were not lies. What it told me was nothing more than the naked truth.

Almond couldn’t find his voice to argue at first. His tongue felt too stiff to say anything. The look on his sister’s face didn’t waver. Whatever she felt, she knew it as a truth and a finality.

How can you know that? Almond asked, forcing himself to speak through his haze of dumbfoundedness.

I don’t know how I know, but I do. What I saw was no lie. It was the fate of our entire community.

You’re not… Almond had to shake his head to collect his thoughts. "You’re saying you have the ability of