The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 179: The golden field

As we began on our journey again, I moved more happily than I did the previous day.

I gave the rabbits an idea I thought would help them. Some could simply sit on the troller and let two rabbits pull.

It wouldn’t be that heavy but they’d have to put in effort. From there, when they reach a certain mile, they can switch shifts and the ones pulling before would have an opportunity to rest.

I watched them while resting on Fenric’s back. He turned into his beast form for my sake cause I said I didn’t want to keep walking for hours. Knowing he was being of help, he sneered at Damar to show off but he paid him no heed.

The rabbits were terrified by an unseen pressure when they gazed up at Fenric’s majestic form.

They trembled but I assured them that they didn’t need to worry since it was just his beast form and he was rational. To prove it, I made him give me my paw and stick out his tongue at Damar.

This put them a little bit at ease but their trembling nerves remained.

I gazed at the sky with my back resting on Fenric’s soft back.

The slowly moving clouds and the chill in the air were so smooth that I nearly fell asleep.

But as the trees began to thin, the heavy, damp scent of the forest was replaced by a dry, sweet aroma—the smell of sun-baked earth and ripening grain. We pushed through a final thicket of brambles, and suddenly, the world opened up.

I raised my body, turning to glance at the scene that had just opened up in front of us, the air leaving my lungs in a sharp gasp.

"Whoa..."

The Great Eastern Plain stretched out before us like an infinite, undulating sea of molten gold. As far as the eye could see, heavy-headed stalks of grain swayed in the breeze, creating rhythmic, shimmering waves that rippled toward the horizon.

The sky above was a vast, piercing blue, making the gold of the fields look almost supernatural in its intensity.

"It’s... it’s beautiful," I whispered.

Coming from the dark, cramped feeling of the forest, this was like stepping into a different world. The sunlight was brilliant, catching the silver tips of the grain and turning the entire landscape into a sparkling masterpiece. It was peaceful, vast, and looked like something straight out of a classic painting.

For a moment, I forgot about the rats. I forgot about the tunnels. I just wanted to run into that golden sea and feel the stalks brushing against my skin.

And I nearly dove into it but Damar caught my movement right away.

"Don’t move," his voice hissed, low and sharp, and I flinched.

The sudden tension in his tone snapped me out of my daze.

Fenric turned back into his human form with a ’puff’ and a cloud of fog. I fell right into his arms and felt his body vibrating with a low, defensive growl.

"Ari, look closely," Fenric muttered, his eyes narrowed and darting across the ’peaceful’ field.

I blinked, focusing my eyes. At first, it just looked like the wind. But then I saw it. A rhythmic twitching in the stalks that didn’t match the breeze. A tiny flash of a dark, beady eye here; the tip of a thin, scaly tail there.

’The field was alive.’ the thought suddenly etched in my mind.

Beneath that breathtaking beauty lay hidden trapdoors and a legion of tiny, watchful eyes. The ’sea of gold’ was actually a massive, living fortress.

At this point, I wondered something that I was genuinely curious about.

Just how many mice could there be for them to have such an endless field of grain?

It made my skin crawl.

Robi stepped up beside me, his ears trembling as he looked at the horizon.

"We’ve reached the edge. From here on, every step we take is being counted by the Mouselings. Stay on the path, Ms. Arinya. If you step into the grain... the earth will swallow you before you can scream."

I swallowed hard, the "Eureka" joy from my morning soap-success cooling into a cautious dread. The beauty of the plain was a trap, and we were standing right at the jaws of it.

"Alright," I said, my voice steadying. "Lead the way to this ’Gate.’ down below. Let’s get this over with."

The walk along the designated path was the most unnerving experience of my life. The golden grain stood tall—nearly as high as my waist—creating a natural corridor that felt far too narrow for comfort.

Every few seconds, the stalks would rustle in a way that had nothing to do with the wind. I caught the glint of sunlight hitting something metallic—tiny spearheads—and the occasional tchip-tchip of a high-pitched signal being passed through the field.

"They’re everywhere," I whispered, my skin crawling. I felt like a giant walking through a minefield.

Fenric was a knot of pure tension beside me. His lip was curled just enough to show the tip of a fang, and his hand stayed clenched.

I wondered what he was thinking in that moment. Did he worry that he wouldn’t be able to protect me in the moment I made a mistake and these creatures attacked? Or was he simply as disgusted as I was?

Damar was even worse; he had slowed his pace, his tongue flicking out every few seconds. He wasn’t just seeing them; he was tasting their scent—thousands of tiny, musky heartbeats hidden in the gold.

Ugh.

When does the path end? I wondered, my brows furrowing and the hair on my tail standing each time I heard that tchip-tchip sound. So disgusting.

Finally, the path opened up into a wide, circular clearing of hard-packed red clay. In the center sat a massive, inconspicuous mound that looked like a giant, inverted bowl made of sun-baked mud.

"The Gate of the Deep," Robi announced, his voice shaking. "That is what they call this place."

Gate of the deep, huh? Befitting for bottom feeders such as rats.

We stopped about twenty paces from the mound. For a long minute, nothing happened. The only sound was the wind whistling through the grain. Then, I heard a voice.

"Halt, Big-Walkers!"

The voice was tiny but possessed a piercing, authoritative shrillness. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

From the shadows of the grain, three figures emerged. They were barely three feet tall, covered in sleek, tawny fur that matched the grain perfectly.