Author:
Mossyra
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Date Posted: 16:38:50 08/17/07 Fri
A gigantic horde of rats, weasels, stoats, foxes, Marlfoxes, evil badgers, ferrets, water-rats, Flitchaye, pine-martens, polecats, wildcats, snakes, searats, pirates, corsairs, Rapscallions, toads, lizards, and their friends the ravens, crows, and seagulls have come to Redwall Abbey. They know the legend of Redwall and that no army of vermin has ever captured it. They are determined to finally sieze the Abbey we all love. Our friends, the sparrows, have sent for Salamandastron's help and Guosim's too. They have also called the hawks from the North, archenemies with the ravens and crows, to assist us. While looking out of the fortified windows, it seems as if an ocean of vermin has swept in and a tidal wave of birds is about to drown us. DAB is eager to help when the time comes to rid the land of all vermin. This battle will be of epic proportions. Tangle has assigned you an elite group of Dibbuns to lead in the battle in conjurance with his own regiment and Dumble's and Julian's. You know that once Salamandastron will come, chaos will reign. It is up to the goodbeasts of Mossflower to destroy all evil in the land. Good luck.
Mossyra looked out at the veritable flood of foes and took careful aim, ready to kill. Every shot counted and mistakes could cost lives. At the last possible second she whipped it slightly to the left and watched. The ferret she had been aiming at had obviously heard the whistle and jumped to one side with a sneer. It died on his lips as the slingstone hit him in the dead center of his forehead. Mossyra scratched another tally mark on her sheet of bark and glanced at Samkin. He fired an arrow, then growled in disgust. "Only a mortal wound," he sighed. "Didn't kill him instantly."
"You know the rules, Samkin," Mossyra replied. "That only counts as half, even if he will die later." They both turned back to the battle. Mossyra whipped another stone and smiled with satisfaction as an adder died and its death throes knocked down Flitchaye on either side. Samkin ducked an arrow, then turned and plucked it out of the air. Stringing it quickly, he fired and killed its former owner. At that moment Driprudder hurried up the stairs and dropped a large bundle by Samkin's side, then picked up his own bow. "Phew, I thought I'd never get done," he muttered, taking careful aim and firing. He picked up his own scoreboard and made a tally mark just as a scream reached her ears. "I shouldn't have to make more for a few hours. Oh, Mossyra, Swordling wants to see you in the Infirmary." Driprudder's face turned grim and sad. "She says we're losing Audreystream." Mossyra froze, horror painting her face. "What," she burst out disbelievingly. "How!?" Driprudder shook his head. "I don't know, but I suspect the arrow was poisoned. The Elders have given up hope." With a growl Mossyra grabbed one of her pouches and jumped down the stairs, heading toward the Infirmary. "I'm not going to give on her," the squirrelmaid called to her otter friend determinedly. "I've lost too many already."
When she entered the Infirmary, silence prevailed. A few Abbey beasts hurried around attending patients and serving food. Except for one bed.
Joining Swordling, she ignored the mousemaid's stricken face and concentrated on the wound in Audreystream's side. "They didn't remove the arrowhead," she muttered incredulously. "If it's poisoned that alone would kill her." Studying the deep hole in the ottermaid's side, she frowned at it distractedly. "The arrow itself wasn't poisoned, but the wound is turning poison. I'll have to clean it up." Turning to a passing vole, she asked sweetly, "May I please have some water?" The tired vole smiled and nodded, handing her a cup. "Keep your strength up, young un'. We'll win out in the end." As the helper hurried off, Mossyra dampened a cloth and wiped the injury around the ash shaft. "Swordling, hold her still." Using quick, sure paws, she carefully pulled on the broken shaft until it began to move. With a quick, sharp jerk, she yanked the arrow free and pressed her cloth against it. Audreystream groaned and turned slightly, and Mossyra lifted the piece of cloth long enough to apply some herbs, then bound it closed. "She should be fine now, as long as she doesn't lose too much blood. Really, I don't think anybody has ever thought of using wolfsbane to heal someone. Come on, Swordling, the battle needs you." Pulling her friend away from the sleeping otter, Mossyra headed toward the gathering place of Dibbuns.
"We need someone else to lead in battle," Tangle was announcing. "It has to be a skilled reliable beast that is not needed here. Anyone? No, Lettuceleaf, we need you to help with weapon-making. If someone is willing to replace then you can do it."
"Tangle," Mossyra called, "I'll do it! I only need a few, almost like a probing force. We can penetrate deep into the enemy ranks and perhaps free JarJar." A faint smile creased Tangle's face. "Very well, Mossyra, but don't get caught or killed. We need every available beast for this war!" Motioning for Swordling to follow, Mossyra hurried back up to where Driprudder and Samkin were shooting. Slipping on the biggest stone pouch, she filled it up from one of the others and took another full one as well. She searched for the loose stone, then pried it out and passed Swordling five daggers from her secret cache. Taking the rest in a bulking bundle, she replaced the red stone and went to find Jenny and Riverstar.
When she had assembled all of her chosen recruits, she passed out daggers. No one notice the four Dibbuns clasping paws over the bed of a sleeping ottermaid in the Infirmary. Without a second glance, they left, following Mossyra as she went to the Tapestry.
Looking about furtively, Mossyra pushed the cloth aside and pushed a small knot that the cloth wildcat had hidden. A low click sounded and three stones in the wall slid away, revealing a dusty passage. Motioning the others through, Mossyra let the Tapestry fall back behind her and pressed a bit of discolored stone. The doorway swung back into place.
"I always forget to clean this place," Mossyra murmured as she grabbed a lit torch from its place in the wall. "It's a good thing I spent an entire winter remembering these passages instead of sweeping them, though.” Taking a right at the first turn, she headed straight for what seemed to be an hour, then stopped when they came to a dead end. "This, my friend's is where it goes outside. I didn't want to tell Tangle, but it actually leads into the gatehouse, where JarJar is being held captive. We have to be quick. Someone lock and barricade all doors and windows while Swordling takes care of any vermin inside. One, two, three, go!"
Scrambling up the cracked stone, Mossyra jerked a ladder down to enable her companions to climb up also and pulled the trapdoor open, shooting through without a moments hesitation.
Nobeast was in sight. The compartment where the four companions entered was more like a small box, with a low ceiling and close walls. "It wasn't meant to admit an army," Mossyra explained quietly, lifting a latch off of the carefully camouflaged door. "We'll come out behind the records. Drop them into the tunnel as I pass them back. We don't want vermin to find a weakness of this Abbey, though I learned that this particular series of passageways isn't recorded. I don't think very many knew it existed." She swung the door open and took one step, then encountered a mountain of scrolls separated only by thin shelves. She carefully removed several, handing them back to her friend's, and continued to do so until she had a reasonable opening. The entire space was deserted except for an unconscious bundle on the armchair. Clambering through, Mossyra went without pause top JarJar, checking to make sure she was alright. Jenny stayed behind to pile the remainder of the scrolls into the hidden passage while Riverstar and Swordling locked every entrance or exit point and barricaded them as well. Distant cries announced the vermin outside had noticed, but they couldn't get in. Picking up JarJar gently, she passed her to Jenny. "Take JarJar back to Redwall, okay? We'll be there shortly with the rest of the scrolls. I'm afraid they may set this place on fire to kill whoever is in here." Swordling and Riverstar rapidly passed the ancient records from paw to paw until every last one was gone. Then, closing the door securely and dropping the latch back in place, the trio prepared to leave. First, Mossyra painted the unnoticeable cracks of the door with the liquid from a vile in her pouch, then she poured a different liquid from another vile over the latch. After that she positioned a large blanket over the floor and slipped into the tunnel, closing and locking the trapdoor. To her companions' surprise, she also fitted four gray stone blocks over the entrance and cut the rope ladder free, then herded them away from the place. They had already moved all of the records farther down the passage and she now pushed a small, blue stone set into the wall that they hadn't noticed before. An unbreakable stone square fell from the roof and landed on the floor, followed by another and another. They were made by blocks similar to those Redwall was built from and they were glued into section that were four-by-four. Soon the entire section was blocked off and Mossyra spread more of the strange liquid over the visible stones. As they traveled back the way they had come, Mossyra explained, "If they do burn it, I want to make sure they don't discover this place. A thin layer of stone covers the place we came from, so it shouldn't burn, but if it does I put a fireproof blanket over the trapdoor. If they find that anyway, they will have trouble breaking through. You see, I bolted it shut and rusted the bolt--as well as the latch in the compartment up there--and it will look like nobeast has been there for a very long time. I also closed off the tunnel so they can't get into Redwall. And," she added grimly, "If they somehow manage to get past all of the defenses they'll wander these halls forever without getting anywhere. I'll keep watch just in case. And spring all the booby traps if any do show up. So, we're safe. We don't have to worry about anything, 'cause these tunnels lead to just about everywhere. If an emergency takes place, we can get to the orchard, the pond, the garden, any room in Redwall, the strawberry patch, even Mossflower woods itself. I even know of one that leads to a red stone outcrop a bit away from here. In fact, there are entire networks I haven't yet explored, from River Moss to ancient, sunken Kotir, to places yet unexplored for countless miles in every direction, and it's all so solid you can leave it for thousands of seasons without it suffering any damage. You see, we could house all of Mossflower and Salamandastron /and/ Southsward without ever meeting each other. Probably Green Isle and Riftgard as well. I think it may go to the ocean in some places . . . Ah, here's the exit." Mossyra pressed a small knot and the doorway opened again, showing the back of the Tapestry. "I've been rambling the entire time," she muttered. "Oh well. I guess it's time to tell Tangle about these passages, now that I'm sure they're safe ." Hurrying out, she pressed the fault that closed the doorway after her friend's got out and went to find Tangle.
She found DAB's Leader sending Dibbuns to various tasks. After the hedgehog finished, Mossyra showed her the hidden place behind the cloth wildcat and explained what it was. Tangle nodded eagerly, a plan formulating in her mind, then sent Mossyra to collect a group of Dibbuns that were waiting in Cavern Hole and prepare for assault. It was time for DAB to fight back against the evil vermin invading their home and killing their friends.
After gathering her squad, Mossyra took them to the Tapestry and waited. Soon, Dumble, Julian, and Tangle had assembled their own groups and they were ready. Mossyra lifted the Tapestry and pressed the knot, then led them into the maze of passages that went beneath Redwall's very foundations.
Three hours later she left Dumble's attack force at the exit that came up in the orchard and headed down yet another hall. She had shown Tangle and her team the way to get to the pond and Julian's regiment where to take the walls. Now she and her soldiers were going to jump out, apparently from the ground, and fight the enemy away from the main gates. As they silently slipped out, screeches came from above, along with shrieks of victory and war. The birds had arrived.
A hawk plummeted from the sky with a broken wing and crashed into a ferret just before he could loose a flaming arrow. The hawk ripped viciously with beak and talon alike, but it didn't stand a chance. Mossyra and her followers hacked a path to the valiant fighter, banging and breaking with slings, clubs, and anything else they had brought. One of her patrol, a good ferret named Swiftblade, fired an arrow. It zipped through the air and instantly killed a Marlfox that had lifted its ax for the death blow. A squirrel named Larkspur fell to a cutlass swipe, but a mouse named Duby shot the attacker before he could kill Larkspur. Mossyra paused to bind the wound and heard a wail from ahead as the mouse Kirrick found the hawk was dead. Ordering them back to the gate, she helped Larkspur limp to safety and searched for a badger among her troops. Finding one, she asked Redflash to help her open the gate. An arrow thudded mere inches from her paw as she heaved at the wooden bar, but they finally pushed the main gate open. What she saw made her gasp.
Hares of the Long Patrol, led by a thundering Badger Lord, streamed out of the woods. Most dropped down to one knee and fitted arrows to their massive longbows. Guosim shrews poured from every direction and ran full force toward the open gateway. Warcries swelled into the air.
"Logalogalogalog!"
"Eulaliaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
"Reeeeeeeeeedwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall!"
"Taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaangle!"
"DAB, DAB, DAB!"
"Swooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooordliiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!"
"Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamkiiiiiiiin!"
"'S death on the wind!"
Even famous warcries from ancient times were thrown into the wind.
"Fur an' Freedooooooooooooooooom!"
She raised her own voice to match theirs, the heat of battle overtaking her.
"Down, troop! Mossyraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Individual names were tossed into the air as the DAB members fell flat. Arrows whizzed overhead, followed by Long Patrollers and the Lord of Salamandastron, leaping heroically over the Dibbuns and into the fray. Guosim jumped after them, attacking the foe. Mossyra laughed, swinging her loaded sling in one hand and stabbing her dagger in the other. Then the battle took her.
From the walltop a Dibbun saw hawks and eagles battle above with ravens, crows, and seagulls while Redwallers poured out of the Abbey, waving whatever came to paw. The Abbott struck down a ferret with one crack of the broom in his paw and turned his back momentarily to dispose of a polecat. Samkin fired an arrow straight into the gaping mouth of an adder as it lunged at the unprotected Father of Redwall, then flung a dagger into a water-rat before it could kill the Infirmary sister. An evil badger struggled with the Badger Lord, knocking aside anybeast in their way, oblivious to all but the enemy. The Friar's assistant flung a hardened turnip like a stone and instantly killed the toad raising his trident to strike down an otter. A fox swung his sword and killed a squirrel, only to face Tamarind and Jea with their weapons at ready. Corsairs, pirates, and searats battled desperately against their long-time foes of the Long Patrol while an otter named Bianca demolished a pine-marten with a single blow of her brick-filled pillow. Jakken and Samkin fought side-by-side in the midst of a group of foxes and ferrets. Simsey and Wimsel fired darts and frozen peas at seagulls and Rapscallions as Julian's Dibbuns had slings, blowpipes, bows, peashooters and other assorted weapons made for long-distance fighting. They concentrated most of their fire-power on the Flitchaye, rats, and foxes at the same time Tangle's group finished off the last of the snakes and started killing the weasels. A Long Patrol hare staggered and fell, only to be saved by a golden eagle that plummeted down and decimated the circling ferrets. The Badger Lord was lying unmoving against the south wall, the three evil badgers lying dead nearby and a Dibbun was shaking one of the Sisters as she lay motionless on the blood-stained ground. Riverstar and Driprudder joined with Lettuceleaf to hold the foe off while the Dibbun wept, begging the dead mouse to wake up. One of the brigadiers from Salamandastron hurled his light javelin at a lizard and beat at a fox with his pace stick while trading blows with a leering searat. A Guosim shrew tossed his rapier at a wildcat only to die moments later when a water-rat shot him down. A polecat was crossing blades with Swordling, the pair leaping over bodies and stumbling through the grounds while Dumble single-handedly held the east wallgate from some Marlfoxes that had been waiting outside. Conder fired arrow after arrow until he ran out, then jumped among some corsairs and thwacked them senseless with his unstrung bow. A pirate killed two shrews and was beating back a mole when the Friar cracked his skull with a frying pan. The Badgermum had the eldest beasts and the youngest Dibbuns on the west walltop, where they rained stones onto the remaining lizards and Rapscallions as well as downing ravens and crows with well-thrown stones, some of which were the size of small boulders. The Skipper of Otters went back-to-back with the Cellarkeeper and formed a windmill of death, rudder and spikes doing as much damage as their weapons. Some of the injured beasts wielded pots and pans from the kitchens and Dibbuns that were wounded slightly sat in the fruit trees as they hurled rock-hard fruit and unshelled nuts about. Tangle rolled about in a ball while Mossyra hurtled through the chaotic jumble, her loaded sling a blur as she went faster and faster, almost becoming a blur herself. Seelem ripped the pinion feathers out of a crow and attacked the sea gulls besieging the walltop Dibbuns as Aquamarine linked paws with Legloindil and Summerglade, forming a spinning triangle with their loaded slings injuring any vermin unfortunate enough to get in their path. Jenny ducked a toad's trident just in time, then dashed off to help a beleaguered shrew as a lieutenant set about cracking skulls with his spear butt. A mouse named Goldenflame threw one of his arrows like a pike and pinned a rat to the gatehouse long enough for a Dibbun to kill it with a well-thrown apple. A stoat chopped blindly at a group of dodging Dibbuns only to get thrown into the pond by one of Skipper's crew. And so the battle raged, neither side winning or losing, until the sun was less than twice its height from the horizon and every last attacker lay dead. The price of freedom was heavy, however. Mossyra stepped over an unseeing hare and knelt by a dormouse long enough to make sure it was truly dead before moving on. The Long Patrol hare made stretchers for the wounded and white cloths embroidered with the fire mountain showed where their warriors had fallen. She saw a haremaid with an empty sling kneeling by one such bundle, her clear blue eyes filled with pain and loss. The Guosim mourned the loss of their leader, Log-a-log, while the hawks and eagles sang death chants over their dead. Mossyra paused to listen.
"No more shall you fly with your kin,
No more to soar through the sky.
You've left our mortal world of pain,
And gone to the place where no wind sighs.
Your wings beat not as we glide back home,
You've left us to find new mountains,
The cries of battle you do not hear,
A warrior fallen to the plains.
Your beak and talons no longer move,
To fight and save in the name of freedom,
And back near the setting sun,
A friend waits for one who will not come.
You have gone to where no storms break,
And battles do not rage,
You've gone to guard from beyond the sky,
And rest for all coming ages."
Wiping a tear from her eye, she went on. A mole stared blankly into the distance, apparently unaware of the tears streaming down his face or the small bundle in his arms. She saw four squirrels gently lifting a pair of their kin, a maiden and her warrior, fallen together on the field of battle. She saw Long Patrol hares lying amidst the trampled dust, never fated to see their beloved mountain or their sandy coasts. She saw the bodies of their bird allies, lying broken where they had landed as they fell from the heights. She saw otters that would never feel water streaming by them again, hedgehogs that wouldn't see another sunset, voles that wouldn't smell the earth after a summer rain, shrews that would never wield a paddle, squirrels that would never rush through the windy trees again. She knew that this was the cost of freedom, and it still pained her. She was alive and they weren't.
Then she saw something else. The famous Late Rose was blooming. It was still early spring, yet fresh blossoms so beautiful they took her breath away gleamed in the sunlight. Even more amazing, dewdrops shone on every individual pedal. Looking above the setting sun, she saw a single star shining in the sky. Then she looked at the Abbey, its stones shining a pale pink, the weather vane reflecting a joyous light, windows letting the golden rays enter. A rainbow stretched above the Abbey, the colors set against a deepening blue. And in the doorway she saw a small, white figure standing with a beaming smile, eyes not yet seeing the carnage and chaos. She saw Swordling smiling as she gazed in the same direction. And she knew, this was why they fought and died. To see that others could live.
A few hours later, twilight spread over Mossflower. The Long Patrol hares followed a stretcher bore between four of their warriors. Lord Sunsword lay in a soft white tunic with a silver chain around his neck. Hanging from the chain so that it rested on his chest was a small figurine of a Badger Lord in full armor holding his helmet in one paw that rested by his side. A sword was strapped across his back and in his out-stretched right paw was a blooming rose. A young leveret had explained that Sunsword had asked to be buried at Redwall if he fell. The other hares were to be taken back to Salamandastron and the Guosim shrews would be laid to rest near River Moss, but the Redwallers that had died were being buried near a small outcrop of red sandstone in memory of the Abbey they had fought to save. Two otters near the back carried a stone tablet with the names of everyone that had died fighting for freedom, including those that weren't going to be buried there. Behind them was a squirrel, a mouse, a mole, a hare, a shrew, an otter, a vole, a hedgehog, and a badger carrying banners for each species that had died. Each banner was on a tall pole of ash wood and had an embroidered animal set against a black background in honor of those that had died.
When they reached the outcrop the moles had finished digging the graves. Foremole nodded to them and gestured for them to go ahead. A haremaid stepped forward as they laid the fallen warriors to rest and sang in a voice like a thousand harps,
"When the sun sets in a bloody sky,
And night doth blanket our shore,
The warriors gone will rise again,
To herald a new hope.
Shining bright to strengthen hearts,
They gleam with golden light,
'Till dawn comes with singing birds,
To chase away guardians of the night.
And on those shores a maiden weeps,
For a warrior never to come,
Until the night doth come again,
And they on us once more."
The moles spread out and covered the still forms as ten squirrels scampered to the very top of the red sandstone and placed the banners into small holes bored into the rock. Silence fell and everybeast stood there with tears flowing freely as inscriptions were placed over graves and the otters set the list of names up with the banners to stand until times turned them into dust. Noon came and went as they mourned the lost ones. Mossyra looked at one mound of earth smaller than the others and read what the head stone said.
"Our beloved one gone to rest where war and pain is not. She died in the fight for the freedom of Redwall. Where quiet glades and sprouting flowers will be your home. Sleep deeply, little Violet."
Mossyra felt sorrow tighten in her chest. Violet had been a mole too young to even speak. And now she was gone to Dark Forest Gates because freedom never came without a cost. Vermin had oft tried to conquer Redwall, but always failed. Why did they continue to think they could if every attempt ended the same? Because of them a small maiden had died before she could even experience the happiness and joy of life with other Dibbuns. Violet had been a flower of light and future to her family. Now that flower was wilted. Many warriors had fallen on the field of battle and many more would fall in later years. Just so others could live in freedom. It was that selflessness that made warriors. SO many had died. Danult, Sprig, Linktom, Starfly, Rosefire, Sunsword, Grace, Log-a-log, and more. All for peace and freedom. She knew that time would forget their names, but she wouldn't.
At sunset they went back to Redwall. Tomorrow was going to be a day of feasting and celebration in memory of the ones that had died. But tonight was going to be as the entire day had--mourning lost loved ones. So many vermin had died that they outnumbered those that lived and died fighting for Redwall twice over. Instead of burying them, the new Log-a-log and Skipper had assembled their crews and taken the vermin bodies out to the common to burn the bodies. As Mossyra looked up at the night sky, she saw a new multitude of stars and smiled for the first time in days, recalling the haremaid's words.
"When the sun sets in a bloody sky,
And night doth blanket our shore,
The warriors gone will rise again,
To herald a new hope.
Shining bright to strengthen hearts,
They gleam with golden light."
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