The cold air was like a drop of ice water.
Mingol Rocktail, known to his enemies as Salt, was a sinewy, thin, and powerful river rat with a ferocious temper and a skilled sword paw. His fur was light gray and chocolate spotted, but what really gave beasts an impression of his attitude were his fierce neon green eyes, without mercy, cold and hard-the eyes of a born killer. His well deserved title of warlord earned him a spot at the top ten of every goodbeast's enemy list. He was ruthless, and commanded his army with a cold vigilance that clearly revealed that his army was pawns on the playing board and he was the king. Even if the rat thought he could trust a beast not from his army, that beast was dead anyway. Salt's bodyguards, which he really didn't need, considered themselves the rat's friends. They were mistaken. Maybe knights on the chess board, nothing more.
The clear stream ran on the border of Salt's camp, where his army, about five hundred well trained fighters and killers, were resting for the night. Five hundred, the rat could admit, wasn't many, but they had all come from violent backgrounds and were a mixture of former assassins, bounty hunters, thieves, robbers, and beasts that just enjoyed killing. Sure, he'd used to have a lot more, but they had all died under his orders after deserting or had died in battle.
Salt's paws dangled into the stream, the ice water granting new energy to his body. He dipped his paws in and rubbed the crystal liquid over his face, splashing some in his eyes to wake him up. He was not sleeping tonight. He was formulating his new plan-to take over Redwall Abbey.
The rat's keen ears caught a noise, and Salt turned around to see his two guards approaching him. They kneeled respectfully as the river rat got up. One of them was a cream colored ferret, big and brawny, carrying a spear; the other a rat like himself with a dagger and cutlass. Salt twitched a claw and the ferret, Ice, and rat, Makoce, rose from their positions, their eyes watchful in case this was a test devised by their leader. But the river rat seemed calm enough.
'Ice, by sunrise I expect you to be gone with a team of three to check out this Redwall. Makoce, when Ice gets back, you and him will get to work on a rough blueprint of the abbey, buildings, walls, sentries, everything. If you don't come back with what I need,' Salt threatened, 'I have no need to tell you what will happen. There's plenty more fish in the sea.'
Makoce shivered, knowing that their river rat leader was entirely ruthless and never made idle threats. He, Makoce, had been the one carrying out punishments sometimes, and he knew what would happen to them. It would be a long death, and all the longer if Salt was the one carrying it out.
'Go.' The river rat finished, watching his two guards run off. They would carry out his orders…because he was Mingol Rocktail.
No one and nobeast could escape him.