Welcome back everyone! Here is the first official chapter of the story. Enjoy!
Chapter 1: How it all Began
The mountain fortress of Salamandastron was experiencing a very rare occurrence; an uninterrupted time of peace. For nearly fifteen whole seasons, no manner of mischief occurred in the territory of the badger lords. No sea rats or corsair ships to be seen on the great ocean, no wandering horde of vermin causing havoc, not even the smallest band of bandits were present.
But that didn't mean that the famous hares of the Long Patrol were slacking. Far from it, in fact. Throughout the seasons, the hare soldiers of the mountain kept to their rigid regiments and drills, constantly improving their skills and honing them to a knife-like edge. The patrols of the countryside were still carried out on their regular schedules, only instead of fighting vermin, the hares would spend their time helping anybeast that needed their aid, their only expense being the food in their larders.
The hares weren't the only ones busing themselves. The current ruler of the mountain, Lord Durin Ironclaw, had guided his mountain home into a golden age of prosperity. He expanded the amount of hares in the Long Patrol by recruiting hares all across the land and having them train at his mountain, some of which he trained himself. He had also made sure to maintain a constant connection with his friends, the woodlanders of Redwall Abbey. He made such good connection, in fact, that one of the Friars of the Abbey volunteered to teach his hares to cook meals that rivaled the famed feasts of the abbey itself!
The Badger Lord also kept himself occupied by honing his own creative talents. Durin was a genius with a forge and had singlepawedly made Salamandastron known far and wide as a great bastion of wealth. All throughout Mossflower, beasts told tales of stout armor and shields, gleaming swords, shining spears, and glistening jewelry made from the finest gems, all forged by Durin himself. In fact, it was said that the most beautiful of these creations was given to Durin's faithful wife on the day of their marriage.
However, all golden ages come to an end, and this one would end in terror.
The summer storms that plagued Salamandastron had come again. Only this time, it seemed that all had come at once, combining their might and transforming into a virtual hurricane. The deluge of rain made the seas boil with white foam, creating huge tidal waves that broke upon the shore, almost reaching the mountain itself. It was then, when the storm seemed to be fading, that the watchful hares saw something in the waves. Something unbelievable.
He was a great reptile of the seas, the likes of which were never seen in Mossflower. A true leviathan, he was of gigantic scale, easily dwarfing the badger by a great length. His entire body was covered in scaly ridges and his huge feet decorated with scythe-like claws. As he crawled his way out of the waves, he uttered a primordial sound from his mouth, a bone-chilling mixture of a hiss and a furious roar.
Smaug had come.
Upon seeing this monster, Durin rallied his hares to defend their home. Grabbing swords, spears and shields, the Long Patrols charged out onto the beaches, battered by the continuing storm. Durin, dressed in his finest armor and armed with a great longsword, was at their head, leading on his loyal soldiers and friends.
What happened next was not a battle, but a slaughter.
With the power of ten badger lords, Smaug rushed through the ranks of hares with astonishing speed. Those that were not crushed under the weight of his clawed feet were brutally cast aside by a sweep his powerful scaly tail. Some brave hares made their way onto Smaug's back while he was distracted. Using this to their advantage, the hares stabbed at the creature with all their might. But it was for naught; his skin was like the hardest of armor, easily deflecting any blows they made. Smaug noticed this minor annoyance and with his monstrous strength, he flung the hares into the air, opened his massive jaws, and crunched.
It was then that Durin, seeing his hares being massacred, called upon the strength of the Bloodwrath, the ancient badger spirit of battle. With the power of desperation, he charged into the fray, coming face to face with the monster himself. Once, twice, three times did he slash with his greatsword, only for his blows to merely bounce of the scales of his opponent.
Smaug had his fun, now it was time to kill. Using the lord's fatigue to his advantage, he butted him down onto the sand and pinned him with his feet. Then, grabbing the badger lord, Smaug pressed him against his belly and thrashed around the shore with barbaric ferocity, sending any surrounding hares flying.
Once the death roll had ended, Smaug tossed aside the badger like he was a plaything towards the mountain, setting his sights on the remaining hares. With the little strength he had left, Durin called his wife and child to him and told them to do the one thing that could save the mountain: run. He commanded them to take any remaining fighting hares with them and get away from Salamandastron while they still could. He then turned back onto the beach to face his foe and charged into oblivion.
Salamandastron fell that day. The corpses of hares both young and old littered the shores, their bodies broken and desecrated. But Smaug was not done with them yet. With the mountain secured, he dragged his former prey into the fortress with him, carving crimson trails of blood onto the sands.
There was only one place where the survivors of the massacre could find safety. For over a season, the badger lady, her son, and the eight remaining hares trudged through wilderness towards the abbey of Redwall. And it was over a season for the memories of what happened to burn into the mind of the young badger prince. For as long as he lived, he would remember the wailing of the storm, the hiss of the great evil beast, and broken body of father sprawled before him.
He would never forgive, and he would never forget.
15 seasons later...
Early morning in Redwall Abbey was a peaceful time of day. The birds had not yet woken from their slumbers to sing, so the woods of Mossflower were filled with a tranquil quietness. Some abbeybeasts would be about doing any chores that needs every hour to be completed, but not wanting to wake anybeast, they went about them with a courteous silence. That is until the abbey babes, or Dibbuns, would wake, in which the entire abbey would be filled with the sounds of mirth, and sometimes chaos.
Friar Toby, a tall but slightly plump otter cook, was hard at work in the abbey kitchens trying to contain the rambunctious Dibbuns.
"Ahoy there, yew little scalawags, put down tha' tray o' damson an' barley muffins!"
"But we's hun'gy. We's wanna eat brekkist now!"
"Well, yore just gonna have'ta wait a bit longer. Oi! Duill and Bransi, yew two better not be tryin' to swipe that cherry tart, are ye?"
The two culprits in question, a pair of squirrel twins, were just out of the kitchen doors before being caught by the agitated Friar.
"Uh...no sir."
"Yeah, we, uh, were takening it to otha beast inna abbey."
"Hmm, I'm shore you were, liddle ones. Ack! Loamer, for the last time, get out 'o that meadowcream custard!"
A small molebabe dashed out of the larder, bumbling towards the Great Hall to freedom. Then, without looking where he was going, the babe bumped into what he thought felt like a tree with fur. He then looked up into the face of a full-grown male badger whose head stripe was so darkened, it looked as black as his other two stripes. The giant looked back down at the little babe with worn and tired eyes.
The staring contest lasted only a few short moments before Toby came into the Great Hall.
"Get back 'ere, yew little rouge! I'll make yer scrub...Oh, good morning, Byron. Was this liddle one disturbing you."
The badger wearily steered his gaze towards the otter and gave a hefty yawn.
"No, no, not at all Toby. I see the Dibbuns have been ransacking the kitchens again, hm?"
"Aye, that they have. I swear, those liddle ones are worse than the 'ares, uh, if ye don't mind me sayin'."
The badger gave a half-hearted chuckle.
"No, you are right about that. By the way, have you seen my mother anywhere?"
"Yes, actually. I sent 'er to go fetch me some mint and rosemary ou'side for breakfast."
The badger waved his paw in thanks as he made his way out to the Abbey lawns, leaving the Friar to go and discipline the rampaging Dibbuns.
The Badger Lady Honora may have been coming on in seasons, but to everyone in Redwall, she looked as young as the day she first came to the Abbey. Only a few gray hairs adorned her black stripes in her fur not not a wrinkle could be seen along her face. But though she didn't look old, Honora could feel age creeping up on her. That was why she enjoyed doing simple tasks, such as gathering the herbs for the morning breakfast.
As she turned to go inside, she saw her son trudging towards her.
"Hello mother." he called as he got closer.
"Good morning, my son. How are you?"
Before Byron could answer, he let out another yawn, causing his mother to give him a look of concern.
"You weren't able to sleep again, were you?"
"Was it that obvious?"
"Of course it is, you look ready to collapse at any moment. Why don't you go up and see if Sister Cassandra can help you? I'm sure she can give you some sort of drought to help you sleep."
"I don't think sleeping potions can help with nightmares."
Honora face became saddened at the newest comment.
"It was about the mountain, wasn't it?"
Byron looked down at the grass and sighed deeply.
"Yes. It was."
Honora loved her son deeply and it tortured her to see him suffering. She lovingly placed her paw on her son's shoulder.
"I know what will cheer you up. Why don't you go find Nikolai. I know he always brings you into good spirits with that...what does he call it? 'Pipe-weed'?"
Byron looked back up with a small smile.
"Yes, I think that will be fine."
I think I made it a little too obvious what Smaug is, but I'd love to see you guys' ideas. Also, fun fact; the squirrel twins Duill and Bransi are based off of the Irish words for 'leaf' and 'branches'!
Until next time, good night and joy be with you all!