"Mother!"

Rain sat bolt upright in his bed, breathing heavily. He finally realized that he was dreaming and sighed, holding his head in his paws. Tears fell onto the blanket. Rain got up and went to the window in his room, the blue symbols on his door glowing softly and giving the room a soothing tone. It wasn't working. Rain was not soothed. He sighed again as he looked across the lawn, watching the perpetual storm spit lightning at the burned remains of the forests, the grass coated in ash.

There was a frantic knocking at his door and then it burst open, allowing a trio of creatures to run into the room with weapons drawn. Tam MacBurl looked at Rain. "You were talking in your sleep again, Rain."

Felldoh, on his right, snorted. "Screaming again, more like."

Rain blinked. "I dreamt about my mother again."

Martin, on Tam's left, walked over to the squirrel and put a paw on his shoulder. "You miss her, don't you?"

"She gave her life for you, Rain." Tam said. "Don't forget that."

"You think I have?" Rain asked, whirling on him. "You think I can forget with the forest burned to the ground? The sky? The demons that we see roaming around? The three-quarters-dead creatures that we drag into the abbey?"

Felldoh fingered the spear he carried, the blue sigils on the darkwood haft and blade glistening in the gloom. "There was nothing you could do, Rain. That demon was too powerful for you to even try to stop it."

"My mother stopped it."

"Your mother wasn't a Dark One!" Felldoh barked.

Rain narrowed his eyes. "Mind your words, Felldoh. I may be a Dark One, but I'm better with weapons than you are."

Felldoh growled and pointed his spear at Rain, the glow of the sigils throwing the dark squirrel's face into relief. Martin stepped between them, his paws held out. "Enough. Fighting won't get us anywhere, and we can't afford to kill one another." He looked at Rain. "Do you understand?"

Rain nodded. "Yes."

"This is the fifth dream that you've had about your mother. All under different circumstances. What do you think it means?"

Rain shrugged. "I don't know. But I want to find out."

"You can't go out!" Tam said. "It's not safe."

Rain looked at him gravely. "I don't care. If I die, at least I'll see my mother again."

Martin sighed. "We'll talk to the Council. Come on."

The four walked out of the room, the storm outside giving a muted roar as thunder sounded. Inside Redwall, almost no one was up yet. The elders however, were. They always were, conferring with the other past Warriors of the abbey. They looked up as Martin cleared his throat. "We're sorry to disturb you, elders, but Rain had another dream."

Dandin nodded. "So we heard."

Felldoh snorted but said nothing. Martin looked at him briefly, but then began to speak. "This is the fifth one in a row. This can't be coincidence."

Abbot Mortimer knitted his paws together. "And what do you suggest?"

Rain finally broke in. "I want to go out and try to find more information. Aside from the fact that she was a Wielder, I know nothing about her that I can remember."

There was an immediate course of denial. When order was finally restored, Triss came up and put her paw on his shoulder. "Think of it, Rain. Those demons are always around. What do you plan to do?"

Rain shrugged. "I may find other Dark Ones. It's not like they're hard to recognize." It was true. A Dark One could be identified by their unusually dark fur. Rain's dark red, almost black fur shone in the candlelight as he waited for the elders to discuss the proposal.

Abbot Saxtus shook his head. "No. I'm sorry, Rain, but we can't let you go."

"And what will happen if I don't?" Rain asked. "We were plagued by demons the entire way to Redwall. They were always powerful ones. She must have known something that we didn't. Maybe even a way to banish the demons permanently. You've seen them. They periodically try to break past the barriers. We can't even use the sword because it's the only thing keeping Redwall safe! They may find a way around it eventually!"

"Rain…" Tam muttered warningly.

Rain continued as if he hadn't heard. "She was my mother, not yours! She was preparing even before this happened! Another thing that I knew was that she was a sorceress before we came here! And a good one at that! Why shouldn't I go? If we really were chased for a reason, then at least let me find out!"

"Enough!" Luke the Warrior roared. "That's enough, Rain! You are not going, and that is final!"

Rain glared at them all. Abbess Mhera walked over to him and hugged him gently. Rain turned his head away from her. "It's for the best, Rain." Mhera whispered. "This is for your own good."

Rain pulled away from her and walked out of the room. Deyna walked over and put a paw on his sister's shoulder. "It's alright, Mhera. You did your best."