Book 1: Chapter 6

What is life's meaning, but without pain?

I do not know, but please let me try and explain.

To love without consequence is indeed a great feat,

But to think you are alone in this is something unique.

Love is precious and invaluable, especially for me,

It is all I have, and in death it seeks to set me free.

When it is taken from me, you shall know my wrath,

As Salamandastron is called and set upon the warpath.

The end is near for the mountain, but do not be afraid.

The battle is never done, until the debts owed are paid.

Fog completely enveloped the camp, and Maia knew something awaited her deep within it.

Standing upright as much as she could within her tent, she grabbed her mace and shield and stepped outside, shivering despite herself at the large temperature drop. She sniffed and blanched. The air itself smelled sickly, and the hairs on the back of her neck rose as she looked around for any sign of life. There was nothing.

Maia started moving, her pace gradually increasing as her worries mounted, confused as to where everybeast was. Unaware of where she was going, Maia soon found herself far outside of the camp's radius.

Suddenly, she heard a harsh croak, and a toad appeared from the mists, armed with a trident. A smile spread across its ugly face, and its eyes twinkled in remembrance as it leapt towards her.

She stood there for a moment, startled at this sudden intrusion, as the trident moved rapidly towards her chest. Shaking off her shock, she slammed her shield into the trident, shattering its head completely as the toad was pushed back, confused at her resistance. She swung towards its face but it ducked, smile gone and now croaking sullenly as it hopped and paced in a semi-circle around her, eyes now hardening into slits.

Maia stood still, breathing heavily as the toad twirled his trident in extremely complex movements. She found herself mesmerized until it unexpectedly slammed the weapon forward towards her skull. Cursing her stupidity, Maia went to raise her shield and mace but found that she was now wielding a spear instead. They slammed together with an audible crack, and Maia looked downward and was shocked to see that it was a mouse opposing her instead of a toad.

The mouse nodded at her and flicked his wrists, disarming her easily. The quarterstaff fell to the sandy floor and Maia stood there studying the mouse. Something about him was overly familiar, and yet…

The mouse's face, which up to that point had been warm and welcoming, hardened. He turned and began running away from her, quickly vanishing into the mists. With a snarl, she thundered after him, not bothering to pick up her weapon as her camp now fully disappeared behind her. Maia found herself not caring in the slightest at this, now completely driven at finding the mouse.

"Why is this happening?" Maia muttered, her pulse quickening as she looked forward to confronting her foe. There was a reason for all of this, and she intended to find it.

Abruptly, the mists parted for a brief moment, and Maia saw something straight from her worst nightmares.

She saw Swiftpaw and Melator, dead, mixed in with visions of Karth and her hares dying with a pleading look in their eyes, with her powerless to stop it. All through these visions, a shadowy figure loomed, and Maia knew who it was.

Maia stopped midstride, unable to truly believe what she was seeing. Anger, sadness, and rage warred deep within herself as she stood rooted to the spot. Trying to dispel the images, she shook her head wildly and closed her eyes, paws up in front of her face like she was warding off a foe. When she opened her eyes, she saw that the mists had reappeared. Steeling herself, she began to move forward once again.

As she did so, Maia felt something outside on her coat, and she looked down to find herself coated in dry blood. Instantly, she also knew whose it was. She felt the urge to turn around and to leave, until she felt the familiar weight of her mace and shield at her side and back. With her familiar weaponry, she firmly ignored her desire to flee and return back to the camp, and she took a step forward.

Suddenly, a different mouse appeared, old before his time and a mournful look permanently etched upon his face as he gently urged a Dibbun forward.

"Come on, no time to waste. We don't want to make everybeast wait for dinner, now do we?"

The Dibbun started moving at a lethargic pace, not acknowledging the mouse's words or encouragement to move faster in the slightest. At this, the mouse's face slowly crumpled, unable to keep up the farce. She understood quickly what was happening, and what it had to do with her.

"No..." Maia whispered.

"Only you can stop it, Badger Lady of Salamandastron."

The warrior mouse stood in the exact same spot where the Abbot and Dibbun had been, as if they had never existed.

Maia roared in anger, kicking the sand towards the warrior as her paws moved towards her mace and shield.

"I have no time for games, little mouse. Tell me what you wish and be gone!"

The mouse smiled sadly. He looked around for a moment, his gaze piercing the mists until he swung his head around and firmly fixed his gaze upon her as he spoke slowly and with great care.

"Fate is not what you suspect. While many think it is not set in stone, others believe that there is nothing that one can do but soldier on, holding the weight of themselves and many others as their world crumbles around them. A special few try to rise above it all, seeking to uphold an ideal that is impossible to maintain. Which are you?"

Maia stood there, speechless. She went to speak, but couldn't. After a moment she opened her mouth again, and the same horrifying images swiftly re-assailed her vision, each one more terrible then the next.

"Which are you?" the mouse whispered, his eyes glowing with the Bloodwrath.

"Just a few more days and we will be at the edge of Mossflower Woods, my Lady."

Maia smiled grimly, her first true smile since she had had that terrible dream a half moon ago.

She remembered screaming, and soon the entire camp was roused as Karth had burst into the tent, sword drawn and ready to defend his Badger Lady.

The only thing he had seen however was Maia, her back turned as she leaned against the tent's support frame, not caring in the slightest about the noise and confusion she had just caused.

"Maia?" Karth whispered, keeping a respectful distance away as Maia opened her eyes.

She remembered saying a few words, and at her words Karth left, shouting for order as the camp slowly returned to silence. She stayed awake the rest of the night, thinking of the words that the mouse had said.

"Which are you?"

When she had gone outside the next day, she found everybeast walking on tip-paw, nobeast knowing exactly why she had screamed in the night. She remembered the bewilderment, so heavy that she could nearly see it, but nobeast said anything at Karth's command.

The last few weeks, Maia had felt a distance from everybeast except Karth. There was no collective anger towards her, but whatever it was it had hung heavy over the entire camp the past few weeks.

At Karth's words, something tightly bound had been released deep within her, and she finally felt herself relax slightly. Whatever the mouse had warned her about would be close, and she would do what had to be done, as was her duty.

Looking to her side, she saw Karth, one eyebrow raised and a worried look in his eyes as she realized that she had not replied but instead had again lapsed into her own thoughts. Shaking herself, Maia to pay attention to her surroundings. Going over a brief exercise, she unconsciously began going through the major events that had occurred in the last view days, starting with the choosing of the camp site.

She pictured the area surrounding herself and her hares. As they were still in the sand dunes, it had been rough on everybeast, including herself. Right now they were in a valley of sorts, with sandy hills surrounding them at all sides, making it easy for an attack, which was why she had doubled the guard. They couldn't go too far as they were still waiting for one last scout sent nearly a week previously, for although the small oasis near the camp made the lack of natural defenses more palpable, it was best to be leaving as soon as possible.

Maia remembered the subsequent debate between herself and most of her officers over the chosen site of camp, and how Karth had watched silently the entire time, waiting patiently as the conversation went back and forth. Nothing had been accomplished with both sides standing firm between staying for a single night or for over a week, until Maia had suggested a compromise. With her proposed terms, the matter was quickly resolved, with everybeast there happy with the solution. With the issue settled, the officers began to file out of the tent, with Karth the only one not moving, a slight frown on his face. At first she felt worry, but that quickly disappeared as he broke out into a wide smile and congratulated her, offering a few words of encouragement:

"You are learning to be a leader, and to lead well. While a compromise often does leave both parties unhappy, there comes a time when a compromise is the best for everybeast. You were wise to offer a suggestion when you did, and your officers won't forget it, myself included."

Maia's thoughts shifted, and she thought of the guards that she had stationed all around the camp. Over a score of them in total, with the shifts changing every four hours and those on duty off to rest, with nearly the entire fighting force switching by the end of the day.

Something shifted next to her, and Maia felt annoyance at herself. Karth was still waiting for a reply, something she had not bothered to do, despite her earlier pledge to pay attention.

Just as she was about to say something, she saw Karth's face tighten for a brief moment, and Maia found herself growing tense. Due to this, she almost jumped when Karth began speaking, and Maia's annoyance quickly abated at what Karth was saying.

"Lady Maia, your last scout has finally arrived. Do you wish to speak with him?"

For the first time in a few weeks, she felt herself actually becoming interested in the potential conversation with one of her subordinates. "Anything to keep that dream at bay," Maia thought morosely.

"Go, Lady Maia. He wants to talk to you, and to you alone."

She turned around and saw the scout, who was standing next to Karth and looking sheepish. With a half-conscious smile, she gestured the scout to move forward and followed as he began to set a path that led her throughout the camp. Everywhere she went she got a deferential "Lady," or "Lady Maia," but overall it was a stark contrast to before her episode in the tent. A slight nervousness hung over the camp, replacing the good cheer that had before been firmly in place. She wondered if it was always like this, when reality set in to what they may have to do, and what was at stake.

Forcing herself from her brooding, Maia began to study the hare across from her, who was now leading her away from the camp. "He must want to speak to me privately," Maia thought, although something about it all made her feel tense.

She noticed that the scout walked with a slight limp, and Maia also observed that the scout's eyes were sunken in, like he had slept little in the past few days. Usually her hares were good at covering their injuries to her general anger, as untreated injuries could be fatal. The only reason she had noticed his limp was because the young hare had tried to over exaggerate his movement as he walked. His step was firm, but for some reason also timid. Whatever the young hare was trying to hide. it was most definitely serious.

Maia wanted to order him to turn around and to head straight for the infirmary, but what he had wanted to tell her must be serious, and for some reason as well he also didn't want Karth to know, or at least not yet.

The scout had arrived a few days after he was supposed to, but that was sometimes known to happen. Patience was a virtue for every scout, and sometimes this required time, perhaps more than what would have previously been expected.

"Where are you taking me, scout?"

The hare turned around briefly to reply, and Maia got a good look at his face. She noted that among the scars on this face, one was relatively new. Along with this information, she noted the nervousness of his stance and a look of fear that was well-hidden deep within his eyes. Unconsciously, she began stroking the handle of her mace, feeling satisfied that they had finally found the Fox at last.

The scout spoke up suddenly, his voice betraying him as he almost squeaked out his reply.

"We are going somewhere quiet, my Lady. This news is more important than you realize, and plans will have to be remade."

Karth watched Maia go and smiled slightly. Finally, she was regaining interest in her surroundings after nearly two weeks of brooding on her dream.

Of course she had done what had been required of her, leading and preparing the Long Patrol for the potential battle to come, but no more. She no longer mixed in with the hares as much as she used to, quickly becoming more aloof and unapproachable. Karth had found himself steadily taking up more than his share, at least until Maia had come to grips with what she had witnessed in her dream.

He had seen her at times staring off into the distance towards Mossflower Woods, her expression of the deepest pain that Karth could possibly imagine. In times like those, he felt the seasons melt away from both of them, when she was little more than a child and he was her only confidant, her only friend.

Karth smiled wanly, remembering the lectures he had gotten from Swiftpaw's father, and the examples he was supposed to set for the rest of the hares, especially considering he had been at that time newly appointed to his position of Colonel: a position that he had now occupied for many seasons. He grimaced at that. Karth was then at the lowest point of his entire life, and the only place he could go was father downward, at least until he could see the light once again.

Maia had been the one bright spot in his life at that point in time, although he had not let anybeast know or even to wonder if there was perhaps something wrong with the young hare that had recently ascended to his position in a heroic blaze of glory and triumph.

Karth took a deep breath and steadied himself. "Best to not think of that," Karth thought grimly. He had made his peace a long time ago, even though his version of making peace was a little different from other creatures' versions of making peace with oneself.

Karth's smile disappeared entirely at that thought. His problems might have indeed been permanently ended at that point in time, but looking back he felt a deep sense of shame. He was meant to lead and to make the difficult decisions, he understood this now. What he was now finally beginning to understand after so many seasons was how it was not just the decision that would affect one in the future, but the line of thinking that led to that decision.

He had gone down both paths, and Karth realized that Maia could perhaps be at the threshold of one of the most difficult decisions of her entire life, and he found himself desperately hoping that she was ready to meet the problem head-on, ready to continue forward with barely a pause in her step.

Karth's gaze passed throughout the whole camp, watching diligently for anything out of the ordinary. He needed the distraction right now, no matter how small the problem was.

Turning around, he saw that Maia was on the very edge of the camp, animatedly speaking with the scout she had sent out nearly a week earlier.

Suddenly, something washed over him, and he realized that the scout had not handed in his weapon at the specified cache at the outskirts of the camp, something that was always required of a scout returning from a mission. A name floated to the surface of his thoughts, and with a shake of his head, Karth dismissed it. "Over my dead corpse," Karth snarled.

Cursing himself for a fool, he started to jog towards where Maia was still conversing with the scout. He had been so pleased with Maia taking a personal interest in leading again and not merely a professional one that he had ignored the signs. He redoubled his pace as Maia turned her back on the scout to look at where he was gesturing.

As Karth arrived, he saw the scout wince, although he recovered so fast that Karth wasn't completely sure if he had seen it or not.

He nodded deferentially to Karth, who coldly stared back as Maia looked at Karth confusedly.

"Colonel, why are you here? Is there something that you need?"

Karth smiled and gestured towards the scout, who was now staring fixedly into the hills that surrounded them, ignoring them both completely.

Karth nodded towards the scout, keeping his voice pleasant.

"I just wanted to know why he led you away from the camp to talk to you privately, especially since he has not handed in his weapon at the cache, which is required of all scouts returning from a mission."

With every word, the scout's face fell, and Karth knew he had him. Treachery was almost unheard of, at least for the Long Patrol. It had happened before, but with such irregularity that his reflexes had been almost too slow. The hare before him would join a very small list of betrayers, and as such, most knew each and every one of their names and the circumstances of each of their betrayals.

"You're lucky your name isn't on that list," a voice whispered snidely.

Suppressing a shudder, Karth grabbed the scout by the scruff of his neck and pulled him in closer to him, looking deep into his eyes.

The scout struggled, but his exhaustion prevented him from being able to escape or do anything more than delaying the inevitable.

Abruptly, he stopped, and his pale blue eyes stared deep into Karth's.

"You don't understand, Colonel. They are probably dead already, just like I am going to be. I was damned no matter what I did. Tell my friends- tell them I'm sorry."

Maia had stood there the whole time, her face one of complete disbelief as she had struggled to come to grips with what was happening.

"What do you mean, they?" She demanded, her face clouding over in fury.

Karth looked up and saw something in the distance in the hills that surrounded them and spotted a figure that had been watching them, along with a few others. He heard the scout's reply and Maia's subsequent reaction, but he was now paying close attention to the figures on the hill in front of them: the hares that were supposed to be on guard duty. He then saw a flash of light, and he knew what was happening as he moved forward.

As the scout's treachery was revealed, Maia rapidly found herself switching from confusion, sadness, understanding, and rage. She could not believe that anybeast would dare betray her own trust, along with those of Karth and the hares of the Long Patrol.

"What do you mean, they?" She found herself saying. As she said the words, she hoped beyond a hope that it was nothing, just an ill-timed joke that would see the unfortunate scout reprimanded, the whole situation quickly forgotten as they all moved on with their lives.

One look at his face and she realized that this was not to be, a fact that only made her angrier. Karth released his grip on the scout, and Maia loomed over the scout, who looked more sad than terrified. Maia noted his terror, but she also noted that for some reason it was not because of her. She paused at this, and the scout took the advantage and began speaking quickly.

"I followed some vermin back to the outskirts of Mossflower Woods and found the Fox and his army. That was before I was taken by surprise and captured. I was badly beaten and then brought forth before one of the Fox's lieutenants. He told me he was going to let me go, but also that his scouts were going to follow me back towards where we were encamped. He told me to lead you out so that you could be shot full of arrows. He also said that if they saw anything out of the ordinary, a runner would immediately be sent back with orders to kill the Dibbuns. No matter what I did..."

The scout's voice broke; his face was pale, and Maia found herself completely at a loss as Karth spoke up suddenly.

"My lady, I see-" Karth cut off abruptly, and Maia found herself shoved forward slightly. She whipped around to see him on his knees, an arrow in his shoulder and his face grey as his lips moved soundlessly.

The colonel slowly sank to all fours as Maia rapidly turned, her vision turning red as she looked for her prey as the other hares in the camp began to react and shout in alarm.

The scout drew his weapon and started to run towards the hills, eyes blazing as arrows whipped past him and slammed into the sand with a thud all around his footpaws. One arrow flew towards his face and the hare ducked, falling down into a roll and springing back up to his paws, roaring a cry of defiance as continued his charge.

Maia was about to call him back when she realized that the rest of the camp was still blissfully unaware of the events that were occurring, and that the scout was giving her valuable time.

"We're under attack, get to your positions!" Maia roared, and at these words the camp came alive at once.

She looked back and saw the scout continuing his suicidal charge forward although a little more slowly, an arrow sticking out of his footpaw as he approached the vermin position.

Behind her, the shouts were getting a little closer, and at this, her gaze tore through her surroundings, looking for her guards. Besides the scout that was still moving, she saw nothing. "All dead,"Maia thought angrily. How could they have been taken by surprise in this manner?

At this, Maia found herself becoming even more enraged at this cumulative failure and she started to breathe heavily, quickly losing control as she snatched at her mace. Not spotting her prey, she turned around completely again, listening carefully as she positioned herself in front of Karth, protecting him with her own body.

Moments later, she found herself quickly surrounded by hares, each bearing a shield and an expressionless faces as they waited for her command.

"Find what's left of our guards, and hunt down every single vermin; they must not leave here alive!" she snapped, and without a word, they moved up the hill towards where she gestured, where the scout had disappeared.

A few others were dragging away Karth, who was feebly stretching his paw out toward Maia and speaking incoherently, which only deepened to a downward spiral into madness.

Suddenly, a figure stood up and started running as fast as he could, a few grains of sand flying off his damp coat, running diagonally from his prior position. In disbelief, Maia recognized the rat that Swiftpaw had killed the day before she had left Salamandastron. Maia watched him run, quickly speeding up as the rat realized that he would soon escape. She also remembered the scout's words and decided that escape could mean the death of Redwall's Dibbuns that she had sworn to protect, as well as her own hares'. Escape was not an option.

"Not on your life," Maia muttered.

Shoving past her hares, she saw the recruit from earlier in the march, his arms quivering as she snatched the banner from his slackened paws.

Taking a few steps, she adjusted her grip and felt its balance as she took a few running strides, and with a snarl she heaved with all her might, grunting in exertion as she threw the banner with all her strength.

It soared upward, the banner seemingly flying through and out of the sun until it began to fall in a graceful arc. The rat kept running, his paws digging deep into the sand as his head turned briefly backward. She heard a cruel laugh, a laugh that rose in volume as he saw that attention had been diverted to him. His laughs soon broke off into a loud cackle, which soon became breathless as he redoubled his speed.

This continued until it suddenly cut off into silence as the banner impaled the rat through the throat. The rat stopped running, his body thrown forward and slamming into the sandy ground, his body sliding down the shaft until it could do so no more.

Behind her, she heard a shouted command to form a line and the screams of the dying as she starting running back towards her hares, her face tightening as she saw a shield wall of hares surrounding Karth.

"Those of you with overriding commands move back with the Colonel," Maia called, and with a nod from Karth's second, a score and a half of the Long Patrol's finest separated from the main group, carrying Karth with them.

Those that still remained stood still, waiting for further commands as she glanced towards the hill, where she could see glimpses of fighting.

"My last scout returned, and he brought dire news. He had been captured by the Fox and released, with a promise that if he warned me of the subsequent assassination attempt, word would be sent back with orders to kill all of Redwall's Dibbuns."

Gasps of shock and outrage permeated the air, and Maia knew that any sort of awkwardness that had between them for the past few weeks had now disappeared. She had them all back, and for that alone she was grateful.

"We cannot allow this to happen! If we are to call ourselves the defenders of all that is good and just, word cannot be allowed to returned to the fox and his underlings. We must track them down and kill them all, with no survivors!"

A huge roar broke forth and Maia turned from them, facing the hill where she could no longer see the scout or the troops that she had sent. She felt anguish at their deaths, but forcefully stopped herself. The time for grieving would be later.

"Form a skirmish line, with two out of the eight squads on the far outskirts of our position, to make sure we are not surrounded and to form an avenue of escape. What lies before us is uncertain, but what we do today must be anything but; our fates are now sealed and set upon this path. For freedom! For Salamandastron!"

"EULALIAAAAAAAA!"