Urthwyte the Mighty was ready. Dressed in his armor and carrying his war club, the albino Badger lord was surrounded by his Long Patrol. It had recently stopped snowing, but Salamandastron was still white with ice and snow. Sergeant Sapwood walked up to his lord. "Sah, when are they going to get here?" he asked. Urthwyte looked up. The sun was almost at its zenith. "Soon" he said. There was a crunching of foot prints behind them. Urthwyte and Sapwood turned and saw Big Oxeye and the mouse Ramminov walking towards them. Urthwyte raised an eyebrow at the pair. "Ramminov, why are you out here?" he asked. The mouse saluted. "Sir, even though I'm weak, I still want to avenge my brother, my homeland and myself from that monster" he replied. Urthwyte nodded. He could hear the sound of drums coming forward. The sun was at its zenith.
Huge mounds of snow were piled up near the western side of Salamandastron. Freezing rains had formed a hard, solid crust of ice around the snow. From behind one pile, Maelstrom poked out his head. The badger lord's army was positioned exactly as planned. Soon Whiteclaw would be arriving with the rest of the crew. There was movement behind the ermine. Icefang also poked out his head. "Capitan" the fox whispered " When are we going to be attacking?" "Soon" Maelstrom replied.
Urthwyte looked up and finally saw the North Raider army. It wasn't as large as the Corpsemaker army, but still formidable in size. Urthwyte snarled at the beast that seemed to be the leader. It was a huge, muscular ermine in a tattered cloak, wielding a massive sickle-sword. "Badger lord!" the ermine shouted "We have come to take this mountain from you!" "Only if can pry it from my cold, dead paws, Maelstrom" growled Urthwyte. The Badger lord then felt a slight tug on his paw. He looked down and saw Ramminov desperately trying to get his attention. "Sir, that's not Maelstrom!"
Icefang noticed the mouse talking to the Badger lord. At first unable to recognize the mouse, the fox soon realized it was the escaped captive. The fox quickly loaded his bow and fired an arrow at the mouse. It hit its target with a satisfying thunk. Suddenly, Icefang felt a sword on his back. "Icefang, you idiot" whispered Maelstrom behind his back. The ermine quickly raised his sword and sliced off the fox's tail. Icefang struggled not to yelp in pain. Maelstrom nodded, and then shouted to the North Raider at his back "Charge!"
"Ramminov!" Urthwyte dropped to his knees as he clutched the corpse of the mouse. An arrow had pierced the skull. Urthwyte began to weep, but Sergeant Sapwood stopped him. "Sah," said the hare "Another army is approaching from the west!" The Badger Lord immediately stood up and watched a wave of North Raiders attack the back of the Long Patrol army. "Sapwood! Quick, organize the troops at the back and make sure the front is also protected!" shouted Urthwyte. Sapwood saluted . "Yes, sah!" he said. The hare quickly ran off to support the troops. Urthwyte began to growl and snarl. The red mist began to cloud his vision again.
The fighting was intense. The arctic vermin slashed at the hare, who bravely fought back. Maelstrom smirked at the bloodshed. "Nice job, Ajo" he called to the sable, who had just dispatched a nearby hare. Maelstrom looked another way, and saw the badger killing North Raiders in masse. The ermine felt a surge of excitement surge from within him, though he did not show it. "Ajo, come with me" said Maelstrom. Ajo obeyed and walked behind his captain as the ermine moved toward the badger.
That took forever to update. Blame school. But now that I'm out for the summer, I should be able to update more frequently. Next chapter: Maelstrom versus Urthwyte! Yay! Who will win? Please review. (-: