"You don't think," Justyn growled, "That you could have told us when you first came here?"

Thyre calmly stood with his paws behind his back, his footpaws a shoulder width apart. He didn't look at any of the elders as he spoke. "We don't even know if Valcyn is on his way. The only thing that I regret is bringing Valcyn down upon your heads." He started pacing, looking at each of the elders in turn. Jarren sat in a chair near the wall, watching his friend as the squirrel spoke again. "Listen to me," he growled. "Valcyn can take your homes. He can take your young. He can even take your very lives. But I give you my word that Jarren and I will fight to the death to keep that from happening to you."

Apodemus looked at Jarren. There was no hesitation in his eyes as he nodded in agreement with Thyre's words. "We will do everything we can to protect you all."

Triss, who had been sitting beside Apodemus, stood and sighed. "As grateful as we are for your promise, we still cannot take this lightly. We are not warriors. And we do not know where the Gousim are at the moment. The Midsummer Feast was days ago, and they have disappeared. Skipper and his crew are at the coast for the autumn. We're defenseless."

Jarren carefully stood, walking over to Thyre's side. His back had healed in the few days that the two had been at Redwall. "Thyre and I are both fighters. We can help protect any Redwallers that have to leave the abbey for any reason. We can help you. You merely have to tell us how."

Apodemus sighed, bit his lip, and knitted his paws together. "We will discuss this among ourselves. In the meantime, you both should wait. We will send for you when we are ready to give you our answer."

Both bowed respectfully and left. Apodemus looked at the other elders. "Is their word trustworthy?"

Malbun shook her head, confused. "I'd like to believe that they will help us, Father Abbot, but if they have been with Valcyn as long as they claim, they might have been turned to his cause. Their offer of protection could be a trick to allow Valcyn's vermin to capture the creatures that we send out. The berries are almost ripe. We must make a decision."

Apodemus thought, then closed his eyes and began to whisper. "Martin the Warrior. If you are here among us, in this abbey, please, guide us through this troubled time. Allow us to come through it safe."

The others nodded. Crikulus looked towards the door. "We could still send out the party. But we would have to change the way we go about it. We could send Thyre, Jarren, Justyn, and Triss out along with them for protection."

Justyn shifted uncomfortably in his seat at this news. Crikulus looked at him. "I know that you do not relish fighting, Justyn. But I have seen your skills with a blade. You could be a valuable asset."

Justyn composed himself and nodded. "I will do what you ask. We should keep the party bunched together. We put little ones in the center, elders on the outside. Hopefully that will be enough."

Apodemus sighed. "We can only hope, Justyn. We can only hope."

Thyre and Jarren walked through the orchard in silence. Both knew what they had brought upon the Redwallers. Both felt horrible for it. Thyre looked at Jarren. The otter still limped slightly, but was now able to breathe normally and the pain in his back was almost gone. Thyre sighed. "What have we done, Jarren? We shouldn't have come here."

Jarren shrugged. "We would have found our way here another way. Valcyn would not have stopped hunting us wherever we went."

Thyre bit his lip. "Do you think they'll force us out?"

"Better to ask forgiveness than permission. At least we gave told them before one of them died."

Thyre nodded. "True. But can we stop this alone? If we look around, we can see it. These creatures aren't fighters. Surely there are some in the east that managed to escape Valcyn. We need fighters, Jarren. Warriors. Experienced ones. Any creature in the east that we talk to is likely to have a grudge against Valcyn. Whether for the destruction of a home, a village, a life, or the death of a loved one. We can't ignore this. If we do, he will come to Redwall sooner or later. We will be to blame if Redwall meets the same fate as our homes."

Jarren nodded gravely. "I saw too many bright lives come into Valcyn's fortress. Lives that still had much ahead of them. Snuffed out, in the blink of an eye. I hope that I never have to witness that again."

Triss came into the orchard not too far away from Thyre and Jarren, looking around for them. Spotting the two, she looked at their faces, the ones that had been so relieved and innocent now grave and aged far beyond their years. Mustering her courage, she walked up to them. "The elders have agreed to your plan. Tomorrow, when the berry pickers go out, you two, Justyn, and I are going with them. We will protect them."

They both nodded. Thyre looked at Jarren. "I'll get our weapons." Without waiting for an answer, he walked away.

Triss looked after him, then at Jarren. "He told me his story. Has he always been like this?"

Jarren sighed. "He once said to me that he did not want another creature to needlessly die. Every time he sees the smoke from the fortress's bonfire, I can hear his teeth grinding in rage. It seems wrong to him. All of those lives, the young that had been taken from their families, those that had died…to him, it's a tragedy. One that must be avenged."

Triss looked back towards the abbey as Thyre disappeared inside. "And what will you do?"

Jarren looked at the door. "I will do everything I can to help him achieve his goal."

So as you can gather from this, there's going to be a fight. R and R! I'll post more than two chapters, because a lot of them are kind of short. R and R!