That night, Rain dreamed.

Two armies, one substantially larger than the other, stood across from one another in the ruins of a castle. Above them, a great tear in the sky spat fire and smoke. One side, the larger side, was demons. The other side was woodlanders, all united for a common cause. The heroes of Redwall, the lords of Salamandastron, and the warriors alongside them. Out in front was a dark-furred squirrel. As Rain watched the squirrel raised his sword and roared "For the living!" a call that was echoed all along the line. The army charged forward towards the mob, roaring with all their might. The demons charged as well, and the instant that the armies met…

Rain woke. He shook his head to clear it, then swung his legs out of bed, stepping between the bunks and hammocks filled with sleeping hares. Passing the hammock that held Airon, he smiled as the mouse snored loudly, one leg dangling over the edge of the canvas as he slept. Then he came to Katrina's bunk. She was whimpering in her sleep and tears were silently rolling down her face. Rain hugged her as best he could, then kissed her cheek. She stopped whimpering, but the tears didn't stop until a short time later.

Walking out onto the deck, he sat on a crate. The night watch didn't speak to him. He held the necklace up to his face and clasped it in his paws, closing his eyes. "Mother," he whispered. "If you are alive in this necklace, I beg of you. Tell me what I'm supposed to do."

His eyes suddenly snapped open, featureless and white. Behind them, he was standing on a white, featureless plain. He looked around. What is this place?

"Rain."

Rain whirled. His mother stood there, her paws hidden in the folds of her robe. Rain gave a small smile. "Mother."

Rain's mother walked forward and enfolded her son in a hug. She smiled. "You've grown up so much."

Rain pulled away slightly, looking at her. "We're on our way. But I'm not sure what to do when we get there."

His mother smiled and stroked his cheek with a paw. "Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing, Rain. You can't plan for everything."

Rain sighed. "I'll do it. But I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that my friends get out of this alive."

"We'll see." She sighed. "Oh, Rain. You're still so young. You shouldn't be doing this. It never should have happened."

"We've all had to do things before the time came to do them, Mother."

Rain's mother nodded. "True. But this is your test. Every path you have trod, through wilderness and through war, has led to this road."

Rain hugged her again. "I miss you, Mom."

His mother hugged him back. "As do I, Rain."

The scene began to turn blindingly white, and the last thing Rain remembered before falling back to sleep was his mother's voice gently singing to him.

May it be an evening star,
Shines down upon you.
May it be as darkness falls,
Your heart will be true.
You walk a lonely road;
Oh, how far you are from home....

Mornie utúlie,
Believe and you will find your way.
Mornie alantie,
A promise lives within you now....

May it be the shadows call,
Will fly away.
May it be your journey on,
To light the day.
When the night is overcome,
You may rise to find the sun.

Mornie utúlie,
Believe and you will find your way.
Mornie alantie,
A promise lives within you now....
A promise lives within you now....

Rain squeezed his eyes shut as bright sunlight flooded into them. He slowly opened his eyes up to stare into Katrina's blue eyes. The ottermaid gave him a dazzling smile. "Sleep well?"

Rain smiled back and chuckled as Katrina helped him stand. He looked around and then whispered to her. "I need to speak to you and Airon in private."

They met in the storeroom later that day. Rain had told them about his first dream. "I think it's obvious," he said as he paced in front of Airon and Katrina, who were seated on crates on opposite sides of the alley that the squirrel now walked up and down. "We're going to have to fight our way there."

Katrina spoke suddenly, her voice quavering slightly. "Rain, you do know who the ruler of Hellgates is, don't you?"

Rain nodded. "Vulpuz. I know."

"What do we do if he's there?"

Rain sighed and stopped pacing. "To be honest, I don't know. Fight him, I suppose."

Airon brightened up for a moment. "Oh! That reminds me. Before I forget, some of the hares have been helping me make this." He pulled out a small, curved piece of wood with a number of iron attachments and a small, hollow ring inside the curve. There was another curved piece of metal inside it, mounted on a small flexible disc. As with all weapons made nowadays, it was covered in blue sigils that pulsed with light.

Rain took kit, then turned it around in his paws. He cocked his head to one side as he looked down the short, hollow tube. "What is it?"

Airon took it from him, spinning it roguishly before holding it normally. "You wouldn't want to do that when this thing is loaded."

"Loaded with what?" Rain asked. "What does it do?"

Airon grinned. "Well, sometimes in Salamandastron, hares will come across a little bit of some sort of black powder. They did things to it and it showed that it can explode. There's only enough to fill a pouch about…this size, I'd say," he said, taking out a small leather bag and shaking it. "Don't ever, ever get this near an open flame. Might not be enough to kill you, but it'd probably burn something fierce."

He also raised a small, sigil-covered metal ball that was about the size of the thing's barrel. "The Long Patrol's also been testing this little ball of metal here for use in their slings. When the powder explodes it can fling stuff pretty far. So, they decided to put it in this, and they've given it to me for safekeeping."

Katrina looked at it. "How does it work?"

In answer, Airon pushed back one attachment until a loud click sounded. He then put a finger inside the guard and pulled the small piece of metal within it. The attachment shot back into place with a loud ping and a burst of sparks. "The sparks ignite the powder and that's how it goes off. I don't plan to use it unless we're in a really tight spot, though." He put it inside his tunic, where it was almost invisible except for a slight bulge.

The young mouse looked up at them and smiled, patting the thing. "I don't know what to call it yet. You two got any ideas?"

Rain shook his head. "I think we should wait until we see what it can do."

Airon nodded. "I agree."

Rain looked back up the stairs. "I'll go see how much progress we're making. You two should see what you can do to help."

Rain walked up the stairs after seeing them nod. Coming out of the cargo hold, he walked up to the main mast. Climbing the rigging quickly, he moved up beside the lookout. "Have you spotted anything?"

The hare shook his head. "No. There's nothing out here. I can still see land, the occasional flash of fire, but other than that…nothing."

Rain looked around and then pointed at a flickering line that was still a distance away. "What's that? A fire?"

The lookout squinted, then, when he still couldn't see it well enough, he took out a spyglass and looked through it. "I don't know. But I bet it's what we're looking for."

There was also a trio of dark shapes moving towards them. The hare said "Oh dear."

Rain flipped over the side of the crow's nest, then grabbed the mast and slid down it. When he hit the deck he shouted "We've been spotted!"

As hares began to run and prepare for battle, Rain ran up to the rudder and pointed at the shore. "We'll be sitting ducks if we don't get to the shore. Move us as fast as you can."

The hare nodded and turned the ship toward the beach. Meanwhile, the demons came closer. Rain now had his own bow out and pointed. "Hold fire until I give the command."

The demons came closer and closer until one began to conjure a fireball in its mouth. "Now!" Rain shouted. He fired, along with every hare on the ship that could. Sigil-laced arrows shrieked through the air like angry wasps, speeding towards the demons. Two swerved and broke off, but the one with the fireball shot its cargo at the ship. The fire streaked over the ship, landing in the water a short distance away. The demon was riddled with arrows and fell into the ocean close enough to the ship to send water cascading over the railing. Rain turned and fired another arrow at a demon that was flying along the ship's starboard side. The arrow missed, but the demon suddenly turned and swept across the deck. As it reached Rain he took a sword from a nearby barrel and sliced the thing's claws off. As the demon screeched in pain and tried to fly away, Rain took up his bow again and fired an arrow, hitting the back of the demon's head, killing it. It dropped into the water.

Rain looked around. "Where's the last one?"

He was answered by an earsplitting roar as the final demon dove and hit the deck so hard that a hole was smashed through it. Water plumed through it, and Rain growled. "Save everything you can and get to the lifeboats!" he shouted. "I'll deal with this one!"

Leaving the hares to get off the ship, he drew his sword and jumped down into the hole. Katrina wasn't there anymore, and neither was Airon. The demon was moving around the cargo hold, smashing more boards and letting more water in. Rain ran at it and jumped, slicing it across the back as he twisted over it. The demon roared and spun, hitting the squirrel with a claw and sending him flying across the cargo hold. Rain smashed into a bulkhead, dazed. The demon raced across the cargo hold towards him, and Rain ducked as its claws dug into the hull. He spun, slicing the demon across the ribs. Its tail, which, Rain noticed, had a sharp, blade-like spine attached to it, flicked out and sliced his shoulder. Rain let out a small "Ah!" of pain and danced backwards as the blade swept low, aiming to take off his feet. The demon finally managed to extricate itself from the wood and turned to him. It swept its claws at him, but Rain ducked under them, slicing the left one in an elbow. As he rolled between the monster's legs, he sliced one in the back of the knee. The demon roared in pain and its tail swept at him again, slashing Rain's cheek open. Rain rolled out of range of the tail, and, as the demon turned its head towards him and roared, he hurled the sword as hard as he could.

The blade spun in the air briefly before impacting the creature's mouth. It hit the back of its maw with a loud thwack. The demon tottered briefly, then fell forward. The point of Rain's sword protruded from the back of its skull. Rain walked over to the demon, then, rolling the large body over, looked into the thing's four dark eyes. He reached into its mouth and pulled the sword out, washing it in the seawater that was slowly flooding into the cargo hold. More boards were buckling. Rain ran back up the stairs and jumped into the last lifeboat. As the lifeboat hit the water and they began paddling away as fast as they could to join the others, the ship buckled, bulging slightly in the middle before coming apart with a loud crack that echoed across the water and flung pieces of wood everywhere as the ship exploded outwards.

Katrina was in the lifeboat with him. "You're hurt…" she said, motioning to the wounds on his shoulder and cheek, and to the trio of nasty gashes that he had gotten when the demon had hit him with its claws. Rain waved her off. "First see to the others. Any injuries?"

The ranking officer among the hares shook his head. "No. We managed to get a fair amount of weaponry off the ship, but all the supplies were in the cargo hold, which we couldn't get to because of the demon."

Rain looked in each boat, counting heads. Fifty hares, Katrina, and himself. He looked at her. "Where's Airon?"

Katrina looked around, then, after seeing no sign of their young friend, dove into the dark water. Rain stared after her, but the shadow of her form was quickly lost among the debris from the ship and the poor light.

As the lifeboats were paddled towards the beach, one hare in Rain's boat pointed. "Here she comes."

Rain helped Katrina into the boat. In her arms she carried a limp form. Airon. She looked at him, sadness in her eyes. "He's dead."

Rain carefully moved over to him. "Oh no…" he whispered as he looked at the young mouse's face. He looked up at Katrina and put a paw on her shoulder, drawing her close. "We'll bury him when we get to the shore."

One of the hares attempted to brighten things up. "We saved your weapons, Rain."

Rain thanked the hare and put the spear and bow to one side. He looked back at Katrina. "Where did you find him?"

"Under the hole that the demon made in the cargo hold."

So Airon had still been in the cargo hold when the attack came. After the demon smashed through the decks he had been hit by it and catapulted through the floor, dying instantly. Rain closed his eyes, trying to keep tears of anger from leaking out of them. Another life wasted. These monsters had a lot to answer for.

The boats reached the shore as it was starting to get dark. Through the clouds, some of dusk's crimson light was managing to seep through. Rain and Katrina stood on a cliff overlooking the sea. They had buried Airon and built a little altar out of stones, each carved with a different sigil, for protection against desecration, erosion, or time.

Katrina wept into Rain's shoulder. Rain hugged her reassuringly. "We've all lost loved ones, Katrina. And I promise you that we will avenge them all. Your father, my mother, Airon, everyone we've lost."

Katrina sniffed and nodded into his tunic. Rain smiled. "He's with us in spirit." He hugged her one last time before going down the path in the cliffs to the large cave where the hares had made camp. He sighed. Too many are dying. Far too many.

The group slept peacefully that night, missing the flutter of wings and the rapid tick tick tick of claws as they skittered across the pebbly beach. They missed the steady thud of large feet marching away.

The demons were retreating. Preparing for the last battle.

There you go. A long chapter to make up for the short one. I know that some of you are probably thinking "Guns in Redwall? Booooooo!" but in war, technology moves pretty fast. And it makes sense that everyone would be trying to think of a magic bullet to win. Har har. Magic bullet. Har har. (That was lame.) R and R anyway! Feel free to bemoan your feelings about Airon in the reviews. Or PM me to rant about it.