Condemned to a self-imposed exile from Redwall Abbey, Dann Reguba wanders south where he discovers woodlanders held in slavery by wicked pine martens. However, the pine marten Regolith's cruel green eyes are not only focused on his Castle, he also yearns to venture into Mossflower Country. Dann is forced to venture back to a home he swore never to return and to embroil his friend Thalweg, a ferret, into a nail-biting cat and mouse game with the devil himself. Immerse yourself in Dann's fantastic adventures together with a group of Long Patrol Hares lead by Major Peony Laminar, an otter named Cinnabar Shellhound and the ferret Thalweg as they all discover the true meaning of duty and loyalty.
From the South
A Redwall Fanfiction
By Lady Eowyn of Ithilien
Book One
The Castle
"You shouldn't have come so far south. There's
nothing but suffering and slavery here now."
Chapter Nine
Galena ran a paw over her eyes. The sun was surprisingly hot today. Heaving on the line, she kept pace with the drum as she and the others watched the large oak beam slowly ascend into the sky. She peered up in hopes of seeing Willow's lithe form dancing about the roof, helping to put down the beams. Even though she was a squirrel, for some reason, Willow usually didn't work the nosebleed shift. However, now they were short on squirrels because Beech had escaped.
It wasn't called the nosebleed shift for nothing. The ten unlucky souls assigned to it had the dangerous task of laying the beams on the roof of the buildings, without any cables to anchor them, or any guards to oversee them. She would never forget that spring day last season when Beech had almost fallen from the roof of the Barracks as they were laying the last beams. She had watched transfixed by horror as he hung by one claw to the roof. Luckily, he had found some strength to haul himself back onto the roof. Even still, the cruel slave drivers had forced Beech to continue his task.
Though, today the four – no, now it was three – horde captains seemed to be in a rush, pushing the slaves longer and harder than usual. The twenty or so slave drivers on the ground were pushing the slaves to their breaking point. Something new was on the horizon. Yet no one seemed to know what it would bring for them, neither the horde nor the slaves.
As she stared up, she noticed a dark mass descending from behind the forest. It was that fierce looking raven. She was sure she hadn't seen the accursed bird for at least a season. It glided effortlessly above them, watching their attempts to reach into the sky with a sort of amused incredulity. Glaring when it noticed her staring, it stalked straight into Regolith's chambers.
Galena looked up at Willow again. Too bad she was on nosebleed duty. Phillip the overly excitable mouse was serving Regolith today. He wasn't quite as adept as her friend at eavesdropping. She'd have to question him later.
Her wooden pendent hit against her chest. It was a beautiful ancient piece. Probably worth no more than the memories of all the creatures before her that had worn it. Her parents had told her that their ancestors had been great Skippers of Holts in the north. She had no other information about them than the wooden pendent with the likeness of a willow tree on it.
She always teased her squirrel friend that this pendent proved that they were related. Galena glanced up again at the squirrels working on the roof. She hoped her friend came down from her dangerous shift safely.
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Their claws made loud scratching noises on the wood and they scurried about shifting the beams and making room for the last piece of the roof to the upper rooms of the officer barracks. They were tempted to leave a few holes so that rainwater would pour in occasionally, but the knowledge that they would be beaten was a slight deterrent.
An elderly squirrel looked over at the squirrelmaid as she stared wistfully at the forest. The branches were always trimmed meticulously so no squirrel could jump to freedom from the ramparts without first breaking his or her neck on the fall. The tall trees swayed teasingly at her as the warm summer breeze ruffled through their branches. Of all the things she missed about freedom, Willow would probably say that it was the freedom of the woodlands. There were no trees or flowers inside the Castle, only dirt and blood. The Castle could not sustain life.
"Don't worry, Willow. We won't be here much longer. Beech is a good creature and he'll bring help to us," the old squirrel said in a hoarse voice.
She tried not to shake her head in frustration. "Beech is young and inexperienced. What can he do?"
The old squirrel smiled. "You'd be surprised, my dear."
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At that very moment, Beech was crouching outside the castle with Dann on one side and Cinnabar on the other as they looked at the sentries on the battlements.
The more time Beech spent with Cinnabar the more surprised he became at hearing Cinnabar's history. Beech had seen a far share of river otters in the castle and the woodlands – after all, his friend Galena was one – but he had never seen a sea otter. Beech had assumed that Cinnabar had to be an adult because he was so tall, but Cinnabar was only two seasons older than him, even younger than Dann! Dann and Cinnabar had met two times before. They had meet in the past fall and spring on the shores south of Salamandastron.
Beech wrinkled his nose as a gnat settled on it. The two squirrels and the sea otter were crouched at the beginning of the tree line in a small ditch Foremole Loamsnout and his moles had dug out for them – they were so happy to oblige Major Peony and Dann.
Seasons before, Regolith and his soldiers had cleared away a vast expanse of the woods to clear space for his grand Castle and then later to create a wide perimeter to ensure that no creature could try to leap from the battlements and into the boughs of a tree to freedom. The empty plain was about half as wide as the width of the Castle grounds!
Cinnabar's dark eyes took in the west walls of the Castle and the two guards marching back and forth on patrol. The sea otter looked at the squirrel warrior with uncertainty. "Are you sure that you'll be able to scale that wall, mate? It's not like climbing the rigging? It looks dangerous."
Dann Reguba eyed his friend with raised eyebrows. "Don't worry, mate, I do this stuff all the time. Beech may have been a slave, but he's in fine health. He's probably a better climber than I."
Beech looked offended at the very idea that Dann wasn't good at something.
Major Peony and Captain Turnsol were sitting not far off, just out of everyone's range, avidly discussing the plans. All the long patrol hares had discarded their bright scarlet uniforms in preparation for the assault. Beech was glad. He was afraid the red would attract unwanted attention from the foebeasts. When Beech had asked Dann why the Long Patrol had changed into their dark green tunics, Dann explained that the scarlet jackets were their dress uniforms and the dark green tunics were better suited for this kind of work.
Lieutenant Oswego was inspecting the weapons of all the creatures that had come to free the slaves and occasionally glancing over at Peony and Turnsol with disapproval. There were the twelve hares of the Long Patrol, about as many otters and five moles. None of the vermin had decided to come, only Dann's ferret friend. The others had considered it too dangerous to invade the pine marten's fortress. Beech couldn't blame them.
Dann's ferret friend came over to where Dann, Beech and Cinnabar were huddling. He sat down next to Cinnabar and nodded at the otter. "All are well armed and ready. Wot's the plan, Dann?" he said.
The ferret looked over at Beech and held out his paw. The ferret tried to smile at the squirrel, but the fearsome gashes across his face marred the gesture. Beech looked at the ferret's paw for a minute considering and then against his better judgment shook it. How could Dann be so friendly with such a creature! "Nice to meet ya, mate," the ferret said, "the name's Thalweg."
"Beech," said the young squirrel quietly.
Dann looked over at Beech and said, "We'll wait 'til dark. At the changing of the guards we'll scale the west wall."
Beech nodded and glanced sideways at the Long Patrol commanders again who were whispering intensely back and forth to each other. Beech couldn't imagine what they were arguing about. They struck an interesting appearance, Major Peony with her bright grey eyes and Captain Turnsol with his powerful frame. If he didn't know that they would soon be entering into an important battle, Beech might have thought they were discussing a torrid love affair. He laughed silently to himself at the silly notion. Though he wondered what could spark such discussion. He thought that the plans had been almost unanimously voted upon.
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