Thyre shot through the forest, startling birds and rustling branches as he almost flew through the trees eastward. Inside, he was filled with anger, which he voiced aloud. "How dare that mouse. After I kill Valcyn, he'll be next."

Back at Redwall, Triss was moving around the kitchens, packing food with help from Friar Gooch. Crikulus entered and stared at the two rapidly moving squirrels. "What are you two doing?"

"Packing for the journey, Crikulus." Triss replied.

"Journey?"

"I'm going to follow Thyre. He can't do this on his own."

Crikulus stepped forward. "Absolutely not! Abbot Apodemus will not allow it."

Triss turned to him, frustration on her face. "I don't care, Crikulus! He can't fight Valcyn on his own. He might even be suicidal!"

"He's right, Triss." Justyn walked into the room, his arms folded across his chest. "And even if you knew where Thyre was going, he's got half a day's head start on you. You won't be able to catch up to him even if you tried."

Triss began to put more food into her pack. "I'm going. Don't try to stop me."

Justyn put a paw on her shoulder. "If you're going, I'm coming with you."

Triss shrugged. "Suit yourself. But," she added, turning to him, "If you say anything like you did a few hours ago, I won't intervene when he tries to kill you."

Justyn narrowed his eyes at her, but consented and began to pack food alongside the other two.

Thyre didn't want to stop, but night had fallen. He was hungry, but he made no move to go find food. Instead, he sat against a tree, taking out his broken sword and staring at it. The moonlight reflected off of it, producing a swirl of silver, crystalline fragments of light. Putting the sword away, he took out the dirk and held it to his chest. "This is as much your quest as it is mine, Jarren. A part of you should share in it."

He stabbed the dirk into the ground and then lay down beside it, watching the reflection of the moon in the blade as he dropped off to sleep.

It was not a restful night. Thyre tossed and turned, waking up multiple times throughout the night. Jarren and Valcyn both haunted his dreams. Jarren would stand in front of him and hold his arms out, begging for Thyre to avenge him. Valcyn was there next, sneering, telling him that even now, with the thought of revenge on his mind, he was still not frightened.

Finally, Thyre forsook sleep altogether. Instead, he put the dirk back in his belt and jumped into the trees to continue his journey. What they had covered in a day and a night by Gousim longboat seemed much longer, even by branch hopping. By the time the sun rose, Thyre was exhausted. Thunderclouds gathered on the horizon and spat lightning, faint roars of thunder reaching the squirrel's ears. Thyre watched it impassively for a while, then resumed his journey.

A few hours later, not looking where he was going, he slipped from a branch, falling facedown into the soft loam that covered the ground. He lay there, spent and unconscious.

Two forms rustled in the bushes, then, seeing the unresponsive squirrel, darted out and began to carry him in a more southerly direction.

In case you're wondering, Thyre never actually goes through with killing Justyn. Another set of characters is going to appear two chapters from now, and you'll see what Valcyn is up to and some more background information about the situation in the east. R and R!