"A New Danger"

(Author's Note: One of the biggest criticisms of ROC:S1 in general was the introduction by the writers of so many dangers, to the point where it got to be a "danger of the week" kind of thing. I plead guilty to having contributed perhaps more than my share of these, although in my case I had a very good reason for doing so: if Vodola was to die - and she came very close on at least two occasions - I knew how I wanted her to go out, and so I had to set up the means for her great death scene.

This scene that follows was not part of that; I'd simply always wanted to do something with electric eels in a Redwall setting. Unnecessary, perhaps ... but I do love the way this scene turned out!)

00000000000

Vodola had been down at the water's edge, near the cave where Levet had been laid to rest, when the second spell of rain came. There were other caves, still open to the outside, so rather than run all the way back to the campsite to huddle together with the others under the flimsy shelter, she ducked into the nearest cave to ride out the storm. She hoped it wouldn't last long; this cave was slightly below the tideline, and if it started flooding she would have to abandon it in a hurry.

Her eyes adjusted quickly; the thunderclouds had made it dark outside, so it wasn't like stepping into deep gloom from bright sunshine. An ankle-deep layer of water coated the cave's floor, so Vodola hitched up her habit and splashed over to a raised rock where she could sit and stay dry. At least for awhile, hopefully.

It was a very plain and simple rock grotto from what she could see. Smooth dull walls without any crevices or encrustations of sea life, a few other rocks like the one on which she sat. It did go back a way, but not too far before the ceiling curved down to meet the water.

Outside, the pounding of the torrential rain against sand and surf was almost deafening, making Vodola very glad indeed that she had claimed the closest shelter at paw. She had heard that tropical rainstorms usually blew over very fast, except for those rare monster storms that only happened once a season, if that. Vodola doubted this was one of those; they would have seen such a terror coming from a very long way away. This was just a passing storm, she was sure.

She saw, rather than heard, the rippling of the water toward the back of the cave, and turned her head just in time to see a large sinuous shape disturbing the surface. Vodola tensed, both paws going to her swords in case she needed to draw them in a hurry. The water must be a lot deeper back there, to hide a shape as large as that one appeared to be. If it were only a fish of some kind, she would probably be safe from it, since she sat in very shallow water where it would not be able to venture. But the vixen knew a serpentine shape could also mean a snake, and a large snake would be a threat even to Athi. Vodola prepared herself to jump up from her rock throne and flee the cave with all speed if she had to.

Then she saw and felt something that was utterly beyond her ability to explain. A sudden glow came from underneath the water, briefly illuminating a slender, coiled serpentlike form larger than she was. Flashes of light, accompanied by a whispering crackle like the distant snapping of very dry twigs, chased around the edges of her vision. Most alarming of all, her fur was suddenly all standing on end, from eartips to tailtip - not from fright, but because of something in the air around her. It was similar to the tingling sensation she sometimes got during a particularly potent lightning storm, only far more intense. Vodola was struck by the overwhelming feeling that her life was in immediate danger.

She sprang from the rock to run from the cave. When her footpaws hit the water, a shocking numbness shot through her, and it was all she could do to stumble the rest of the way out into the rain.

Standing in the drenching downpour, legs trembling so much that she could barely manage to stay on her feet, she knew that she had narrowly escaped something terrible in that cave, far more terrible than any giant lizard. Vodola didn't believe in magic, but what she'd just encountered was almost enough to change her mind. There had been death in that place - not the death of tooth and claw, but some force that could strike a beast dead in the blink of an eye, a menace that no sword or shield could counter. She wondered if any of the others might have an inkling of what this danger might be, but either way she had to warn them. Stumbling and lurching through the rain, Vodola pushed herself up the beach toward the camp.

Nobeast could be allowed to go near that cave again