After being condemned to a self-imposed exile from Redwall Abbey, Dann Reguba wanders south. There he discovers woodlanders held in slavery by wicked pine martens. However, the pine marten Regolith's cruel green eyes are not only focused on the Castle, he also yearns to venture into Mossflower Country. Forcing Dann to venture back to a home he swore never to return and for all to reevaluate the true meaning of good and evil. 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 a ferret named Thalweg.
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Book One
The Castle
"You shouldn't have come so far south. There's
nothing but suffering and slavery here now."
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Chapter Thirteen
She would never know what it was that had shocked her into wakefulness. Perhaps it was the fleeting dread brought upon by the advent of the raven, perhaps it was the hushed whispers from outside the compound or perhaps it was the hedgehog Quin poking her with one of his quills as he shifted in slumber. She rubbed her footpaw. Yes, it was definitely Quin. However, as she tried to go back to sleep, she could hear voices whispering from outside the compound, although she couldn't identify what sort of beast was making them at all.
"Hurry up, you blighter!" one of them whispered. "We don't have all bloomin night, wot!"
"I say, Lieutenant. Why's this takin' so bally long? I thought any ole fool could open a flippin' door?"
"Sorry, Cap'n," said another voice. "This's harder than it looks, wot! It's bloomin' dark out here. Can hardly see my blinkin' paw in front o' me."
"I say, you chaps! Would you two cease hovering over that poor chap's shoulder like that, wot wot. It won't make the blighter open the bloomin' door any faster. And Captain, your confidence in our troops is bally well inspirational."
"Sorry, Major," said two hushed voices.
Galena shifted and swung her legs over the bed. She rubbed the wooden pendent around her neck nervously. The guards had finally decided to finish all the slaves off. And to add insult to injury, they would do it with funny voices. She glared at the door savagely. Well if they were so inclined, she would take a few vermin down with her! She shook several of the other slaves awake. They all seemed a bit dazed at being roused so, but quickly understood her whispered explanation. She led the others to the door, just out of sight.
They gathered behind her, holding weapons in shaking paws. It was a motley supply of weapons, kitchen knives, rusty daggers and the like. Galena unstrung her sling from her waist, which she had stolen from one of the guards. She fixed a stone on it. The door finally creaked open. She heard one of the voices berating another harshly and a slap before several dark figures glided into the compound as swiftly and silently as Death. She felt a rage filling her body and she raised her sling to hurl a rock at the closest creature. However, she had miscalculated in the dark. She was in much too close range.
Her adversary merely grabbed the sling from her paw. "Sorry, miss, but we've got to 'urry from 'ere." She stared into the kind dark eyes of another otter. He was very handsome. Galena felt the breath halt in her chest and her heart start to beat rather quickly. For a fleeting moment she almost wished that it was a vermin and not a handsome stranger. She knew how to react around the former but not the latter. He gallantly offered her his paw and pulled her none too gently from the compound.
"Me name's Cinnabar," he whispered to her.
"Galena," she whispered back.
"And I'm Peony. I say, it's a blinkin' pleasure to meet you and all that, but we've got to get away from this jolly ole prison sharpish," said a voice from her left.
She turned and saw in the darkness a creature with two long ears. When she got closer, she could see it was a hare. He smiled at her and winked at another hare hurrying over.
"Hey there, you jolly otter. You seem to be the bossess in here, wot," a female hare jumped up next to her and wiggled her ears. "Are these all the creatures enslaved in this gloomy whatchamacallit? How many are unfit for travelin'?"
Galena smiled at the hare. "Thank you very much for comin' to our aid. I think all the creatures are 'ere. We're mostly fit. We'd 'ave died long afore this if we weren't."
The hares shook their ears at her in understanding. "Well quick's the word and sharp's the jolly ole action, wot!" The motley group hastened from the compound silently towards the little wall gate.
The stoat that Dann had brained when he had first scaled the wall groaned. Natural selection must have blessed him with a very thick skull and remarkable powers of recuperation, because he was soon sitting up and rubbing the back of his head. Memories flew back to him in an instant. He stood up and roared out, "Attack! Attack! The slaves are escaping! Rouse the army! Attack!"
His stentorian voice carried easily in the darkness. The wall guards on the other side of the ramparts, jolted out of sleep and ran over towards the shout. Soldiers soon came pouring out of the main building in a flood.
"Oh corks, mates," said Lieutenant Tobias drawing his twin long knives.
Captain Turnsol ran in step with Major Peony. "It looks like the wheeze is blown, wot," he said.
"Give 'em blood'n'vinegar, chaps!" yelled Major Peony.
The weasel Bloodnose rushed out onto the lawn and took in the situation at a glance. He roared to his command giving orders and encouragement. "Surround them, they're just slaves. Cut 'em off from the wall gate!"
Guards poured out in droves surrounding the small group of escapees. Major Peony's rapier flashed in the darkness of the coming dawn, delivering swift death to all in her path. Turnsol bobbed and weaved nearby, laying low a hulking ferret with a hard left. He shook his paw. "By the flippin' left, that bounder had a bonce like a bloomin' boulder."
Peony stabbed a rat trying to behead her with a scimitar and said to the Captain, "Cease your alliterative prattle, Darcy, and start knocking out some of those rotters, wot!"
The hares roared out their bloodcurdling battle cry: "Eulaliaaaaa! 'Tis death on the wind! Eulaliaaaaa!"
Cinnabar grabbed a spear from a guard laid low by a rock from Galena's sling and started to knock beasts over the heads with it. He roared out his battle cry "Shellhoooound!" and rounded on two weasels trying to sneak up on them.
The flustered guards on the walls were shooting arrows at the slaves. Jonquil was doing his best to keep the guards heads down by firing at the wall guards with his longbow.
Captain Turnsol pushed Major Peony out of the way and took an arrow meant for her through his shoulder. He groaned in pain. She grabbed his paw to keep him from halting as they sprinted towards the gate that the two young hares were gallantly holding in time for all the slaves to escape.
Galena stumbled forward with Cinnabar at her side; she took a knife from his belt and threw it at a fox aiming a javelin at the other otter's chest. Cinnabar smiled down at her and winked. "Thanks, matey."
She turned and saw Beech racing towards her yelling something. When he got close enough, she could tell what it was. "Where's Willow?" Galena gasped and looked around in horror. Thoroughly ashamed at herself, she realized that she had been so caught up in escaping that she had forgotten all about Willow, who was all alone somewhere in Regolith's quarters setting up the tyrant's breakfast. No one could escape on their own when separated from the crowd.
A hedgehog overtook them as he ran. He gave a burst of speed and broke slightly ahead of the group. His rush for the gate and freedom but was cut down just short of the door by a well aimed arrow. Galena shouted over at Beech. "Willow's supposed to be on serving duty in Regolith's quarters."
Bloodnose's voice could be heard over the din. "Stop shooting arrows, you rotten rabble! We want slaves to work, not dead meat! Knock them over the head, don't kill them!"
As Sergeant Saxifrage ran by the weasel shouting orders, he dealt him a hard rap over the head with the butt of his saber. "Take that, you wretched whipsnouted weasel!" he shouted.
Another squirrel ran up to them and grabbed Beech by the scruff as he started to run off in the other direction. Beech yelled at the older squirrel. "Dann, Willow's still in there somewhere!"
Dann looked at Cinnabar in dismay, his paw still tight on Beech to keep the younger squirrel in line with them. "It's hopeless, Beech. We can't be separated now. You won't survive if you try to look for her. We'll come back, I promise. We'll come back!"
Galena felt her own heart break at the expression on Beech's face. It was devoid of any hope. In his heart, he knew that he would never see the pretty squirrelmaid again. It was too much for Galena to bear. Recklessly, she slipped from Cinnabar's grasp and ran off towards Regolith's quarters. Cinnabar tried to grab her around the waist, but she was too fast. He was about to give chase, when Dann yelled at him. "Leave her, Cinnabar. There's nothing we can do. We need to get out of here and re…" he cut himself off with a grunt of pain and pulled out a feather-tipped arrow from his upper arm.
Galena flew through the crowds of vermin pressing forward, taking them all completely by surprise. What was this mad otter doing rushing away from freedom? She raced towards Regolith's quarters, knocking down a ferret guarding the door. She only had time to see the pine marten looking in dismay at the shattered plates that once held his breakfast and the pretty squirrelmaid lying on the ground in a pool of blood before darkness engulfed her vision and the ground came up to meet her surprisingly fast.