A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it's in hot water.
-Eleanor Roosevelt
Buttercup, Fiver and Vilthuril had been on the punt for several days. The currents, instead of taking them back to Australia, took them even further away from the continent. They survived by eating the flayrah that Buttercup had gathered, but by that point there wasn't a lot of it left. The air kept getting colder as time went on.
-Do you think we will ever see land again, Fiver? asked Vilthuril.
-I wish I knew. Unfortunately my visions don't work that way.
-Hey I think I see something, came the voice of Buttercup from the other side of the punt.
The other two rabbits looked in the distance. Far on the horizon, they could see land. It was still some distance away, but the waves should carry them there in a few hours.
Granite came to as he heard the faint siren from the ship and immediately resumed his speech:
-...and the humans built the large Tower of Darkhaven, and its large...
-Hey, Spartina is gone! shouted Feldspar.
-After her! ordered Shale. We haven't much time, the Black Rabbit is getting closer!
All the rabbits began to search for her smell to find out where she had gone, except Granite. He stared at the sky, where the eyewall of the storm was visible in all directions. He briefly wondered whether this whole ceremony was going to stop the storm, but quickly dismissed these thoughts and followed the others.
The Darkhaven owsla had a lot of experience in finding other rabbits. Many times before they had tracked down and killed escapees. It didn't take them very long to find the secret tunnel. As they got out on the other side, they found the two does high on the path.
-There's a stranger with her!
-KILL THEM BOTH!
-It almost worked out, Hyzenthlay. You did all you can...
-We're not surrendering. Keep going!
Both does kept running until they finally reached the top of the spiral, only to see that the path ended there, with no other obvious way down.
-You might as well face it, Spartina and you random rabbit, whoever you are, there is no way out of this situation! taunted Shale, who was standing on a nearby platform. I just destroyed the bridge, and the owsla is right behind you! Surrender now, and we won't torture you before we kill you!
-Is there another secret passage out of here? asked Hyzenthlay.
-There is a small path, but it's very dangerous. It's just in front of us.
Hyzenthlay cautiously looked down. The path was extremely steep dirt slide going through most of the warren. There were several sharp curves, and no borders. Nevertheless, both rabbits jumped onto the slide and vanished, with the owsla watching them in shock.
The four bucks were still randomly pressing buttons, trying to turn off the alarm, but made no progress. When the captain finally arrived, accompanied by his first and second officers, they hid under a table. The captain quickly stopped the alarm, and went to examine the damage.
While the captain was standing motionless and silent in front of the scene of the disaster, the four rabbits sneaked out of the room and went back to the deck.
-It's great not to have to hear this noise anymore, sighed Bigwig. It was giving me a headache.
-At least we know Hyzenthlay isn't there, said Hazel. Pipkin, do you know any other place where she could be?
-I saw a small passage, remembered Pipkin, but I don't know where it leads. I'll show you.
The passage Pipkin was talking about was a staircase that led to the crew's quarters below deck. The four rabbits stared at the stairs for several seconds before finally deciding to go down.
-You know, Hazel, confided Bigwig, isn't this whole thing crazy? We were originally supposed to search for Fiver and Vilthuril, and now we're searching for Hyzenthlay.
Hyzenthlay and Spartina had been sliding for several seconds. It was a very unpleasant experience, as the slide was extremely muddy due to the typhoon. Suddenly, part of the slide collapsed under them.
The two does landed on part of what Granite had called the "Tower of Darkhaven". It was a large machine with a conveyor belt that led to the top of the tower. A large roller, at the top of the tower, was able to crush any object on the belt. Unfortunately for the rabbits, the machine was functioning, and they were slowly being carried closer to the dangerous roller.
At that moment, Granite, Shale Feldspar and several other members of the owsla jumped on the belt in front of the two does.
-I'm sorry this has to end this way, Spartina, said Granite. You will either be torn to pieces by the roller up there or we will kill you here. And you, stranger, just why do you interfere with our affairs? Where do you come from anyway?
-This whole structure, whispered Spartina, was severely damaged by the storm. We can probably cause it to collapse if we stamp hard enough.
-Let's try it, then, said Hyzenthlay.
-Look, stranger, continued Granite, I am Chief Rabbit of this place. According to ancient Darkhaven law, any rabbit who defeats me in single combat automatically earns my place. Do you want to try it?
-I'm already Chief Rabbit of my home warren. I don't want to be Chief Rabbit of Darkhaven!
-A doe as Chief Rabbit? whispered Shale to Feldspar. She must be crazy.
Spartina kept stamping as strongly as she could, with Hyzenthlay helping her. The structure kept vibrating dangerously, until a critical support beam broke in two, causing the entire structure to collapse.
Granite and the owsla landed painfully on a rock. The last thing they saw was the roller fall off its support platform straight towards them.