Chapter Six
Mossflower Edge
Tharius awoke groggily. He had a splitting headache, and it didn't help he was hanging upside down from a tall rowan. As he opened his lazy eyes he saw hundreds of ugly little rats, covered in yellow, purple, black, and green paint. They were laughing wickedly, and sometimes vanished into their trees because of their camouflage.
"Heehee! Painted ones caughtye!" shouted one, a tiny brat.
Tharius growled and gnashed his teeth, but the painted ones were unafraid.
"Make way for ze royal family!" shouted one.
Two burlier rats walked forward, holding ropes to contain the creature carrying the royal family. There were three on the creatures back, though one of them was exceptionally small, and Tharius realized it was a child. The other two he expected were the thing's parents, as they both wore crowns and were fatter than most.
But it was the creature they were riding that really caught his attention. The creature had wild, ferocious eyes with square pupils, long horns jutting from its forehead, shaggy gray fur, and long beard, and instead of paws, had hooves that it walked on with all fours. It was the size of a large badger, and looked that if he had half a chance he would squash half the painted ones to pulp.
"Eatemup! Eatemup!" called out the Painted Ones. There enthusiasm scared Tharius.
"Eatemup! Makefire! Makefire!" replied one of the ones on the creature.
"Huzzah!" they called, as they rushed off to find firewood.
"Wait! He cud be useful!" shouted the creature, in a highland brogue.
The Painted Ones looked at him quizzically. "Whatchoomean?" asked one.
The creature smiled. "Och, 'ave ye fergotten 'bout The Golden One?"
The painted ones stopped. Then one on its back shouted, "Heehee! Yesyes. Treemouse get Golden One!"
"Golden One! Golden One! GOLDEN ONE!" called the rats.
"Firsta, though, putinprison!"
ooooooooooo
The prison was a ramshackle wooden hut Tharius was thrown in with the horned creature.
"Forgive my asking, but what are you?" asked Tharius, unable to keep it in any longer.
The creature chuckled. "Och, ah'm what ye'd call a 'goat'. We live fah in the North Mountains. Mah name is Hurqu the Proud. Ah came fer travel 'n' adventure. Foolish meh, got caught by those painted rats."
"Well, Hurqu, I'm Tharius, though I remember very little of the past. Tortured, you see. What's The Golden One?"
"Poor ye. Lissen, The Golden One is a little gold statue of a tiny rat. The painted brats worship it. But it got stuck high in a tree."
"Well I can climb a tree, but it seems the Painted Ones can too. Why do they need me?"
"Becuz somethin' f'rocious is oop there. It's killed a score of the blighters already."
"So I'm the sacrifice. Out of the frying pan and into the fire." Tharius leaned moodily against the wall.
"Lissen, Tharius. Ah just need a distraction. Then I can save ye, meh, and give those rats a whopping they'll remember."
Tharius chuckled at the imaginary sight of one of those rats caught between the creatures horns. "What do you need me to do?"
ooooooooooooooo
Mervo was crying.
Well, of course he was. He was tied to a stake in the woods surrounded by vermin in the summer dawn. Hungry, cold, and tired.
The only vermin awake was the yawning weasel guard. So he was lonely as well. Along with some vermin shouting in the woods; they were building some foul contraption. But they were deep away in the woods and Mervo couldn't see them.
This is all those otters fault! he thought angrily, trying to find someone to blame for this mess. He was still bitter he was forced with the other dibbuns. He was fourteen seasons old, and he looked it up and the abbey definition of dibbun was under ten seasons. But because he was as small as the Dibbuns, he was grouped with them. If they hadn't tricked I wouldn't have left the Abbey. Now what will I do?
He tried to think of happy thoughts. When he had first beat his father in chess! But that made him think of how they were kicked from their house and he would never see the chess set again. Or when he finished organizing the books in his father's library by title! His father was so proud, and researching would be so much easier. But he would never see those books again...
There was the taste of Redwall food. Yes, Friar Durglo's scones, smothered in cream and dashed with cinnamon. The crispiness and the taste, hot from the oven... but then he remembered how hungry he was. What about when he would snuggle in his blankets, warm and cozy. Yes... a freezing-cold breeze of night air gushed through, and he shivered. What he wouldn't give for a comfortable position! The ropes were uncomfortable, the stake was hard, the gag was stuffy, and he was lying vertical!
The weasel yawned again, interrupting the fox's thoughts. He closed his eyes, trying to find peace. When h was sailing across the great inland lake for a summer. There boat was rowed cheerfully by Mervo's father, while Mervo's mother told him stories and sang songs, this about seven seasons ago. He enjoyed the sunlight and wind, and his father gave him a fishing line to catch fish.
Mervo enjoyed it, even though he could catch anything. Until he felt a great pull!
A tremendous fish had grabbed on to the bait, and pulled the little fox overboard and into the water. A great pike swam at him, sharp teeth glistening, black, lifeless eyes gleaming at him. The pike rushed forward, and was about to devour the little fox, when Zeela, with that same berserk rage that was similar to her anger at Holly, leaped from the boat, tackling the pike. Erzvin grabbed Mervo by the scruff of the neck and pulled him overboard.
The water was painfully still for a couple minutes. Then Zeela burst out, a dead pike between her jaw and a wild look in her eyes.
They sailed back, and Erzvin and Zeela began to calm Mervo down. The young fox was traumatized after the experience, but after he had some of the pike and ate a bit of the scrumptious pike, then listened to Zeela's lullaby, he began to settle down.
Now, tied to a stake at sunrise, he recalled the lullaby.
Far Across the Land,
And just before the sea,
The mountain of power,
That's where you'll find me,
Where a dragon warns,
The dangers away,
I will find peace there,
A path so far, a very long way,
Through the trees of the great forest,
And alongside a stream that's fullest,
Through the mountains high,
Were the winged mice eyesight is nigh,
Far Across the Land,
And just before the sea,
The mountain of power,
That's where you'll find me,
Through the wetlands,
Of monsters alike,
Brave your way towards the sands,
Beware the swamps fiends,
To the place of golden peace,
Of great tranquility,
Far Across the Land,
And just before the sea,
The mountain of power,
That's where you'll find me,
Across the place where sea meets land,
Across the dunes and sand,
Beware clawed creatures,
Those that are hostile,
To find the mountain where magic does surge,
Far Across the Land,
And just before the sea,
The mountain of power,
That's where you'll find me,
Mervo smiled to himself as he was near the embrace of sleep. His eyelids drooped and peace over came him, he felt serene and joyful.
Then the weasel guard fell to the ground, unconscious.
