The Swamp

"Rrrreb! Step up! Bulgum needed!" came the voice of Migwod.

"Crrrroik! We need Bulgum! Cum fer de toads!" added Burja.

The toads made a ring for the Bulgum testing. Dragwa hopped into the middle, and listened to the praises of her great horde.

"Draaaaaaaaaaagwa! Draaaaaaaaaaagwa! The Queendom! The Queendom! Draaaaaaaaaaaaaagwa!"

Dragwa basked in their praise. "Toads! Whitefox Bulgum is a threat! We need our own Bulgum to fight him! Haven't had a toad bulgum since Gancho, brother of Crendo, but we can git one! Rrrrreb! Bulgum!"

The toads cheered. The queen hopped back to her ring as another toad hopped up. He was a big fat one, Dragwa's cousin. "I'm Webtoes, first contestant!"

The toads cheered.

Webtoes took a deep breath and held it in, his cheeks and throat swelling. His eyes looked side to side as he slowly squelched into the swamp. Dragwa rolled her great eyes. "Clearly not Bulgum, crrrrroik!"

Webtoes frowned and jumped away. Migwod came after, a foolish grin on his face. He did as his cousin did, holding his breath and waiting foolishly for something to happen.

Gogzo sighed. "No! We need Bulgum! Bulgum come!"

A score of toads had attempted, all holding their breath and waiting for something to happen. Sanlo the toad sighed. He had read some of Gancho Bulgum's journals, and knew that Bulgum powers were used by closing your eyes and channeling with all your might in a completely silent place, so the toads were going all wrong. But maybe they were right. They were older than Sanlo, and therefore wiser.

Sanlo hopped to the edge of the swamp, where the Grubloes patrolled. A dead stoat with an eyepatch was being dragged back. One of the Grubloe, a lean toad called Bogwog, said, "Dis 'un's o' de fox's group. Tried to git back 'ere, Prince Sanlo."

The toad nodded. He grabbed the stilleto from his limp paw. Feeling it in his hand, he chuckled. This was good for him! He couldn't manage a big trident, nor a flimsy Grubloer.

"Haha! Crrrrroik, the is the weapon for me!"

The Edge of Mossflower

Srav the ferret was a young, bright and extremely fast and enduring member of Silvertung's horde. He was completely loyal to the horde and his emperor, admiring the white fox. He was cheerful and smart, and was made Silvertung had taken a liking to him. He had been running constantly, only stopping twice for a four-hour nap and a small meal.

Still cheerful, he bounded through Mossflower woods, making sure he stayed stealthy in case anything attacked him. His task was to warn Darkblood of the threat of Griv's betrayal.

"Heehee! Sacrifice! The Golden One demands sacrifice!" came a young, squeaky voice.

Srav stopped and listened. He heard the beating of drums (Bom. Bom. Bom-bom-bom-bom-bom-bom-BOM. BOM-bom-bom-BOM. BOM-BOM-BOM-BOM-BOM!), and a flare as a fire was lit, he could see through the trees. There was more loud squeaks, and then a yelp of fear, he guessed belonged to a fox.

The ferret crouched down and snuck towards the sound in perfect stealth. Surveying the scene, he got his information.

Hundreds of runty rats covered in a rainbow of natural dyes were surrounding an incredible bonfire. On a stretcher was a small rat, young, the only visible parts of him not covered in paints were his eyes, lips, fangs, and when he opened his mouth, tongue. On a tall wood sculpture to the right of the rat was a crudely crafted pure golden statue of a rat. Tied to a large oak was a fox.

"Oh, I've seen him before," muttered Srav. His eyes fell on the black fang protruding from the fox's mouth. "Ah, that's Darkfang, he was in the same gang I was afore we joined Silvertung... Hmm... I should free him, but how?"

oooooooooooooo

Darkfang the fox was miserable. Just when it seemed like he was going to be living large, the Painted Ones had caught him. And now he would be sacrificed, painfully burned to death, listening to those booming drums and laughing rats.

"Hey, matey, remember me?" came a voice behind him.

The fox nearly jumped at the familiar voice. He turned his head to see a grinning ferret. "Srav, me old matey, wot're you doing here?"

Srav chuckled. "Saving you, what else?"

Darkfang was surprised. He wouldn't risk his life for some other beast, though looking back, Srav was the type that would. "Wot're ye doin' 'ere?"

Srav grinned. "Emperor told me to go check on General Darkblood, says he thinks General Griv Beastcrusher will try to take over."

Darkfang growled. "Already 'appened, Darkblood's dead. 'Ere, matey. You don't 'ave to go all the way to Redwall, just free me an' take me to Silvertung, I'll tell 'im wot's goin' on."

The ferret nodded. "Top plan! Now I just need a distraction..." Srav vanished into the foliage.

Darkfang sighed and his eyes strayed to the Golden One. Then they went to the fire, big, blazing, and dangerous. A foolish rat got too close, then tripped in their dance and fell in with a dreadful scream, the flames engulfing him. Darkfang's eyes began going back to the Golden One, but then... it was missing!

He felt the ropes binding him to the tree go loose and heard Srav's voice again. "Don't run yet. Just wait... wait..."

"Aiiiiiiiieeeeeeeee!" cried a rat, pointing at the mount of the Golden One. The drums, singing, and dancing suddenly stopped as the rats turned to the mount and realized what was going on.

"Genno!" called the small rat on the stretcher in their own tongue, pointing the direction of the mount. "GENNO VOLZEN CHUN! COOV, COOV, COOV!" (Missing! MISSING GOLDEN ONE! RUN, RUN, RUN!"

The horde ran off in the direction of the mount, northeastward.

"Now!" said Srav.

The fox and the ferret ran west towards the western plains, Srav chuckled as he held the Golden One. "Whew! We tricked them, all right. Now let's get going to Sil-"

"Aiiieeeee! Scoop, scoop, cors Volzen Chun!" (Escape, escape, has Golden One!) came a voice of a rat that was slower than the others and noticed their getaway.

"Blast it!" growled Srav. "I jinxed us, definitely."

The ferret and the fox dashed through the foliage, spurred on by the thunder of the Painted One's footpaws. Darkfang noticed how the ferret was going slower than usual so he could keep up with him. That was what Srav did.

"The plains!" shouted the ferret.

Breaking through the foliage they ended on the plains, with more space they were able to run much faster. Chuckling, they began running to the mountains. There they could lose the rats, who were more accustomed to the forest.

ooooooooooooo

The rats were not even accustomed to the plains. Used to jumping from tree to tree, their run was awkward as they constantly ran into each other or tripped and fell to the ground.

The leader of the Painted Ones, Young Azvemeth, yelped in fear as his stretcher bearers tripped and he was sent flying into his horde.

The rats stopped their run to make sure their leader was okay.

Young Azvemeth growled. "They will pay for stealing the Golden One! We will send them to Vulpuz where they will suffer for eternity!"