CHAPTER VII

Spearlady Gorse was beyond herself with anger. She stood at her forge night and day hardly resting to eat or sleep. She would pound a piece of metal paper thin then another and another. The bloodwrath had taken her over completely. Few hares had enough courage to go up to the forge ad report. Even if they did it did nothing but make the badger act more wild.
After five days of rowing, Logalog decided that they would hide the log boats on land and march the rest of the way.
On Tallonclaw, Deathclaw was getting ready to attack Salamandastron after annoying the badger and the hares for awhile. Deciding that he would show how many vermin he had, Deathclaw anchored right in front of Salamandastron and ordered his hoard of rats, stoats, foxes, weasels, and ferrets to crowd around on the sand right in front of Salamandastron. Each of the vermin was armed to the teeth with daggers, cutlasses, swords, lances, pikes, spears, and anything else they could lay their paws on.
Deciding that the badger needed to know that the vermin were attacking one of the hares was selected to go tell Spearlady Gorse. The hare was quite frightened even though Spearlady was her own leader, not the enemy. "Mmiz Gorse, um the vermin are a-attacking."
"Wonderful!" The badger said in an almost giddy voice. "Rally the troupes! Arm every beast and tell Windears to get my armour!" Spearlady Gorse was ready for war.
The frightened hare ran off to carry out her leaders bidding. Within one hour every hare was lined up at the main entrance waiting for Spearlady to give her word. "Charge!" Both sides met each other with a dash. Spearlady Gorse ran into the melee eyes red only able to see her enemy Deathclaw. She killed all that came near her spear.
Battle cries ran thick. The mountain hares battled the sea vermin.
"Evlaiaaa!"
"Blood and vinegar!"
"Kill, kill, kill!"
The vermin were winning due to the sheer number of them. Spearlady did not see this: she only saw her foe.
Just when the hares were about to lose control they heard the war cry of the shrews, "Logalogalog." Help had arrived. When Bluestripe saw her mother battling her way towards Deathclaw, she yelled, "Mother!" Lady Gorse turned, "Daughter!" The two badgers battled towards each other killing every beast between them.
Finally, they clasped paws. "Daughter let us catch up after the battle. I have a ferret to kill." Side by side mother and daughter fought their way towards Deathclaw. As they reached him he backed away from the two advancing badgers into the water. Little did he know that he had gone too far. He was drowning.