~Theft Of The Sword~
~Chapter Four~
Back at Redwall Abbey, nearly every creature living within the great sandstone walls, save for the dibbuns and their caretakers, were tightly packed into the hall just outside the infirmary. They were awaiting news of Abbess Mhera's condition, hoping that their fears would not be realized and though it had only been a couple hours, already there was nervous chatter about the terrible 'what if'. Only Nimbalo seemed to be the only beast left with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Suddenly the door to the infirmary cracked open and Sister Alkanet stepped out into the hall to face a barrage of questions from the abbey beasts. The infirmary keeper held up her paws for silence, but eventually was forced to resort to silencing them with her legendary icy glare.
"I know that all of you are very worried for our abbess, but . . ." Everybeast in the hall tensed at the mouse maid's words, all of them confused by the puzzled expression upon Alkanet's face, all of them fearing for the worst. " . . .Fortunately for us, Mhera is perfectly fine." This new information caused a great sigh of relief before the abbey beast broke into murmurs and whispers, all of them confused.
"But sister, we all saw her throat." One voice rose above the rest, that of a young hedgehog maid, setting of a wave of nods of agreement among the abbey beasts as they awaited Sister Alkanet's response.
"For reasons I cannot even begin to comprehend, the thief merely knocked our Abbess unconscious. The stain upon her throat was nothing more then a red dye. In short, it was faked and we were all fooled." As the infirmary keeper spoke, a fresh wave of murmurs and whispers rippled through the hall as all of the abbey beasts wondered why their enemy would do such a thing. The murmuring however ceased immediately as their abbess walked into the hall, still wearing her nightgown, a slightly faded red stain across her throat.
"My fellow abbey beasts, I assure you that I am perfectly fine and that we shall get the bottom of this incident, but for now it is in all of our best interests that we get along with our lives." The otter maid spoke with a soft voice, a voice with which she calmed the nerves of the abbey beasts. "Please, all of you go about your duties. All members of the council shall come with me to my room to discuss these matters, anybeast who saw the thief is asked to attend as well." With that the Abbess strode off down the hall, a select few Redwallers following behind her, leaving a mostly empty corridor as everybeast went their separate ways, going about business as usual. Nimbalo however stayed where he was, a deep look of thought upon his face.
"Deyna must know of this . . ." He muttered with a nod, making up his mind about what to do. Moving quickly the mouse made quick trips to both the armory and the kitchens, loading himself up with supplies and his trusty axe before slipping out the west gate into the woods, following his friend's footprints.
~~~~~~
As Nimbalo set off in pursuit of Deyna, the leader of the horde that the otter was hunting sat comfortably in his throne at the back of his private tent, alone save for his wife, a beautifully delicate creature with pure white fur. She watched as her husband toyed with the sword of Martin, showing it off in front of her as she merely looked on, a downcast expression upon her face.
"What is wrong, m'dear?" Olin cooed, rising from his throne to be next to the female pine martin, sliding an arm around her waist lovingly, but she simply shrugged his paw off moving away a step. "What is wrong, Pearl?" Olin asked again, this time demanding the answer, his voice taking on a commanding tone as his paw gripped the sword tightly.
"Tis nothing, milord." She answered simply, but it plainly obvious that it was a lie, angering the warlord as she glared at him with a cold eyes.
"Tell me. I know that there is something wrong." Olin demanded, stabbing his sword deep into the earth in his frustration. Then, suddenly the pine martin's demeanor changed, his features lightening, anger replaced by worry. "Please? Tell me, Pearl." He asked her in a soft, caring voice as he placed a comforting paw upon he shoulder, but the maid simply shook her head 'no'.
"Olin? What happened to you?" With that she left the tent, brushing a single tear from her eye as she glanced back at the angered warlord. In his frustration, the warlord pulled his sword from the earth, glancing around for something to take his anger out upon when suddenly, from the shadows stepped a dark furred vixen.
"What plagues ye, milord?" She asked in an unusually gruff voice, the dim light inside the tent revealing her to be a young vixen, her fur pitch black, yellow eyes glowing before the shadows.
"I do not know fox, that is your place." Olin stated, gritting his teeth as if in pain as he raised the sword threateningly, but at a glance from the vixen he stopped, freezing completely. The vixen removed a small bag from a pack that was camouflaged, hidden in her fur, blowing a bit of powder into the warlord's face she began to recite something in a long forgotten, unknown language as the pine martin's eyes began to droop, his body swaying sleepily. Outside the tent Pearl was listening to all of this, her ear pressed up against the fabric of the tent as she spied upon her husband and his unknown visitor.
"You shall conquer the abbey, without the sword their fates are sealed." The vixen spoke the final words normally before removing a strange colored vial from his pack, forcing its contents down the warlord's throat. Unable to control her curiosity, Pearl sneaked a peek into the tent to find her husband seemingly in a trance, his eyes wide open, yet blank.
"Yes Arrikaj, I shall not fail you." At these words Pearl left, sneaking off through the camp to the edges, searching for somebeast. Finally she found him guarding the eastern edge of the camp.
"Hallan!" She called out as she neared the weasel sentry. Turning quickly Hallan went to meet the pine martin maid, noticing her tear stained cheek fur.
"Pearl, what's wrong?" He asked, setting his spear down against a tree as he went to comfort the maid.
"We have to act soon, I don't know how, but that vixen is controlling him somehow." She spoke rapidly.
"Wait, not here." Hallan whispered back, hushing Pearl as he collected his spear, leading them away from the camp a bit and into the woods.
"Did Kyin get out the message?" Pearl asked once she was certain that they were safe.
"He says he did and I trust him, don't worry. It shall be soon." Hallan whispered in a comforting tone, glancing up at the slowly rising sun.
"I sure hope you're right . . ." Pearl muttered, following the weasel's gaze to stare at the rising sun, which had turned the sky a beautiful shade of crimson.
"I hope so as-" The weasel never finished as he knocked unconscious by the butt of spear, turning to face the culprit, Pearl found the spear flying at her and then everything was darkness for the pair, their attacker standing over their bodies with a satisfied smile upon its face.
~Chapter Four~
Back at Redwall Abbey, nearly every creature living within the great sandstone walls, save for the dibbuns and their caretakers, were tightly packed into the hall just outside the infirmary. They were awaiting news of Abbess Mhera's condition, hoping that their fears would not be realized and though it had only been a couple hours, already there was nervous chatter about the terrible 'what if'. Only Nimbalo seemed to be the only beast left with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Suddenly the door to the infirmary cracked open and Sister Alkanet stepped out into the hall to face a barrage of questions from the abbey beasts. The infirmary keeper held up her paws for silence, but eventually was forced to resort to silencing them with her legendary icy glare.
"I know that all of you are very worried for our abbess, but . . ." Everybeast in the hall tensed at the mouse maid's words, all of them confused by the puzzled expression upon Alkanet's face, all of them fearing for the worst. " . . .Fortunately for us, Mhera is perfectly fine." This new information caused a great sigh of relief before the abbey beast broke into murmurs and whispers, all of them confused.
"But sister, we all saw her throat." One voice rose above the rest, that of a young hedgehog maid, setting of a wave of nods of agreement among the abbey beasts as they awaited Sister Alkanet's response.
"For reasons I cannot even begin to comprehend, the thief merely knocked our Abbess unconscious. The stain upon her throat was nothing more then a red dye. In short, it was faked and we were all fooled." As the infirmary keeper spoke, a fresh wave of murmurs and whispers rippled through the hall as all of the abbey beasts wondered why their enemy would do such a thing. The murmuring however ceased immediately as their abbess walked into the hall, still wearing her nightgown, a slightly faded red stain across her throat.
"My fellow abbey beasts, I assure you that I am perfectly fine and that we shall get the bottom of this incident, but for now it is in all of our best interests that we get along with our lives." The otter maid spoke with a soft voice, a voice with which she calmed the nerves of the abbey beasts. "Please, all of you go about your duties. All members of the council shall come with me to my room to discuss these matters, anybeast who saw the thief is asked to attend as well." With that the Abbess strode off down the hall, a select few Redwallers following behind her, leaving a mostly empty corridor as everybeast went their separate ways, going about business as usual. Nimbalo however stayed where he was, a deep look of thought upon his face.
"Deyna must know of this . . ." He muttered with a nod, making up his mind about what to do. Moving quickly the mouse made quick trips to both the armory and the kitchens, loading himself up with supplies and his trusty axe before slipping out the west gate into the woods, following his friend's footprints.
~~~~~~
As Nimbalo set off in pursuit of Deyna, the leader of the horde that the otter was hunting sat comfortably in his throne at the back of his private tent, alone save for his wife, a beautifully delicate creature with pure white fur. She watched as her husband toyed with the sword of Martin, showing it off in front of her as she merely looked on, a downcast expression upon her face.
"What is wrong, m'dear?" Olin cooed, rising from his throne to be next to the female pine martin, sliding an arm around her waist lovingly, but she simply shrugged his paw off moving away a step. "What is wrong, Pearl?" Olin asked again, this time demanding the answer, his voice taking on a commanding tone as his paw gripped the sword tightly.
"Tis nothing, milord." She answered simply, but it plainly obvious that it was a lie, angering the warlord as she glared at him with a cold eyes.
"Tell me. I know that there is something wrong." Olin demanded, stabbing his sword deep into the earth in his frustration. Then, suddenly the pine martin's demeanor changed, his features lightening, anger replaced by worry. "Please? Tell me, Pearl." He asked her in a soft, caring voice as he placed a comforting paw upon he shoulder, but the maid simply shook her head 'no'.
"Olin? What happened to you?" With that she left the tent, brushing a single tear from her eye as she glanced back at the angered warlord. In his frustration, the warlord pulled his sword from the earth, glancing around for something to take his anger out upon when suddenly, from the shadows stepped a dark furred vixen.
"What plagues ye, milord?" She asked in an unusually gruff voice, the dim light inside the tent revealing her to be a young vixen, her fur pitch black, yellow eyes glowing before the shadows.
"I do not know fox, that is your place." Olin stated, gritting his teeth as if in pain as he raised the sword threateningly, but at a glance from the vixen he stopped, freezing completely. The vixen removed a small bag from a pack that was camouflaged, hidden in her fur, blowing a bit of powder into the warlord's face she began to recite something in a long forgotten, unknown language as the pine martin's eyes began to droop, his body swaying sleepily. Outside the tent Pearl was listening to all of this, her ear pressed up against the fabric of the tent as she spied upon her husband and his unknown visitor.
"You shall conquer the abbey, without the sword their fates are sealed." The vixen spoke the final words normally before removing a strange colored vial from his pack, forcing its contents down the warlord's throat. Unable to control her curiosity, Pearl sneaked a peek into the tent to find her husband seemingly in a trance, his eyes wide open, yet blank.
"Yes Arrikaj, I shall not fail you." At these words Pearl left, sneaking off through the camp to the edges, searching for somebeast. Finally she found him guarding the eastern edge of the camp.
"Hallan!" She called out as she neared the weasel sentry. Turning quickly Hallan went to meet the pine martin maid, noticing her tear stained cheek fur.
"Pearl, what's wrong?" He asked, setting his spear down against a tree as he went to comfort the maid.
"We have to act soon, I don't know how, but that vixen is controlling him somehow." She spoke rapidly.
"Wait, not here." Hallan whispered back, hushing Pearl as he collected his spear, leading them away from the camp a bit and into the woods.
"Did Kyin get out the message?" Pearl asked once she was certain that they were safe.
"He says he did and I trust him, don't worry. It shall be soon." Hallan whispered in a comforting tone, glancing up at the slowly rising sun.
"I sure hope you're right . . ." Pearl muttered, following the weasel's gaze to stare at the rising sun, which had turned the sky a beautiful shade of crimson.
"I hope so as-" The weasel never finished as he knocked unconscious by the butt of spear, turning to face the culprit, Pearl found the spear flying at her and then everything was darkness for the pair, their attacker standing over their bodies with a satisfied smile upon its face.