Chapter 7

Inas and Fayal caught sight of Redwall's spire with the arrival of a gray dawn. Clouds hung motionless the air, hovering above as it promised more rain for the parched ground. And with each step closer to the redstone abbey, Inas' dread grew.

Nervous sweat and inexplicably broken out all over his body and his face felt like it was burning off from the heat that emanated from it. Yet shivers from fear chilled the rest of himself to the bone. Fayal also displayed signs of obvious fear for he could see her paws trembling on their own. She halted one shaking paw by gripping the hilt of her sword and gripped it so tight her paw turned white; the other paw she left alone.

Fayal stopped with the Abbey just down the road and she turned desperately to Inas to consult him on the issue of returning. Again. "Inas, are you sure you have to go!? I have this awful feeling that I won't be seeing you again once you go into Redwall! Will they execute you?!"

Inas turned with a resigned yet uneasy expression on his face. The weasel seemed about to cry, but he held back his tears and kept his expression tight. "Yes, Fayal, I'm very certain I must come back. Martin won't have it any other way. I cannot turn back. There cannot be another fate for me."

Fayal shook her head despairingly, then looked up into the heavens with tears clouding her eyes and she stared. Then, in a voice barely audible, Inas heard her hoarsely whisper, "I hate you, Martin."

Inas recoiled, taken aback by the look of fury and hatred painted on her face as she stared into the overcast sky. He shook his head, shocked and thought, 'She's already crying for me and I haven't even died yet. Fayal's defying Martin. Oh, Martin, please forgive her!'

Despite Fayal's emotions, Inas could not stop. He turned to complete the rest of the few steps aloud left to him that were not even under his control. At first, he was alone trudging in the dry dirt outside of the Abbey to the main gate, then there was a scuffling of pawsteps and Fayal caught up to his side.

"You're not going into Redwall Abbey without me."

Inas smiled and wiped away a tear that had threatened to fall and he said, "Thank you, Fayal, you certainly are a true friend. Despite having only known you for a day, I'm glad that you'll be there with me until the end." They walked the last few steps at an agonizingly slow pace. Upon stopping at the front doors, Inas studied them for a moment, then took a last look at Fayal.

She seemed determined to not meet his eyes as she stared at the sturdy Oak door in front of her. There were no tears clouding her gray eyes, but the deep sadness was her entire image. Shuddering, but still nodding resolutely Inas raised his paw and knocked.

All too soon the door was unlocked and opened wide. Mother Morn, Brother Alds, and the squirrel Abbess Enca stood before him, disbelieving their eyes it seemed when they did nothing at his appearance. Then Mother Morn came out of her stupor and growled angrily before she pointed at Inas, "Seize him!"

On command, half a dozen otters from Skipper's crew suddenly filled the doorway and grabbed Inas to bodily haul him unresistingly through the door. Two others wrestled Fayal bodily into the Abbey as she fought them and flashed her teeth threateningly. As she was taken, she could not refrain from asking, "What are they going to do to him?" Her question went unanswered.

Inas was shoved into the ground and the otters held him there as Skipper took the scabbard and sword off his back and presented it to his Abbess. Inas looked up to her and noticed that she, Mother Morn, Trat, Brother Alds, and Skipper stood in an intimidating line before him. All the other Redwallers crowded around him peering at him curiously with a solemn expression of gloom. The weasel slumped limply to the ground as he gazed into the expressions that seemed to speak to him of his impending doom.

"Inas Reiz, you have been accused of the following charges: murdering an elder and former warrior of Redwall, stealing the sword of Martin, corrupting a young mouse's mind, and attacking Redwallers seeking the sword. How do you plead?"

Tears were stinging the corners of his eyes as he said, "I'm innocent of all charges, Mother! Besides, would a guilty creature knock on the gates of those he hurt."

Fayal couldn't keep quiet during the quiet procession, "I'm not brainwashed or corrupted! You've lived around him nearly his whole life. Why is it that I can see the good in him and you can't?"

Abbess Enca mulled these words over in her head and said, "Your statement of coming back does make sense, Inas. And now that I hear it for my own ears, I do not believe this creature has been corrupted by you." Despite her sense, she turned to frown reproachfully at Trat who continued to stare at the weasel.

Trat decided to speak this time, "There's still the charge for the death of my father! If you are innocent, then what did he ever do to you?"

Mother Morn's anger had subsided for the time being, but she backed up Trat, "And you used the sacred sword of Martin to murder him, furthermore. If you had pure intentions as you claim, then why'd you use such a valuable and honorable object?"

"Martin made me kill him. And he made me do it with his sword," Inas yelled, knowing all for the world that they would not believe such an audacious statement. All the beasts on the grounds stood silently shocked at first, but then they regained their senses and began shaking their heads doubtfully.

Brother Alds blinked and turned to the Abbess and said, "If this is true, then a Redwaller has done a monstrous enough deed to instill the wrath of our protector." the mouse turned to Inas. "But… If Martin truly wanted Inas to kill Aeno Straeker, then why did you run away with the sword? And then why did you come back?"

"I ran away because I knew you wouldn't believe that I'd done that deed for good intentions. Martin made me come back," Inas nearly whispered, positive this would set him free, but Brother Alds merely raised his eyebrows. A strange consternation, one that unsettled the weasel, descended on the crowd. Mother Morn bent down to whisper into Abbess Enca's ear, who frowned thoughtfully.

Finally, the Abbess spoke up, "So, you would not have come back if Martin hadn't made you, is that what you are telling us? Why not, Inas?"

Trat interjected and answered the question as Inas only stared at her, lost for words. The squirrel stepped forward and shouted allowed, "He didn't want to come back or he'd have had to face our justice! If your intentions are so good, Inas, then why were you going to take the sword with you wherever you went?"

"I was going to bring it back," Inas shouted desperately, the tears releasing themselves from his eyes to run down his face. His face was sealed. The theft of the sword could not be denied. Had he been overstepping his line with Martin when he'd kept on running? The question plagued him, but the Redwallers were decisive on what the question meant.

Mother Morn narrowed her eyes suspiciously and said, "If you were going to bring it back, then why'd you keep running Inas?"

"Martin made me take it."

Abbess Enca spoke this time, "He may have told you to take it, but why did he have to force you to come back?"

The otter's stepped back from their charge completely aghast when he curled up into a ball and began sobbing uncontrollably. "Martin made me take the sword; I swear, Mother. I don't want to die! I'm not ready!"

All of this appeared too much for Fayal. She stared at Inas' sobbing form lying prone to Trat who stood above him asserting his authority and frowning down at him. 'All vermin are cowards.' It had been said to her before, and while she knew that it was mostly true, she believed there were brave ones. And seeing Inas emotionally breaking down in front of Trat fed the furnace of her temper. 'Inas is a brave weasel,' She mentally screamed at herself. 'He's brave! Any sensible beast would breakdown and cry at such odds against him. Especially since they already look down upon him as a bully and a coward. Inas is not a coward!'

With the adrenaline rush from anger aiding her, Fayal strained and broke the grip the two otters had on her and sprinted to Inas. Trat looked up, startled and reached for his belt knife, but she shoved him out of the way and grabbed Inas' army and ran. She barreled through the stunned crowd and surveyed the walls for an escape.

Inas was so appalled that he the tears stopped streaming down his face. With an angry cry, Fayal turned sharply to the wall steps, taking them two at a time. The Redwaller's had anticipated an escape from the weasel and had already set guards up at all the exits. Inas was pulled along behind her, unable to stop her. Fayal was running to be running. To buy time. She knew it was hopeless, but the mouse never gave up that hope. He shook his head in admiration.

"Get them, they're trying to get away," A flabbergasted Abbess shouted at the Skipper of otters and the squirrels. The otters immediately took off for all four ways to reach the ramparts the two renegades were traversing, but one companion of Trat's unsung his bow and readied an arrow. Following them carefully, he let the arrow fly.

He barely missed. It zipped by right in front of Inas who shouted in surprise and took a step back against the wall. But the weasel didn't meet something solid to support him; he met air. It took one second that lasted for an eternity for him to realize that the wall wasn't going to save him and that he was toppling over it. Worse, though, was that Fayal had not released his arm and was falling with him.

The weasel opened his mouth to scream, but the air was taken right out of his mouth, his lungs as he fell through the air. An attempt to suck in more air was unsuccessful as gravity pulled his and Fayal's bodies to the ground. Inas could only watch, helplessly, as he fell further away from the wall that could've saved them.

It only took a few seconds for them to reach the ground at the height the wall was, but it took forever for the two. Then their backs hit the ground, softened by rain, with a resounding thud. Any other air that had been stored in his lungs had now been knocked out from the force of hitting the ground and it caused his chest to ache as it rose up and down as he struggled to draw breath.

He was alive though! Despite the height of the fall, he hadn't heard any cracks from breaking bones, he was just winded. After what seemed like ages, but was only a few minutes the air came rushing back into his lungs and was began fueling his body and feeding his heart. Inas laid there for a few minutes just breathing and finally felt strong enough to sit up.

He looked right next to him to see Fayal's chest also rising and falling. But… Her eyes were glazed and not just in pain. The weasel brought his ear closer and listened, then paled at what he heard. Nothing. She was not breathing anything! Air wasn't able to go in!

Feeling himself start to panic, Inas put his ear to her chest where her heart was supposed to be. There was no repetitive thud. There was nothing. Fayal's heart had stopped! Inas' eyes widened in enlightenment and shook his head in denial.

"No, Fayal… No! I you can't die! I won't let you! Breathe, Fayal, breathe," He said as he panicked.

Then a voice shot through Inas' conscience. Save her! Save her, Inas, save her! It was Martin. And he was shouting at him from the other world, commanding him to save her. Then the knowledge of how to save her flooded his brain and he bent down over Fayal, conforming his mouth to hers and breathed in her mouth. He did this until he saw her chest rise and then pumped it hard five times.

A glance at Fayal told him he'd bought her time to live, but her heart still wasn't working for her, so he repeated the procedure. Her mouth and eyes were open wide giving her the appearance of a gasping fish, fighting for breath. For her life. Inas could tell from the way she was constantly trying to force her heart and lungs to work trying to draw breath, but she was losing.

The third time, she coughed and he heard a loud inhaling of air as she drew in as much molecules of the element of life as she could. Inas lifted her back from the ground to help her draw in more air and get it flowing through her body faster. As he lifted her, he noticed that nearly the entirety of Redwall was out on the dirt path surrounding them. Watching the pair seriously and sadly. Abbess Enca's paw had gone to cover her mouth when she realized, with horror, that Fayal hadn't been breathing. Mother Morn, though just as troubled, had kept the crowd back from the mouse as she fought for breath.

When Inas began sitting her up, Abbess Enca ran forward in a most ungraceful manner for someone of her status and helped her sit her up saying, "That's it, dear, just breath deep breathes. Just keep breathing. Are you both unhurt?

"None of my bones are broken, Mother," Inas humbly replied.

Fayal managed a hoarse croak, "None of mine, either." She coughed helplessly and inhaled another shuddering breath and both pressed that she relax and that she wouldn't be asked more questions.

Caring for Fayal seemed to have caused the Abbess to forget why she had fallen and why Inas had just been in the grounds. Inas was now chewing his bottom lip and brought up the subject first, "Abbess, if you want to kill me for murdering Aeno Straeker, then I beg you that you care for Fayal when I'm gone. Please? She's took weak now, to go anywhere. At least treat her and release her. Excuse her for her outbursts and the attempt to free me."

Abbess Enca shook her head, sighing deeply, and looked up at Inas. He was surprised to see tears gleaming in her eyes. Then she said in a strong voice, "Inas, we were wrong about you. Even if she was your accomplice, you have shown too much care for her to be a murderer. You did not murder Aeno Straeker. You were directed by Martin to kill him; I know that now."

She then cupped his chin and raised it further to her eyes and said, "I'm so sorry, Inas. I bear the entire responsibility of having never trusted you to begin with. When the sword and you were gone, I jumped to the conclusion that you had killed him when you attempted to steal it and he caught you. I thought your good behavior when you arrived had been a cover-up to keep us from having suspicions about you, but I was wrong. So wrong…"

Mother Morn also came up and put a paw on Inas' shoulder, "Inas, I too am sorry for ordering you to be seized when we hadn't received all the facts. We shall hear your complete side of the story about why Martin wanted Aeno dead. But I know now why he used you; it was to bring Redwall together. You, unlike any other of your kind, have changed for the better and proven to those that are here that even vermin can be good. You are brave, faithful, and inconsiderate of your own life as you try to keep friends out of danger. You are a true warrior."

Fayal finally felt able to talk and said, "Aeno enslaved Inas."

Abbess Enca stiffened and peered into Inas' eyes, which were no longer averted to the ground, but strong and assertive. She studied him for a moment, then said, "Is this true, Inas?"

The weasel straightened and said, "Yes, Mother, it is. Just the night before we came to Redwall he lashed me for impudence when I would not accept a potion that he'd been giving me nightly to erase my memories of the day I'd just lived."

Mother Morn's paw tightened around his shoulder and asked quietly, "How long has this been happening?"

Inas breathed deeper, feeling the painful memories of the last twelve years of his life rebound on him. He swallowed and looked up into the badger mother's eyes, "Since I was taken off the battlefield after you'd won over Issvor."

The paw added more pressure to the weasel's shoulder and the badger mother shook her head, "That's why Aeno would never let you come to learn at Redwall. He didn't want you to learn anything. It's why you got in trouble so often at Redwall when you came; why you always seemed distant. Oh, Inas…"

Inas broke his gaze and stared down at Fayal who was listening to everything they said with closed eyes and regular breathing. "Well, it's all over now. I won't have to experience it again. But…." Inas turned to the crowd, searching out the other individual that had made his life a living hellfire.

Trat stepped back at the serious force in the weasel's eyes as Inas' eyes darkened with the furrowing of his brow and his paw trembled as he reached for the sword that was no longer on his back. Then he said aloud, "There was another that made my life so miserable from the first day that I'd been adopted by Aeno." Mother Morn and Abbess Enca followed his gaze and froze as it rested on Trat, who was stepping backwards, trying to get away from the wolfish gaze of the weasel. "I wanted to kill him, too. When I thought about you, Trat, I would suddenly get this desire to battle you like I had your father and finish your life. Martin doesn't want you dead, however, and to kill you would only prove myself a vermin in the Redwallers' eyes. For… Someone as young as you are can change. Your father's corruption runs deep, but it can be remedied, Trat."

Mother Morn nodded, "You speak wise and true words, Inas. Blood shall not be shed anymore. The evil that would corrupt Redwall Abbey if it hadn't already been cleansed would've divided us. While Aeno's death was unfortunate, he could've split us into factions and in future years, it would've destroyed us."

The badger mother walked over to wear Trat stood with a helpless expression on his face and looked up into her eyes. They were the bright blue eyes of a lost soul trying to find its way in life. He only stared up into the badger's soft brown eyes and nodded. She offered her paw and he slowly reached for it and grasped it. Trat's mind would be healed after the brainwashing it had received.

And under the overcast sky of the afternoon the rain began to fall on the crowd gathered outside. The Redwallers encircling rushed to get inside before the downpour for the rest of the day truly started. Mother Morn and Trat still gripped one another's paw, firming their relationship and the long path that lay ahead of the squirrel for healing. Inas braced himself and lifted Fayal from the ground to move her out of the rain and into a dry bed and Abbess Enca brought up the rear, assuring that every creature was not left out into the rain.

Yet, amidst the rain there had been a break in the cloud cover where a single ray from the sun had been shining down on the ground. And though the rain got heavier the ray spanned over the forest for a few minutes before the clouds bunched over again.