CHAPTER FIVE: A GATHERING OF WARRIORS
Riverwyte climbed out of the water onto the Rock with his family, shaking water from his gray fur and shedding the small knapsack that held his personal belongings: a wooden sword, a stuffed otter, and a pawful of candied fruit.
The Rock was a huge chunk of limestone that reared out of the middle of the River Moss. It was big enough to allow the fivescore squirrels to sit on the dry part in the middle and the fivescore otters and their families to sit on the parts covered by water.
The five otter leaders and Ivy the Squirrelqueen stood in the center of the Rock and conversed in low tones for several minutes. Finally the biggest and strongest otter Chieftain, whose name was Rockfist, addressed the two hundred woodland warriors.
"Those with torches, douse them, please. We have enough moonlight to go by. If the wildcat's troops are patrolling, the flames will give us away."
Willingly, the squirrels and otters who were carrying torches threw them over the heads of the others into the river. Darkness fell with a hiss, save for a faint glow produced by the half moon overhead.
Rockfist nodded. "Thank you. Ivy, would you mind starting out with our spy report so everybeast knows what's going on?"
The Squirrelqueen wasted no time. "I had five of my squirrels watch the vermin army today. The wildcat has made them very busy. They have repaired the castle roof and have put in stout new gates. The structure is nearly ready for use, partially because it has stayed in fairly good shape since it was last used in bygone ages. There are five hundred and thirty beasts, and all save five of these are soldiers. Of these five, there are the three wildcats, the biggest of which is the army leader, Verduaga Greeneyes. The two other wildcats are only half-grown, known as Tsarmina and Gingivere. My spies are fairly sure that they are Verduaga's offspring. The other two that are not soldiers are a vixen and a pine marten who seem to serve as advisors. All in all, the vermin army outnumbers us more than two to one."
Silence fell as the gathered creatures digested this information. Then Nitestream took the floor. "Our plan is to wait five seasons, let the vermin get settled in. During this time they'll probably slack off on their training and get soft because of the lack of opposition. Once they're sure they've got all of Mossflower under their claws, we attack. First we'll pick off as many as we can with arrows and slingstones to make sure that when our forces clash, there will be as few vermin to fight as possible. That way, we'll have a greater chance to win!"
Everyone turned their heads at the sound of a young otter's voice. Warthorn stood up boldly and commented, "But the vermin will be more fortified in their castle by then! If they refuse to come out and fight us, we won't stand a chance storming the castle with this few fighters! Let's attack them now when they're not expectin' it!"
Nitestream chuckled affectionately. "Looks like we've got a little Skipper in the making! Good point, young Warthorn. However, if we were to fight them now, we'd be facing a fully trained army, and we're already outnumbered. The point is to let their troops forget to train and lose experience in battle."
Warthorn was about to say more, but his father gently placed a paw on his shoulder and he sat down.
Rockfist folded his paws. "All right, so everybeast agrees with this plan?" As two hundred paws reached skyward and two hundred heads nodded their accord, the big otter grinned. "Right! So, now it's time for battle plans, not to mention a place for all of us to stay. First off, is there a big and secluded enough holt for all the otters to hide and train?" The holt leaders all shook their heads wordlessly, and Rockfist shrugged. "Okay, where can we build such a holt?"
An otter somewhere in the audience cleared his throat. "Further upstream there's a small inlet, and a enormous ole willow is growin' there. A huge thicket of thorns blocks it off from the rest of the woods, so the vermin probably won't chance goin' past it unless they already knew we were there."
Rockfist nodded. "Good. We can dig a holt under the tree, perhaps. Ivy, do your squirrels need a camp set up anywhere?"
Ivy shook her head. "No, as long as my squirrels have trees, we can be invisible."
"All right, now let's discuss our strategy..."
As the grownbeasts talked into the night, Riverwyte and his brothers lost interest and slowly drifted to sleep.
Riverwyte climbed out of the water onto the Rock with his family, shaking water from his gray fur and shedding the small knapsack that held his personal belongings: a wooden sword, a stuffed otter, and a pawful of candied fruit.
The Rock was a huge chunk of limestone that reared out of the middle of the River Moss. It was big enough to allow the fivescore squirrels to sit on the dry part in the middle and the fivescore otters and their families to sit on the parts covered by water.
The five otter leaders and Ivy the Squirrelqueen stood in the center of the Rock and conversed in low tones for several minutes. Finally the biggest and strongest otter Chieftain, whose name was Rockfist, addressed the two hundred woodland warriors.
"Those with torches, douse them, please. We have enough moonlight to go by. If the wildcat's troops are patrolling, the flames will give us away."
Willingly, the squirrels and otters who were carrying torches threw them over the heads of the others into the river. Darkness fell with a hiss, save for a faint glow produced by the half moon overhead.
Rockfist nodded. "Thank you. Ivy, would you mind starting out with our spy report so everybeast knows what's going on?"
The Squirrelqueen wasted no time. "I had five of my squirrels watch the vermin army today. The wildcat has made them very busy. They have repaired the castle roof and have put in stout new gates. The structure is nearly ready for use, partially because it has stayed in fairly good shape since it was last used in bygone ages. There are five hundred and thirty beasts, and all save five of these are soldiers. Of these five, there are the three wildcats, the biggest of which is the army leader, Verduaga Greeneyes. The two other wildcats are only half-grown, known as Tsarmina and Gingivere. My spies are fairly sure that they are Verduaga's offspring. The other two that are not soldiers are a vixen and a pine marten who seem to serve as advisors. All in all, the vermin army outnumbers us more than two to one."
Silence fell as the gathered creatures digested this information. Then Nitestream took the floor. "Our plan is to wait five seasons, let the vermin get settled in. During this time they'll probably slack off on their training and get soft because of the lack of opposition. Once they're sure they've got all of Mossflower under their claws, we attack. First we'll pick off as many as we can with arrows and slingstones to make sure that when our forces clash, there will be as few vermin to fight as possible. That way, we'll have a greater chance to win!"
Everyone turned their heads at the sound of a young otter's voice. Warthorn stood up boldly and commented, "But the vermin will be more fortified in their castle by then! If they refuse to come out and fight us, we won't stand a chance storming the castle with this few fighters! Let's attack them now when they're not expectin' it!"
Nitestream chuckled affectionately. "Looks like we've got a little Skipper in the making! Good point, young Warthorn. However, if we were to fight them now, we'd be facing a fully trained army, and we're already outnumbered. The point is to let their troops forget to train and lose experience in battle."
Warthorn was about to say more, but his father gently placed a paw on his shoulder and he sat down.
Rockfist folded his paws. "All right, so everybeast agrees with this plan?" As two hundred paws reached skyward and two hundred heads nodded their accord, the big otter grinned. "Right! So, now it's time for battle plans, not to mention a place for all of us to stay. First off, is there a big and secluded enough holt for all the otters to hide and train?" The holt leaders all shook their heads wordlessly, and Rockfist shrugged. "Okay, where can we build such a holt?"
An otter somewhere in the audience cleared his throat. "Further upstream there's a small inlet, and a enormous ole willow is growin' there. A huge thicket of thorns blocks it off from the rest of the woods, so the vermin probably won't chance goin' past it unless they already knew we were there."
Rockfist nodded. "Good. We can dig a holt under the tree, perhaps. Ivy, do your squirrels need a camp set up anywhere?"
Ivy shook her head. "No, as long as my squirrels have trees, we can be invisible."
"All right, now let's discuss our strategy..."
As the grownbeasts talked into the night, Riverwyte and his brothers lost interest and slowly drifted to sleep.