2

Far to the south of the travelers, past their destination of Tarpin, and even across the vast south sea, an pair of eyes fixed their gaze on those same stars. These eyes, however, were unlike the one of Garn, Buckthorn, or Bergle; these menacing orbs were knives to anyone who made visual contact with them.

They belonged to a powerful evil creature, a great coyote from the distant northwest lands. He stood a full head taller than any of his soldiers, an assortment of wicked raccoons, vile bobcats, and even a few cougars- his captains.

The coyote was Agrex Ulbad, a viscous fighter with no mercy. He carried two crudely shaped long knives, good for skinning and maiming, but in general they were used for just one purpose: killing. Agrex reveled in it; when one of his followers did not live up to his standards, he took joy in letting them die slowly beneath his blades.

Agrex Ulbad was undeniably the king of his land; no one to ever resist him was left alive. He ruled his kingdom, called Sargon, with an iron fist. The creatures that were not in his army toiled his fields all day in order to feed them. He had his own personal slaves as well. The old royal family and a few of their advisors made up Agrex's servants. They were all that was left from when the coyote and his horde had swooped in and taken castle Billden from them.

The castle was Agrex Ulbad's new pride and joy. It was the perfect fortress. To the front was a great moat with a giant oaken drawbridge. The moat was dug clean out of the earth, and ran along in an straight line until each end met the edge of the peninsula and spilled over the side in two rushing waterfalls to the sea below. On the other three sides was a perilous cliff face, the bottom of which met the ocean head on in a clash of noise and foam.

Agrex turned his eyes from the stars to the window overlooking his parade grounds. There, in its center stood a magnificent marble carving, larger than almost any other structure within Billden's walls. Depicted by the chiseled stone was a brilliant scene: and otter, fist clenched and held up to the sky, surrounded by other creatures, climbing eternally up his mighty frame. This otter had once been the hero of Agrex's new kingdom; he had freed it from the oppression and tyranny that had once gripped the land like ice.

The coyote allowed himself a small smile' he had great plans for this otter state. Namely, turning it into his own likeness, a statue of the great Agrex Ulbad, most powerful ruler of all Sargon!

Two creatures sat awake in the slave pen of Billden they were each bedraggled, beaten and starved, but bravery is a strange and fickle thing- it rises from strife. They were planning an escape!

One of them, a young wolf, faced her companion, a beaver. She spoke to him softly, her voice shaky and barely audible because of the fear that they would be found out, "You sent the hawk to go and find my brother outside, right? If he can be found he'll bring his boat, I know he will. If Derbatrol brings back good news, then we must put our plan into action."

Her companion, Ainor, nodded grimly, replying in his deep, hoarse voice, "Aye, Mirim, but if that hawk doesn't bring your brother, then we're sunk!"

Mirim's face held a look of hate as she replied, "I'd sooner throw myself from Billden's walls than slave for that evil coyote another day! Taking my chances in the sea would be better than the death he brings."

"Shaddup in there, or ye'll force me to bring the cane about yer sorry hides!" A voice from outside called, silencing them both.

Having ended the murmuring in the slave quarters, a raccoon named Proan, the night watch to whom the voice belonged, turned and walked away toward the barracks, muttering under his breath. He would not be back again that night.

In fact, the raccoon never even made it to the barracks. Halfway across the parade grounds, his life was snuffed out as a roaring blur from the sky tore into his unsuspecting form. In a flash it was over, and his attacker, the red-tailed hawk called Derbatrol flew silently over to the slave pen.

Agrex Ulbad's two golden eyes were the only witnesses to what happened next. The hawk ripped apart the ropes that held the door to the cage shut tight. Mirim and Ainor were the picture of surprise as the great bird of prey poked his head, accented with fearsome gray eyes and a wickedly curved beak, through the hole where the door had been. He screeched, "Khreeeee! I bring news from Erb, you must leave this night or he will be unable to help!"

The wolf locked eyes with the beaver, "Well, Ainor, our plans must be sped up a little. Are you still game for it?"

"Mirim, you couldn't count me out of it."

The pair raced from the pen as Derbatrol wheeled off into the dark sky, calling down to them, "Kree-eee! I will tell your brother you come!"

By now the din had awakened the entire castle. The other slaves stood timidly at the exit of the compound and watched as the two escapers raced across the grounds toward the south wall. The coyote's horde could not yet fully comprehend the situation. Many of them simply milled about, until the voice of the coyote cried out to them from his window, "Don't just stand about, you useless lot. Get after them! I want them alive!"

Swiftly his troops moved into action. The raccoons, being fleet of paw, quickly scaled the walls to the ramparts, where they raced along after the escapers, leaving the bobcats to give chase on the ground. Each horde member had been trained to Agrex's savagery; they knew that if they failed to catch the slaves it might be their own anguished cries that echoed off the castle walls.

Mirim and Ainor had made the south wall steps. Mustering all their energy, they sprinted up them, now closely pursued by some of the bobcat front runners. With a cry of dismay, Ainor tripped on his bulky tail. Like lightning, his pursuers pounced on him, pinning him to the ground. He and the wolf locked eyes as the cats pummeled him into unconsciousness. Before the sea of darkness overwhelmed him, he croaked to Mirim, "Jump."

The wolf knew it was her last chance. Silently whispering goodbye to her faithful beaver friend, she raced towards the battlements. In front of her a raccoon suddenly appeared a grim look of determination stamped on his face.

Mirim did not have a chance to think before reacting. Her arms closed about the raccoon as she ran into him in a tackle. They continued on to the edge locked together, at which point she released him, sending the luckless creature over the edge. He hit the side of the cliff face with a sickening crunch and was lost to sight forever in the waves below.

The young wolf chanced a glance behind her at Agrex's hoard, which stared dumbly back at her. This was it. She gathered up all her courage and threw herself from the battlements, away from the cliff face, towards the boiling torrents of water that raced up to meet her.

The breath was torn from her as she hit the roaring sea, and her whole world went dark, engulfed in the cold, unforgiving water.