Chapter 4
Things have been going better for me at the vermin camp. Even though I was his prisoner, I was treated with respect. Something I've never had a whole lot of until now. But, I didn't know where I was, or even where I could go. I didn't even know I was in the middle of a vermin camp. Darkslash and I were having little chat sessions every now and then. He even tried to teach me how to speak their language, and progress was slow, but steady. I was learning a few words at a time. At first, it was just basic stuff like fox, or rat, or tent. But I was learning. I have always been an odd person, and during my recent year in high school, my thirst for knowledge got even greater. But, I still asked Darkslash where was this place, what was going on. These thoughts still go through my head. I just had to know the answers to them. Soon afterward, I started to explore the camp. There were all manner of different creatures there. I had some trouble identifying some of them, but species like rats and fox's were easy to point out. I even tried to converse with a few of them. But mostly, I had to communicate by writing it out on some parchment I carried around. One day, there was something going on, so I asked Darkslash what it was. His response was less than enthusiastic. "Well, Wyatt, we are vermin, fighting beasts who commit a lot of wrong. And you are my prisoner. But, there is something about you I just cannot ignore, your innocence. Now usually I would have you kept in your tent under guard, but I need all my fighting beasts with me on this one. We are going to do battle with a bunch of abbey dwellers from a place called Redwall Abbey." I was shocked! Redwall Abbey, now I knew where I was. Darkslash saw the amazement on my face, and continued. "So, on my orders, you are to be kept at the back with me. You will be chained though, it's not going to be pleasant. If all goes well, we'll move on the abbey and attack! But I'm not expecting to get that far. Very few warlords have made it to Redwall's gates, let alone, get inside." Darkslash paused for a moment, looking up at the sky. "There might be some trouble should the defenders from Redwall attack us. "We might have to leave pretty fast and head away from here. I'll be taking you along with me. But..we might get caught, and I really don't want to hurt you." And with that, Darkslash and his horde begins gearing up for battle.
At the abbey, the abbess has been having a hard time with the strange book. She kept running into a strange symbol or forgot what something translated into, but soon, she noticed something. This was not just a strange book, it was a reading book, based on an event that happened long ago. As the abbess went through the different pages that she had translated, she passed them onto Oak, where he put them in order. It was well after supper before the abbess had finished translating the book. With a sigh she passed the last page to Oak. After he put it in the pile he turned to look at the abbess. "Abbess Birch, don't you think you should get some food into you before you keel over?"
The abbess put down her quill and parchment and looked at the big otter. Then she responded. "Oak I know that I need to eat sooner or later, but this was just too important to let it sit here collecting dust! If you read this then you would know how our abbey was at the time of Trisscar Swordmaid! Now, let's go down to eat, but I have a feeling that before long things will be different. So, let's go and eat shall we?" And with that the abbess skipped down the stairs like a dibbun.
The next day proved what the abbess was worried about. The rampart guards warned the abbess that the vermin horde was on the move. The abbess ordered the remaining guards to prepare for battle. Glen and her otters went out with their attack groups. All was still, not a single leaf moved in the still air. Down on the ground, Glen was moving her group closer to the horde. She could practically smell them now. But, there was an odd smell in the air as well. The last time she smelled it was when she saw that weird creature taken captive. Remembering what she had to do regarding the odd creature, she motioned for her fighters to gather around while she told them of the abbess's plan. After a few nods of agreement, they set off, moving along near the trees, staying hidden. Soon the battle would begin, and each was thinking about it. Then vermin horde were thinking similar thoughts, with the exception of me, I was thinking about the collar around my neck, and the chains on my wrists. "Well, Darkslash said it wouldn't be pleasant, and he's right, it's not!"
Soon after I said that, the battle started.
It was Glen who saw the horde moving towards her group and ordered all to stand ready. When the vermin charged, she ordered them to attack. Remembering her main objective, she fought her way through, bleeding from the wounds she already received then she saw it. There was that strange creature she saw the last time. It was chained and manacled and standing next to a fox, obviously their leader. Glen moved toward it, hacking and cleaving at the vermin in her way, when she saw something odd, the fox was talking to the strange creature, as if he was a friend. Glen kept moving towards the fox and his prisoner, bent on keeping her word to the abbess Glen pressed on, getting closer to the fox with every step. Then she saw something that made her groan, the fox, seeing the otter coming, pulled out a dagger and held it to his captive's throat. Slowly, the fox started to move away from the battle, taking the prisoner with him. Glen gave chase, trying to catch up with the fox, who was slightly hindered by his captive. After awhile, the fox started to slow down, and turned around to face his pursuer. "So, it all comes down to this streamdog."
"Aye, fox. Why don't you just hand that prisoner over to me now? Save yerself a lot of grief."
Then the otter turned to the captive, wondering why it hasn't said a thing to her. "Hi! Aren't you the least bit worried that this fox might hurt ye?"
I turned to face the otter, trying to figure out what kind of creature it is. Then searching my pockets, I found the piece of paper I had written on before Darkslash put the manacles on my wrists. I found it, and passed it to the creature. Glen read the piece of parchment for a few minutes, then turned to the fox, puzzlement written all over her face. "So, this creature can't talk eh? Well, fox. Is this how you fight? Hiding behind a creature that can't even talk? Why don't you fight me like the vermin you are?"
The fox pushes me over to the side gently telling me that he'll be back in a bit. I could tell by the look in his eye that he had planned something. I wasn't sure if he was going to kill the strange creature or not. I watched the battle in silence. Not sure of who would win.
Darkslash was ready for the big otter. He had chosen this area in which to face her because he could defeat her or get away without much trouble. Whipping out his sword, he moved around his opponent, grinning while he did. Glen did the same, taking her javelin, she moved about, looking for an opening. Then al of a sudden, Darkslash made his move, taking his sword, he slashed at Glen's legs, catching her off guard. Grinning at the otter, Darkslash grabbed me by the hands and led me off at a shuffling run. Glen could only watch in despair. Deprived of the use of her legs she could only crawl along until one of her otters found her, and brought her back to Redwall.
Things have been going better for me at the vermin camp. Even though I was his prisoner, I was treated with respect. Something I've never had a whole lot of until now. But, I didn't know where I was, or even where I could go. I didn't even know I was in the middle of a vermin camp. Darkslash and I were having little chat sessions every now and then. He even tried to teach me how to speak their language, and progress was slow, but steady. I was learning a few words at a time. At first, it was just basic stuff like fox, or rat, or tent. But I was learning. I have always been an odd person, and during my recent year in high school, my thirst for knowledge got even greater. But, I still asked Darkslash where was this place, what was going on. These thoughts still go through my head. I just had to know the answers to them. Soon afterward, I started to explore the camp. There were all manner of different creatures there. I had some trouble identifying some of them, but species like rats and fox's were easy to point out. I even tried to converse with a few of them. But mostly, I had to communicate by writing it out on some parchment I carried around. One day, there was something going on, so I asked Darkslash what it was. His response was less than enthusiastic. "Well, Wyatt, we are vermin, fighting beasts who commit a lot of wrong. And you are my prisoner. But, there is something about you I just cannot ignore, your innocence. Now usually I would have you kept in your tent under guard, but I need all my fighting beasts with me on this one. We are going to do battle with a bunch of abbey dwellers from a place called Redwall Abbey." I was shocked! Redwall Abbey, now I knew where I was. Darkslash saw the amazement on my face, and continued. "So, on my orders, you are to be kept at the back with me. You will be chained though, it's not going to be pleasant. If all goes well, we'll move on the abbey and attack! But I'm not expecting to get that far. Very few warlords have made it to Redwall's gates, let alone, get inside." Darkslash paused for a moment, looking up at the sky. "There might be some trouble should the defenders from Redwall attack us. "We might have to leave pretty fast and head away from here. I'll be taking you along with me. But..we might get caught, and I really don't want to hurt you." And with that, Darkslash and his horde begins gearing up for battle.
At the abbey, the abbess has been having a hard time with the strange book. She kept running into a strange symbol or forgot what something translated into, but soon, she noticed something. This was not just a strange book, it was a reading book, based on an event that happened long ago. As the abbess went through the different pages that she had translated, she passed them onto Oak, where he put them in order. It was well after supper before the abbess had finished translating the book. With a sigh she passed the last page to Oak. After he put it in the pile he turned to look at the abbess. "Abbess Birch, don't you think you should get some food into you before you keel over?"
The abbess put down her quill and parchment and looked at the big otter. Then she responded. "Oak I know that I need to eat sooner or later, but this was just too important to let it sit here collecting dust! If you read this then you would know how our abbey was at the time of Trisscar Swordmaid! Now, let's go down to eat, but I have a feeling that before long things will be different. So, let's go and eat shall we?" And with that the abbess skipped down the stairs like a dibbun.
The next day proved what the abbess was worried about. The rampart guards warned the abbess that the vermin horde was on the move. The abbess ordered the remaining guards to prepare for battle. Glen and her otters went out with their attack groups. All was still, not a single leaf moved in the still air. Down on the ground, Glen was moving her group closer to the horde. She could practically smell them now. But, there was an odd smell in the air as well. The last time she smelled it was when she saw that weird creature taken captive. Remembering what she had to do regarding the odd creature, she motioned for her fighters to gather around while she told them of the abbess's plan. After a few nods of agreement, they set off, moving along near the trees, staying hidden. Soon the battle would begin, and each was thinking about it. Then vermin horde were thinking similar thoughts, with the exception of me, I was thinking about the collar around my neck, and the chains on my wrists. "Well, Darkslash said it wouldn't be pleasant, and he's right, it's not!"
Soon after I said that, the battle started.
It was Glen who saw the horde moving towards her group and ordered all to stand ready. When the vermin charged, she ordered them to attack. Remembering her main objective, she fought her way through, bleeding from the wounds she already received then she saw it. There was that strange creature she saw the last time. It was chained and manacled and standing next to a fox, obviously their leader. Glen moved toward it, hacking and cleaving at the vermin in her way, when she saw something odd, the fox was talking to the strange creature, as if he was a friend. Glen kept moving towards the fox and his prisoner, bent on keeping her word to the abbess Glen pressed on, getting closer to the fox with every step. Then she saw something that made her groan, the fox, seeing the otter coming, pulled out a dagger and held it to his captive's throat. Slowly, the fox started to move away from the battle, taking the prisoner with him. Glen gave chase, trying to catch up with the fox, who was slightly hindered by his captive. After awhile, the fox started to slow down, and turned around to face his pursuer. "So, it all comes down to this streamdog."
"Aye, fox. Why don't you just hand that prisoner over to me now? Save yerself a lot of grief."
Then the otter turned to the captive, wondering why it hasn't said a thing to her. "Hi! Aren't you the least bit worried that this fox might hurt ye?"
I turned to face the otter, trying to figure out what kind of creature it is. Then searching my pockets, I found the piece of paper I had written on before Darkslash put the manacles on my wrists. I found it, and passed it to the creature. Glen read the piece of parchment for a few minutes, then turned to the fox, puzzlement written all over her face. "So, this creature can't talk eh? Well, fox. Is this how you fight? Hiding behind a creature that can't even talk? Why don't you fight me like the vermin you are?"
The fox pushes me over to the side gently telling me that he'll be back in a bit. I could tell by the look in his eye that he had planned something. I wasn't sure if he was going to kill the strange creature or not. I watched the battle in silence. Not sure of who would win.
Darkslash was ready for the big otter. He had chosen this area in which to face her because he could defeat her or get away without much trouble. Whipping out his sword, he moved around his opponent, grinning while he did. Glen did the same, taking her javelin, she moved about, looking for an opening. Then al of a sudden, Darkslash made his move, taking his sword, he slashed at Glen's legs, catching her off guard. Grinning at the otter, Darkslash grabbed me by the hands and led me off at a shuffling run. Glen could only watch in despair. Deprived of the use of her legs she could only crawl along until one of her otters found her, and brought her back to Redwall.