Refulgence

The booming voice of the Suneater ringed through the void. "Warriors of Mossflower… I will not allow it to end this way. I am the Devourer of Suns and Stars, master of all things earthly and divine. I do not bleed, as I am timeless power given form. Pitiful creatures of mere blood and bone, your time is nigh!" The sphere of darkness coalesced into the form of a beast, and Seb gasped. Its coal-coloured fur and huge mass seemed to block away every bit of light in the world! "The Southswarders have been useful, but they have served their purpose. Now, I am the only thing you have to fear."

"Evil or not, beasts are not yours to use!" shouted Seb, hoping some degree of courage would flow into his arteries and veins.

"Then tell me, Sebias of Craylock, what else does one do with tools? You are all failures, and it hurts me to even talk with you." The Suneater pointed at the Taggerungs one by one, starting with Fret. "You're a sad excuse for a beast who doesn't even care for your own life, much less that of another. What a healer you are. Await the day when others will do to you what you have done to them, and tremble with fear." Jared flinched as the shadowy beast pointed at him. "You're too consumed by this game that you don't even have a life elsewhere. I don't think you can even make a sandwich in real life, so have fun spending your future with bills coming out of every orifice." Kio trembled as his turn came. "The only reason anybeast acknowledges you is because you're a Pikebeast - objectively the worst class. And you manage to be even worse than most of your co-classers by being too stubborn to properly communicate with your team."

"Which brings us to you." A pair of amber eyes stared right at Seb. "You claim to be a hero, but you're more pathetic than the three of them combined. Even - especially the Pikebeast. You try your best to care about others, but you don't even try to sit down and understand them. You do good not for good, but just to make yourself feel better. You expect yourself to do the right thing without knowing what the right thing is!"

"That's not true! I… I…" Seb fell silent. "People care about me!"

"Oh, you have friends, do you?" The ebony figure suddenly smiled, and that was the most terrifying thing Seb had ever laid his eyes on. "Look at you!" It said in a mocking voice. "You're a hero coasting on the power of other people. By yourself you're as weak as decanoic acid, but no more pouting. I see much bigger and better things in your future once you side with us." The Suneater chuckled. "But then, you're probably going to be even more worthless, so it's better to scratch that idea."

Seb took a deep breath. "I know full well. I know I'm not a hero, and I'm too stupid to be one. But that doesn't mean I'm giving up on Mossflower! We all have things to cling to! We all have things to fight for!"

"And what things would those be?"

"I fight for Mossflower!" shouted Jared. For once, Seb could count himself lucky that the squirrel butted into the conversation.

"For ferretkind!" Fret chimed in. "For vermin around the world!"

Even Kio had something to say. "Für die deutscher Sprache und für Österreich!"

"And now you hear, Suneater," said Seb. "You don't need to be a hero to do good, nor do you need to be the Taggerung. You just have to believe in something, and I believe in all the goodbeasts of Mossflower!"

All of a sudden, Seb felt that he wasn't alone. There were others by him, and not just Fret, Jared and Kio! He felt Mekai and Forsyth standing near him, as well as Eula, Skoven and Bard, Meliandre… and was that Martin himself?

"If you are to rend the darkness," said the warrior in a booming voice, "then use a blade of light!"

"What?" Fear radiated across the Suneater's face. Seb lifted up a paw and found himself grasping the Sword of Martin, glowing white with refulgence. He led the charge as his friends followed him, flying straight at the dark creature. "The Light…" the Suneater continued, "it binds them… they are too many!"

"Redwall!" With the fallen abbey's oldest battle-cry, the young otter swung the radiant blade and struck with all his might. The Suneater's body began to glow as it screamed, and Seb saw the shadows retreat to where they belonged.

Then all was still.

It was night, and the moon shined over the dilapidated abbey grounds. Nearby, the body of Famfrit twitched as the sable clambered up to her feet. Seb put a paw on his sword, but a look from Eula made him reconsider.

"Urgh… my head…" The sable blinked before getting up on her footpaws. "Now, down to business. But first, three small points. One, where am I?" Seb began to answer, but a paw-gesture from the sable convinced him to keep his muzzle shut. "Two, who am I? And three, who are you?" She pointed at the badger, who looked completely stunned. "Eula, hm? Took you long enough!"

The sable smiled as she pointed a thumbclaw at herself. "I'm Mekai, by the way."

A/N: And that ends the main story. More chapters will be coming up, of course, but I think this should be a pretty good present for Tibs. Happy birthday.