38. The Old Friends.
"Now you'll explain to me what is flippin' goin' on here." Captain Aldwin placed his paws on hips, as he glared at the two unfamiliar otters, now snarling and wheeling, trying to protect each other's backs from the circle of armed beasts that surrounded them.
Before anybeast said anything else, a loud, clear voice made every head turn in the direction of the new arrival on the scene. "Oh, really? I think you're the one who owes an explanation here… friend."
An otter instantly recognizable among any crowd of his kin was standing twenty hare steps away in the ruby glare of sunset. He wore simple clothes, his weapons were unpretentious – as far as a precious thing like a longsword could be – and a glittering clasp of his cloak was his only adornment, yet from his poise anybeast could tell he was no simple creature.
"And who are ye to call the Captain…" Sparth rumbled pointing at the newcomer with his great battleaxe, but Aldwin stepped forward holding out a paw to bar the big hare's way.
"Be careful, Private. You're talking' with Heddin Wintersky of the Axehound clan. Who indeed was my friend."
Most of the hares on the scene heard this name. Travelers from Ergaph didn't, but the sudden increase in tension and the number of weapons held firmly at the ready told them clearly enough that this otter was very bad news.
"Was?" The fact that he was facing fifteen beasts with only two otters on his side was not enough to make Heddin careful with words. "I wonder what other ideas your new vermin friends put into your head, Aldwin Nightfur of Salamandastron? To threaten my otters?"
"I prefer to call them 'beasts my Lady ordered to bring before her' rather than 'friends'," answered the hare captain mildly. "And your otters were first to threaten their own kinbeast. We had to respond in kind."
"Is that true?" Heddin called to his two companions loudly.
Before Torbit managed to convince himself that he did nothing warranting pointing blades at him, Scrimmo replied promptly. "Well, depends on how ye look at it, chief. Tis was just a matter of misundertandin' and hot temper, I say."
"Then let my otters return to my side," Heddin addressed the hare captain again.
"Well, of course I don't jolly well intend to hold them by force." Aldwin gestured to his hares, a motion commanding them to part and let Scrimmo and Torbit pass.
"...although that would be a fine idea," grumbled Kethra none too quietly. She made no move to interfere but her words clearly reached the wrong ears.
Aldwin spoke before Heddin could comment on them. "And for that matter I don't intend to be interferin' in whatever you're doin', wot. We're leavin' the Northlands right on the next dawn, my Lady wants to meet these beasts, but I'm sure they won't be botherin' you again and neither would we. For the sake of our old friendship and of old friendship of the Long Patrol and the Rogue Crew, I hope you'll jolly well return this courtesy."
Heddin listened patiently and without interrupting, but even before starting the final phrase Aldwin could tell from the otter's faint scowl that he won't like the answer.
The big otter took a deep breath, heedless of the bitingly cold air, and in turn spoke quietly and levelly, so that only Aldwin and his two companions, who now returned to his side, could hear him without straining their ears. "We both know that rules of the Rogue Crew and honor of the Axehound clan demand to destroy any and all vermin without question. You ask me to abandon my duty in the name of friendship you've already renounced, my former friend. Well, this is a courtesy I can return: please step aside. Then we'll part our ways peacefully. And no goodbeast will come to grief."
The hare captain remained silent.
"Axehounds always were tough bastards, and this big lump seems to be pretty confident he can take us on," whispered Suran to Kethra. "Be on guard."
Lieutenant Bascinette had the keen hearing of a true hare and stood close enough. She responded to Suran's words with a hint of contempt for the vermin's ignorance. "He can. Nobeast alive had killed more of your kind than him. They call him a spawn of storm and death herself."
Heddin, meanwhile, noticed Aldwin's reluctance and interpreted it as doubt. He urged on, lowering his voice further. "Please, Aldwin. I don't know what sort of lies these vermin used to beguile you. I don't know if your Badger Lady knows something beyond my understanding. And I don't know if I'd ever forgive myself for starting a fight between us, whatever you think of my friendship. I would have allowed you to go if only these vermin were your prisoners. But letting armed vermin, free to do as they will, get past me? I cannot do that. Please. Stop this madness."
The hare captain remained silent, as he turned his head towards his beasts – and the four vermin now bunched together. Aldwin's face expressed nothing. Rowanbloom, who watched him intently, considered that a better sign of hidden and shameful thoughts than any grimace.
So she stepped forward quickly. "These four creatures are my companions. I shared roof and bread with them, bound their wounds. And while I cannot speak for all of us, I, Rowanbloom of Redwall, will stand by their side in danger."
She crossed her paws on her chest as she stared defiantly at the two great warriors, each of whom could snuff her out without even trying. The sudden gesture took everybeast by surprise, above all the vermin themselves. But Heddin was at a loss for words too.
And before he found any, something else drew Aldwin's attention. The hare captain extended his paw slowly until it almost touched the clasp on the big otter's loosely hanging cloak. It was a finely crafted object, made of silver not yet darkened by time and weather… and a fearsomely long, curved, pale claw.
"Not long ago," said Aldwin very quietly, "I met a pretty bloomin' rare creature, a wildcat kitten, thin and starved, with ginger fur. So scarred on the inside that she lost her speech. Maybe you know a thing or two about how she came to be that way, wot?"
A hideous grimace flashed cross Heddin's features, as the big otter backed two steps away. Then, before anybeast could tell whether this betrayed rage or loathing, his composure returned. But one look at disgust on hare's face told Heddin that the damage was already done. He sighed, exhaling a sizeable cloud of broiling steam. "I did not want that to happen, too. But my paw was…"
"Then you shouldn't have done that!" Aldwin's explosion of fury was doubly terrifying thanks to the subdued tone of the conversation before.
"What right you have to tell me what to do?! You weren't there! You never were!"
"So, now I'm to blame?!"
Everybeast watched in stunned silence as the two famous warriors spat words at each other. Seeing beasts of their stature and dignity engaging in the most undignified shouting match was not so much frightening as upsetting – like accidentally catching a respected elder in the middle of some bizarre and shameful act.
Maybe they realized that too, or maybe both just ran out of breath. For a moment the otter and the hare fell silent, panting. Then Heddin spoke, his tone almost calm. "So, a fight. That's how it's going to be?"
"That's how it's goin' to be." Aldwin nodded, as solemnly as he could at the moment. "But let's settle our differences one on one. There is no need to drag others into this. If I beat you, your otters will let us pass without further struggle, if you beat me, the vermin are yours to do as you will, my hares won't interfere."
Heddin took a look at his companions, who tried their best to not look like beasts who could offer any helpful advice in such situation, before turning his head back to Aldwin. "Then equip yourself however you want, or pick a weapon of your choice and we'll both use those."
Every warrior present realized that Heddin was offering a handicap. The mighty otter was well armed, carrying a yew longbow with a quiver of arrows and a dagger in addition to his sword, but the only thing he had for protection was a small round shield of wood and iron; it was supposed to be a search, not a battle, after all. Kethra, who already stepped forward to tell Aldwin off for thinking they were his to offer, stopped in place and wondered what the hare captain would say to that.
Said captain, meanwhile, barely stopped himself from smiling. There was two reasons for that: first, Heddin had retained at least some idea of warrior's honor, if he felt obliged to return the favor for not using overwhelming numbers to crush his tiny crew; and second, now Aldwin had a way to avoid breaking the order not to raise weapons against Axehound otters. "The fairest fight of all is a fight with bare paws. You allowed me to choose how we're goin' to battle, I choose unarmed fight!"
Unlike the hare captain, Heddin did smile. "As you wish. A canny choice, but we'll see how that helps you."
Aldwin turned to his beasts, and ended face to face with infuriated Kethra. "What sort of bloody, blighted joke is this? Are you really staking our lives on a thrice-damned fand-and-claw fight? When you don't even have real fangs? Eh?"
Most hearts would have skipped a beat at the sight of such rage, but Aldwin remained in high spirits. "Oh, don't you worry old gal. True, our hare claws ain't that sharp, and our flat teeth ain't that great in a fight to death, but I guess that's why our forefathers invented the noble art of boxin'."
"Boxin? What in the Hellgates is that?"
The hare captain chuckled, as he removed his heavy cloak. "You'll see soon enough."
With the thick iced-over snow burying the sparse forest, with its mounds, tussocks and bushes, it was not hard to find a flat place of sufficient size. The sun disappeared below the horizon entirely and the sky in the west was already turning from hues of crimson to ruddy amber, when the two warriors stood against each other in a circle of beasts, yet there was still enough illumination for a fight.
Kethra cursed under her breath when she saw them next to each other. True, both of them were equally outstanding representatives of their species: both tall, with Aldwin being a bit shorter – if one did not count his ears – but a bit burlier; both well-muscled yet light on their paws. Aldwin bore a handful of noticeable scars, one decorating the left paw from elbow to shoulder, another going across his belly in the groin's direction, while Heddin's hide appeared unmarred. But the more she looked at Heddin's long, flexible neck, powerful jaws, and sinuous body, the less she understood how the hare intended to win this fight when even claws on his forepaws were clipped quite short. Now, as his opponent was limbering up, he was doing some strange movements, jabbing the air and hopping on his pawtips.
"An unarmed duel was agreed upon, so a beast who produces a weapon or reaches for it would be a dishonorable rulebreaker. The loss goes to whomever stops moving first," declared Lieutenant Bascinette, who took the role of an impromptu arbiter. She thought briefly and added. "Or yields. Are ye ready?"
"One moment, dear, come here." As Bascinette stepped closer, Aldwin leaned towards her ear and whispered. "Watch the vermin, see they make no bloomin' stupid moves."
"I'm ready if you're done conspiring there." Heddin informed them.
"Conspirin'? Ain't my thing, matey." Aldwin tried deliberately to make his smile as evil as possible, which made it fell far short of his best. "This was but an assurance. Now, I'm ready to beat all the dust out of your fur."
Bascinette stepped back, towards the place where the vermin stood and waved her paw. "Then fight!"
Heddin lunged the second he heard the word "fight", before his opponent, whose eyes followed Bascinette for a moment, could turn all attention to him. Or so he thought. The hare captain was more than ready, deftly sidestepping the attack. In the twilight, his right paw was like blur and not all of the observers even saw how he struck. Onlookers gasped as the otter's lunge turned into fall, those who were in his direction backing away hastily. Aldwin gave his opponent no respite whatsoever, aiming to finish him with a vicious kick. But Heddin only needed to blink once to againt see the battlefield instead of flashing stars: he turned his fall into a graceful roll and jumped back on his paws as if nothing happened. Aldwin pressed onwards, not allowing the otter to regain initiative, raining hefty blows on him, pushing him back, dancing around him on his longer footpaws.
Besides the sounds of paws hitting fur, claws scrapping ice and heavy breathing, there was frozen silence. Nobeast cheered and jeered, even those who had an idea what to expect watched in mute fascination. Aldwin was considered the second in the Salamandastron boxing hares' rankings – and now those of the hares who were interested in such things saw their long-time suspicions about him was not taking friendly matches at the Mountain seriously enough confirmed.
On the other paw, the vermin, and Ewalt too, were flatly amazed. They never really imagined that one's own fists could be used to this effect in an unarmed fight. Neither did Torbit and Scrimmo. Scrimmo even forgot that he should probably be rooting for Heddin and couldn't contain his excitement at the sight of the fellow otter being pressed. Maybe if that black-eared hare knocked Heddin out cold, they'd avoid any real bloodshed, after all?
Bascinette was the first one to notice bad signs. Sure, Aldwin was on the offensive, but the opponent this time was tough and fast, really fast, both in body and in mind. She could see that the otter is trying to avoid another direct blow to the head and succeeding so far despite obvious inexperience, ducking and weaving, covering it with forepaws, and twisting his neck out of the way. Sure, that meant Heddin was taking blow after blow to the torso. However, no matter how many times hare's fists connected with light chestnut fur on his ribs, it did not seem to slow him down at all. Several times Aldwin tried to lay the otter low with a powerful kick, but he was too nimble for that to do more than grazing his thighs. The lieutenant bit her lip when she noticed her captain's breath is getting heavier.
Aldwin, of course, noticed that too. Punches landed on Heddin felt like they were connecting with a wet sandbag. He did not know if this accursed otter's stamina and endurance were boundless but for the first time since… since early youth maybe, Aldwin felt those of his own waning without making an appreciable effect on the enemy. It was a brief thought, a swift sting of fear, perhaps understandable for a warrior who entered the fight with utmost confidence in victory. I was enough to decide the outcome. The slip in Aldwin's concentration was very minute, but sufficient for Heddin. The otter lunged again.
Then the fighters were rolling on the ice crust, wrestling and clawing each other. The hare captain fought like a madbeast, snarling, kicking, trying to find space for another punch. Fur flew in clumps and blood stained the ice in a few places. But against Heddin's viselike grip all of his efforts were in vain.
Blaming Bascinette for what happened next was not really fair. With Aldwin in peril, it was not unexpected that her eyes were fixed on him, not on the vermin she was supposed to watch. Maybe if Greeves was alive to be given the same task, he could have managed to keep the four vermin in sight, when the struggling fighters tumbled and stumbled right towards them and Heddin caught his opponent in a stranglehold – the big otter wasn't using his teeth. But Greeves was dead. And then again, what actually could have been achieved at this point by stopping Kethra when she saw Heddin, and obvious threat, in a vulnerable position, too busy subduing the still-struggling hare, and followed the natural ferret impulse that shot through her brain?
"No!" roared Torbit as the ferretmaid leapt forward, swinging the shaft of her recently-acquired spear at the back of Heddin's exposed head.
Much happened within the next fifteen to twenty seconds as Torbit rushed to save his friend, and Scrimmo rushed after him, and Suran moved to not let them to Kethra, and the hares finally started to react. When things stopped being too hectic to follow, Heddin was lying flat, senseless. Kethra breathed heavily, terrified not as much by a very sharp knife at her throat as by the fact she could feel the paw of the hare who caught her from behind – the scarred, untalkative one, as far as she could tell – she could feel his paw shaking and probably from rage and murderous intent rather than fear. Torbit was trying fruitlessly to break from Sparth's huge paws, howling curses and obscenities. Suran was backing away from Bascinette, their blades ready to clash. The two other vermin were knocked down, hare weapons pointing at them. And Scrimmo was bleeding on the ice, the heaviest, sturdiest spear that Suran could loot after the battle of Dornal's house, piercing him right through, with Selvathy kneeling next to him helplessly. Blood already bubbled up on his lips, and one did not need to be a healer to tell that very few beasts saw the next sunrise with such a wound.
Aldwin rose on unsteady paws, still gasping for air and looked over the scene.
"Drop your weapons, you vermin," he croaked. "One wrong move, and I'll flippin' haul you to Salamandastron, because you'll have no flippin' paws to walk."