An hour before dawn, Skalrag was rubbing sleep from his eyes as he and Fortunata entered the Kotir barracks to wake up the soldiers. Skalrag did not relish the prospect of combat with the woodlanders. He did not want to kill them, but if he didn't participate in the battle, Tsarmina would doubt his loyalty, and his role as a spy would be jeopardized. Still, at least he and Tweety had managed to warn the Corim about the ambush.
"Come on, you lot," he ordered the troops, hiding his inner struggle. "It's invasion time."
Grumbling and protesting, the vermin sat up, scratching at their fur, wiping paws across eyes.
"Gaw! I was havin' a lovely dream there."
"Huh, me too. I dreamed we were getting a proper hot breakfast."
A hot breakfast sounded good to Skalrag too, but all he said was, "You'll be lucky, bucko. Bread and water, and be glad of it."
Fortunata kicked out at a huddled form wrapped in a blanket. "Come on, up on your paws!"
The figure leaped up. It was one of Marvin's aliens! It snarled at her and tried to bite her with its beak.
"My Instant Martians only take orders from me," said Marvin the Martian. Fortunata jumped. She hadn't heard him come in.
Out in the entrance hall, Tsarmina screeched, "Get out here double quick, or I'll come in there and move you myself!"
Weasels, stoats, ferrets, foxes, and aliens all came tumbling out, adjusting tunics, clattering shields on spears.
Marvin drew his laser pistol. "Right, you lot. Comb the woods, keep your eyes peeled and your wits about you. When we find them, remember: no mercy!"
The horde moved out into the courtyard. As the first half dozen soldiers passed through the doorway into the open, there was a harsh shout from the woodland fringe.
"Fire!"
A hiss of vicious weaponry cut the air. Vermin started falling in their tracks, cut down by arrows and javelins.
"Retreat, retreat, get back inside, quick!" Marvin ordered hastily.
There was panic as the back ranks coming forward stumbled into the front ranks retreating. More troops fell, transfixed by flying death.
"What's going on out there?" Tsarmina yelled at Marvin.
Marvin stood panting with his back to the wall. "They've got us bottled up in here."
"Who does?" she demanded.
"I can't tell."
"Ashleg!" Tsarmina called.
The pine marten came stumping up on his wooden leg. "Here, Milady."
"See what the position is out there. Pinpoint where they are and report back to me."
Ashleg didn't like it, but he did it. He lay down on his belly. Sliding around the doorposts, he scrambled out into the courtyard, tacking and weaving. Halfway across the courtyard, he bobbed up and down, checking the trees and scanning the low bushes through the open main gates.
"What d'you see?" Tsarmina's voice rang out.
Still lying flat, Ashleg raised his head as he shouted back, "Squirrels and otters. They've got the main gates open and they're shooting from the…"
An otter javelin closed his mouth forever.
Marvin poked his head out the door. A squirrel arrow bounced off his helmet. He pulled back swiftly as two more buried their points in the doorpost where his head had been.
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Skipper crouched behind a bush and signaled to Lady Amber, who was perched on the low branches on an oak.
"Eleven down and plenty more to go," he reported.
Amber drew back her bowstring and let an arrow fly.
"Make it the round dozen, Skip!"
Grim faced and determined, the crews of both leaders tightened paws on bowstrings, slings, and javelins, waiting for the next head to show around the doorposts of Kotir fortress.
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Inside the building, confusion followed the panic of the initial attack. Tsarmina dashed upstairs to her chamber, dashing back down again when a fusillade of arrows greeted her through the open window. Marvin sat at the foot of the stairs.
"Delays, delays!" he fumed. "Isn't there any other way out of here?"
"There's the scullery and larder entrance on the north side, but it's only a small door," Tsarmina said.
"It'll have to do. Let's give it a try."
At the scullery and larder entrance the door was shut tight with rusted bolts which took some considerable time to move. When it was finally opened, the troops hung about reluctantly. Nobody seemed very keen on dashing out to do battle.
"Get out there!" Tsarmina ordered. "Form a barrier of shields the way you've been trained to do!"
Three soldiers pushed their way out into the open, shields held up in front. A sling stone cracked the middle ferret on his paw. He yelped with pain, automatically dropping the shield. Arrows hissed in once more, reducing the ranks by a further three.
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High in a sycamore, a squirrel named Fender fired off an arrow. "How long d'you think we can keep this up, Shelley?" he asked the squirrel next to him.
Shelley rubbed beeswax on her bowstring before answering.
"Lady Amber says until noon, then it'll be too late for them to go invading Mossflower. Personally, I think we should encourage them to come out at noon, then we could follow them back and pick them off in the evening."
A squirrel named Sketch swung in through the branches. "Are you two all right for arrows?" he asked breathlessly. "Here's another quiver full. Give a call if you're running low."
He swung off to the next tree with his supplies.
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Marvin the Martian tried every possible move, but at each new turn he was frustrated by the deadly accuracy of the woodlanders. Every exit tried, be it window or door, resulted in further loss of troops. The summer morning wore on, the high sun above impervious to the dead that littered the courtyard.
"Delays, delays!" he screamed again.
"Oh, burn them out, come down hard on them. That's what you said," Tsarmina sneered. "Your plan worked, but it was the woodlanders who used it! Idiot!"
"Idiot yourself!"
The two of them stood glaring at each other.
Skalrag came up with a suggestion. "Why don't we just shut the doors and ignore them? With nothing to shoot at, they'll have to leave."
"That's the first sensible idea I've heard all day," Tsarmina said.
So, they bolted all the doors and stood up tables on their ends to block the windows.
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Skipper stood in the courtyard with Lady Amber. "Looks like a stalemate."
Amber shot an arrow at the closed front door. "Cowards! They're very brave ambushing defenseless woodlanders and killing unarmed creatures, but they can't face real warriors when it comes to a battle."
Skipper looked over the wall at Marvin's spaceship, which was still parked outside. "You know, we could claim that thing for ourselves as a spoil of war."
"I thought of that too, but none of us know how to drive it."
"You're right, me old branch jumper. Come on. Let's withdraw and get back to Brockhall."