VI: The Hunt

Marclaw dashed through Mossflower Woods, crashing through branches and bushes. All of a sudden, he was wondering why exactly he had killed the hare. It had seemed like a good idea at the time… one less hare to deal with when he went back (and he had every intention of going back). Of course, he hadn't expected the other hares to start chasing after him with so much anger. It was just one hare… Marclaw wouldn't care at all if one lizard had been killed.

The lizard snuck a quick peek back. He couldn't see the hares, but that didn't mean anything. They could be just a few feet behind him, obscured by all the greenery in the forest. And they—

Marclaw suddenly lurched forward. The ground had abruptly sloped downward. Losing his balance, he toppled headfirst into the dirt and rolled all the way down the hill, into a tree.

Dazed and confused, Marclaw rubbed his head. It throbbed in pain. He didn't have long to whimper over his injuries, though. He could hear the hares now, right at the top of the hill. Just as he was about to leap into action and continue running, he was grabbed from behind and dragged into a large amount of bushes and shrubbery, quite painfully.

The five hares hurtled down the hill. Within seconds, they were gone, having continued their romp after the lizards. They hadn't seen Marclaw hidden in the bushes. The lizard jumped up immediately, though, and looked to see who had dragged him there. It was Darkscale, who, along with five other lizards and the ferret, were also hidden behind the bushes.

"That wuz cloze!" Darkscale exclaimed, his eyes wide, "I think Raggort an' Greenblood got caught, yez! We not, though! We hide, yez!" Darkscale motioned at the six others with a claw.

Limptail looked around nervously. He had been hoping that the hares would have gotten Marclaw, but Darkscale just had to save him. Oh, and he could add another thing to the ever-growing list of poisons to choose from: Long Patrol hares. How had he gotten into this mess? And now there wasn't even General Davian to realize that he was in charge and restrain Marclaw. The ferret shivered as his tormenter cast a grim eye on him.

Marclaw frowned, although it wasn't at Limptail. There were only eight of them total, and they had to go back, rescue General Davian, and conquer the red fort. And now they didn't even have a ladder to use to sneak in. At least the hares were out of they way- for now. Eventually, they'd come back, so they had to work quickly.

"We go back now," Marclaw ordered, "Hurry, afore longearz come back." Without even waiting for the lizards, he began marching back they way he had come.

"Uhh… Why?" Darkscale asked, "What can we do? Davian izz gone."

"Davian izz in the red fort, scalebrain!" Marclaw shouted, hitting Darkscale, "We rezcue him and we take over the red fort!" Marclaw then turned and continued. Darkscale merely shrugged, then followed.

Limptail figured that now would be a good time to make an escape, with Marclaw not looking, but the five other lizards were all bunched around him. Grudgingly, he went along with the rest, glad that at least it wasn't Marclaw standing next to him, radiating his toothy smile.

---

General Davian was still stuck up in the tree. He had managed to get some good footing, and most of him was propped up on a sturdy branch. He felt that he could maintain this position for a long time, which was good, because it looked as if he may have to. Below him, abbeybeasts of all sorts were running around, chattering wildly, trying to figure out what had happened. They had brought in the body of a dead hare and many were gathered around it, with dismal expressions on their face.

An elderly mouse shouted for order, but wasn't heard. Exasperated, he leaned against the tree Davian was in. The lizard froze. All the mouse had to do was look up, and he'd be spotted. Davian didn't even dare breathe, lest the mouse have some sort of super-hearing and be alerted to his presence. However, after less then five seconds, the mouse left, calling for order again.

After about ten minutes or so, the mouse finally got the order he was yelling for, and demanded that they go inside to discuss the situation in detail. Davian watched them all file into another building, leaving him alone outside.

Still, he did not move. He couldn't see a way out. Nothing in the abbey made any sense. There were buildings and walls and grass and even a pond, but everything was all confusing. There had to be doors somewhere, he had seen then on the outside. But the only doors he saw led into buildings, not outside.

Then Davian saw it. It had been behind him, so he had to crane his head backwards in a painful position, but he saw it. There was a small door, not as big as the one he had seen from the outside, but it was in the wall, so Davian assumed it went outside. If he made a run for it… Davian looked back at the door where everybeast had gone in. What if one came out? Davian decided to stay put… for now.

But… Davian remembered how there hadn't been a single creature stirring when it he had gotten to the top of the wall. Of course! They all slept at night! They were only up now because of all the loud noises! Tomorrow night, they would all be sleeping again, and Davian would be able to leave without fear of being spotted. He applauded his genius internally.

---

Colonel Caldwell gripped his sword tightly. There was a lizard around here, he was sure of it. The tracks had shown that the lizard had slowed down, probably tired from running so much, and was hiding around here somewhere. Just where, he could not tell.

The hare fervently hoped that this lizard was the one that had killed Sedgewick. This was the last of tracks; if this wasn't that lizard, then it meant that he had gotten away. Caldwell would mount a search for him tomorrow if he had, but that made it even more probable that he had completely eluded them. Not to mention, Caldwell wanted to end this now.

The colonel heard a rustle of leaves behind a tree. He motioned to the other four hares, and they all began walking towards the tree carefully. Their desire for revenge burned bright, but there was no reason for carelessness; Caldwell didn't want another hare to be killed because they had simply charged at a hidden enemy.

Caldwell got halfway to the tree when a lizard leapt out at him, swinging its claws wildly. Caldwell ran the lizard through in midair. The carcass fell to the ground in a lump.

It wasn't the same lizard that had killed Sedgewick. Caldwell realized that almost immediately. Scowling, he thrust his sword back into its sheath and began marching back, brushing past the four remaining hares.

Maudy shouted, pointing his spear out in the direction they had been going, "Wot are you doing, sah?! That lizard's still out here somewhere!"

Gavin pushed the spear down, until its point touched the earth. "We have to go back, Maudy. It's late, we're tired. We'll start being reckless; we'll be consumed by our desire for revenge. Meanwhile, the Redwallers will have no idea what happened, what's going on, anything. We need to go back, rest for the night, bury Sedgewick, and then we can resume our search," he explained calmly. Caldwell decided that he couldn't have said it any better himself.

"No!" Maudy shouted, "If we wait until tomorrow, that blinking lizard will be long gone! We'll never see him again!"

"Soldier!" Caldwell shouted, suddenly turning around and facing Maudy, "I order you to go back to Redwall, now! Are you going to defy my orders?!"

Maudy and Caldwell stared at each other for a long time. Finally, Maudy sighed. "No, sah. I'll go back to Redwall, sah."

"Good," Caldwell replied simply. Then he began marching back somberly, followed by the four hares.