Author's Note: I just finished writing this entire story, all forty chapters. It's exactly 216 pages on MS Word. Now, I'll have plenty of time to revise the chapters I've already written but haven't posted, so that's pretty nice, although I'm not going to change one iota of the plot. Every character's fate has been sealed.
XII: The King
General Davian was taken aback by what he saw when he walked out the door. He didn't have long to look, though, before some small flying object flashed past his face and hurtled inside, eventually striking something with a loud crash.
He averted his gaze for a brief moment to try and see where the object had gone, and perhaps find out what it was. He couldn't see anything, though, just Darkscale following behind him. Davian turned back and another flying object smashed into the wall next to him, splattering it with its translucent insides. Davian realized that it was an apple.
The apple had been thrown by the lizard Zalazz, who had once marched out of the forest, looking for something he could go back and tell King Kirrent about, and had laid eyes on the red fort. Now, he was busy throwing all types of fruit everywhere.
Zalazz was the least chaotic thing about the scene, however. Prisoners darted about frantically as they were pursued viciously by the lizards, all of whom had abandoned their posts. Many of the Redwallers had attempted to hide in corners or under tables. Many of the Redwallers lay dead on the floor.
"What izz going on?!" Davian demanded angrily, "Ztop, NOW!"
The general was hit by an apple thrown by the laughing Zalazz. "You not general any more, Davian!" he shouted, "King Marclaw zed you… are court clown! Hahaha!" Before the general could react, Zalazz was gone.
Davian rubbed the spot where the apple had hit him. Angrily, he picked up the fruit and smashed it against a wall. "Ztop it, now!! I order you to!!" However, not one lizard even paused.
"King… Marclaw…?" Darkscale scratched his head, "Marclaw izz king? I think King Kirrent is king!"
Davian suddenly became worried. Like Kalzmar, Davian had also heard Marclaw complaining about wanting to be a general from time to time. Had he actually gone so far as to kill King Kirrent? Was that even possible? How could Marclaw have killed the slayer of a thousand lizards? Maybe his sword really was magical…
The former general slowly continued his walk through the display of destruction. Lizards were bashing in furniture, ripping up documents, breaking windows, and performing all sorts of vandalism. Davian suddenly felt that he needed to find Marclaw, and get all of this straightened out. He noticed the ferret Limptail being harassed by Chopleg with one of the sharpened sticks that had been thrown at Caldwell's little army. Chopleg would lunge towards the ferret, purposely missing him. Limptail ducked and dodged and screamed.
"Chopleg, I order you! Ztop it!" Davian shouted, hoping that maybe Chopleg, who had been directly under his command, would listen.
"Hahaha!" laughed the lizard in reply, "King Marclaw zed we do anything now, yez! Hahaha!" He thrust the stick forward, missing Limptail's head by inches. The ferret cowered in a corner.
Davian stormed by the two, scouring the scene for this apparent "King" Marclaw. It didn't take long to spot him. He was standing at the top of a flight of stairs, proudly displaying his sword, still tainted with the blood of King Kirrent. Davian began marching towards him, another apple missing him by inches. Davian didn't even pause, however, until he reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Marclaw, what izz going on?!" he demanded angrily. It seemed to take Marclaw a few moments to hear Davian, and he didn't look down until after a few more seconds had passed.
"Hello, Davian! I izz king now, yez!" Marclaw shook the blade, and flecks of blood rained down on the ex-general. "And you not general any more! You court clown! Dance! Dance!"
Davian stared up at Marclaw, unmoving. "King Kirrent izz king, not you!"
Marclaw walked down a few steps, laughing. "I killt King Kirrent, yez! I chop-chopped off hiz head! Now, dance! Dance for me, clown!"
Davian pointed his sword up at Marclaw. "I izz killing you, Marclaw! You not king, King Kirrent izz!"
Marclaw grinned his toothy grin. "You killing me? Me? Hahaha! I killt King Kirrent, zlayer of thouzand lizardz! I kill you, too! You, dumb general! I zhould have been general, not you!" The lizards had suddenly stopped their antics and had gathered behind Davian at the base of the stairs, wanting to watch a fight. The surviving Redwallers took the opportunity to find places to hide.
Both Marclaw and Davian looked prepared to fight to the death. Both of them had their swords at the ready. Marclaw knew he had a distinct advantage, being at the top of the stairs, and smiled. This would be easier than killing King Kirrent.
Just before the two charged each other, however, a lizard named Rankeye shouted from the top of the wall, "Hey, look! Corzon izz back! And… Longearz!!!"
There was a sudden dash for the stairs up to the top of the wall where Rankeye was. Almost all of them had completely forgotten about Corzon, even though he had only been gone perhaps a few days. But now he was back, and with hares?
Both Marclaw and Davian led the way, temporarily at truce with one another. Marclaw, being near the top of the stairs, made it up first, and froze. Davian followed him, and nearly fainted.
Corzon was back, that was very true. He was also tied up and surrounded by what looked like and endless sea of hares. And, at their lead, was Lord Oxpaw, completely covered in steel armor, and wielding a gigantic sword. It was a sight Davian had hoped he'd never have to see again.
Behind them dashed up Darkscale and the other lizards, all crowding on the top of the wall, some in precarious-looking positions in order to get a better view.
The badger below wasted no time. "Where is Kirrent?!" he demanded with a hoarse bark.
Marclaw shouted back, "I killt him, yez! I king now, King Marclaw!!"
"King Marclaw?" the badger repeated, "I guess I should have figured Kirrent would be dead by now. You vermin types never seem to be able to keep the same leader for very long. Now, as you can see, we have one of your own," Oxpaw pointed at Corzon, "And, if you leave this instant without a fight, we'll let both him and all of you go back to your swamp, if you promise never to leave there again."
"Do it," Davian whispered, cowering behind Marclaw, "We muzt leave, or we die."
Marclaw turned back to him. Without even a second of contemplation, he snapped, "Zilenze!" then turned back to the badger. "We will not leave, yez! It izz you who will leave! Hahaha! Now, we will kill the dumb furry thingz in here! Hahaha!"
Davian wondered if Marclaw had suddenly completely let go of his sanity. He was provoking the badger. Provoking! It was lunacy!
"I should have figured it would be impossible to reason with you lizards!" Oxpaw shouted, his anger rising, "But if you harm a single creature in there, I will be sure to hunt you down and kill you myself!"
"You can not kill me!" Marclaw laughed, knowing no fear, "You can't get in here! Hahaha!"
"I can't?" Oxpaw exclaimed, "How about you watch me, lizard!" Suddenly, he charged forward, roaring, and smashed into the abbey's front gate. The gate splintered a bit after only one hit. The badger hit it again, and it splintered a little more.
"Hahaha!" Marclaw shouted down, "We will—"
He was suddenly cut off by a very loud shout from inside the abbey. Whirling around, he saw Limptail the ferret suddenly smash his paw into the side of Chopleg's head, stunning the lizard. Then the ferret bolted.
It took Marclaw all of three seconds to figure out where he was running to. "Ztop him! He izz going for the gate!!"
In a sudden shock of panic, the lizards all began charging down the stairs after the lizard. Marclaw pushed his way through them as they all tripped or trampled each other, ready to finally put an end to the ferret.
Limptail had a good head start, but the lizards were a lot faster than him. He scampered as quickly as he could to the gatehouse, with the lizards hot on his trail, Marclaw at their lead.
He made it to the gate, which was constantly being shaken back and forth by Oxpaw. Limptail suddenly realized that there was no way he could open the gate by himself, not with all the shaking going on. He turned around to see Marclaw descending on him, his sword in mid-swing.
Before Limptail could die, however, the door suddenly smashed open, slamming both the ferret and Marclaw into the wall, nearly crushing both. The lizards that had been behind them suddenly skidded to a halt.
Oxpaw the badger lord wasted no time. He brought his sword down on the unlucky Chopleg, slicing the lizard cleanly in half. The other lizards all began scampering back out of the gatehouse.
Zalazz, who had been in the back, made it out of the gatehouse first. However, he slammed the door shut behind him, trapping all of the lizards inside. He held the door shut as the frantic reptiles tried to push it open.
Oxpaw cleaved his way through the trapped lizards, sometimes slicing through two or three with one stroke. The lizards all clawed at the door, trying to get by, as Oxpaw slaughtered them all.
The lizards pushing on the door suddenly let up with a mixture of screaming and shouting. Zalazz breathed a sigh of relief. It was the last breath he ever took, as the giant sword of Oxpaw was shoved through both the door and Zalazz like a bizarre shiskabob. Then the door was forced off it hinges by the badger, and he stormed through, followed by his army of hares.
The end was near.
Second Author's Note: By the way, this is the second-to-last chapter in Part I. After Chapter 13, most of the surviving characters vanish until Part III. There are a couple in Part II, but they really don't do anything important. Think of Part I and II as two completely different stories, which are both tied together in the third part.