Author's Note: Awsomewriter: Perhaps Ballantyne should have died, but I'm not the one to go and kill off a character just because they're a bad guy. If you'd look, you'd notice that there isn't much rhyme or reason at all regarding who lived and who died. I find that makes my story less predictable.

And now, the aptly titled Chapter 40.

XL: The Epilogue

Summer changed to autumn slowly but surely, with the leaves of the trees turning all sorts of vibrant colors before floating to the earth daintily. Many peaceful woodlanders accepted the changing of seasons with glee.

In a small, circular clearing deep in Mossflower woods, a solitary old cart lay unmoving, the leaves fluttering around it. The cart was covered, with a small, rusty door on the back and one open window on the side. The window was covered by a new red curtain, which seemed to blend in amongst the leaves.

The cart was old and decaying, but there was a fresh coat of paint on it. On the side the window was not on, in very fancy, flowery writing, were the words "Jeld's Magical Emporium of Fun".

Nobeast knew what Jeld was, for all they saw of him were his paws when he dealt cards or rolled dice. Most creatures also didn't know what an emporium was, either, which was why they had gone to check out the cart in the first place. It really wouldn't have mattered if they had known what an emporium was anyways, because the cart wasn't really an emporium at all.

Creatures of all shapes, sizes, and species had gone to see what made Jeld's cart so magical and fun, vermin and woodlander alike. Business had been very good for Jeld, although he was certain he may have to close for the winter. Goodbeasts probably wouldn't enjoy it if they found they were gambling with an ermine, and they were half his customers.

Jeld didn't have the same customer twice, though. He wisely had picked a spot where nobeast really lived, although many traveled by it. Thus, unlike in Conrad's group, he wouldn't receive any complaints that he had swindled a customer out of their items.

It was a normal day for the Magical Emporium of Fun. A couple of shrews had showed up earlier that morning and Jeld had won a nice bottle of damson wine, which he stored away in one of the many cabinets and drawers in the interior to the cart, which nobeast but Jeld ever saw.

The stoat was surprised when a group of about twenty assorted vermin bumbled out of the woods. Jeld rarely saw vermin groups anymore; they mostly seemed to come alone, and when they did come in groups, they were usually less than ten.

"A magical emporium of fun?" exclaimed what looked like the leader, a tall stoat, "Wot do ya think that is, Sawdirge?"

"I dunno, Levail," replied Sawdirge, another stoat who couldn't be more than twenty seasons old, "Let's go check it out."

"Okay, then," Levail said, shrugging, "Valla, make sure nobeast wanders off, this should jus' take a few minutes."

Levail and Sawdirge separated from the rest of the group and made their way over to the cart, their curiosity ignited. Jeld prepared his deck of cards and a pair of dice as the two stoats walked up to the window.

"So, wot is this place?" Levail asked.

"This is my magical emporium of fun, o' course," Jeld replied, "Where ya play me a card or dice game. We make wagers, o' course. Wanna try yer luck?"

"Heh, card games!" Sawdirge exclaimed, "Card games are always fun! Com'n, Levail, go an' play him! They don't call ya Levail the Lucky fer nuttin', y'know!"

Levail shrugged. "Sure, then."

Behind his curtain, Jeld smiled. "Okay, we'll play some cards. I don't suggest ya look at the Ublaz Mad Eyes card fer too long, though. Now, yer gonna hafta make a wager…"

---

Ballantyne made one last trip to Castle Regner, taking Regner's dead body along with him. There, he buried his fallen leader, one of the three friends Ballantyne had ever had in his whole life, and the second one to die. Now, only Deathblaze was left.

He buried Regner to the side of the castle, on the top of a grassy hill. Ballantyne had not cut any corners with the grave, making it perfectly rectangular. Carefully, he lowered Regner into it, dressed in the best remaining set of armor and holding the best sword Ballantyne could find in the armory.

Ballantyne filled the grave in, and then placed on it an ornate headstone, with an elaborate design of thorny vines on it. It read:

Here lies Lord Regner the Magnificent

The greatest warlord of all time

It was a simple message, but Ballantyne felt that was all that was needed to convey Regner's importance and impact on Mossflower. The ferret then gave Regner a eulogy; a real one, this time, unlike the fake one he had made when he poisoned Regner so long ago.

"Lord Regner was a very great weasel," Ballantyne announced to the empty field, "He started from scratch, building up both a horde and a castle with only the aid of his loyal tactician, Ballantyne. Regner enjoyed many great victories, most notably his victory over Salamandastron. There were a few problems along the way, such as a traitorous uprising and his near-death at the paws of the badger Oxpaw, but he overcame these issues with amazing determination. He died in battle, after a triumphant fight against amazing odds, slaying seven of the nine creatures trying to kill him and injuring an eighth. It was… very unfortunate… that he had to… sniff… die…. Oh, what am I doing?!"

Ballantyne turned and walked away from the grave, back towards Castle Regner. There he would see what was left in the winery and drink himself silly.

The ferret got to the main gate and stopped. He had a sudden change of heart. He didn't want to drink himself silly, living alone in the trashed castle Regner. Not when Deathblaze was still out there. He didn't want to have to look at the glorious paintings of Regner and his horde, reminding himself of how he had been so close to renewing everything he had lost, not when he could try to repair it still.

Ballantyne turned and walked into the forest, wielding no weapon but his unnecessary cane, and looking for a stoat named Deathblaze.

---

Deathblaze, however, had already been found, by an old friend that he had known even before Ballantyne.

"Percival Deathblaze, as you say your name is now! It is of great jubilation that we meet again!" exclaimed the vixen, wrapped in all sorts of vibrant, colorful cloth, "You seem very sad, why is this?"

Deathblaze hadn't actually been looking for Connerie, Conrad's cheat of a sister, like he had when he had initially left Conrad's crew and stumbled into Regner's horde, but he had found her all the same. Or she had found him. That was the more likely explanation. It wasn't as if Deathblaze had made himself very difficult to find. In fact, he was, at that very moment, sitting in the center of a burning village, where he had slain every single creature before throwing their bodies into a giant heap and setting them on fire.

It was very likely that Connerie had seen the fire and come to investigate, but she had to keep her image as a seer up, and she had told Deathblaze she had known to come here because the omens had said so. Deathblaze didn't believe one way or another.

"I killed them all," he muttered, "My head hurts…. Can't think straight…"

"Of course, Percival Deathblaze!" Connerie announced cheerfully, "You are afflicted with a disease of mind! Here, drink this potion of amazing remedy, and you will feel better, I guarantee it!"

A small vial or red liquid seemed to materialize in her paw. Deathblaze seized it, uncorked it, and swallowed the contents with one gulp.

Almost instantly, his thoughts seemed to clear up, his sadness seemed to vanish completely, and the anger began to flood back in. He felt like killing something very, very much.

Connerie smiled gently. "Yes, feeling much better. I hear that there is another village much like this north from here… Perhaps we should pay them a visit!"

Deathblaze looked at her, his eyes growing red. Yes… He must visit the village. He must burn them, like he did to the fools here. It all seemed to make sense now. Those villagers had made him angry, of course! Everything was their fault!

Connerie winked gingerly at Deathblaze. The killing machine began to march north, in the direction of the village the vixen had mentioned. When Deathblaze had turned his back, Connerie stashed a bag filled with the slain villager's valuables into her cloak. As she followed Deathblaze to the next village, which she hoped had even more things of value, she began to sing.

---

The mousemaid Marettia, Mary for short, skipped along through the field in front of Redwall, picking flowers as she crossed them and gathering nuts and fruits for a feast that they would be having soon. She had never again touched the sword of Martin the Warrior after saving Salamandastron, and it hung in its rightful spot next to the tapestry of Martin in the Great Hall.

Carefree and inattentive, she almost didn't notice an injured creature lying under a bush as she passed by it. But a glint of gold caught her eye and she stopped to investigate.

Then she screamed.

Scout Commander Golding didn't mind the scream; at least somebeast had finally found him. Somebeast that would probably help him, at least. He had been dragging himself forward for months now, living off of nuts and fruits that had fallen to the ground, and the only creatures he had seen had been the one cruel stoat that forced him to play cards before stealing the saber that had belonged to Golding's father.

Mary ran back to the abbey, screaming all the way. A whole slew of abbeybeasts ran out, wondering what was amiss. All Mary could do was point in the direction where Golding was.

Golding suddenly found himself being picked up by a group of woodlanders, many of which were recoiling in disgust after looking at his mangled legs. Golding didn't care. Finally, he had been saved.

The woodlanders carried Golding into their abbey, with the weasel smiling the widest smile imaginable. Then he lost consciousness.

Final Note: Boy, I sure set that up for a sequel. Will there be one? Maybe, maybe not. If there is, it won't be my next fic; I've already written 125 pages of that, and I plan to start posting it sometime in the near future. It's very ambitious as a story. It's actually got conventional protagonists and antagonists, though, so some of you may find that nice. As of now, I've got it labeled as a "Tragedy/Parody", in the sense that it's a parody of classical tragedy.

And with that...

Fin

(Always wanted to do that)