Redclaw

Chapter Six

The fox leader silently watched his followers hack at the vole's den door with spear and axe, a demented smile darkening his face. Even over the grunts and curses of his troops he could hear the panicked sobbing of the young inside, and his mouth watered.

Not bothering to wipe away the drool he muttered, "We shall dine well tonight."

Hearing a single pawstep behind him his paw descended to the hilt of the battleaxe leaning against his leg and he spun around, swinging the axe in a wide arc. However a strong paw caught the axe right behind the razor sharp head and stopped the swing, "Hello", the stranger said as he stroked a claw over the edge of the blade, "Nice axe."

The warlord gave a tug and the weapon came away from the stranger. Glaring the warlord looked the stranger over, taking in every detail of him, from his clean but simple clothes of greens and browns, to his dirty boots, to the dagger hilt jutting from his belt, on which his left paw was currently resting. Placing his other hand on his hip the stranger said, "Just who do you think you are?"

The bigger fox swelled with anger, "Who am I? I am Morack of the northern mountains. Morack the soul eater! I dine on the flesh of my enemies! Every beast knows and fears my name. They hear the sounds of my army's march and run in terror. Who am I? I am a god among mortals, so who are you?"

The stranger brought his free hand up and covered his mouth briefly to cough, then said, "I am simply here with some friendly advice. You have attacked creatures under the protection of Redclaw the Warrior", seeing the look in Morack's eyes change the stranger smirked, "I see you know that name. Then you know what happens to those that cross him. They tend to disappear. I should know, I am Erin Redclaw, second in his command."

Erin noticed Morack's grip tightening on the axe's hilt and took a leisurely half-step to the side as he continued, "Now if you had stayed in your own territory, or even just passed thru without causing any trouble, you may have not even known we were here. But now you have our attention, a sight you do not want to be in", looking past the warlord he shouted to the other foxes, who had stopped in their task once they saw the stranger standing beside their leader, "You all now have only two options! Drop your weapons and disband, swearing to never do harm unto another creature so long as you shall live… or be struck down. We do not wish any further violence, but we will not hesitate should you resist."

Morack's face twisted with a rage born of arrogance, "Or I can kill you now and we'll be long gone before your Redclaw even knows you're dead."

Erin didn't flinch as out of the corner of his eye the battle axe was swung up into the air with a roar of anger. He also saw the dark mass drop from the branches above them to land behind the warlord. The evil fox's war-cry was silenced by the touch of steel to his throat and the growling voice coming from over his shoulder.

"Wrong choice."

The axe fell from numb paws as the warlord stammered, "P-please… mercy."

The low voice filled with a snarl, "Mercy? How many have asked you that same favor? How many lives have you claimed like that poor female there, bleeding and broken on the ground, unable to fend for themselves", the blade dug in a little, drawing the faintest hint of blood, "I should cut your throat, the world would be better for it."

The warlord felt an oddly formed paw strike him in the middle of his back and shove him away, "Get on your knees. Paws on the back of your head."

Morack watched as a large ferret stepped into his view, peeling off a pair of gloves, revealing two blood red paws, and six claws on the left.

"I am Redclaw, protector of these lands. I am not one to be trifled with. This vile scum has just refused my offer of a peaceful solution. And he will pay the price, but not here. I will spare him the indignity of begging for his life in front of you all. Erin!"

The standing fox stepped forward, "Sir!"

Redclaw glared at the kneeling warlord and said, "Take this trash away and await my orders."

As his friend started to drag the warlord away the beaten fox began to weep and sob, so Red shouted, "And find something to gag him with!"

Then the ferret turned back to the small band of foxes, who still stood by the den door, dumbfounded.

"What about you lot? Surrender? Or Die?"

It never surprised him how quickly a mob cooperated once the leader had been dealt with. As soon as the last blade had been thrown away Red nodded, "Good. Now step aside. Let these poor creatures you've wronged outside."

The leaderless group silently moved aside standing near the edge of the trampled vegetable garden. When the door didn't open Redclaw walked up to it and knocked. From inside he heard a small voice shout, "Go 'way!"

Red cleared his throat and asked, "Is there an adult in there?"

There was a shuffling from inside, followed by the door swinging wide open. To say Redclaw was surprised would be an understatement. Standing in the doorway was a vole, into his teenage seasons, holding an axe of his own. Not a weapon of war, but a simple wood axe. Still the way he held it rested on his shoulder spoke volumes of his familiarity with it.

"What d'you want ferret?"

From behind the young male Red saw an older male stand up an infant held to his chest, "Tomba shush", he turned his attention to the tall ferret standing in his door, "I guess you're Redclaw?"

Red bowed his head, "I am", he glanced over his shoulder at the small body, still laying in the garden, "I am so sorry for your loss Sir."

Blinking back tears the vole nodded, "My name's Peter, and thank you", he looked at the small crowd of foxes and coughed, "What will you do with them?"

Red looked at them as well, "Well they surrendered. So I'll let them go, bit by bit of course. We'll march them out in front of us as we continue on our way and split them off a few at a time. If luck is with us you'll never see any of them again."

Peter shook his head and sniffed, "It's a shame, some of them are so young…"

That was when Tomba shouted, "Let them go? They should all be killed for what they've done!"

Redclaw was about to speak when Peter beat him to it, "And what would that accomplish? All it would do is leave more bodies behind…more dead to bury. Your mother wouldn't want that."

Red nodded, "Your father's right. All killing them would do is prove that we're the same as they are…which is something my comrades and I are trying to change", he paused for a moment then sighed, "If you'll excuse me. I need to see to our good friend Morack. THAT one needs to be dealt with."

With that the ferret turned and started walking in the direction that Erin had dragged the condemned. As he passed the group of foxes he placed two claws to his mouth and let out a shrill whistle. Dewclaw stepped out of the underbrush, placing the arrow notched to his bow back in it's quiver, while Blackeye kept his crossbow trained on the foxes. Across from the out came Turly an Burly, wielding their broadsword and spiked mace respectively. Natini also came from there, her halberd gleaming in the setting sunlight. The group of unarmed foxes cowered together and back towards the trees, until they heard a pair of coughs from behind them, Willow and Runner, each armed with massive claymores.

Willow just pointed at the ground and said, "Now you just sit right there and keep quiet and you'll be fine."

He couldn't hide the smirk that crossed his face as they all obeyed without question or complaint.

Erin growled as Morack squirmed against the rope binding his paws and moaned against the gag in his mouth, "Oh would you shut up!"

But the bound warlord continued to squirm and cry, further frustrating his guard.

"I swear. If you don't stop that blathering right now I'll go find a good rock and put a knot on your skull."

Morack's eyes widened at the threat and his noises quieted down to a dull whimper.

"There we go, was that so hard."

It was then that Redclaw came out of the brush, idly stroking his chin. When he came close he said, "So what do we do with you?"

Morack's pleading eyes darted between his two captors as Erin said, "Well we can't just let him go. All he'd do is start over with a new army."

Redclaw nodded, "True. On the other paw though we can't just kill him either. He's unarmed and clearly a coward at heart. Putting an end to him would only make us as bad as him."

The red pawed ferret knelt before the bound fox and removed his gag, immediately smacking a paw over his mouth to keep him silent, "We're going to be marching your kin and clan with us on our journey, we leave in the morning. You however, will not be coming with us", he stood and crossed his arms, "Erin."

"Yes?"

"Fetch Runner."

The green clad fox nodded, "Aye Sir."

As his second walked back towards the den Red snapped his head towards the bushes, hearing them shift and rattle, but a strong breeze blew through and he shrugged it off, missing the shadow that slunk away into the brush.

End Chapter Six