Jamie was struggling to make himself comfortable on the earthen floor of the Hall of Bones, trying to get some sleep. But he just couldn't; the memory of reading about his mother's death on that reference device kept playing itself in his mind over and over again. It was just too much for him to accept that the life he had once known was over; even if he could somehow find a way back to his own time, it would never be the same again. The best-case scenario he could hope for now was that Ash would find his father out there – if it wasn't already too late – and then they might be able to put things on a sounder footing…somehow.

And then there was the mystery with Hickory and Marigold; according to their peculiar warning, something was coming for them…tonight. So far, nothing had happened, other than the warren being strangely silent, and Jamie was beginning to think that perhaps Willow's assumption that there was no cause for alarm had been correct.

He was just about to doze off again, when he heard the sound of footsteps and saw Kenny appear at the entrance, looking alarmed and out of breath. Before Jamie could even inquire where he had been, his friend was bellowing in a panicked voice, "EVERYBODY UP! WE'RE IN DEEP CRAP!" Celandine, Willow and Hannah nearly went through the roof in alarm as Kenny's shouting woke them.

"By the Black Rabbit of Inle!" snapped Willow incredulously, "What do you mean by waking us up like that in the middle of the night, you young duffer? What kind of a stupid joke is this supposed to be…?" But Jamie, already aroused with suspicion from Hickory and Marigold's warning earlier that evening, was on his feet instantly, "What is it?"

"I just saw Cowslip and his rabbits hiding up by the graveyard; I overheard that fat oaf saying someone – or something – is on its way here to get us right now!" he said, reciting everything he had overheard, "We have to get the hell out of here!"

"Someone is coming after us?" gasped Celandine in alarm, "Then Hickory and Marigold were right! Cowslip has been plotting against us from the start!" She shot Willow a reproachful glare for taking the warning so lightly and persuading them to pay it no heed. It was only by a complete stroke of luck that they had found out, and just in the nick of time…

In an instant, the boys were hastily gathering up their meagre belongings, preparing for departure; Jamie's survival kit from the glider, as well as the time capsule container, which would serve as Kenny's kit, containing a supply of food rations for a new, lengthy journey on foot. A length of tough nylon rope Jamie had salvaged from the dingy would be used to improvise straps, so Ken could carry the box comfortably on his back. The only thing that was discarded was the glider's distress transmitter, which didn't work anymore, after its battery had run out.

Five minutes later, equipment in hand, both rabbits and humans were ready to hit the road again. But no sooner had they climbed out the exit run and into the field, when they run into non other than Hickory and Marigold, which came running towards the warren, looking just as alarmed as Kenny had been; except, that they also wore expressions of utmost shame and remorse. Behind them, were the rest of Cowslip's rabbits following in tow, all of them having suddenly snapped out of their trance.

"What are you doing here?" snapped Willow furiously, "You miserable wretches think you could run and hide like cowards, leaving us to be caught in a death trap unawares? Well, think again; we just happen to have more ears than you've got guts! Now, get out of our way before I thrash the lot of you to ribbons…!"

"So you found out then?" asked Hickory, ignoring the threat, realising their attempted tip-off earlier that day had paid off after all. The group however, furious that these rabbits – all of them for that matter - had been part of Cowslip and Robbins' plot against them from the start, gave them disgusted looks.

"Yes, so why don't you go back to do more of your insane father's dirty work?" retorted Hannah, shaking her tiny fist at them in fury at the apparent 'betrayal', "We're leaving!"

"Please," begged Marigold, who was in tears of shame, as well as sporting the bruise Cowslip had given her, "We want no more of this! We've turned against my father – all of us - and driven him out. We have had enough of this tharn life. Please, you've got to listen to us…" Willow seemed about to yell at the distraught doe to get out of the way before he cuffed her across the face, but Jamie, who had noticed the bruise on Marigold's eye, realised she had finally found her courage and was hoping for a chance to redeem herself.

"It's all right, you can come with us; all of you." the boy said, remembering how the two rabbits had begged him to take them and their friends with him, away from this place. Despite feeling rather distrustful himself, he couldn't help but feel that it had been a hard decision for them to stand up to Cowslip on their own accord – and persuade all of their friends to join them as well - and that it would be wrong to turn them away now.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!" cried Marigold and Hickory in unison, nuzzling Jamie in gratitude. Behind them, the boy was touched to see a dozen more overjoyed faces, as Cowslip's rabbits – now no longer slaves of this warren - realised they were finally free of this farce of a life. Cowslip's lies and threats had finally caught up with him; even if he built up the courage to come back and face them, he'd only find an empty warren, leaving him with nothing…or so they thought.

"Come on then. Let's go…" Jamie said, assuming leadership of his newly enlarged group; with Ash still absent, he was officially the leader now. Hickory and Marigold would unquestionably be in charge of their friends, but they would follow him as their new leader. But before he could announce their departure however, trouble finally struck.

"What the hell…?"

Staring in the direction of the surrounding woodland, they suddenly saw, with horror, a small army of what, Jamie thought were gigantic, ape-like creatures, emerge from the trees, approaching the warren in attack. Then he realised they weren't apes, but men! Gigantic, ferocious and primitive-looking human beings, who had reverted back to Stone-age savagery over the centuries, were closing in like a pack of hungry hyenas, to help themselves to the buffet – them! In the background, he caught a glimpse of a smirking Cowslip, who had lured the savaged here, fleeing, leaving them to their fate.

The two boys stood petrified as they cast their first glance at their savage descendants, whose presence here explained why humans where not popular in this future age and why their intelligence and abilities of speech made them so special to their rabbit friends. Humanity and the animal kingdom had somehow swapped sides; humans had become unintelligent, brutal beasts – ironically, not unlike their civilised counterpart, only in an animalistic way – while rabbits and other creatures had become intelligent, allowing them to form their own civilised society, complete with language, religion, and ideology.

Before they knew what was happening, the savage humanoids were upon them; several giant bloodhounds were unleashed, going in a murderous frenzy for the rabbits. Some of them panicked and tried to run, only to be caught by the hounds within seconds, which proceeded to rip them to pieces before going for more. A few that managed to outrun the hounds were instead intercepted by their savage masters and their spears. Gripping their skewered and screaming victims on the end of their sharp spearheads, the hunters pinned them to the ground, before crushing their skulls with stones.

Jamie watched in horror as Willow was set upon by one of the hounds, which seized him in its razor-sharp jaws, shaking him around like a bloody rag. The Owsla Sergeant, as per his training instincts, managed to claw his attacker in the eye, causing the dog to let go of him; but his injuries were too severe for him to run for it. Before anyone could do anything to help him, the dog was upon him again, followed by its humanoid master, who ended the unfortunate rabbit's life by driving his spear through Willow's chest. The last thought before death overcame him, was why had he been so stupid as to stay here, rather than join his master out there as he had been ordered to…

In an instant, the meadow was awash with blood and mangled rabbit bodies. Snapping out of the shock of the massacre unfolding before his eyes, Jamie shouted, "Everybody back below ground! Take cover!" Some of the rabbits that hadn't completely lost it in their panic – including Hickory and Marigold – bolted back down into the Hall of Bones, followed by Celandine, Hannah and Kenny. Jamie however, realising there was no way to get everyone below ground in time – at least not without the majority being slaughtered before they got there – he reached into his kit, looking for something he could use as a weapon - anything to keep the enemy at bay for a while longer…

As far as he could see, the only thing he had, remotely capable of inflicting any injury, was his knife; but what good was the tiny blade of a Swiss Army pocketknife against an army of giant humanoids, each of which was over eight feet tall and at least 500lbs worth of weight and muscle? Why, he might as well use a slingshot! Unless…

Reaching into his kit again, he took out the flare, which had so far been worthless to him; now, it just might prove to be a lifesaver for him and his friends. Hastily reading the instructions on the side, he popped off the safety cap and pulled the firing string, aiming the tube horizontally – instead of the usual upright – with both hands. For an instant, nothing happened…

"Come on, come on…!" he hissed, thinking the flare might be a dud, in which case would spell out their doom; but before the words had even left his lips, the tinfoil head of the tube burst and the red flare shot out, like a bullet from a gun. The deadly ball of fire found its mark straight down the throat of the nearest mutant, where it burst into a blinding, red-hot star, engulfing the hunter, as well as several others nearest to him. Jamie watched in silent horror as the mutant's head was instantly vaporized, the rest of his body following immediately thereafter, while several other humanoids engulfed in flames, run around, howling in agony.

The rest of the humanoid pack was stunned for a moment at the sight of this mysterious and lethal phenomenon, giving the remaining rabbits their chance to make it to the safety of the warren. Fighting the urge to be sick at the sight of his first mass homicide, Jamie saw, to his utmost dismay, that it hadn't stopped them; the remaining savages quickly regrouped and, like a swarm of vermin, came in for the kill. And there was nothing left to fend them off now…except for Snitter.

"Wh…? Snitter, no, come back!"

Before his young master could restrain him by his collar, the fearless canine, snarling ferociously, had leapt in the direction of the murderous pack in a counter attack. In an instant the dog was caught in a struggle with one of the hounds; but its savage descendants – ferocious beasts accustomed to daily hunting and killing – were too much for the small canine. It barely managed to inflict some mild bites before the killer hounds overpowered him. Snitter's howls of agony filled the night air.

Unable to bear watching his faithful dog being mauled to death, and unable to help, Jamie barely managed to make it inside, before the savages reached the burrow opening. Several spears and stones flew down the run at them, but the savages - including their hounds - couldn't follow any further, due to their gigantic size.

In the Hall of Bones, Jamie and his group backed away from the entrance, breathing a sigh of relief as they realised the savages couldn't reach them now. But their relief was short-lived however, as they realised that they were trapped; during the past couple of days they had been here, Jamie and his friends had taken their time to a get a good look at the warren and knew there were no other way out other than the front entrance, now barred by a murderous mob of humanoids.

The boy sank to his knees, about to be sick; not just from the shock of the horrible savagery he had just witnessed – and technically participated in - for the first time in his life, but from the loss of Snitter. His last tie with his old home was gone; although he still had Kenny, Snitter had always been regarded as another member of the family. An overwhelming sense of loneliness overcame him…

Meanwhile, the rabbits were freaking out; more than half of them had just been slaughtered outside, and the rest seemed very likely to follow shortly. Sure enough, they were all suddenly chilled to the bones as they heard Cowslip's insane voice echoing from the depths of the warren, like that of a ghost's, magnified throughout the chamber by some acoustic effect, taunting them.

"You see my friends? Nobody turns away from me so easily; as I've always warned you, the disobedient ones are always the first to go. Maybe you might want to use what little time you have left to live, to punish the ithe and his hlessil friends who encouraged you to throw your lives away for nothing! Do send my regards to the Black Rabbit of Inle! Farewell!" With an insane laugh, the mad rabbit was gone.

Some of the rabbits started pleading aloud, begging Cowslip not to leave them at the mercy of the natives but there was no reply. Others started cursing Jamie, blaming him for their predicament, yet luckily refrained from attacking him directly, as they all sat fearfully, listening to the horrific sounds of the humanoids still prowling outside, waiting for them to come out. It was only then, almost as if encouraged from his anger for what that miserable rabbit had done to his dog, as well as to Willow, that Jamie realised something very important.

Sound waves can't travel through solid ground like that, he thought, There has to be another opening from somewhere down there… Motioning to Kenny and Hannah to follow him, he led the way down into the burrows, trying to pinpoint the voice's place of origin. They soon came to the semi-filled up entrance to a small burrow in the heart of the warren, which Jamie remembered Cowslip telling them was never used because it was too cold and damp; he too, could remember a cool, refreshing breeze coming from in there, which kept the warren well ventilated at all times. Could it be some secret mouse hole Cowslip used to move in and out undetected, to do his dirty work unnoticed?

Squeezing into the narrow burrow, they saw, in contrast to the rest of the burrows, this one had a man-made brick wall at the far end, forming part of the architecture, which the boys immediately recognised as the shaft of an old well dating back to their own era, forming a 'chimney' down into the warren. At the foot of the wall, they spotted a gaping hole from where a chunk of bricks had crumbled away as a result of the weight of earth and debris pilling up inside the well over the centuries, causing it to rupture. Jamie and Kenny smiled; it seemed they had just found another way out of this death trap.

Crawling through the hole into the shaft, Jamie saw that although it was open to the sky, it was too high and completely vertical, making it impossible to climb up without a rope. Glancing at the circular patch of sky just out of his reach several feet above, he saw the outline of a rabbit staring down at them; Cowslip was still there, the twisted rabbit unable to resist listening to the cries of his 'traitorous' people as they were being slaughtered.

"How could you do this, you sick bastard?" spat Jamie, glaring up at Cowslip, "Sacrifice your own people and family for slaughter?"

"I have no need for traitors," sneered the mad rabbit with sickening glee, "More hlessil will come along soon or later and I can start anew. You see, you dumb ithe? Your foolish father and his friends made the same mistake when they thought they could outsmart me; but I am smarter than you think. Oh, and by the way, I believe that's another of you friends come to join you; except, I think he'd prefer your fate to his own grim misfortune…" It was only then that Jamie realised that there was another rabbit lying on the bottom of the well, amidst a bed of dry leaves and twigs. Behind them, Celandine, who had followed them, gasped in shock.

"Frith of Inle, it's Nose-in-the-Air!"

Sure enough, Jamie and Hannah recognised the stubborn, defiant Owsla scout from Ash's old Owsla, who had chosen not to put his trust in Jamie and deserted their group back at Sandleford, along with his friends, of which there was no sign. And by the look of it, things hadn't gone well for him at all; now, all battered and bruised, the rabbit lay barely alive before them, having fallen down the shaft it seemed, while making his way here.

Turning him over, Jamie's fears were instantly confirmed; the rabbit's face was swollen with raw lesions, his eyes glassy and bloodshot, similar to how Rosebud and Flyairth had been back at Thinial. With a sigh, the boy realised Nose-in-the-Air had contracted Myxomatosis by venturing close to the plague warren, which was already in the advanced stages, leaving him beyond help. To make matters worse, Jamie, aware of how contagious the disease could be, realised his rabbit friends were now in even greater danger by being trapped in here with an infected rabbit among them. Sure enough, Celandine uttered a gasp of horror.

"Frith have mercy! White Blindness!" she screamed, backing away from the sick rabbit. Alerted by her shouts, several of Cowslip's rabbits appeared, just as Jamie and Kenny dragged the semiconscious rabbit inside the burrow. Whether they could recognise Myxomatosis by sight or scent, Jamie didn't know; all he knew was that the instant they noticed Nose-in-the-Air, there was instant panic and uproar.

"White Blindness! We have to get out of here! Run for your lives!" the rabbits shouted, completely losing it in fear of the ghastly disease now prowling into their midst. Before Jamie and his friends could do anything to reassure them, the panicked group, terrified beyond reasoning, were flying for the exit; straight into the waiting hands of the humanoids!

"Come back you fools!" Jamie's group all shouted in unison, "You'll be killed!" But it was already too late as Cowslip's rabbits found themselves face to face with their waiting savage custodians. Jamie and Kenny barely managed to catch up and restrain Hickory and Marigold, before they could join their doomed friends to slaughter, and drag them back inside. The group, now reduced to seven, turned away from the cries of the dying.

They could hear some of the rabbits that had somehow made it past the mob, fleeing through the trees on the hillside above the warren, the hunters and their hounds in hot pursuit. Suddenly, there was a familiar cry of terror, followed by a loud thud coming from the shaft; someone had missed it in the dark and plummeted down to the bottom. Hurrying back to the burrow, they saw that figure was non other than…

"Well, well, Cowslip," sneered Jamie, as they all crowded around the large rabbit, which shrunk back in terror, expecting them to attack him, "How nice of you to join us for the party…" Apparently too preoccupied with listening to their panicked screams below, Cowslip hadn't been paying attention for approaching danger; thus, he had been caught unawares when some of his fleeing rabbits accidentally came running in his direction, bringing the hounds with them. Finding himself surrounded by the savages, in a moment of panic, Cowslip had jumped down the shaft to save his life, ironically joining his intended victims in their death trap. Above ground, they could hear the painful cries of the last of his rabbits being killed.

Jamie and Kenny instantly drew their knives, pinning Cowslip to the floor, "One move and I'll stick this right up your nose and rip it open!" Jamie hissed dangerously, touching the tip of the blade of his Swiss Army knife up Cowslip's left nostril, while Kenny kept his own pressed over the terrified rabbit's throat, making sure he wasn't going anywhere. The other rabbits all rounded on him in rage and hate.

"You despicable monster!" shrieked Celandine, cuffing him furiously, "What kind of a rabbit are you?" Beside her, Hickory and Marigold glared at their former Chief with triumphant smirks, thoroughly enjoying having their tormentor at their mercy for a change. Cowslip, on the other hand, seemed about to wet himself in fear as they continued to give him murderous looks, not uttering a word.

"So what do we do with this back-stabbing piece of garbage Jamie?" asked Kenny, cracking his knuckles in a menacing manner, "I say we kick him out and watch those savages make hamburger out of him too…"

"No, please, wait!" screeched Cowslip, finding his voice, looking terrified at the prospect of being sent to share his people's fate, "I…I can tell you where your father is!" Still brandishing his knife in Cowslip's face, Jamie stared deep into Cowslip's mad eyes, "Then out with it!"

"They…they said they were on their way to the high hills, where the sound carries every whisper…" Cowslip explained, describing the place he had overheard Johnson's group mentioning when they had been here.

"Watership Down," Jamie muttered in realisation, matching the description in his mind, "I might have known Johnson would recommend such a fitting location for his friends. Maybe they also found that HAB place we saw on the pager…" He turned back to Cowslip and walloped him hard on the nose with the handle of his knife, causing him to curl up on the floor in pain,

"That's for Snitter! Be grateful I am not giving you worse…"

"You are not going to just let him go are you?" asked Hannah, "If this back-scratching riff-raff escapes, he could go to the Efrafans and lead them to us…" Jamie seemed to be thinking along the same lines, as he turned to the rest of his group.

"Then, we'll make him our guest. Kenny, collar him!" he said, tossing his friend Snitter's discarded lead and choke-chain, who smirked, "You're the boss mate!" In an instant, Cowslip was on the end of a dog's lead, like a pet animal, and he wasn't enjoying it at all.

"By Frith, watch what you're doing with that thing, you're chocking me!" he groaned, as Kenny roughly pulled him to his feet, smirking, "You don't like it? Then how about we hang you from the roof by the neck? Would that be more comfortable for you?" The evil rabbit seemed to regain some of his bravado, as his fear turned to anger at being humiliated like that.

"You can't do this to me, you ungrateful wretches! You watch, I'll have my revenge when the time comes! You'll pay for this Marigold, and you too Hickory, you traitorous hrakamarlin…!" His ranting was cut short as Kenny slapped a length of duct tape over his mouth, gagging him, before dragging him away.

With Cowslip securely tied to a root in the Hall of Bones and out of their way, they turned their attention back to Nose-in-the-Air, still lying unconscious in the back burrow. While the rabbits nervously kept their distance, fearful of catching the disease as well, the boys and Hannah tended to the sick rabbit. It didn't take them long to realise that Nose-in-the-Air was in a bad way; the buck was burning up with a fever, the lesions on his face swollen from infection.

"Ken, do we have anything to bring the swelling down?" Jamie asked, as he cleaned the lesions, as well as several scratches, with antiseptic cream, regardless of how little good it would do the rabbit now. Kenny shook his head sadly, going through the few remaining contents of the first aid kit.

"No, there is nothing in this stupid lunchbox," he said, putting the kit aside. Outside, they could still hear the terrible sounds of the natives, moving to and fro, probably gathering up their slaughtered prey, "Mate, what are we going to do?" Jamie flinched as he realised all eyes had suddenly turned to him at those words.

"Well, I…I don't know. I suppose we'll just have to wait until they go…"

"Only they don't seem likely to do that any time soon, are they?" snapped Kenny, "What more do those blighters want with us? Haven't they gotten enough dead meat for one day?"

"Maybe they've noticed we're human too and are curious…" Jamie reasoned. Kenny sneered.

"Curious? You mean curious as in to skewer us on the end of a pike and roast us over a slow fire? Maybe they think we'll taste good slapped between two buns with onions and spices…" Seeing the frightened looks on their companions' faces, Jamie elbowed his friend in the ribs to shut him up. At that moment, Nose-in-the-Air began to stir.

"Wh…where am I?" moaned the sick rabbit in a raspy voice from dehydration caused by his high fever, his breathing laboured and painful. Jamie knelt beside him and even Celandine built up the courage to approach enough so she could hear him.

"Nose-in-the-Air, it's us! Can you hear me?" she called, as the boys helped the sick rabbit gulp down some water. It seemed to work somewhat, as Nose-in-the-Air recognise their voices, his swollen, sightless eyes staring in Jamie's direction.

"Thank you. Is that you again ithe? Have I finally found you?"

"Yes," replied the boy grimly, "It's me, with Celandine and Hannah. Willow is dead; Ash and Nightshade might be as well. Things didn't turn out as I expected…"

"Easy for you to say ithe," moaned Nose-in-the-Air miserably, "At least you're still alive; I am already a dead rabbit who just hasn't stop breathing yet. Stay away from me before I infect you as well…"

"What about Butterbur and Pine Needles?" asked Celandine, noticing the absence of her former fellow warren rabbit's two sidekicks, "What happened to them?"

"Dead," said Nose-in-the-Air grimly, launching into his story of what had happened to them after they had left Sandleford. According to him, they reached Thinial all right, only to discover it was indeed a plague warren infested with quarantine rabbits, realising too late that Jamie had been telling the truth.

"We turned tail and fled the moment we picked up the scent of the disease – and after hearing those poor fellows screaming at us to go away while we still could – but it was already too late," Nose-in-the-Air explained, "By the following day, the sickness was upon us too; Pine Needles was the first to get sick. In his desperation, he went mad and fled, and we never saw him again; I suspect he was picked off by elil after going blind. Butterbur and I returned to the ruins of Sandleford to find you, but you had already gone. So we tried following your trail; as we were crossing the river using a collapsed tree, Butterbur lost his footing, fell in and drowned." The others lowered their heads sadly, realising Butterbur and Pine Needles had been lost.

"Shortly thereafter, I felt the White Blindness getting to me as well; by the second day, I could barely walk and could feel my vision and sense of smell going fast. I kept going round in circles blindly, until I came across that hole and fell in. Frankly, I think it would have been better if you had just left me to die there…"

"Fat lot of good that would do us now," retorted Hickory, "If those ithel outside don't kill us, you will…!"

"Hear, hear," added Kenny sarcastically, "We've got Jason outside and Cujo down here. How worse can things get?" The answer came not a moment too soon, as several arrows with smoking buds on the tips shot down the shaft; the smoke, thick and asphyxiating, was sucked through the opening in the wall by the breeze, chocking up the warren.

"They are trying to gas us out! Move! Back to the main hall!"

As Kenny helped Nose-in-the-Air along, Jamie and the others scrambled out of the burrow, piling up all the loose earth and stones they could find on their way out, blocking the entrance. But it wasn't enough to stop the gas, as it slowly sipped through the loose earth, coming after them. With only a few minutes to spare, they retreated to the Hall of Bones.

"We can't hold out for much longer here," Jamie said, "This place will be a gas chamber within minutes; we have to find a way out of here right now!"

"And just how to you propose we do that?" asked Kenny, "The only way to make those guys leave us alone is to feed them. Surely, you aren't suggesting we draw straws and the loser can offer himself up as a ham sandwich, while the rest of us make a break for it?" Jamie couldn't even find the words to chastise his friend. Sarcastic as he may be, Kenny was right; their only chance of escape was if one of them sacrificed himself to the savages, so that they may get their full kill and withdraw.

They all turned to Cowslip, who trembled; undoubtedly, he was the most likely candidate for the job and there was no one here who had any reason to pity him after what he had done to them. With a groan of frustration, Cowslip realised it was poetic justice; he had spent a lifetime sacrificing other rabbits for his own welfare, but this time, all because of a moment of sheer stupidity, his intended victims would sacrifice him in their place to save themselves. And there was nothing he could do about it other than hope for a quick death…

Before they could announce his doom however, Cowslip, as well as everyone else, were caught by surprise as Nose-in-the-Air spoke, "That coward isn't even worth being sacrificed for slaughter; I'll do it." They all turned to stare at him in alarm.

"What are you saying? Are you mad?" gasped Hickory, "That's suicide!"

"I am as good as dead anyway," insisted the sick rabbit, "Even if I survive this fever, I would just be a burden, not to mention a danger to you all."

"We can still help you…somehow…" Jamie protested, despite having no idea how he could do that. Nose-in-the-Air was right; as a carrier of the disease, he was too dangerous around them, and would hold them up in his condition if they took him along.

I don't want to spend the rest of my life like those rabbits at Thinial," he said, "This way, I'll die knowing I've done my duty. I remember Ash saying that even ithel can sense the disease; although they are immune to it, they fear it just as much as we do, because it can infect and kill their prey, leading their colonies to starvation. With my condition, I am the perfect distraction to divert their attention, while you run…"

"Like hell are we going to offer you up for slaughter…!" Jamie tried protesting again but the sight of the smoke approaching from the back burrows made him realise there was no more time for arguments. Nose-in-the-Air turned to Jamie, his swollen face forming into a thin smile, "Consider this an apology for not believing you young bucko. You just make sure you get the rest of these rabbits to safety. Old Captain Broom told me to pass this message on to you, if I found you: head for Redstone Warren; that's the safest place. Good luck!"

Without another word, he suddenly turned and bolted up the run, out into the open. Staring up after him, Jamie and the others saw the savages, which had been posing outside, waiting to strike, back away at the sight of the diseased rabbit, also dragging their hounds away from this menace. In an insane manner, Nose-in-the-Air, rather than running for his life like any sane rabbit would, started running round in circles, taunting them.

"Come and get me you bastards! That's right; come and get a taste of sweet White Blindness!" Despite his blindness and lack of strength, he was still able to accomplish his goal: the savages, taking their attention from the warren's entrance, from where they were expecting the rest of their prey to emerge after being gassed out of their hidey-hole, turned to him instead. Although they kept their distance, determined to rid themselves of this source of plague, they proceeded to throw stones at the sick rabbit.

The first few missed; then, one stone found Nose-in-the-Air square on the head and he collapsed. The bludgeoning trauma to his brain instantly cast him into unconsciousness, sparing him the agony of being skewered through the guts by the native's spear that followed shortly thereafter. Carrying the body on the end of the spear, the humanoids chucked it into the fire they had built for their gas buds, destroying the threat to their livestock. In the confusion, none of them noticed the rest of their prey escaping unnoticed, right from under their noses…

With Jamie and Kenny in the lead, the group noiselessly made their way out of the death warren, mere seconds before the smoke from the arrow buds engulfed the Hall of Bones completely, making their way towards the woods. Glancing in the direction of the preoccupied savages, they saw Nose-in-the-Air's skewered and twitching body being dumped into the flames for disposal. At this horrible sight, Marigold gave a gasp of terror; the hounds, whose hearing ability exceeded that of their masters', heard it and started growling, redirecting the savages' attention back to them.

"RUN!"

In an instant, the chase had resumed; like a pack of hungry wolves, the savages were hot on their heels again, going for the kill. Jamie, Kenny, Hannah, Celandine, Hickory and Marigold ran as fast as their legs could carry them, fleeing into the woods, the savages following close behind.

"Down to the river! I've got an idea!" Jamie called, as they made for the bank of the new, unnamed tributary he had discovered the other day. Hurrying to the edge of the water, they found the yellow dingy from Johnson's plane, where the boy had moored it, should they find any use for it…like now. Hastily removing the stones he had placed inside it, to keep it from blowing away, Jamie, with Kenny's help, pushed the raft into the water.

"All right, everybody in! Well, what are you waiting for…?" Realising what their young friend had in mind, the rabbits had suddenly frozen in fear. This didn't come as a big surprise to Jamie, remembering how these rabbits of this future world weren't particularly good swimmers, human-level intelligence or not, and the idea of hitching a ride down a river in a dingy hardly appealed to them.

"Get into that…giant sunflower that floats? No, we'll drown!" shrieked Marigold, her eyes darting between the river and the forest, which was filled with the growls of the approaching humanoids' hounds, as if trying to determine which choice would be the least painful way to die. But Jamie, determined not to lose another member of his group tonight, would hear none of it.

"If you stay here, you're dinner for those guys! Now come on!" he yelled, grabbing the thrashing Marigold and tossing her into the dingy, while Kenny did the same with Hickory. Celandine and Hannah followed behind them, the boys piling in last. Just as the hounds reached the riverbank, Jamie pushed off from shore, furiously paddling downstream with his surviving companions, leaving the nightmare behind them. It was only then that he realised how fast his heart was pounding…

Meanwhile, back in the deserted Hall of Bones, Cowslip, finding himself alone, had finally managed to peel off the duct-tape gag and gnawed through Snitter's rope-fibber lead, freeing himself. Shaking off the shredded lead and choke chain, he made for the exit run, curious to find out what had happened to his traitorous daughter and her hlessil friends. Had those miserable intruders lured her to destruction with their foolish little scheme of escape?

Cautiously making his way above ground, he saw the worst was over; the humanoids were finally gone, taking the slain bodies of their latest victims – including those of their own kind, killed by Jamie's flare – with them. The only evidence of their visit was the field, all splattered with blood and disturbed grass from the massacre, as well as the remains of the fire, which stunk of burnt rabbit flesh, which would soon be washed away by the rain. It was only then that Cowslip realised, this time he had gone too far.

A brief search of the boundaries confirmed there wasn't a single rabbit left; his warren was completely deserted, the last of his rabbits having been snatched away by their humanoid custodians. There was no sign of Marigold or Hickory, or those two ithel either; although he hadn't seen what had happened to them, their disappearance could only mean they had fallen prey to the humanoids too. Even if some of them had managed to escape, they wouldn't get very far with the elil of the night out hunting for food. They were as good as dead.

In spite of his delight of having finally rid himself of those troublemakers, Cowslip was infuriated that the price for vengeance had been so high. There was no other way to look at it; he was ruined, left with nothing but an empty warren. And if his custodians realised that – which he knew they must, otherwise they wouldn't have left – then there was no reason for them to keep supplying him with more flayrah. His ancestor's ancient pact had just drawn to a close.

Cursing that young ithe for causing all this trouble, as well as Robbins for encouraging him to go ahead with this foolish plan of his in the first place, Cowslip retreated back down to his warren, refusing to swallow the bitter fruits of defeat…

With the dingy making its way downstream in the dark of night, Jamie and his group of five were able to take a while to recuperate, glad to have escaped from that death trap. Although uninjured, all of them were still struggling to recover from the terror they had witnessed, as well as from the grief for the loss of their friends.

Aside from Snitter, Willow and Nose-in-the-Air, the greatest grief came to Hickory and Marigold, for the deaths of all their friends. Although they had gotten their lifelong wish of escaping the tharn life Cowslip had outlined for them, they couldn't help but feel responsible for leading their friends to slaughter in the process. Now they sat silently, their heads and ears drooping in silent grief. Perhaps this hadn't been a good idea after all?

Noticing their distress, Jamie passed the paddle to Kenny, and turned to face their two new companions. Crawling up beside them, he placed a comforting hand on Marigold's shoulder.

"There is no point blaming yourself for your friends," he said, trying to comfort her and Hickory. The doe looked up at him in surprise, still unaccustomed to being handled by a human, "It's that miserable scumbag Cowslip who's to blame for everything that happened tonight…"

"But we persuaded them to join us against him," muttered Hickory miserably, "He would have had no reason to harm them if we hadn't dragged them into this…"

"If it's of any consolation, they are far better off dead than to continue living that tharn life Cowslip meant them to," said Celandine, also trying to comfort their new friends and fellow outcasts, "At least they died free of that mad rabbit's control; your newfound freedom is their legacy to you. The best you can do, to honour their sacrifice, is to live as normal rabbits again, just like Frith expects of every naylte in His image." Encouraged by the doe's kind words, the couple nodded in agreement. Whatever challenges their new life had in store for them, they would brave it.

"So where do we go now, Jamie?" Kenny asked, as they continued making their way down the river in the dark of night, with nothing but Jamie's small flashlight to light their way.

"I think that's obvious Ken; we are going to try to make for that HAB place on Watership Down; that's the most likely place where we might find my father and the rest of Johnson's group. The quicker we find them and warn them of Robbins and the Efrafans, the better. Hopefully, Ash and Nightshade might have already found them and waiting for us…" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Celandine's face turn hopeful; following the deaths of Willow and Nose-in-the-Air, she felt extremely lonely by being the only remaining Sandleford rabbit, but the prospect of reuniting with her beloved Ash again soon, kept her hopes up.

As Jamie was going through the time capsule, looking for the pager to recheck the location of the HAB and compare it with his compass reading, to make sure the river was taking them in the right direction, he suddenly realised something was wrong.

The aerie silence of night, broken only by the occasion quacking of frogs or the hooting of owls, was suddenly filled with the roaring sound of rushing water…a lot of it. Staring down at the water, the boys quickly realised they were caught in the rapids, heading straight towards a…

"Waterfall! Look out!" shrieked Hannah, pointing over Jamie's shoulder at the edge of a naturally-formed weir with a long and dangerous slide down the side of a slope into who-knows-where. In an instant, both boys were furiously paddling back upstream, trying to get away from the threatening weir, but it was no use.

"Everybody hold on as tight as you can! Things are about to get…!" Before Jamie could finish his sentence, the dingy was washed over the edge of the weir, overturned, and sending the entire group plummeting into the churning water. In an instant, their screams of terror were gone and replaced by the never-ending sound of the weir and it's rapids, which had just swallowed them up…

Author's note: Sorry for the delay but I was busy, as well as giving the first story another proofreading. Again, I remind you everything is happening in parallel with the first story; this is happening around the time Alan and his remaining party escaped from Efrafa back to 2013. Coming up next, Jamie and co reach Watership Down and the Efrafans… Enjoy and PLEASE REVIEW!