Book II: The Life of Simon and Life Beyond the Wall

[Captain Tammo]

In this chapter, we finally catch up with two of our other adventurers, Nol and Xoer. I hope you enjoy it! If you're having trouble with the accented speech, see the note I put in at the bottom for a little bit of help

Chapter 25

Far, far away across the horizon and beyond where the sun set, an old stone shovel and pickaxe hit the soft, orange sand. Two very rugged creatures called Nol and Xoer emerged from their equally weathered ship, the Runty. Dawn was still at least two hours away and Nol and Xoer knew very little about the land that they had just landed in. One thing they did know was that they were in trouble. The previous night was one of their toughest challenges yet. They had found land and were flying over what appeared to be an immense desert when something terrifying happened...

Nol spun the propeller crank hard to keep their airship moving in the motionless air. Meanwhile, Xoer was trying to get a grasp on where they were, but ultimately decided that it was useless. They had just traveled off the edge of his last map and they were flying blind. The night was still young however and supplies were plentiful, so like their balloon, Nol and Xoer kept their spirits up.

Nol peered out over the horizon at an endless expanse of the same dunes just repositioned to look differently. "Hurr, twould be noice if'n thurr was a noice breeze t' 'elp push uz along, hurr oi." His mongoose friend leaned against the edge with his arms folded for support. He looked to the East from where they had come and could no longer see the sea.

"We could try making a landing tonight and resting up. What do you think?" he said.

"Hurr, oi doan't loike et. Et's bettur that we travel as much as we can afore ee sun roises an' et gets too hot! Deserts ne'er be 'ospitable, hurr no." replied Nol. He turned to the side away from his friend and coughed.

"Ye alright, mate? Been coughing a lot lately."

Nol continued to cough, "Oi be's foine zurr, jus' ee droi air gettin' t' me... Yurr, switch off wit' me." He moved towards the tiny cabin in the middle of the ship and began coughing into a red polka-dotted hanky. Though he said nothing, Xoer could have sworn that he saw, over Nol's shoulder as he retreated into the cabin, that one of the scarlet dots looked more like a splatter than anything else.

But perhaps it was only his imagination. After all, it was dark out.

<><><><><>

It happened several hours later. Xoer had switched shifts at the crank with Nol again and they were making good progress. Dawn was still a ways away and the two pressed on through the night, keeping each other awake with stories and miscellaneous chitchat. The desert seemed to go on for eternity in all directions. They thanked the heavens that they were not crossing it on foot. Nol peered out over the edge. This sense of flight and viewing the entire world from above was still something spectacular. To think that one could see the entire world, then go back through to see it from the air like it was all new again. He thought about what it must have been like to sail with the crew of the Seaspark and travel the great Western Seas in search of pirates. What a gift it must have been to live such a carefree life, Nol would often think. But then he thought about Leonardo. He was the tragic result of a life at sea and though Nol had heard the "official" story of the crew's adventures in Cavern Hole on late nights, he had also heard the rumors and bits and pieces of what were speculated to be the real story. It tended to make some abbey dwellers nervous when around Leonardo. And why wouldn't it? To think that the same creature talking to the voice in his head had also 'brutally slain his own crewbeast and pushed his own friends for days on end without rest.' Such vicious qualities did make him feared, but also a curiosity attraction, and with that sometimes came a burden.

Nol's train of thought was cut off by Xoer, who exclaimed, "Hey buddy look straight ahead, I think I see mountains!" They squinted at the massive sight stretching almost from East to West in front of them.

"Er, those mountains be's vury oddly shaped, zurr. An' whoi be they's coomin' towards uz so quickly if'n ee ground be's moving differently 'neath uz?" It was then that the two realized it. Those were no mountains. It was an enormous wall of sand, sweeping across the desert with a sound that grew until they could feel it deep in their chests. It was fast, as if it were being launched from a volcano, and it stretched from the ground to altitudes higher than even their balloon. Terror had little time to grip them before the sandstorm was upon them. Everything was happening with lightning speed. The sand whipped around them and stung their faces like shards of glass. It was absolute chaos, Xoer could only understand what was going on in short bursts:

Being blown to the deck

Shielding his eyes from the sand.

"Quickly zurr, we need t' land!"

Pouring water on the fire and shutting the furnace.

Trying to grab the spinning propeller crank.

Smashing his paw on the handle.

Nol's titan-strong paws steadying the crank.

Sudden backward lurching.

Falling to the deck again

Sand in his eyes.

The balloon flipping over.

Yelling.

Spinning, spinning, spinning.

Choking on sand.

Vomiting.

White-knuckled paws.

Howling wind.

Waking up in the sand. The ship is nearly buried.

"Nol, buddy can you hear me?!"

<><><><><>

damn the Merchant was a skinny, dark furred mouse. He moved across the newly formed desert on the back of his fennec fox, Haldo. He and his caravan of similarly looking travelers moved slowly through the wasteland in long-sleeved clothes to keep the dust and sand off. They had to tread carefully, lest they awoke any of the desert's many hunters. They were heading towards a town by the name of Baala, a large and wealthy desert settlement. They would make some good profits trading there.

Suddenly a shape at the summit of a great sand dune caught damn's eye. Haldo stopped and damn put his paw up to signal the rest of the caravan to do the same. "Palo, ahp front." The creature Palo, another mouse with dark fur rode forward, spyglass in paw.

"ees et a nightcrawler?" he said nervously, rubbing the hilt of his curved sword.

"eet es hard to dell. Eet's staying very steel. Perhaps eet's waiting for ahs?"

damn continued to look at the shape at the top of the dune. It did look like a nightcrawler in the heat. But then again, so did everything else. "I cannot dell eef dose are eets claws and barbed tail or someting else. Should we look closair?" Without waiting for Palo to reply, damn urged his fox forward up the dune. Palo started after him but trailed behind. It was always dangerous to go first in the desert. He slowed to a stop about halfway up the dune and braced himself to turn back.

"Palo, eet's some travelers. Bring water, dey need help, quickly!"

Water was quickly brought up the dune along with the rest of the caravan. The mice crowded around the fallen travelers like they were an exhibit. For if they were dead, that meant that they could take what they wished and sell it in town. Though it seemed cruel, it was the way of life for desert wanderers.

"Look at de size of that creature's claws! Dey must be made out ahf pure ivory, we're reech!"

"Not yet. Dey are steel breathing, see?"

"Look here, dis one hunted serpents!" the mouse indicated a necklace made of fangs wrapped around the creature's neck and began to reach for it.

"No, do not touch eet, dat ees taboo! De teeth could still carry de venom."

"But de serpents are nearly immortal. How could he have killed so many?"

The creature gave a groan and they all stepped back. "Quickly, grab me de water." Said damn and he began wetting the creature's lips. "Eet es okay my friend, you are een good care now."

The creature stirred and opened his eyes with a groan. "Oagh, where am I?"

damn replied, "You are een de Mokaba Desert. Eet appears dat you were robbed and left out here. Eet es a good ting dat we stumbled upon you, friend. You would have cerdainly passed had we not arrived."

"Who are you? What d' ye mean we were robbed?"

"You talk very funny. Where are you frahm?"

"Name's Xoer, me an' Nol 're from Mossflower, far west o'er th' sea. Where's he got to?"

"I do not know who Nol is. Perhaps he is de fierce looking creature lying behind you wid de ivory claws?"

Xoer turned around just as Nol was being revived. He coughed and sputtered, then began coughing again violently. "Nol, buddy, you alright?" said Xoer.

Nol was patted on the back to help his coughing subside and he looked about and rubbed his head. "Hurr, aye. Oi be's ookay."

damn and his fellow merchants mumbled to each other upon hearing Nol's voice. "Er, what be's ee problem, zurrs? Who be's ye?"

damn rubbed his chin with a paw and looked at Xoer, "What language does dis creature speak? I cannot understand what he ees saying." Though his head was throbbing, Xoer managed a laugh and replied,

"Heh heh, that's jus' how he talks, right Nol?"

Meanwhile, Nol was also scratching his head, "Er, Oi doan't be's thinkin' that these creatures yurr speak ee same language as us. Hurr, nope."

Xoer stood up and brushed himself off, "I s'pose that I'll be serving as interpreter, then. At least 'til you lot figure out how t' understand each other's accents! Say, would you mind helpin' us out? Our ship crashed an' we need supplies to get goin' again. Is there a town nearby or somethin'?"

damn's face cleared up, "Oh, I see. You were never robbed, you were only stranded and ran out of supplies! But how did you manage to get dis far inland?" The very slight difference in the way that these creatures spoke made them hard to understand even for Xoer. They put emphasis on different syllables and spoke with a more sharp and concise format. They joined words together fewer times than normal and would sometimes replace 'th' sounds with 'd' sounds and the like. In addition, they seemed to speak significantly faster than Nol and Xoer did, which only added to the difficulty of understanding.

"We... er... Flew in a balloon. We crashed in a sandstorm an' have been wandering ever since. It's a long, long story."

"You are a hunter ahf serpents?" one of them said, pointing at the fang necklace around Xoer's neck and his snakeskin wear. The others looked on nervously for a reply.

"Er, that's right."

"How do you do dat?" another one said.

"Kill snakes? You sure are a curious lot. Who are you?

damn stepped forward and introduced himself and the others around him. There were almost ten in all, all mounted on top of odd looking foxes that could not speak and had enormous ears. "We are merchants looking to head into de settlement east of here called Baala. Would you like to cahm with ahs?"

Xoer turned to Nol, "They offered to show us to a village nearby, let's go." Nol nodded his head and smiled. Turning back, Xoer smiled but was cut off by damn before he could say anything.

"Ah, ah, ah. Not so fast, my friends. You see, life een de desert ees rough. We will show you de way, but I cannot do eet for free." He said rubbing his paw claws together to show that payment would be necessary.

Nol did not need to understand in order to get the message. "Hurr, oi knew et wus too gudd t' be true, hurr. What be's they wantin'?" Xoer repeated the question and damn replied.

"Serpent skin ees rare and very difficult to find. We will show you de way in exchange for de tunic."

"Then what will I wear?" replied Xoer, clearly frustrated with having to give up such a prized possession. He was not about to bargain for a better deal, not after they had just been saved by these creatures.

Gorham walked to his saddle and then pulled out a pair of large trousers and an old purple tunic. "Wear dis, eet es more dan you had. Fair trade?"

As if we have a choice Xoer thought to himself and he gave them his tunic. Gorham smiled and put it on. It was far too big, but he did not seem to mind the least bit.

"Very nice. Okay, you can ride wid us."

The caravan set out once more in the direction of Baala. As Xoer rode on the same fennec fox as Gorham, he could not help but ask, "Say, have you beasts ever heard of a group o' creatures called 'The Hooded Ones'? They have something we need."

Gorham looked back at the odd looking mongoose with silver-like fur. "You should avoid dat kind ahf talk in de Mokaba. It will only get you killed."

Xoer smirked; they were on the right trail!

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So that's where Nol and Xoer were all this time! You didn't think i forgot about them, did you? It just takes a while to get places, even in something as fast as an airship! I'm going to wait a bit before explaining what the nightcrawlers were. You'll find out soon enough
But when reading the accents, think of reading it in an Indian accent (as in the Indian sub-continent). I had fun writing in it, but personally I find accents a bit tough so bear with me if it's a bit difficult to read.
And who the heck are the Hooded Ones?!

Any other questions/comments? Leave them down below
Next chapter will be up in 48 hours so stay tuned!

[The Skarzs]

Sweet! I don't have much to say other than it was another good chapter. I've got a hunch as to who the Hooded Ones are, but I'd rather wait and see.
The accents were well done, and not too hard to understand either.
I'm excited for the next chapter!

[Feles]

Chapter 20- "get a load of this"
EGGMAN 

[The Skarzs]

What?

[Feles]

In sonic, when you fight Eggman in the final boss fight in one game, He will CONSTANTLY say
"Get a load of this!"
type it in on youtube, that will come up

[The Skarzs]

Oh.

[Captain Tammo]

@Rake: Hahaha though a lot of the time I do use little references to other songs, poems, movies, books and other works, I didn't have that one in mind while I was writing it! Though there's a bunch of tiny references around. For example, I drew inspiration for a scene with sister Meridee in chapter 24 from a scene in a movie called Pearl Harbor. Or in a song coming up in chapter 26, I draw inspiration from a song by David Bowie called "Ashes to Ashes". When Osu was describing the Sazaar, she said they were creatures that became addicted to their powers like opium. I drew inspiration for that line from Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth. These things are all over the place, but not usually obvious references.

Just a quick announcement for you guys who are reading this as I post: I'm going to be gone for 9 days (I get back the 18th) and I don't think that during that time I will have access to the forum. So we may not have any chapters going up for a bit. But if you'd like, I'll post a couple extra chapters at once when I'm back to make up for it

Again, I may have internet but I'm not exactly counting on it. So we'll see and hope for the best

[The Skarzs]

Not a problem. Heck, I have huge gaps in the time between my chapters. You can upload them if you want, but I don't mind the wait. (Dunno what others think)

[Feles]

Nightcrawlers are connected to the hooded ones in some way
im sure of it

[Captain Tammo]

Here's the next chapter!

Chapter 26

"There it is lads, the great Northern Mountains. We're nearly there!" Said Maximus triumphantly. The rest of the group, who were all trailing behind, looked up to see the great wall of rocks reaching for the clouds like wolves' teeth chasing sheep. The caps of the mountains were ever-white with snow, and the bases were orange, red, yellow and brown with the coloring leaves of autumn.

"We shood make et to th' base oof th' range bah nightfall. We'll make camp there an' set oot for th' Western Cloud Bowl on th' morrow." Said Osu. She had decided to accompany the group on their quest, seeing as it would take her back home as well. Tarsl Grudd, Brian and Jacques decided to remain in Molguvar, however. Seeing as now the Flitchaye were no longer a threat to the area, some much needed supplies for expansion would be able to flow back into the settlement and would need some extra paws available in order to help.

Dassiter shivered, "Heh, I can feel th' mountain air already! Well mates, I guess we better get goin'. Jus' because we have all day doesn't mean we should take it all."

"How's about a song t' speed us along?" Said Kiril.

"I will sing!" said Gorm.

"Oh no you won't!" said Ronar. "Your singin' 's worst than your cookin'! Seasons forbid you ever do both at the same time. Osu, can you sing?"

Osu nodded, "Ah suppose that ah can give et a shot! Though ah must warn ye, I've doon't sing too often." She lifted her eyes up and thought for a song to sing. "Oh, here's one! Et's a pretty song an' an old tale aboot fate that we used t' sing oop North. Et's called 'The Ballad of Old Lo', an' et goes soomthin' like this..."

Osu's thick highland accent seemed to melt away in the song and her voice come out crystal clear. The travelers listened fondly her beautiful voice as the story unfolded...

In the frozen heart,
Of Fort Firestone,
He was slaved all day,
Now nothing but bone.

The old Captain Lo,
Was captain no more,
With a crew made up,
Of the great of yore.

A creature once hailed,
Now gone with the days,
Even those we loathe,
Were once the most praised.

'What happened to him?'
They bantered Old Lo.
'He's up in heaven's high,
Hitting an all time low!'

All around Old Lo,
Voices jeered at day,
That the best of him,
Had all gone away.

The night no better,
The voices din't cease,
It turned him bitter,
He could find no peace.

Lo longed a return,
To his rank at sea,
Lapping waves to hear,
The warm sun to see.

'What happened to him?'
They bantered Old Lo.
'He's up in heaven's high,
Hitting an all time low!'

So to get freedom,
Lo planned an escape,
It'd take him far'way,
And back to the cape.

When Lo reached his out,
His tears made him choke,
He'd beaten Firestone,
And its deadly smoke.

Smoke so sweet at first,
They're all just like saints,
But 'twas a foul lie,
They're just gilded hate.

'What happened to him?'
They bantered Old Lo.
'He's up in heaven's high,
Hitting an all time low!'

Then he threw his name,
In a shallow grave,
And went on his way,
A free beast that day.

Two years down the road
Again in Firestone
Not a slave, nor Lo,
He'd become much more.

But no more is known,
What became of Lo?
Did he save the slaves,
Or was he their foe?

'What happened to him?'
They bantered Old Lo.
'He's up in heaven's high,
Hitting an all time low!'

They ended up arriving at the base of the Great Western Mountains just as the sun was dipping behind the nearest peak. Camp was set up and everybeast was sitting around a fire. However, none of them talked. It was frigid by the mountains and it seemed like the fire ate the wood quicker when it was cold out. The travelers all huddled together. Something was off; they were afraid. For there, over however many peaks there were between them and the shores of Mossflower, lay a secret that was waiting to be unveiled. Throughout their days traveling north after departing Molguvar and their friends, Osu's stories of the Sazaar had time to sink into their heads. And while they all thought it to be ridiculous, there was something about it that seemed to stick into their minds. Certainly their passage through the mountains and the Western Cloud Bowl would be relatively uneventful. But what if?

"Hey Gorm, we need more wood for the fire. Would you go grab some more?"

"Nah, don't bother that ole bum, he's just drunk an entire bottle of that hard cave water the moles gave us." Said Maximus with a laugh, "Look at 'im, snug as a bug in a rug, sleeping by the fire hugging an empty bottle like an infant, hehehe. I'll go grab some." Among the laughs that followed Maximus got up and walked towards the wooded base of the mountains.

There was no shortage of wood at the edge of the tree line, but much of it was wet and would only make more smoke. "Eh, I bet it's just the run-off makin' them wet. I'll try higher up." He said to himself. As he made his way up the side of the mountain, the trees began to take on new shapes in the dark. They were no longer the comforting shelter near the campfire. Now their numerous branches curved inward as if to devour passer byers. The roots dove in and out of the ground at odd angles as if they were to grab at the footpaws of lost or wandering travelers. Many of the tree trunks themselves seemed as if they were hollowed out by the way that they whistled and moved in the wind. He half expected a great screech owl to swoop down and take him by surprise. The farther in Maximus walked, the more foreboding and ominous his surroundings became. They were beginning to look less like the wooded area that he saw from a distance and more like a bad dream that he needed to wake up from.

The trees jutted out at every angle, though the wood was dry. After scooping a load with his long arms, Maximus began to head out. Now there was now a new problem that presented itself: he was lost. "No big deal, Maximus. Just head downhill and walk around the mountain 'til you find the group." He would not not have admitted it, but Maximus was scared. He made his way through the trees until he came into a moonlit clearing with a grand pile of boulders at one side, presumably from a rock slide in the past. It was a soft, grassy patch. Like a scar on the mountain where trees would not grow back. Maximus was mesmerized by the beauty of the scene... and in the midst of such a terrifying location! He looked around as he passed through, turning around towards the end to look up at the peak of their first mountain they would cross the next day.

What he saw froze his blood. Higher up on the mountain, standing right at the summit of the pile of boulders was the unmistakable shape of a creature. It appeared to be of a tall size and stood motionless in the moonlight with a long staff in its paw and a masked face looking out over the land at the moon. It appeared as clear as the day and looked scarecrow-like in appearance with straw clothing colored purple, yellow, black and red. Its face was hidden behind an enormous mask shaped like a creature from a nightmare. The mask started at a point below the chin and went up on both sides of the face in a 'V' formation and continued up into two twisting horns that reached at least another head length above where the real head would have ended. The horns then stopped at their points and plunged back downward into another 'V', which exposed a fraction of the creature's face. Different swirling shades of purple, orange, yellow and red with a mixture of the moonlight played tricks on Maximus' mind and caused it to appear to be moving around like contained smoke. The staff in its paws was long and they held it to their side at an angle away from vertical. At the top was no point, but rather a large knot that reminded Maximus of a twisted paw.

He did not dare make a noise, though every fiber of his being was screaming to do so. Clearly this creature had not seen him yet, and the young otter had every intention to keep it that way. He crouched down in the grass but never took his eyes off of the creature standing guard over its mountain. Maximus thought back to the night that he and Xoer snuck down to the beach on Amijowi to spy on the beached ship. Slither n' slide! He thought to himself. He changed his gaze and focused all of his energy on getting out of view without bringing any attention to himself. Setting the firewood he had gathered down, he slid himself gently across the downward sloping clearing and tried to mimic every move that he had seen Xoer do that night on the beach. It was agonizingly slow and tense the entire way to the other side of the clearing. Even the small distance to safety seemed miles away from Maximus. Inch by sluggishly tense inch Maximus slid forward, circling around every stone and stick in his path until finally he was well out of the clearing. Standing up with a bit of a victorious hop, Maximus dusted himself and looked behind to where the creature stood.

Rather than finding what horrifying figure he had hoped to see, he saw something worse: the creature was not there. Terror gripped Maximus by the neck and shook him about. Had it seen him or did it leave? It was like trying to sleep in a room that, somewhere in the shadows, also hid a poisonous spider.

Backing away slowly, Maximus turned around and was met face to face with the mask of the creature. It let out a heart-stopping shriek and lurched itself towards Maximus as if to hit it. The young otter flinched and fell back with a yell. When he opened his eyes and looked up again, the creature was gone. Only some autumn leaves filled its place as they were carefully swept away by the frigid breeze. Beforehand, those vibrant leaves of yellow, red, orange and brown served as a source of comfort for Maximus with their warm hues. Now the sight of them could only make him think of the masked scarecrow figure's clothes.

Launching himself to his feet and swinging his spear from off of his back, Maximus tumbled through the foliage with a yell and fell straight into the camp where the rest of his friends were. "It's after me, help!"

Immediately weapons flashed in the moonlight and the travelers were up in arms forming a barrier between Maximus and the wooded base of the mountain. Dassiter took a few paces back to where Maximus still lay on the ground facing the trees propped up on his elbow.

"Maximus, what happened? Who's after ye?"

"Was it vermin?" added Marius

Maximus struggled to find the words to say. He tried multiple times, but it was as if his tongue had been tied in a knot.

"He's in shock, Ellyvin. Help 'im out, will ye?" said Dassiter. He then returned to his original spot in the line. His cutlass flashed in the bright moonlight as he moved around waiting to see what would emerge from the trees.

"There, there, Maxi. Take deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth. There you go, just like that. Now sit up, don't worry you're safe with us. Good, now tell us what you saw."

The image of the mask was burned into Maximus' mind like a new brand. He shook his head violently and tried again to get the words out. However, it all fell out as messy sound. There was, however, one word that Ellyvin could understand, "Sazaar!"

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0.o Sazaar exist?!
So i hope you liked this chapter. I'd love to hear any thoughts you had about this chapter in particular. Old Lo seems to have a striking similarity between another character in this story, I think. A once great captain now somebeast laughed at trapped in "fort firestone". But there was a line in there that mentioned "a crew made up of the great of yore" that I included to sort of say something. This crew (who I am assuming you know ) isn't all that they used to be, either, I think. Sure they may be good fighters and adventurers, but I feel like even if nothing is specifically mentioned to be missing from them, there still is that gap and it's up to the reader to see that themselves.

[Captain Tammo]

I'm going to put my notes at the beginning of this chapter rather than the end...

This is it! We finally figure out who the heck these "Hooded Ones" are! Finally this mini-mystery first mentioned in the earlier parts of Book I will be solved! Let me know afterwords if your guess matched up with the real thing! But there's more than just that part in the chapter, so let me know what you thought about the rest of it below. Were you suspecting Nol's secret all this time or did it come as a surprise? What do you think of Baala and its current situation?

These are just things to think about but please feel free to leave a reply, review, or constructive criticism. They're all welcome

~C.T.

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Chapter 27

Earlier that same day, the caravan strolled into the town of Baala. It was a said to be a bustling community with buildings that were made of clay no more than two floors tall. It had a very foreign feel to what our travelers were used to. The arid heat of the desert was only one of the many things they would have to adjust to. This was an entirely new culture that they had never before seen. Many day to day activities that they were used to in Mossflower would most likely not carry over into this new environment. The creatures that inhabited the area were mostly mice, lizards and toads that were well above average height when compared to creatures back in Mossflower. They walked around with long, baggy clothing (presumably to keep the dust off while staying cool at the same time). Some males sported turbans, which seemed to grow in size as age increased. The females mostly wore long dresses that hid their footpaws, as well as light veils around their faces to keep the sand out of their faces.

Nol and Xoer were dropped off in the middle of the bazaar and the merchants left them.

"Thank you, Gorham. You were very kind to us and we are forever in your debt."
Gorham smiled from atop his fennec fox and rubbed a paw over his new snake-skin tunic, "Eet was a pleasure getting to know you, Mr. Valderez. I weesh you de best ahf luck on your journey and I hope dat you find what you are looking for. Goodbye, until we meet again!" With that the caravan left and Nol and Xoer were left alone.

"Well," said Xoer, "I s'pose we should go get some supplies an' start searchin'. Gorham said he was familiar with what we're looking for, but he wouldn't tell me anything about it, thinking it was taboo. I wonder if there's somebeast here that can help us?"

"Hurr, maybe we cudd check ee vittle store? Oi do be's vury 'ungry, hurr, alls oi've eaten since last noight be's sand, sand, an' more sand, hurr yuk!"

The two made their way over to what they assumed was a tavern. It was an open area with a second floor supported by pillars that circled the open perimeter of the first floor. They were brought food and drink by a short mouse with chains around its wrists. Neither felt morally comfortable with it, but the last thing they needed was to be chased out of town for trying to free a slave. It watched longingly as Nol and Xoer ate their food and sipped on desert berry wine.

"Oi carn't take et anymore, zurr! 'ow is a beast s'possed t' eat when thurr be's a slave dyin' roight in front of ye?" said Nol in a hushed voice.

"Careful, mate." Said Xoer, "We don't know what kind of a place this is an' the last thing we need is to draw attention to ourselves."

But Nol was not listening. He beckoned for the slave to come and refill his cup. "Maybe she can give uz some information?" The short mouse refilled Nol's cup and Nol asked, "Can you 'elp uz, marm? We be's lookin' fer a group o' creatures." The little mouse nodded and Nol gave her a piece of his bread. "Lukk, Xoer, a beast who can act'ly unnerstand me!"

"She can't understand a thing you're saying, Nol. She was nodding at the bread you were already handing her. Look, lass," Said Xoer shifting his attention to the little mouse, "We're looking fo—"

"You!" A tall, chubby lizard yanked the slave away from the table. "I'll break your neck you leettle gataan. Did you tink dat I would not see?!" The lizard twisted and lifted the mouse's arm until the bread dropped to the floor.

"That be's 'nough!" Every head in the restaurant turned their heads to see the short creature with the ivory claws pointing its paw at the lizard. "Oi gave 'er ee bread. Let th' little un go!"

The lizard dropped the little slave and she scurried away with the bread in her paws. He approached Nol and put his large, horned head nearly against Nol's unwavering gaze. "I see dat you are not ahf deese parts. You may not speak our tongue, but I do not need to your speech to understand dat you are against me. You should know better dan to speak against Gopi, son ahf Krut!" Creatures all around the restaurant cleared the immediate area. This must not have been the first time in which the restaurant saw violence. Creatures seemed to form a semi-circle about the travelers systematically. This meant trouble.

In a flash, the lizard whipped out a wickedly curved dagger and made a swing at Nol, but was pushed over. Gopi made an awkward tumble into a table and fell to the ground. Above him stood the towering form of Xoer. Gopi was immediately backed by two more of similar appearance, both wielding the same curved daggers.

They charged Nol and Xoer with blades held high. Xoer nimbly dodged around the other, coiling around it with eyes of fire. Every swing that Gopi took at Xoer seemed to only bend around his flexible frame. Xoer had him disarmed and lying on the ground within seconds.

Meanwhile, one that took a swipe at Nol was met with a swift blocking motion and a tremendous blow to the face by his titan-like paws.

The third stood a few paces away from Xoer with two daggers blazing like cyclones. The unnamed lizard danced back and forth, stabbing at the air and throwing various kicks into his dance of intimidation. Finally, he jumped into the air and made two downward strikes at Xoer. The mongoose managed to leap backward just in the nick of time. The blade sliced through Xoer's billowing shirt and his snake-fang necklace fell to the ground. Immediately all motion stopped and every set of eyes was on the necklace. The lizard could hardly believe what he was looking at. With disbelief and a slightly lowered head, he looked at Xoer and then at the necklace again.

"A serpent slayer?" He said with awe. "You are... a serpent slayer?"

Xoer saw the faces of those around him; they were hard to make out. Some were faces of hatred, many of fear, and a pawful of melancholy smirks. "Aye!" Xoer said. "My friend, Nol and I have come here from Mossflower, the land far beyond the Eastern Sea where the sun rises." He hesitated for a moment with what he said next, "We've come in search of the hooded ones."

Utter silence was the reply. He saw one creature begin to cry and was comforted by the beast next to her; not the reaction Xoer had been looking for.

"You were foolish to come here, serpent slayer." Said the unnamed lizard, helping his friends up. "Dee hooded ones bring nothing but death to ahs. But eef you would like to be foolish enough to be dis week's sacrifice, so be it."

"Sacrifice?"

"You deed not lie when you said dat you were not frahm dese parts." A ancient, slim looking bearded dragon stepped forth from the crowd. He approached the two newcomers with eyes that did not blink. He moved cautiously as if trying not to get too close at first, but eventually stood directly in front of them.

"Who are you?" Said Xoer.

"Dey call me Uru dee Horn. But dat ees not important at dee moment. What ees important ees what ees standing een frahnt ahf me. Let me ask you someting, serpent slayer. Mighty warriors have risen up over dee generations to fight dee hooded ones, none have ever been victorious. Dere were warriors who have slain entire armies on deir own, survived for months alone in dee desert, and even de old Baala Militia dat have been slain chasing what you are looking for. What makes you foolish enough to do dee same?"

Before Xoer could respond, Nol launched into a violent coughing fit. Creatures initially dismissed it as nothing, a foreign beast who had inhaled too much dust. That is until they saw tiny dots of fresh blood begin to be spit out with each heaving pulse. Nol hunched over as he struggled to stay breathing with the coughing fit. Xoer was immediately by his side, "Hey, Nol you alright? Nol?"

Nol's coughing continued for a moment in front of the mute set of onlookers. "Hurr, oi be's foine... Jus' a bit o' sand..." He said.

The realization suddenly hit the mongoose hard. "Great seasons, you're still sick, aren't you!" He said with disbelief.

Small amounts of blood continued to eject from his mouth with each cough, lightly dotting the ground and Xoer's footpaws in it. "Oi wasn't agoin' t' let ye leave without me agin... We be's pals, after all."

Xoer was at a loss for words as he held his friend up. "This is why I'm looking for the hooded ones. They carry the cure to my friend's disease."

Uru the Horn shook his head, "You steel do not know what you are getting yourself eento, my friend. Are you certain dat dis is what you wish?" The lizard was right, Xoer really had no idea what challenge he was undertaking. But another look at Nol made him sure of himself.

"Aye. I will find and fight the hooded ones, and I will win. For Nol!" he said.

"Den come wid me. I will show you to de house ahf Serarraptas. You will stay dere until de arrival ahf dee hooded one tomorrow at noon. Fortune bless you, brave serpent slayer, may you rest peacefully." This made Xoer shudder.

As Uru the Horn led the pair away and to the house of Serarraptas, Nol, who had ceased coughing, commented, "Hurr, oi doan't loike ee lukk of et, zurr. Th' hooded uns seem t' be much more fierce in real'ty than in ee legend, hurr aye."

"No worries, mate. If I could take down two adders at once when I was in me prime, then I'm sure I can take down whatever this hooded one is. Sounds like there's only one of 'em 'round today from th' way they were sayin' it... What d'ye think he looks like?"

"Hurr, et cudd be a she."

Xoer gave half a laugh, "I s'pose you're right with that. What do you think they look like?"

"Loike a normal beast, but wiv a hood. If'n they be's thinkin' that moi diggin' claws be ivory, an' yurr snake-skin tunic es loike a king's robe, then a hooded 'un probably is jus' another exaderation, hurr, aye. Jus' a normal beast wiv a hood."

"They said they sacrifice creatures to it every week. I bet you that's what all the slaves are for. Without them, they'd be killin' themselves."

Nol clenched his paws, "Hurr, Oi'll be doin' somethin' bout that t'morrow!"

"Think again, mate. You're not well the least bit. You're staying where it's safe until I get back with the medicine. Do you not remember how bad it got last time? You could hardly move! An' don't forget that we still have to get back to the abbey so they can mix the thing up. You'll help best by staying put. Activity will only make the disease spread faster an' I'm not risking it. Understand?"

As the trio walked through the town streets, our travelers began to get a better sense for what the town really was: dying. Buildings appeared fine and sturdy on the surface and all of the creatures seemed well enough, but it was a gilded society that was hiding true poverty. Young ones wandered the streets with bruised footpaws, elders sat around waiting for either death or something interesting to happen. They were accompanied by younger creatures who were waiting to rise up and claim their inheritance. The inside of buildings were cramped, cracked and dusty and the sun made it difficult to stay out all day.

"What happened to this place, Uru?" Xoer asked the lizard, "The caravan that brought us into town said that this place was full of wealth."

"Dee hooded ones happened. Dis town has not seen wealth een generations. I am surprised dat you deed not see de poverty een de market. Very few shops are steel open."

"Why did they take over?"

"Because dey could."

"Why don't they stay here?"

"What would make a god want to leeve among deir mortals? Baala was once called de jewel ahf de desert. Beasts would flock from all parts ahf dee world to see eets bustling streets. But when de hooded ones came and established deir rule, creatures began dying. Leeving een Baala was like leeving een a coffin. See dose elders on de side of de street? None of dem are older dan forty seasons, but dey look as ancient as de sand. Dat is what Baala has become."

Xoer could hardly believe what he was hearing. He was older than the elders and must have been in a condition better than even the young ones of the settlement. Fear began to grip him. "How many hooded ones are there today?" He asked just to be sure.

The lizard replied without looking back from where he was going, "Just de one. But she will have young ones someday soon. Den we will need more den one sacrifice per week because dere will be more ahf dem to sacrifice to."

"Why don't creatures just leave, then?" He questioned.

"Dere is no place to go to. Many ahf dee surrounding settlements have died out. Buried with de rest of de desert... We have arrived. You and your friend may stay here tonight. Eet es where all ahf dee sacrifices stay. Fortunes aid you, serpent slayer, dee greatest ahf warriors. We will be watching tomorrow at noon in de Bazaar. Good night and rest een peace."

As the lizard left, Xoer felt compelled to add. "What kind of creature is this hooded one?"
Uru the Horn stopped in his tracks but did not turn around. "You will see soon enough, my friend." With this, he was gone.

<><><><><>

The house of Serarraptas was like a palace inside. It was one room but decorated like a crown. Not a single space of the house was empty of jewels, tapestries, and carpets. Nol looked around at the spectacle and while Xoer smiled at the sight, Nol's eyes filled with tears. The mongoose lounged on a red velvet sofa that was rimmed with precious gold and jewels. Nol picked up an emerald encrusted chalice, "As if this wudd make oop fer et!"

Xoer did not quite understand. He put his paws up and gestured at their surroundings, "What're ye talking about mate? I would've settled for ten times less!" He dodged the chalice as it flew over his head. "Whoa—whoa, calm down mate! What's wrong? C'mon, sit down an' relax. You need to rest up an' stay healthy, remember?"

"I ain't sittin' thurr. This ain't no castle. Et's a prison, Xoer!" He walked to the door and tried opening it only to find that it was locked. "See! There's be's a reason that them creatures put uz in yurr. Et's s'posed t' some'ow make oop fer dyin' at th' paws of a creature when th' sun roises again. Jus' think o' the poor creatures that passed through this same 'ome." He shook his head and heaved his chest, "All th' wasted loives, Xoer. Ev'ry week fer gen'rations they've been killin' young uns an' slaves t' keep ee hooded uns away from yurr. An' there you be, loungin' loike you be's royalty when thurr be's dyin' creatures outsoide! Get offer yurr tail, Xoer. We're bustin' oot of yurr an' spreadin' ee wealth!"

"Sit down, Nol. We're not goin' anywhere until they want us to."

"'ow can ye say that when ye 'aven't e'en troid yet!"

Xoer ate some grapes, "How many beasts d' you think tried to escape?"

Nol looked around and saw his point. He did not like it, but he was stuck there until noon the next day. He sat down on a feathered bed with silk sheets and stared at a wall. Xoer shifted himself to a cross-legged position on a pillow and began meditating.

There was enough food to last a month.

<><><><><>

Xoer was convinced noon would never come. He passed a sleepless night pacing back and forth in front of the door, meditating, dosing, drinking wine and eating berries that were either small because of the heat, or because they were picked far too early. By the time that morning finally came, Xoer was feeling anxious. Slowly the time crawled by and the room became warm. Nol did not say anything until he heard the door unbolt.

"Ready?" Was all he said.

Xoer rolled his neck and jumped on the tips of his footpaws. "As ready as I'll ever be I s'pose."

"Will ye get a weapun?"

"Was never one to use 'em. Nature's given me a nice set as it is: tooth an' claw."

The door opened and two toads entered the room accompanied by a tall, dark mouse and Uru the Horn. "I hope dat you know what you are getting yourself eento."

"Too late to go back now." He replied.

The mouse only shrugged and Xoer followed them along with Nol.

"Ho no, you're stayin' right here!" the mongoose said.

But Nol would have nothing of it, "Hurr, you've already one enemy t' face t'day Mr. Valderez. Oi suggest ye doan't make a secund! Naow I be's a goin' an' that be's foinal!" Xoer made no further argument. And though he did not show it, he was glad to see that Nol would be going with him.

They got back to the Bazaar right as the sun hit noon. Xoer was not given any time to say a few words to his friend. Instead, Nol was ushered away among the first cries saying "She's coming!" This was followed by an organized panic. Creatures fled to the surrounding buildings and shut their door and windows tight. Everybeast was present, but none were seen. Xoer picked up some sand and rubbed it in his paws until it was all gone. This was it. The result of his now eleven seasons of searching for the hooded ones was about to pay off. He could feel the eyes of the onlookers circling around him like buzzards.

Then he saw something come from around the bend. It was big, one of the longest things he had ever seen, at least twice the length of the biggest adders of Mossflower, it was still coming around the bend by the time it reached him! It slithered forward with eyes ablaze and Xoer fixed his feet on the ground. Snake fighting was Xoer's life, but was this even a snake? He now understood why the locals referred to it as godlike and snake-slayers as the greatest of warriors.

"Come to me my ssssssweet prey. Let me give you the kisssssssss of death!" Its voice seemed to come from within Xoer's head. How could something be so loud like thunder yet not even make a sound?

The brave mongoose pointed his paw at the great serpent and said with a mighty tone, "I am Xoer Valderez, Snakeslayer of the Great Land of Mossflower, and I'm here to put an end to your reign over this town!"

The creature was taken aback. "You dare opposssssse me?!" She said and raised her head off of the ground and into the air, higher, higher than even the buildings that surrounded her.

Then something happened. From the edges of her terrifying head emerged a great hood, and with two more eyes on either side! "Foolissssssssh beassssst, you have ssssssealed Baala'ssssss fate by challenging me. None have ever sssssurvived a quarrel with me, for I am Ssserarraptasssss, Cobra Queen of the Hooded Onesssssss!"

[Captain Tammo]

Chapter 28

The remainder of the night passed at a crawling speed for the travelers going to Vydra. Maximus was eventually able to describe to his friends what he had seen and many believed that it was indeed the Sazaar. Who else could it be? It matched the exact description of the legend Osu had told them when they were still traveling to Molguvar. The night continued onward, playing with the travelers' heads with its moon shadows and cold winds blowing leaves of the same color as the Sazaar's mask. They slept in shifts and since there were seven of them (not counting Gorm, that is), they took turns for one hour each.

None of them were able to sleep, though. Adrenaline still coursed through their veins despite how weary they knew they were. They merely laid down around their now dowsed fire in a ring and scanned the trees with restless eyes that were being weighed down with sleep. They were all up and broke camp an hour before dawn the next day. After a quick breakfast (and getting Grom back up on his paws again), they reluctantly set out for the mountains with Osu leading the way.
The hiking was actually pleasant and relatively uneventful. As they ascended, the trees became smaller and smaller and the ground turned from soft dirt to an arid, rocky face. As they emerged past the tree line, the entire mountain opened up. The travelers turned behind them and saw the Great Western Plains in all its splendor and entirety. It covered the land like an empty canvas with rolling green hills and a crisp blue sky. No clouds made their appearance on the scene; supposedly many of them had not made it over the mountains from the sea.

"Such a great expanse of land and the amount of time it took to cross it all... It's like we're ants." Said Maximus.

"Hoy, Osu! Will we be crossing ze summit of ze mountain, or is zere a pass we are going to take?" Said Gorm.

Osu continued to lead the pack by a long way, even with her heavy broadsword and haversack slung across her shoulders. She replied back in her thick northern accent, "Et'd be a good idea tah soomit d' first mount'in soh we can get a better feel for where we need tah goh. T'wont take buut an' hour or soh frahm here. Then we will keep marchin' an' eat on th' goh. The less time we spend in these parts, th' better!"

Nobeast objected, so they pressed onward up the rocky face, spurred forward by both excited motivation and a hint of newfound fear for the mountains since the previous night. They reached the mountain's peak before noon. Though Osu had initially advised against it, they took a brief break anyway. They had underestimated the energy they would need to hike over the mountains. Seasons of seafaring had kept most of them fit, but they were inexperienced in nearly everything else outside of that (with the exception of Maximus and Osu, that is). They sat around and looked at the mountains that lay before them. It was not terribly long to the sea, but it would take them at least until the following day's night to get across it, and that was assuming there were no complications.

Maximus looked at the great map he had originally left his home with. There was so much more new area that had been explored and filled in. How far he'd come! He traced with his paw the path that his journey had taken him: down the coast to the waters just south of tall rocks, waking up on Hsif-Drows, taking the Nol and Runy all the way to the tear-shaped western isle of Amijowi, to the Far East and the abbey of Redwall, up through Mossflower woods, Molguvar, the River Moss, the great plains, and now finally the Western Mountains, just a smidge away from where he had started. He thought about how much he had grown. Before his journey, he was naïve, shy and dependent on others. He was spoiled and perhaps a bit snarky. But now, he no longer had that innocence and viewed everything differently. He had stared death in the face multiple times: corsairs, Deamal, a storm at sea adrift without a ship, isolation, Leonardo, the Flitchaye, and the creature from the previous night... Was it really the Sazaar, or was it all just in his head? Was the obsession of getting home becoming something more? Was he becoming what Leonardo had become?

The sudden fear of the possibility swept over Maximus' body. He thought deeply about it for a moment, allowing the chitchat of the others to pass over his head. He looked for something to reassure himself, to show that he was not all different.

"... right Maximus?" said Kiril's voice.

The young otter whipped back to his reality and looked around at the creatures staring at him. "Er... What?" he said with a light laugh. The others laughed along with him.

"Ah, forget it. Wasn't anythin' important anyway." Kiril said.

"Haha, jus' like ev'rything else he has to say." Added Ronar.

It was then that it hit Maximus. These creatures had become a family to him. Yet at the same time, he was putting them in harm's way to see if his family at Vydra was alive. Was it truly worth the risk? He loved his family at Vydra, but if none of them were still there, was he just risking losing his newfound family, too? He immediately found himself at a fork in the road. Should he call the search off for the safety of those around him, or should he press onwards on the off chance that Vydra was still alive? Would the rest of the journey even be dangerous? Did the Sazaar actually exist or was he simply going mad like Leonardo?

"Hey." He said. But nobeast heard him, they were all laughing and talking with the cold breeze drying the sweat on their brows. "Hey!" he said, much louder now. They all turned their heads to the young otter, their conversations forgotten.

"What is wrong, Maxi?" said Gorm in his thick, gravelly voice.

Maximus searched for the right words to say, but gave up and decided on saying exactly what was on his mind. "You don't have to be doing this."

"Doing what?" replied Ellyvin.

He motioned to the area around him, "This. This entire trip! You lot are like family to me, an' these mountains aren't safe. I don't wanna be putting you all in harm's way for something that I'm not even sure exists anymore. It just isn't' right."

There was a pause that followed and the old crew looked around at each other. "This sounds like a familiar topic." Said Dassiter. He got up and dusted himself off. "We best press onward if we're to make it to the shore by tomorrow night. Osu, you find us a route from up here?"

"Aye" Was all she said.

"Alright then. C'mon, everybeast on their feet now. That's an order." They all got up and Osu began leading the way down the western side of the mountain peak. Dassiter approached Maximus, who was still standing on the summit with his map in front of him. The tall hare placed a reassuring paw on his friend's shoulder. "Don't say that, mate, we're with ye to the end."

Maximus was not feeling good about the situation. "Am I going mad, captain?"

Dassiter had already shouldered his haversack and was walking away, following the trail of the others. He replied over his shoulder, "No, you're jus' confused s'all."

Maximus was not convinced however. "Wait!" he said. He hastily rolled up the map around his spear, picked up his supplies and started after the hare. "How can you be sure? I never even told you what I'm thinking!"

"You don't have to. If you are well enough to ask yourself if you're goin' mad, then you're not mad. You're only crazy if you still think you're not."

"But didn't Leo think he was crazy?"

"Yes, an' he still is. But he never once was able to ask himself if he was going insane. He was only able to admit it to himself and those around him."

They kept walking behind the group for a while, talking on the subject. "What do you think is gonna happen to Leo? Is he going to get better?" Asked Maximus solemnly.

Dassiter patted his back and kept his eyes forward. He took a long, deep breath and gave his best reply, "I sure hope so, mate. Losin' a friend ain't easy. I've lost enough already an' Leo was by far the worse..."

<><><><><>

Night came without incident, but was passed in terror. Not from outside forces, but from the slumber of everybeast there. Dassiter and the rest of his former crew tossed and turned with horrors related to the tragedy of the Seaspark, which was, unfortunately, not entirely uncommon among them. Gorm, Kiril, Ronar, Marius, Ellyvin, and Dassiter were all stuck with those memories forever. It would never be easy to be them. The images of their battles and conflicts floated through their head, some more vivid than others. Their first battle, surviving Deamal's raids, Runty Simon L'amour and the rest of the crew that perished, the Saberfin, the final confrontation with the Cry of Amun, losing their friends, watching their captain go mad, the mutiny, their families, isolation, near-death experiences... They were all real creatures, they all had experienced fear.

Osu was also dreaming. She dreamt of her family, their demise, why she had become a wanderer. Everybeast had something that they were ashamed of, even Osu. Tales of magic to lure creatures in, Tammy and Olaf... There were reasons that Osu had left the North. She knew she would return, but never this soon...

Maximus dreamt of his first day at sea. Saying goodbye to his family and holt. Would it be the last time he saw them? He was sailing on the high seas on the Fenero with his friend, Raoul. He was reliving the moment when he was picking up the dining room while Raoul was cleaning in the kitchen. This dream seemed to be a reoccurring theme each night, but it seemed as if he was living it for the first time. Every time, he picked up the same fork, the same cup, pushed in the same chair, yet it was all different. Suddenly there came an astounding crash. Wheeling about, Maximus saw something terrifying. Though it was not the corsair that he would so often remember seeing. This time, it was the masked beast that he saw that first night when they arrived at the mountains. He saw it there, standing on its perch with the staff in its paws and the mask. That sickening mask! It let out a shriek and was immediately inches away from the young otter's face. Another shriek sounded and Maximus came awake with a sudden feeling of falling.

He sat bolt upright as if he had been struck by lightning. But there was nothing there, only his friends lying around the campsite in the Western Mountains. And though the young otter could not see much it in the dark, he knew that it was there, watching him with yellow eyes.

<><><><><>

The next day, the travelers made it to the Western Cloud Bowl at noon. They stood at the edge of a great ridge. Before them, spanning from North to South and a considerable distance across, was an enormous chasm with a fog thick enough to cut with a knife. "Well, this it et." Said Osu. "Ah want yoo all t' tie this 'round yer waists soh we can stick t'gether." She dug out a long rope from her haversack, tied it around her waist and passed it on to the others. "Et shood goh jus' faïne, buut ye ne'er know fer sure, do ye?"

"Here goes nothing." Said Maximus, and they all began to make their descent. Osu led the way, as usual, followed by Dassiter, then Maximus, Kiril, Ronar, Ellyvin, Gorm, and finally Marius as the anchor.

The ground was hard like a tundra and there was a thin layer of snow that covered it like a linen blanket. To everybeast's surprise, there were trees growing in the fog. How they got sunlight and were able to take root was a mystery, one more for the great mountains. The travelers walked deeper into the bowl. Soon, all they could see was the rope in front of them. It became their only way of staying together in the thick fog. The creatures in front would call back to the others following, relaying information of hazards and such.

"There's a big tree limb there, watch out."

"This rock's really loose, be careful."

"Heads oop! Ye got a nasty tree root stickin' oot o' th' ground!"

"C'mon mates, let's pick up the pace. We need t' be well out of here by nightfall!"

Slowly and steadily they made their way through the thick fog, and without incident. Finally, they were met with a great slope leading upwards. "I think this is it, everyone, we've made it!"

Among the cheers that followed from the group, Osu shot their hopes back down, "Ah wooden't say that jus' yet. We Still have t' climb oop th' slope an' down through more fog on th' other side."

Maximus was feeling uneasy again. He could feel something wrong. He could sense the Sazaar watching him, so he decided to voice his gut instinct to the others. "Something's wrong. I don't know what it is, but we need to get moving fast! C'mon, hurry!"

"Hold up, Maximus!" Dassiter stopped him from charging head on into him. "I know what you saw a couple nights back was frightening, but you're jus' runnin' off of a bad memory. Nothin's comin' after us.—"

Dassiter's last word was not heard over the sudden, deafening howl that sounded. The travelers stood as still as statues for but a second. Then Gorm yelled up from the back of the group, "Run!"

They all scrambled up the slope, aided by the fear that was nipping at their heels. The snow made the climb both slippery and physically demanding. Up and up the travelers climbed with the enemy getting louder all the while. They grabbed on to anything that they could use to hoist themselves up: trees, roots, snow-covered grass, the rope in front of them, and divots in the landscape. It made the going quicker but by no means more than slow. Once Osu reached the top of the hill, the ascent became much easier. She pulled Dassiter up, who then together pulled Maximus up, and so on until the last was with them.

The top of the hill also served as the top of the cloud cover and visibility was significantly better. Even still, Marius' tall stature had trouble seeing above the top of the fog.

"C'mon, we can't stay here, we need to get down the mountain afore they reach us!" Said Dassiter.

Kiril wheeled about in all directions whirling his loaded sling above his head. "Who's they?!"

Ronar stood next to his brother and pointed to something coming up the hill. "Hey, what's that light over there... Yagh! Look out!" A short jet of flames came bursting out of the foggy light like a dragon's breath.

"What the bloody hell was that?!" yelled Dassiter. Several more of these fireballs came hurtling out of the fog among many a wild howl. The travelers backed away from the edge of the bowl, unwilling to admit what they all suspected the attackers were.

"We best be getting out of here if we do not want to end up as charcoal. Let's go!" Said Gorm. A flaming arrow buzzed by his spikey head and buried itself in the fog behind him. This was quickly followed by several others that nearly found their mark, and most likely would have had it not been for the cover of the fog.

"Get a barrier built up, we need some cover!" cried Ellyvin. Together the travelers dug up a snow bank. It was not much by any means, but it was better than nothing. Meanwhile, Ellyvin, Kiril, and Ronar unloaded their bow and slings into the glowing lights with only a mild effect.

"Ok team, ideas?" said Ronar as he loosened a rock into the fog. "This isn't really slowing them down much, they'll be on us in no time—whoa!" He ducked as a fireball travelled overhead and continued on down the opposite side of the ridge.

The crew tried to search around for a solution but was limited by the fog. "What if we made a break for it?" Said Gorm.

Maximus did not wait for anybeast else to reply, "No, we wouldn't make it halfway down the mountain before they'd kill us. We need a better solution."

"Well then hurry, they're practically on top of us!" cried Kiril.

Maximus dared a peek over the low snowbank and could now see the foe clearly. It was the same sort of creature that he had seen two nights back at the base of the mountain! They wore unsettling wooden masks. Some were knotted or twisted at odd angles. One had horns coming off of its face, another was shaped into a hare's skull and had a rope necklace that strongly resembled a broken noose around its neck. Certainly the main weapons of these creatures were fear and intimidation.They all had the same scarecrow-like attire and build and, for the most part, had only torches in their paws. Maximus saw as one rose its torch up to the mouth of the mask and launched a fireball right towards him. Ducking down below the small snowbank, Maximus saw multiple arrows fly over his head.

"We need more time, what do we do?!" cried Gorm.

Osu let out a frustrated grunt, "Agh, ah'm sick o' these rikers! Hold tight everybeast, ah'm gonna buy us soom taime!" without wasting another moment, Osu leapt high over the snow wall and charged at the closest Sazaar, dodging fireballs and arrows left, right and center. She grabbed it and spun it around, holding a small sgian dubh at its neck under the mask. "None o' ye move or I'll slay 'im cold!" she shouted.

All motion stopped on the foggy ridge. Osu gritted her teeth and began backing away from the group and back towards the snowbank.

"Why have you returned, theif, to take more of us away?" The voice came from a Sazaar that stepped closer for visibility. They were taller than most of the Sazaar and had had a mask that resembled more of an 'X' pattern than the usual 'V'.

"Doon't twist this around, Crayton. We're jus' tryin' t' pass throo to thee other saïde."

"Great seasons, she knows them!" said Ellyvin in a hushed tone."

"Osu, what's all this about? You told us you didn't know anything about the Sazaar aside from a couple o' myths!" Said Dassiter.

The Sazaar planted its long staff in the ground and addressed Dassiter, "You were a fool to trust this creature. She is a murderer and thief. Hardly a season ago she tried to capture two of our own. When they refused to leave with her, she killed them in cold blood! We Sazaar are a peaceful race, keeping to the confines of our mountains and fog and doing only what we must to keep the enemy away."

Dassiter could hardly believe what he was hearing. He lowered his brow and looked at his friend through the fog. "Osu, is that true? What's really going on here?"

The highlander did not say anything for a few seconds, then took a deep breath and replied for all to hear. "When ah was younger, ah lived in a mountain village by th' name o' Sazaar." Osu could feel this connection hit the others like a ton of bricks, but she continued on. "Me an' mah mate, Crew, 'ad jus' 'ad our first little ones. They were twins, an' they meant the world t' us."

"Tammy and Olaf..." Ellyvin whispered to herself with the realization.

"When our village came oonder attack by vermin, they outnoombered us too much an' most of us were killed off. They thought me fer dead an' ah was dumped intae th' river. Ah awoke with noo memory o' what 'ad happened an' fer many seasons ah wandered th' Northlands searchin' fer mah story. It wasn't until I 'eard th' legend o' the Sazaar that it all came back tae me. I set oot bah meself tae get mah little Tammy an' Olaf back. Ah finally found 'em here in th' mountains jus' outside o' the Cloud Bowl." Osu paused for a moment as tears warmed her cheeks in the frigid air. She pointed the sgian dubh at Crayton "Buut yoo turned 'em against meh! Ah told 'em that ah was their mother an' yoo twisted it all around on meh! Ah had t' give mah little ones their freedom th' best way that ah could an' so ah did!

"What 'appened to ye, Crayton? Ah knew yer mother like she was me own sister an' this is not her son! I knew yoo all."

"Don't try to make me look like the bad guy, Osu. We were living peacefully until creatures like you started showing up!" cried Crayton. His voice grew in volume until he was shouting. "We jus' want t' be left alone. Is that too much to ask for?! Why do you bring more beasts back the second time, eh? Have you come to kill the rest of us off, too?!"

Dassiter could stand it no longer. He ventured forward from behind the bank and extended his paw to Osu. "We're not here to kill." Dassiter said. "We're just passing through and we mean you no harm." He then turned to address his friend, "Osu, we need to get out of here. Leave them, this is what they want! If I've learned anything from watching my own family change on a tiny ship at sea, it's that you can never force a creature to conform... I'm sorry, but your village of Sazaar's gone."

The highlander hare stared at the creatures in front of her. Dassiter was right, these were not the same beasts of Sazaar anymore. They had died the same night that the village was overrun. Swallowing hard Osu dropped her sgian dubh, released the hostage and began walking back to the edge of the ridge.

Crayton stood in the snow watching the travelers disappearing into the grey. He snarled, "No. If they think that they can just waltz on out of here and lead others back to us like some twisted exhibit, they have another thing coming! Let's go." With this, the Sazaar retreated into the fog to regroup and prepare their next offensive.

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This chapter was a bit long, so thanks for sticking with it!
I have to say though of the entire story so far, this chapter was by far the most difficult to write. When I first started posting this topic, I was at the beginning of this chapter and only just a few days ago finished it and figured out where to bring it! Writer's block can be a bit tricky at times but don't worry, we're all set now

What did you think about what Dassiter said to Maximus back there?...
"I sure hope so, mate. Losin' a friend ain't easy. I've lost enough already an' Leo was by far the worse..."

Also, what did you think about Osu's secret? Were you suspecting that there was something more to her story from the beginning?

Also, feel free to leave a review whether it be good, constructive critisism, or a question, all types are welcome

[The Skarzs]

I can't brain very well right now, so I'll make it short.
Awesome chapters! Sorry I haven't read them sooner. I'm extremely excited for what will happen with Xoer and "Ssserarraptasssss". Great name for a cobra, by the way.
This last chapter was very good as well, and make me think quite a bit.
There were times where paragraphs were not indented and beginnings of dialogue not given italics, but other than that, it was easy to read.
Thank you for writing this, and I hope to see more soon!

[Captain Tammo]

Chapter 29

Leonardo Velox Williams' sword was pointed directly at Redwall's gates. Vermin flooded out of the ditch around him and made an attack at the abbey's north and south walls. Among the mob, they carried makeshift ladders made of branches and vine. Leonardo looked directly at the creature on top of the wall and made a wide bowing gesture. "Good day to you, Ms. Jul and my, do you look lovely today! Oh, don't bother with opening the doors for us, we'll let ourselves in..." With this, he walked nonchalantly over to where the southern wall lay with a hop-skip. Jul made an effort to follow, but lost him in the mayhem on the wall top.

The Redwallers fought frantically to keep the vermin at bay. But it seemed that with every ladder that they knocked down or cut loose, two more filled its place. It was like trying to kill a hydra. Skipper Thomm was stopped by Abbess Hannah on the wall top as he ran about issuing orders. "Thomm, what's going on?! What can we do to help?"

Thomm gave a smile, "Stay inside, Mother Abbess. Looks like they're tryin' to get us from both sides this time. We should have enough volunteers to cover both ends jus' fine since there's hardly a score of 'em on each side. Maybe Leonardo isn't the genius we thought he was. His madness may have just worked in our favor!" With this Thomm made his way to the south wall with a group of otters carrying long window poles following closely behind.

Leonardo had found Zane out of patience and with a force that had been considerably depleted. He had shown up at his camp telling him that he was finished with the abbey and it was his for the taking. All he needed was command of the crew and he said he could get them inside within an hour. Naturally, Zane was suspicious about Leonardo's sudden change of heart. But at this point he was desperate for a change; what choice did he have left? Zane had never before lost a war and was determined to keep that record so. However even still, Leonardo's plan did not seem to be working at all. In fact, he was losing creatures at a rate far greater than he had hoped. Zane was assured that though the loss would be great, the reward would be greater. The thought of ruling from the impenetrable fortress was enough to keep Zane going, but he was not happy about it.

Leonardo snuck away from the Devil's Star's crew and circled around to the east wall in the cover of Mossflower's thick woods. It was fairly quiet on this part of the wall, with the exception of a few of sentries standing as lookouts should an attack come from the rear. The main body of the abbey's forces were divided up between where the vermin were attacking along the western sides of the north and south walls. This was all that the tall mouse required. Leonardo paced back and forth in the cover of the shrubbery, staying careful to remain outside of the wandering sentrys' eyes. He was looking for a tree, one that would be able to get him close enough to the wall so that he could jump the gap onto the wall top. Upon discovering a perfect candidate, he emerged from the thicket covered in leaves, vines, and mud.

He produced from around his waist a short segment of dirt-colored rope. He wrapped his paw around one end and threw the other half of the rope around the trunk of the tree and caught it in his second paw such that his arms and the rope made a circle around the tree's trunk. Leonardo slid the rope upwards on the trunk and pulled down on it enough to propel himself upwards. He climbed up the back of the mighty tree by repeating this action, completely hidden from the oblivious wall guards. In no time, he had reached the middle of the tree, just where the lower branches began jutting outward. From then on, it was just like climbing the ratlines of the Seapark again. The cool autumn wind blew through his fur and rocked the tree back and forth. It reminded Leonardo of the Western Sea and he closed his eyes. For a brief moment, Leonardo half expected to be greeted by an expanse of water when he opened his eyes.

Snapping back to reality, Leonardo continued ascending the tree, only moving when the breeze blew as not to draw attention to shaking branches. Finally, nearly ten paces in the air, he reached a level height with the top of the wall. There were three sentries on the wall covering the sides and center. Leonardo was in a tree close to the northeastern edge and in between two sentries. Sneaking would only get a creature so far in this situation. Leonardo needed something a little more to distract the sentries for just a moment so he could get to the wall's northeast tower.

He unraveled the remainder of his rope, which was considerably lengthy, until he arrived at a paw-sized stone tied to the end. Standing behind the tree trunk on a branch out of view from the sentries, Leonardo swung the rope until it was a blur and waited for the wind to pick up again. Once it did, he launched the rope in a straight line into the trees towards the opposite end of the wall, still holding one end. He could only just make out that the rope had wrapped around a distant branch; a perfect stroke of luck! He had thought that it would have taken more than just one shot to get it latched. He tested it while the wind blew and was satisfied with the result. As soon as the trees were silent again, he began tugging on the rope once more. From the perspective of the sentries, it appeared as if somebeast was trying to climb a tree at the far end of the wall. Leonardo smirked as he watched all three sentries walk over to investigate the situation, which was more than enough time for Leonardo to make the leap.

Leonardo Velox Williams had just successfully broken into Redwall Abbey, marking the first step of his plan complete. Next he hid at the corner of the north and east wall top and targeted an outlier. He would need a disguise in order to get any further on the abbey grounds. His current, tattered apparel would get him found as soon as somebeast saw him.

"Hey, you there. Get over here an' gimme a hand with this beast. He's hurt!" He called out, only just loud enough for his target to hear. However, it was not working and the creature was oblivious. Upon closer inspection, Leonardo discovered that it was a large hedgehog. Leonardo smacked his forehead and cursed his misfortune: it was Oliver, the deaf bell-ringer. He would have to find another way.

Just then, a ladder hooked onto the wall top just next to where Leonardo lay hidden around the corner. Perfect! As soon as Oliver made his way over and knocked the ladder down, Leonardo yanked him behind the corner, ignored the foolishness of his own decision as a hundred spikes poked his body, and knocked the beast unconscious with a hard blow to the back of the head. Quickly, Leonardo swapped his habit for Oliver's and left him sitting upright in the concealed corner of the wall top.

Leonardo leaped down the stairs with his hood up and ran towards Great Hall. There would certainly be a large crowd in there, so he would need a plan to clear it out. With all the creatures who were occupied with the wall tops outside, Leonardo found that he would be able to execute phase two of his plan easily. Climbing up onto a tall, stained glass windowsill, he took a peek inside. Sure enough, there were quite a few beasts occupying the area. Martin's sword waited above the tapestry, which was surrounded in particular.

Grabbing a few rocks, Leonardo took a gamble. He threw them in quick succession to give the impression of being several beasts with slings. They crashed through the windows and into the Great Hall among a series of cries and shouts. A few creatures stayed initially, but the area was soon deserted and Leonardo made his move. Entering Great Hall through a side door by the bell tower, he ran in and snatched Martin's sword off of the wall. He was out again before anybeast could notice.

Stowing Martin's sword underneath Oliver's enourmous habit, Leonardo leapt up the stairs and into the infirmary area. It was like stumbling into the pit of hell up there. Wounded lay all over the floor and beds, waiting for death to come and comfort them with its sweet kiss. Leonardo pulled his hood up and walked in mostly unnoticed in all of the confusion. He found his old bed being occupied by a creature with an arrow through his chest. He was already dead.

Leonardo closed the creature's eyes and despite the extremity of the present situation, gave the creature a brief moment of silence and prayer for the unfortunate soul. Next he reached under the bed and pulled out his old red military coatee and dusty boots and buckle.

"Hey, what're you doing in here? Where are you going with those clothes?" Sister Meridee's voice called out to him. Leonardo avoided looking directly at the sister and kept his hood down.

"Er, yes ma'am, jus' takin' these t' the wall tops. Skipper thought it'd be best to wear them to look the part of a commander. Intimidation can go a long way in a battle." He said. To his surprise, Meridee believed Leonardo's bluff and moved on to her next patient. Leonardo changed in the hall and put his habit back on over his outfit.

He managed to sneak back out of the Abbey's central building without any hiccups. Any time a creature questioned his current duties Leonardo would simply keep his head in his hood and claim that he was on his way to the wall top to help out or carry the injured inside.

Leonardo made his way across the lawns of Redwall Abbey towards the gatehouse; step four in his plan to tear down the enemy. He moved briskly, for he had to be right on schedule if it was going to work. Bursting into the main gate's vomitorium, he found two mice armed with sharpened broomsticks inside.

"Get out." He said to them gruffly. The creatures looked at each other puzzled but did not move. Ripping off his hood, Leonardo revealed himself to the two and pointed Martin the Warrior's sword at them. "I said get out.... Now!"

The two mices' eyes nearly burst out of their heads with horror and they scampered out of the vomitorium without another second to consider. Now that he was alone, Leonardo looked at the main gate.

Sister Jul was running through Great Hall and up to the north wall with three other volunteers to collect more wounded when the two mice from the main gate bounded into the building like they were being chased by ghosts. "Help! Help!" They cried.

"Irwen, Angela, what's going on? Have they broken through? Why are these windows broken?!" Said Jul with great alarm.

The two tried to stammer out what they had seen, "It's—i-i-it's—"

"Leonardo!"

"Leonardo, again?"

"Again! It looks like he means business. He's inside the main gate now!"

Jul dropped everything and bolted out the front door with the others in tow. She saw a single figure standing at the abbey's main gate. She called to him, but her voice was drowned out by a large cheer which came from the wall tops.

"Look Jul, the enemy must be retreating!" her assistant said.

Jul looked up at the wall top and the cheering abbey beasts, then back at the shadowed figure standing under the gate. He was doing something to it. "Oh, no." she said, almost quietly and to herself. "No, they're not retreating, Leo's opening the gate for them, look!" She looked up at the creatures on the wall. They would never make it back down and to the gate in time! The burden had just fallen onto the good sister's shoulders. She ran forward with all of her strength; all of Redwall was at stake!

"Leo, close the gate! Please Leo if you're in there you need to close the gate now!" She grabbed him and spun him around. "Leo listen to me— I'm begging you! You need to close this gate now or a lot of creatures are going to die!"

But he would hear nothing of it. He looked the pretty sister straight in the eye and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Jul, you need to get inside the abbey now, it's for the better of things. Trust me. Don't do anything else but get in the abbey, understand?"

"I'm not gonna let you destroy the abbey!"

"I'm not destroying it." He replied, "I'm tryin' to save it. Now get inside!" He said and pushed her away. Jul saw something in his eyes, they were shining. No mist was draped over them like a veil. She knew that this was Leonardo she was talking to and not Simon. And as she ran back to the main abbey building, she hoped that she made the right choice, and even more so, that Leonardo knew what he was doing...

<><><><><>

Zane Crowley's forces were nearly nonexistent at this point. It did not matter how good of a fighter he was if he could not reach his enemy. So he called a retreat and his forces drew back to the ditch, their sanctuary of dirt and worms. Zane was in a fury now. As soon as he saw Leonardo he wanted snap his neck for doing this to him. He should have known better than to trust him with his entire crew. He cursed his stupidity and vowed never to let it happen again. That is until he saw the main gates wide open. He could not believe his eyes. The entire attack was nothing but a diversion so that Leonardo could infiltrate the abbey and open the door for them! With the abbey's forces split and occupied elsewhere, nobeast must have been watching their most vulnerable point. He smiled wickedly and shook his head in amazement at Leonardo, who stood valiantly in the vomitorium clad in his long, red military coatee and brass buckle, just as he had looked on the high seas. It was too good to be true! Here Zane was with less than ten creatures of his crew left alive, all those casualties were acceptable losses now. He raised his long pole-axe and ordered his creatures to charge in and take Redwall.

This was it. Leonardo braced himself for what was about to come. He still had the element of surprise on his side, something that he only had one shot at. He stood right in the end and center of the vomitorium and watched the Devil's Star's crew stampede towards the abbey with Zane's bulky form running farther in the back. Just as the first one was about to pass Leonardo, Martin's sword flashed in his paw and the creature fell slain within nearly a blink of an eye. The others either did not notice or could not stop with their momentum from carrying them forward. Four more were slain by the time that the last bit of the crew realized what had happened.

"Lee, what the devil are ye doin'?!" Zane roared at him.

Leonardo stood crouched in a deep stance with his eyes clear and fixated on the weasel. "I ain't servin' you, Crowley, an' I ain't about to let you take this abbey or its creatures' lives!"

Zane could hardly believe what had just occurred. His face turned as red as the sandstone bricks of the wall and he slammed the butt of his long ax down hard on the ground. "Traitor! You filthy turncoat! I'll have your head on a pike an' your skin as a cloak, you traitorous scum!"

"I thought you'd learned your lesson, Zane. Or did you forget our game of chess? Redwall wasn't going to make it unless a little work was done for the other side. Your reign of terror stops here, Crowley. None have conquered Redwall before and that won't change today!" With this, the vermin attacked. The battle between four vermin and the Prince of Privateers had begun!

They all attacked at once. Leonardo was everywhere with Martin's sword but was driven back quickly. He worked purely on the defensive, waiting for one of his enemies to falter so he could go in with a strike. The sword of Martin the Warrior flashed in a blur as it covered Leonardo like a veil of light. He stepped backward calmly and swung with only one paw for quicker movements. No creatures seemed to have noticed them exiting the vomitorium just yet, much to Leonardo's surprise. Instead, most were cheering above the western gate believing that the vermin were hidden in the ditch.

Suddenly he saw an opening and took it. The first vermin fell slain and immediately Leonardo was back on the defensive. Time was not in his favor, as he was growing weaker by the second. The world was now shut out of his vision. All that he could think of and see was what was in front of him. It was vital that he did not let them spread out. He needed to keep them lined up to minimize his vulnerability.

Another opening, Leonardo made a quick slash that was deflected by the rag-doll looking rat. The blow nearly cost Leonardo his life as his full front was exposed for nearly half a second. He was only narrowly able to put his sword up in time to stop an incoming blow from the left that would have taken his entire arm off. He leaped far back to give himself some time to recover. Within an instant, one of them jumped forward. If Leonardo had time to give a smirk he would have. Before his foe's footpaws had a chance to reach the ground, he had them disarmed and wounded. Now with only the rag-doll rat and Zane to take care of he was feeling more confident, but by no means comfortable. He had a deep wound on his shoulder and was losing strength quicker than ever. In addition to this, his opponents had both the near and far ground covered as the rat had a short sword and Zane had his pole-axe.

By the time that Leonardo had disposed of the rat, he was ready to collapse, but Zane was still going strong. He could now hear creatures shouting and running over from the wall top to his aid. He blocked as many of Zane's blows as he could but was met with a stunningly powerful whack to the side of his head with the butt of the pole-axe. Leonardo toppled over and Zane stood above him.

"C'mon! Get up you traitorous scum! Get up an' fight like a real brawler!"

Wiping away the blood that was now trickling down his forehead, Leonardo feebly stood up and raised his sword. He deflected only one blow and was immediately back on the ground after narrowly dodging a sideways swipe and then being struck in the ribs. No matter how many times Zane knocked him to the ground, Leonardo was always back up on his paws in a matter of seconds.

Now with his left arm limply hanging at his side, a cracked set of ribs and a battered face, the brave mouse fought on, refusing to let Zane win whilst he was still breathing. It was clear who the real victor of the battle would be. Finally, Zane was finished toying with his victim. He disarmed Leonardo and gave a horrifyingly hard blow to Leonardo's head. All he could do was lift his arm in the way and be carried down with the force. Leonardo did not rise again. Zane stood over his prey, the abbeybeasts still too far away to do anything with immediate arms and too unskilled to accurately throw a javelin or sling stone and avoid the risk of hitting Leonardo.

"You forget, scum, that even though you have Deamal's whiskers, I don't have to kill you... But I can let you die! Ye should've known better, my friend. You can never best a corsair!"

"Maybe he can't, but I will! Come to me, corsair scum, Eulaliaaaaaa!"

Zane wheeled around and was met with the towering figure of none other than Lord Barbourn the Brawler of Salamandastron, charging straight for him through the vomitorium. Behind him, a score of the legendary Long Patrol hares followed. Zane could do nothing against the almighty strength of the badger. With one sweeping strike, Barbourn's great war-hammer both snapped Zane's pole-axe and catapulted him across the abbey lawns. Zane Crowley, terror of the high seas, would never again raise his arms against another creature.

The Long Patrol spread out around the abbey among many a cheer from Redwallers. Barbourn kneeled by Leonardo and lifted his head, "Great seasons, it is you!"

<><><><><>

Leonardo stood at the gates of Dark Forest, a mysterious, but not evil, boundary that creatures went when crossing the threshold from life to death. He walked through a field towards the beckoning gates. They opened wide for him as if to embrace, welcoming him to enter. He crossed the field for many moments and the gate slowly grew in size. He could faintly make out two other creatures standing there at the opening of the forest. As he neared he could see them more clearly. They were both mice. The one on the left was immediately recognized as Martin the Warrior, just like the depiction in the tapestry at Great Hall. The one on the right however was foreign to Leonardo, yet something about him was very familiar. He was tall for a mouse, brown-furred, bright clear blue eyes and, if there was even a way to describe such an appearance, Leonardo would have said that he looked peaceful.

Martin held his paw out and stopped Leonardo from entering the forest. Then the unknown mouse spoke, "There are still things in your life that you have yet to live. Go forth, my son, no longer suffer beyond the wall. For you have wielded Martin's blade, and saved all of Redwall!"

Then they were gone. Leonardo called after them, "Martin... Pallin... Martin... Pallin... Martin... Pallin..."

"Look, look! He's coming around! Hang in there, Leo, you're gonna be just fine, okay?"

"Martin... Pallin...Martin..."

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Thanks for the continued support via comments/PM's everyone! I'm glad to see that people are enjoying this!

We have only a couple of chapters left in the story and I'm excited to figure out what you guys think about it. I'm going to lay off on the questions until the story is over, but if you have a question or comment you'd like to say, please feel free, even if you're coming across this page after everything's posted!


The next chapter will be up within 48 hours, so I'll see you all then!
~C.T.

[Captain Tammo]

Chapter 30

"This was a good idea, Crayton. The snow's still powdery and the weather's not cold enough to keep it from happening. So the only question is how do we trigger it?"

"Just leave that one to me." The tall hare replied. "The mountains have provided us with all we need, all it'll take now is a li-ittle push!"

<><><><><>

Meanwhile, the travelers to Vydra had been making slow progress. The fog had not yet dissipated and the snowy slope was steep and slippery. It would prove to make their descent sluggish and tiring in both the long and short run. They spread out far on the slope, each making progress at a different rate than the beast in front or behind them.

"Hey, Kiril, I was watching those beasts back their do their little 'magic fireballs'. Those beasts ain't magic at all!"

"What d'ye mean?!" Kiril snorted, "They were shooting fire from their mouths!"

Ronar smiled at his own cleverness and continued, "Ah, but that's only what they want us to think. You see, when I hit one with my sling they erupted in flames. Then, I noticed that while one creature had you focused on them breathing fire, another was takin' a swig o' this." He produced a glass jug from his fluffed shirt for his brother to see. "When their time came, they'd spit it out in front o' their torch an' it'd look like they were breathing fire! When I hit one with my sling, I must've made their jug burst and it got everywhere, then poof! No more Sazaar."

"Then how did you even get that? And how could they shoot their arrows from their sleeves?"

"Hidden crossbows." Said Marius. "It's an old trick I once saw in a traveling troupe to perform a number of acts."

The squirrel twins' faces lit up at the sound of a traveling troupe. They rubbed their paws at their idea: Kiril and Ronar Silverthorn, twin firebreathers extraordinaire! Tonight only!

"Hey, wait a minute. How'd you know that trick, Marius?"

The gargantuan otter shrugged, "Every troupe has a strongbeast with 'em."

The twins were bemused, "You were in a circus? How come we never knew this about ye?"

Marius stopped in his tracks and held up his paw for those behind him to do the same. "Shh... What's that noise?" It was a distant sound, but growing louder in volume.

Further down the slope, others began to hear it as well,

"What's that rumbling coming from?"

"It's the Sazaar!"

"Noo friends. That es far, far worse... We need tae get oot o' here. Now!

"Osu, what's goin' on?!"

"Avalanche!"

The others looked up the slope but could not see anything but the ominous fog. Their once sluggish pace quickly escalated into a tumbling frenzy down to the base of the mountain. "Quickly, move t' the saïdes, we need tae get oot o' the avalanches path! There's a tree line juust ahead o' here. If we make it tae there, we can seek refuge!"

Together, the travelers slid down the mountain at a diagonal farther and farther. Meanwhile, the threatening noise of the avalanche grew behind them like a predator in hot pursuit. The faint outline of trees began to appear as once more the travelers crossed the mountain's tree-line.

"Quickly, we need to get into some trees!" shouted Maximus. He knew that it would not provide a perfect sactuary, but their odds of survival would at least be better. Several trees began to show their outlines in the fog, mostly douglas firs and spruce trees—those would take too long to get up with all of their needles. Finally, he saw the thick and unmistakeable silhouette of an oak looming in the near distance. "There, the oak!" he roared above the now deafening noise of the falling snow.

Gorm was the first to reach the base of the tree. He had curled himself into a ball and safely rolled down the mountain's side quicker than all of the others. Gorm may have had a rather husky frame when compared to other hedgehogs, but that day he climbed the mighty oak so quickly that it would have put any tree-climber to shame. He was followed by Maximus, Osu, and Marius, who arrived seconds later. Then came Osu, Kiril, Ronar, and Dassiter. Fear spurred them up the tree in seconds. The avalanche was surely coming. The only remaining question was when it would hit.

"Hold on lads, where's Ellyvin?" said Osu.

The others looked around but could not find her in the thick fog.

"She was running right next t' me." Said Dassiter. "Something's wrong, she certainly knew to aim for here."

"Great seasons, she must still be down there!" Cried Maximus. "C'mon, we gotta go get 'er!" He said and began making his way back down the tree.

But Marius was already on the ground and bounding back up the slope on all four paws. What happened in the moments that followed was never discovered. All that could be remembered was tensely waiting high up in the mighty oak with the deafening sound of the mountain coming down towards them for several seconds. Then, out of the fog emerged the towering form of Marius the otter, carrying Ellyvin over his shoulder. The travelers urged Marius on despite all of their noise being drowned out by the avalanche.

As Marius closed the distance between himself and the oak tree, the gargantuan figure was dwarfed by a terrifyingly large wall of snow hurdling at incomprehensible speeds towards them. As if he knew what was lurking just behind his footpaws, Marius used his gift of strength to save one last creature before inevitably being swallowed by the mountain. Over the course of three long strides, Marius brought Ellyvin off of his shoulder and with a mighty heave, launched her slender frame through the air towards the tree. Marius was thrown to the ground with his upward push and in a flash was engulfed by the mountain.

Ellyvin seemed to soar through the air like a swallow, the avalanche moved below her like a raging river and struck the tree before she did. She stretched out her paws and made a grab for the first branch to come into reach. It was going to be a rough landing at the least. The limb did not catch her, but Dassiter's paw did and he pulled her up to safety. "Does anybeast see 'im?" He called out to the others.

Osu shook her head solemnly, "Ah'm afraid th' good lad's gone. Nobeast survives avalanches like this un."

"Marius is no ordinary beast. If any were to survive this, it'd be him.

Before much else could be done, the oak began to bend under the crushing force of the snow. "Everybeast get on the summit's side of the tree. If this thing falls, we may still be able to ride it down!" Said Maximus. Sure enough, the tree gave way with a large cracking noise and the once mighty oak tree fell down cleaved in two.

"Hold on lads, here we gooooooo!"

It then became a chaotic dash down the mountain. Eight brave travelers now down to seven riding an oak tree like a bucking bronco down the great Northwestern Mountain atop an avalanche! Together they dashed down the foggy slope into the unknown. Snow was flicked into the air behind them as they quickly gained speed. Some of the more adventurous ones like Dassiter, Osu, Kiril and even Maximus seemed to enjoy the thrill despite their dangerous circumstances. Meanwhile, Gorm, Ellyvin, and Ronar clutched the trunk with white knuckles amongst the violent rocking. It was a miracle that they had not tipped or rolled yet. Who knows how long it would be before they did? Dassiter De Fformelo Tussock stood on the frontmost part of the trunk like a captain standing at the prow of his flagship. Snow whipped up into his eyes and nose as he scanned the fog for Marius.

Suddenly they dipped below the last of the fog and the whole mountainside opened up in front of them. The cold, dry air cut by them and made tears form in the corners of their eyes. The snow was crispy white like a freshly ironed, linen sheet on a bed. Far out, below the snow line and beyond the rocky bottom of the mountain, one could see the soft, golden sand of Mossflower's north coast. In front of them, the sparkling ocean took up nearly as much space as the sky from their view on the steep decline. The sun was just about to touch down on the horizon and it had a fiery orange color to it through the atmosphere. Such beauty was wasted on the gravity of the situation ahead.

Behind them, they could see the top of the Western Cloud Bowl sitting atop the summit like an ominous spell. In front of them they could make out what appeared to be the front of the avalanche, which knocked down trees and obstacles in the way such that there were hardly any that could threaten to topple their oaken sled. Finally, they could see their ride was coming to an end. The avalanche slowed, but their tree trunk sped on, now faster than ever. The added snow brought them far below the regular snow-line, but the fringe of snow was quickly going to come to an end just before entering the wooded base of the mountain.

"Quick, we need t' jump or we'll be blown t' splinters!" Yelled Maximus. Taking advantage of the soft powder that they were gliding on, the travelers leaped from the oak tree. It was a rough kind of landing for most, but certainly a better stop than following the oak trunk. The ancient sled crashed into the woods and came to a quick stop, finishing in thousands of splintered pieces.

Osu was the first up, "Is ev'rybeast alright?"

"Hold up, Ellyvin's hurt!" said Maximus.

They were all at her side in a flash. "Ach, it's just my leg. Hurt it on the run down s'all." She said. "The jump off the log didn't seem to help it much... Gah! Get 'way from me an' start moving! Marius is still on this mountain an' he's got much less time than we do."

Dassiter helped her up and sighed sadly. "Well, I suppose it's worth a shot."

Ellyvin stood up with a wince of pain. "What do ye mean it's 'worth a shot'? I know Marius better than all of you and I know he's alive. Now split up an' get searchin'!"

Without any further argument, the travelers split up and began their search.

<><><><><>

Dassiter and Maximus paired up together and roamed the slopes in search of Marius with others not too far away.

"Marius!"

"Mariuuuus!"

"Do ye think he made it?" Said Maximus after their shouts faded to a quiet echo.

The tall hare put his paws on his hips and looked down with a bit of defeat in his face. "I hate t' be the one to say it, but I think he's a goner."

The same thing was on Maximus' mind. "You think the others think so, too?" he said.

Dassiter chocked for a moment but then replied with a simple "yes."

Neither said anything for several moments other than calling out Marius' name. After nearly an hour of searching, night was upon them and the search parties began making their ways back down towards their rendezvous point.

"I hope Ellyvin 'll be okay. She seemed to really be taking this whole thing pretty roughly." Said Maximus.

Dassiter kept his eyes in front of him as they continued down the dark slope. "Rightfully so. They've been best mates for as long as I can remember. You know what it's like to lose a friend."

Maximus' mind flashed back to his days spent on the Fenero and meeting his friend, Raoul. He shook his head, "This is all my fault. I should've never asked you all to come on this trip. I've risked too much for something that I don't even know exists anymore."

"Don't start with that now. We're with you because we want to be, even still. Marius wouldn't want you to turn back now. Not after all of this. Keep your chin up, we'll keep moving and that's the end of it."

After a few minutes of more silence, Maximus asked another question, "Do you miss the sea?"
Dassiter sighed and opened his mouth. But before any sound could escape his chest, he saw the others ahead. "Hey, you lot find anythin'?"

Gorm's gravely voice called back, "No, we were hoping that you had found something. You are ze last we have to hear from."

They all gathered around each other but did not say very much.

"Poor Marius."

"Went out like a true hero, he did."

"Can never forget a creature like that... Took an entire mountain falling on him to bring that 'un down... That's stuff o' legends."

They stood in a circle holding their own paws and looked at Ellyvin, who had large tears reflecting the moonlight off of her face. She gave a hiccupped sigh and said their traditional sailor's goodbye, "Marius was a good beast. He... he died to save me an' I'll never be able to repay him for it. But I know that he'll be watching o'er us. An' he'd want us t' keep going... for Maximus' family... He knew the risks o' coming on this trip with us, as you all did, too... We will carry on. Farewell my friend, brave and bold..."

The rest of the crew joined in, "...And until we meet again, on the great seas of gold... Amen."

"Thanks for looking. We gave it our best shot, but now it's time t' go. We best get out of these parts before it brings any more trouble." And so, with hardly another moment to mourn for their unfound friend, the journey to Holt Vydra continued on through the night. Their party of eight now reduced by one.

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This chapter right here was the one that I was stuck on for so long. I knew exactly what I wanted to happen, but simply couldn't get there. But to see it complete and finally on the forum is a relief!

Hope you enjoyed it! As usual, feel free to leave a comment/question, or PM them to me. Everything in this story is there for a long thought-out reason and I'll be happy to explain anything you need

Next chapter will be up in 48 hours!