The Outcast of Redwall

10?

In the hour before dawn, the dwelling cave was still and warm, and its occupants, all save one, were asleep. Without a backward glance, Sunflash picked up his mace and the sack of provisions; moving softly, he was off on his quest. Outside in the dim light, he started at a sound. Elmjak crept up, a paw upon his lips. The badger nodded, and together they cut into die woodlands, going south and west. Neither beast spoke as they carefully picked their way through bush and undergrowth i until they reached the brow of a small knoll. Amber and lilac iwashed a pale swathe through the eastern skies; woodpigeon, thrush, and blackbird could be heard as they rose to herald the dawn; the earth felt tranquil, green and dew-laden.

Suddenly the old squirrel halted and, grasping his companions mighty paw, he shook it firmly. “Thy path and mine part here. I walked this far with you so that you would not be leaving the dwelling of friends alone.

Sunflash was careful not to squeeze Elmjaks paw too hard. “Thank you, my friend. I would be dead were it not for you. But where do you go now, what path will you travel?

Looking back the way they had come, the squirrel smiled. “My wandering days are done. I will return to the dwelling cave and live happily in peace and plenty with those two families of innocents. Methinks they will have need of my special skills. So worry not, Sunflashlike your kestrel, I will watch over our friends gladly.

The badger touched his golden stripe as a mark of respect. “You are a goodbeast. My heart is lighter knowing you are protecting the families of Tirry and Bruff. We will meet again someday, I feel it. Send a message by Skarlath should you ever need me. Good-bye, Elmjak.

Reaching into his herb bag, the old squirrel drew forth a turquoise stone. It was flat, intricately carved into the shape of a sycamore leaf and strung on a thin cord. He looped it around Sunflashs paw, saying, “This amulet may be of use to you sometime. Show it to any squirrel or otter you may encounter. Tell them it comes from the oakdens of Firjak and was given to you by his son Elmjak. It will make your path easier by bringing you help. Fare you well, Sunflash the Mace. Find your mountain, defeat your enemies, and grow great in the land!

Then with enviable agility in one so old, the squirrel went bounding off through the trees.

Morning sun evaporated the damp and dew, clothing the woodlands in a brief gauze of mist. Sunflash trudged steadily onward as the trees and foliage became more luxurious and dense. Digging his footclaws into the loamy ground, the badger descended a steep wooded hillside, noting a warm decaying odor and the earth growing squelchy as he progressed downward. Upon reaching the bottom, Sunflash was forced to balance between a rock and a rotting beech stump. Seating himself, he unpacked oat scones and a flask of dandelion-and-burdock cordial. He ate and drank slowly as he evaluated the land, the great swamp he would be forced to cross. In front of him, and as far as he could see from left to right, dark treacherous ooze showed between the tall foxgloves, fungus-like growths clung parasitically to half-sunken logs, and clouds of midges swarmed about the mosses and liverwort that abounded everywhere.

From the shelter of clumped elderbushes, the badger was being watched. Many reptilian eyes stared unblinkingly from their hiding places. Sunflash was stoppering his drink flask when a strange sound reached his ears; looking around swiftly he identified the source of the odd noise. It was a reed flute, played by a small skinny newt. The creature had painted itself orange and bright blue with plant dyes. It hopped and frisked about with scant regard for the treacherous surface of the morass, skipping from plant to twig, from rush to flower, tootling and twiddling tunelessly. It popped up alongside Sunflash, virtually pushing his footpaw off the rotten log as it made room for itself.

The badger greeted the newcomer. “Good day to you, little sir....

Further conversation was interrupted as the newt scrabbled to get inside Sunflashs provision sack. The badger nipped the invader neatly by its baggy neckskin and held it aloft. Indignantly, it kicked in mid-air, snarling nastily in a high-pitched nasal squeal, “Ey yew, ey yew, gerroffofme an giz me vikkles, urryup!

Sunflash gave the impudent reptile a warning shake to silence it. “Hold hard there, cheekyface, who dyou think youre talking to?

It tried to strike at the badger with its reed flute. “Stripey-dog thickyead badjerpadjer daftdog ... !

Sunflash had put up with enough. He stunned the newt with a tiny flick of his free paw beneath its chin. Unknown to him the myriad of reptile eyes still watched from the cover of the elderbushes. Sunflash laid the newt carefully out on the stump and waited for it to recover, and when it stirred and opened one eye, he trapped it gently with a footpaw and lectured it.

“Now dont say a single word or Ill squash you like a gnat! Right, listen to me. Didnt your parents ever teach you any manners? You come here, diving into my bag, demanding food, and then you start insulting me. Have you got no respect for others? Keep a civil tongue in your head, I warn you!

The little reptile swallowed, its throat rising in a gulp. “A wiz ungry, yew got vikkles, giz Smerc sum ... pleez.

“Thats better! said the badger, opening his sack. “My name is Sunflash the Mace. You want foodgood, tell you what Ill do. Obviously you know your way about this swamp, and if you agree to lead me through it Ill feed you. Is it a bargain?

The newt wriggled out from beneath the badgers footpaw. “Barrgin, barrgin! Giz Smerc vikkles, I show yadda way!

Sunflash broke an oatcake in half, twirled a leaf into a cone, and filled it with cordial, and gave them both to Smerc. The skinny little creature ate as if it had lived through a seven-season famine, sucking the drink noisily and chomping at the oatcake until crumbs flew. To the badgers amazement it demolished the food and finished the drink.

Holding out the conical leaf cup, Smerc shook it in Sun-flashs face. “Yehhhh! A like it, goodgood, giz me sum-more!

The badger eyed it coldly until he heard the word.

“Pleez!

Refilling the leaf cone, Sunflash gave it to Smerc with the other half of the oatcake. The newts table manners were totally appalling. When it had finished eating, it grabbed at the amulet that Sunflash had hung around his neck, hissing, “Luvly meggle giz me it, for showyer across swampy!

Sunflash understood Smerc completely. He had spent a lot of his young life in a vermin camp where creatures behaved like that as a matter of routine. The only thing such creatures respected was brute force, and now he decided to show the newt a bit. Picking Smerc up, Sunflash set him on a low laburnum branch.

“So then, your name is Smerc. Watch and Ill show you why Im called Sunflash the Mace!

Sunflash seized the great hornbeam mace and swung it.

“Eeulaliaaaaa!

One sweeping sideways blow at the rotten beech stump caused it to disintegrate, exploding into a shower of damp wood, powdery dust, slugs, and wood lice. When the debris settled there was no sign of the stump. Smerc stood open-mouthed, quivering all over with fear. Sunflash shouldered his mace, saying, “Ive fed you, thats my half of the bargain. Now you will guide me through this swamp. Move, Smerc!

Slow worms, eels, and newts in a silent slithering procession followed as Sunflash negotiated a passage through the wide morass. He followed Smerc, sometimes waist deep as the newt skipped carelessly over lily pads, other times gripping the moss-covered limbs of long-submerged tree trunks. It was tough going. At the center of the swamp a jutting oak branch stuck up at an angle. As he moved toward it, the badger felt the shifting ooze gripping and sucking at his body. He floundered, tasting the foul mud in his mouth, unable to wipe it from his eyes as it flopped and splodged with his wild efforts.

Smercs voice rang out from somewhere nearby. “Grab old o dbranch, stripeydog, or yer sink!

Summoning his strength, Sunflash made a mighty surge forward, grabbing blindly at where he knew the tree limb to be. There was a moments cold panic, then he felt his paw grip wood. Looping the cord of his mace handle over a gnarled burr, he pulled himself from the sticky morass. After what seemed an age, his limbs came clear of the swirling, sucking mud.

Sunflash clung to the wobbly limb, shaking with exhaustion; it had been a formidable task pulling his huge bulk from the swamp. Feeling around slowly he was surprised to find his provision sack still hanging from the old cord that served him as a belt. He dug his paw into the sack and pulled out the flask of dandelion-and-burdock cordial; then, biting out the stopper, the badger tilted his head back and poured the fragrant liquid into his mud-blinded eyes until they were free of swamp dirt. Gratefully he cleared his throat by drinking what was left in the flask, then he looked up to see Smerc and the band of reptiles who had been following him. The wicked newt was perched on the head of a big eel, obviously the leader.

Sunflash tried ignoring them as he reasoned with Smerc. “Come on, be fair, you havent completed our bargain. Get me out of this swamp. Which way do I go now?

The eels, slow worms, and newts remained silent, fixing the badger with a concentrated basilisk glare. Smerc, however, was delighted that he had lured the badger into a trap. He pointed at Sunflash and giggled insanely. “Yeeheehee! Which way ya go now, stripeydog? Yeeheeheehee! Thiss yer deepest part o thswamp, ony one way tgo, badjerpadjer. Yeeheeheehee! Down!

Hot rage engulfed Sunflash the Mace, and he hurled the empty flask at the sniggering newt. Had his aim been tempered by calmness the missile would have slain Smerc, but as it was, die flask struck a glancing blow to both the newt and the big eel on whose head he was perched. Smerc flopped senseless on the eels head, which was now sporting a livid bruise and a rapidly rising bump.

The eel reared up, opening its mouth to reveal two rows of greeny-yellow, needle-pointed teeth. “Sssssink im! it hissed.

The whole mass of reptiles moved backward, and the oak limb began turning on its side. Sunflash threw himself flat, clinging tightly to the branches. To his horror he saw a thick hawser rise clear of the mud. It was attached underneath the oak limb and the reptiles were pulling on it.

The badger was helpless. He hung on to the turning limb, shouting, “Stop! Stop! What do you want?

The big eel sank back and, wrapping itself around the hawser, it pulled with the others as it answered, “Want you... Sssssink!

The awful realization that there was nowhere to go swept over Sunflash; he held on to the tree limb as it was pulled down, turning slowly into the fathomless depths of mud.