Leatho Shellhound, accompanied by a dozen armed otters, stole from the lake, a short way from the left side of the pier. Directing them by signals, he sent his warriors in a long arc around to the darkness behind the fire. The outlaw set a stone to his sling and waited. Soon he was rewarded by the call of a nightjar from the right side of the pier. Big Kolun and his band had surfaced and were in position. Leatho whirled his sling, aiming at the backside of a catguard who was leaning on his spear close to the fire.
It was a perfect shot: The stone struck its target, not slaying the cat but creating the desired effect. Arching his back and yowling in pain, the catguard stumbled into the flames at the fire’s edge. His companions swiftly hauled him back, shouting out in confusion.
“That was a slingstone! What’s goin’ on?”
“Somebeast’s out there, look!”
The outlaw ran forward, whirling his sling as he yelled out a challenge. “Yerra, ye mangy scum, the Shellhound’s a-comin’!”
Guards jumped down from the pier to join the others. They advanced on Leatho cautiously, wondering if he had brought clanbeasts with him. The outlaw bolstered their confidence: He slung off a few more stones, carefully calculated to miss them. Roaring with laughter, he danced a jig on the lakeshore, then scampered off into the water.
One of the scorecats urged the rest forward, shouting to them, “It’s a single otter. Mad fool, what’s he up to? Get him!”
They charged forward but halted at the water’s edge. Aware that the cats were fearful of water, Leatho swam out a short way, then commenced taunting them.
“Come on, ye mangy-tailed cowards! Scared o’ gettin’ yore paws wet, are ye?”
Spears, lances and arrows were hurled at him. Right at the last moment he submerged, only to pop up again in another place.
“Is that the best ye can do? Send out yore best warrior! Hah, that’d be ole half-face, wouldn’t it? I hear he was defeated by a bird—was it a sparrow or a wren?!”
Whilst the diversion was being created, Leatho’s crew came out of the firelight and began attacking the catguards’ rear. Roused by the commotion, Riggu Felis bounded out onto the pier, single-bladed axe in paw. He was accompanied by Weilmark Scaut, who recognised Leatho’s voice. “It’s the Shellhound, I’ve got a score t’settle with that ’un!”
The warlord dropped on all fours, peering through the board spaces to assure himself that the captives were still there, bound to the pier struts. Straightening up, he growled, “Then get down there and take him alive, Scaut. Alive, d’ye hear me? Get some of those otterslave fishing boats and cut him off, encircle him. But remember, I want him alive!”
As the weilmark went off to do his bidding, Riggu Felis turned to Groodl and his guards, who were grouped around the fire on the right lakeshore. “Over here, quick, all of you. Follow Weilmark Scaut!”
Jeefra and Pitru, newly fitted out with helmets, jerkins and spears, were among the group who hurried off to the left.
As soon as the fire on the right was deserted, Big Kolun and his crew emerged from the shadows, thrusting their torches into the flames. Then they began hurling them at the huge timber fortress. Riggu Felis leaped aside as a blazing torch landed on the pier close to him. With his chain mail mask glittering weirdly in the light of the flames, he called urgently to the guards deployed on the left shore.
“Scaut, get your command back over here! They’re trying to fire the other side of the fortress!”
The weilmark was loth to leave the outlaw Shellhound uncaptured. He issued swift orders to Groodl. “Scorecat, keep half your cats on shore, send the rest out in the boats. Remember, he must be taken alive. The rest of you, follow me!”
The otters they had been fighting suddenly dispersed into the darkness, leaving Scaut’s contingent a free path back. Jeefra and Pitru both wielded paddles in one of the six fishing coracles on the lake. In unexperienced paws, the little craft blundered about as Leatho drew them away in a wild chase.
Once the left shore was clear of guards, the otters came out of the shadows again. Making for the fire, they did exactly as Kolun and his crew had. Igniting more torches from the blaze, they hurled them at the left side of the fortress, causing widespread confusion.
Riggu Felis was screeching hoarsely as he ran hither and thither. “Over here, some of you! Scaut, split your troop, get half of them around to the left side. Hurry!”
Lorgo Galedeep and Banya Streamdog slashed through the captives’ bonds. In the chaos which reigned overhead, prisoners were the last thing on any foebeast’s mind. Chab’s young ones were strapped firmly to the backs of three champion Streambattle swimmers.
Banya and a few of her clanmates surrounded the two otterwives. “Don’t forget now, underwater an’ straight out. Follow the three carryin’ yore little ’uns. They’ll take ye over to the right shore. We’ve spotted a landin’ place there that’s well away from this lot, quiet an’ hidden. Move now, there ain’t much time t’waste!”
Lorgo and some of his stalwarts pushed Chab and Whulky after them. “Follow Banya. No need t’look back, we’re right behind ye, mateys!”
Out on the lake, Leatho was keeping the coracles chasing after him, making sure they held to the left shore, where he knew they would not come into contact with the escaping slaves.
Groodl was shouting orders to his coracle crews from the shore. “Don’t throw those spears, idiots! Hold on to ’em and try to stab ’im. You guards with bows, don’t go shootin’ at shadows, try t’get a clear target. D’ye hear me?”
What they did not know was that there were now eight otters in the water, not just one. They began popping up in different places, taking turns at mocking the catguards.
“Ahoy there, scruffywhiskers, I’m over here!”
“Ye don’t want him, fishbrain, I’m the one yore lookin’ for!”
“Belay there, I’m the Shellhound, not that ’un!”
Water sloshed over the sides of the flimsy craft as they wallowed about on the dark lake. Guards wobbled to keep their balance as they hurled spears and fired arrows willy-nilly, completely ignoring their scorecat’s orders as they sought to silence their foes.
Groodl was hopping and leaping about in the shallows, ranting hoarsely, “Ye bunglin’ mudheads, they’re makin’ fools of ye!”
Atunra came hurrying from the pier with Riggu’s latest order. “Lord Felis says you must break off searching for Shellhound. Call those boats in immediately. We need everybeast on the bucket line!”
Catguards were passing buckets, jugs, bowls and pails, paw to paw, in a line which stretched from the pier end to the fortress. Water hissed and sizzled as they threw it on the flames around the base of the fortress. The guards in the coracles had been lured a fair way out onto the lake. They were only too glad when they heard their scorecat yelling for them to return to shore.
Leatho surfaced and almost bumped heads with Kolun. The big fellow was grinning from ear to ear. “Felis ain’t holdin’ prisoners no more, buckoe. Our crews got ’em well away an’ safe. What now?”
The outlaw nodded toward the retreating coracles. “Let’s teach a few o’ those landlubbers a lesson!”
Big Kolun shot them a scornful glance. “My babes make a better shape at rowin’ than that lot!”
Only three vessels made it to the safety of land. Between them, the two otters overturned the other three. Yowls, splashes and splutters of cats rent the night air as they were tipped into the water. Leatho and Kolun swam smoothly off, satisfied that their plan to free their otterfriends had succeeded.
The last craft that the otters had tipped upside down was the one containing Jeefra and Pitru. Both cats went under immediately, but Pitru was the first to surface. He hauled himself up onto the hull of the coracle and grabbed a paddle from the water. He had made scarcely a stroke shoreward when the vessel heeled, lurching perilously over to one side. Jeefra had a tight hold of it, digging his claws into the birchbark covering as he strove wildly to pull himself aboard. He was in a mad panic, choking and spluttering between mouthfuls of water.