There was a slight buzzing noise from the hedgehog's stomach. He gave it a sharp pat and it stopped.
" 'Scuse me. Now if yew tew will take a tip from Spriggat you'll set there awhile an' let that mud dry hard, then it'll peel off an' take all the stings with it."
142
Brian Jacques
Samkim and Arula sat in an open patch of sunlight. As the mud dried they watched the strange hedgehog taking wasps one by one from his catching net and scrunching them down as if he were at a banquet.
A blow from a spearbutt laid Dingeye flat. Half-stunned, he looked up. Dethbrush the fox and his six tracker rats held him pinned to the ground with the points of their spears. The fox kicked the sword from his nerveless paws, and Dingeye whimpered with fright. There was neither pity nor mercy in the cold eyes of the trackers and their leader.
"Where's Thura? Tell me and I'll make your dying easy." The fox's tone was harsh and commanding.
"Thura's dead. 'E died of the sickness. I saw it meself, sir. Oh, you ain't goin' ter kilt me, are you?"
"Ferahgo has a long paw," Dethbrush sneered as he kicked the quivering stoat. "You thought you'd escaped us didn't you. Poor fool!"
Dingeye moaned as a spearpoint prodded his injured paw. "I was goin' back to Ferahgo, sir. On me oath I was. See that sword? I was bringin' it to him as a gift. On me 'onour!"
Dethbrush picked up the sword, admiring its cold lethal beauty. "Honour? Don't talk to me of honour, Dingeye. Me and my trackers have wasted nearly a full season searching for you and your mucker. Nobeast escapes Ferahgo the Assassin. You should know that by now. Guess what he told me to do when I caught up with you?"
Dingeye gulped. His throat had gone dry and he could scarce get the words out. "Prob'ly said to f-fetch me back ..."
The fox smiled mirthlessly at his trembling victim. "Wrong, Dingeye. He said to fetch your head back on a spearpoint."
The sword swung once, its blade flashing in the sunlight.
Dethbrush wiped the blade on Dingeye's carcass. "Leave him; one head's no good without the other. I think Lord Ferahgo will be happy to receive this sword as a gift from an old departed friend. Come on, it's a long and hard trek back to the Assassin's camp."
Salamandastron
143
The battle for Salamandastron was under way. Massed behind sand barriers and rocks, the hordes of Ferahgo sent flaming arrows up at the mountain. Vegetation and crops that had been cultivated on the crevices and ledges of the fortress were soon blackened stubble, burned to the bare rock by hundreds upon hundreds of blazing shafts.
Ferahgo stood in plain view, well out of range, Klitch at his side.
From one of the high slitted rock windows Bart Thistledown brushed drifting black ash from his face as he notched a shaft to his bowstring, murmuring to himself. "Move, you rotten blighter. Come on, just ten paces closer and I'll put one right between your bonny blue eyes, wot!"
Starbob fixed an arrow to his bow and sighted on a ferret who was standing up to take a shot. "Wastin' your time, Barty old lad. Take the nearest available target, like our friend down there, for instance ..."
Straining the bow taut, Starbob let fly. The arrow zipped down and took the ferret in his chest. He fell backwards, releasing his fire arrow straight up. Starbob gave a grunt of satisfaction.
"Good oh! I say, look, the scoundrel's arrow came straight down and wounded that rat next to him. Two for the price of one. Not bad, eh?"
Barty twanged off his arrow and turned away, ignoring the death cry of the stoat below that he had hit. "Not too fussy on this snipin' game. Open warfare's much better, more team spirit in it, doncha know."
"Move aside there, hares!"
They both shifted from the position as Urthstripe stood at the opening. He strung a massive bow and placed a quiver of arrows within handy reach, each one as long and thick as a short spear. The badger Lord spat on his paws and rubbed them together. "Right, let's open this party up properly!"
144
Brian Jacques
Salamandastron
145
Klitch sighed as he drew patterns in the sand with a spear-point, his face the picture of boredom. "So this is it, the grand attack plan: chuck a few fire arrows at the mountain then sit about and snipe at each other all season. You've really outdone yourself this time, old one."
Ferahgo watched the fire arrows hissing through the air. "Have you got any better ideas, clever snout?"
"At least I got to stick the big badger with my sword!" The young weasel curled his lip contemptuously.
"So you did, Klitch, so you did. Now you're short one pretty little sword. Urthstripe pulled it out of himself as if it was a sewing needle and snapped it in half. What a clever young weasel. Brilliant strategy on your part, eh? Now why don't you leave things to your elders and betters?"
Klitch kept the spear ready lest the Assassin's paws should stray to the long knives strapped across his chest. "You may be my elder, but you'll never be my better. Come on, let's hear about your brilliant strategy, Father."
Having run out of arrows, Goffa decided to stand in the rear awhile with Klitch. He was crossing the beach, exactly in line with Ferahgo, when a huge arrow hit him like a thunderbolt, sending his body crashing into the two weasels. Quickly they leapt up and ran farther back, scrambling behind an outcrop of rocks.
Ferahgo laughed, his blue eyes shining merrily at the narrow escape. "Hellsteem and Darkgates! That thing was meant for me! Pity about your friend Goffa."
Klitch peered out at the dreadful sight. The arrow had gone through Goffa a full half-length into the sand. Keeping his bored look, Klitch leaned back against the rocks.
"Friend? That dim-witted idiot? He was only my lackey, though I'd never have ordered him to save your skin. Come on, tell me how you plan to conquer this mountain."
Some of the more venturesome members of the vermin horde were slowly advancing closer to the mountain, under the hail of burning arrows. Big Oxeye watched them from the top of
the crater. Seawood and Pennybright were with him, and all three leaned on a wooden prop which held back a pile of boulders. Oxeye pointed a paw straight down, closing one eye as he sighted along it.
"Hmmm, about two spearlengths more should do the trick. Come on, you idle vermin, move y'selves. Righto, chaps, that's it, all paws to the log now!"
The three hares leaned down heavily on the wood. The vermin on the shore beneath Salamandastron heard the rumble from above. Some moved quickly, others were not so alert. Over half of them were slain by the huge slabs and boulders that cascaded down the mountainside. A cheer went up from Oxeye and his comrades when they saw the effect ;; of their avalanche. Yells of rage and curses arose from the « attackers on the shore as they redoubled their volleys of burn- ing arrows.
In the late afternoon Ferahgo called Raptail to him. The Assassin winked at Klitch.
"Now I'll show you how I became ruler of all the Southwest Lands, little weasel. Raptail, send Doghead, Crabeyes, Dewnose and Badtooth to me. Oh, and ask Farran the Poisoner to come too."
Raptail blanched visibly as he bowed to Ferahgo. Nobeast, ;-; not even the Assassin himself, liked to do business with Far-1" ran the Poisoner. The black fox was not even part of the
TP*