The three warriors trod lightly down the first flight of steps, looking from left to right, ready for anything. Mariel peeked through a partially opened door and saw horde-rats sleeping on a straw-littered floor, a chamber full of them. Without a word to her berserk companions she gently removed a spear from the claws of a slumbering rat. Closing the door, the mo use maid slid the spearhaft through the ring in the latch, effectively imprisoning the sleepers in their own barracks. Muta looked at her ques-tioningly. Mariel smiled. “Its nothing, just making sure were not followed.
Voices came from farther down the darkened hallway. “Well, you go an tell Nagru that you aint stannin out on no walls all night. Im not!
“But I dont ave a cloak like you. Spose its still rainin, Ill catch me death of cold out there!
“Aye, mate, and youll catch yer death a lot faster if you tell Foxwolf that you dont fancy obeyin his orders!
“Huh, if it wasnt for those mangy escaped prisoners wed be in our barracks n The rat never finished the sentence he was speaking; neither he nor his companion would ever have to worry about going out on guard again. Muta and Rab carried on down the next flight of stairs as if nothing had happened. Mariel took a curved sword from one of the dead rats and hastened to catch up with the silent slayers.
The banqueting chamber had a torch alight on one wall. The three warriors moved through, silent as the flickering shadows that played over tables and chairs.
Six horderats were seated round a table in the gatehouse playing a game with three shells and an acorn. A flagon of wine stood on the table, a prize for the winner. A draft flickered around the wall torches as the door swung open. One rat looked up and squealed with fright at the sight of Mariel and her two silent allies entering the room. Muta charged, her relentless energy taking her crashing into the nearest two rats, then all became confusion.
The table went crashing end over end, knocking the wall torches from their sconces and plunging the gatehouse into darkness. In the onslaught, amid the screaming, clattering, grunting, and banging, five of the rats met their doom. One rat, more nimble than the rest, slipped by Rab. He fled through the doorway and up the stairs before any-beast could stop him. Mariel struggled with the otter in the doorway as he tried to give chase. “No, Rab, leave the rat; weve got what we wantthe gatehouse is ours! Slamming the door and securing it, the mousemaid found the torches and blew on them until they flared into light. A huge wooden drum with turning handles attached and a crude block brake held the thick ropes that controlled the drawbridge. Muta finished tipping the last of the slain enemies from the gatehouse window, smiling grimly as the carcasses hit the moat below with a splash. Taking Muriels sword, the badger swung it high over the coils of rope wound around the drum, ready to slice them through to lower the bridge. Mariel shook her head. “No need for that, my friend. We control the drawbridge nowbesides, the time may arrive when well need to have it closed!
Silvamord was frightened; Nagru was furious. They had both listened to the terrified recitation of the rat who had escaped alive from the gatehouse. The Foxwolf watched sunny daylight dispersing the valley mist from his chamber window, then banged the ledge so hard that his paw hurt. “They double-bluffed us! So that was how their decoy worked, fooling us into thinking they were attacking the drawbridge, drawing our guards away onto the walltops to forestall another trick, when all the time they really were attacking the drawbridge, from the inside! Now they have control over our very front door! Come on, vixen, wheres all your crafty ideas? Why are you sitting there trembling like a pile of frogspawn?
Silvamord was not looking at Nagru. She stared at the wall blankly, her voice atremble as she said, “The badger and the otter, you couldnt have killed them right; theyve come back from the dead, and theyre inside this place now!
The Urgan Nagru shook his head until the teeth of the wolfskull rattled.! cant believe those two arent dead. We left them like pincushions, they were ripped to bits ...
A loud bump from below interrupted him. It startled Silvamord from her trance, and she dashed to the window. “Theyve lowered the drawbridge!
Watching from the wooded slopes on the opposite valley side, Dandins sharp eyes caught sight of a small figure in the gatehouse window. It was gone in a second, but almost at once the drawbridge fell open and spanned the moat. He turned to Iris, his eyes shining happily. “Now I know where Mariel isin the gatehouse! Theres only one warriormaid couldve pulled off a trick like that. Haha, escapings not good enough for that one; shes got to capture the drawbridge as well!
Me Id rum tore himself away from the impromptu breakfast he had scrounged, “Brains, eh, that gel will control her own regiment one day, mark m words. Righto, up on ypaws, you lot, weve got to jolly well help her!
Amid the jubilation it was left for Iris to provide the voice of reason. “Hold hard, you two. Were only a small rescue party. I dont think youve grasped just how large the Foxwolfs horde is. Wed be committing suicide trying to attack Floret, even with the drawbridge down.
Meldrum stroked berry stains from his mustachios. “Youre right, of course, he admitted. “So, what action dyou propose we take? Cant leave the brave mousey there on her own t be winkled out an slain by those foul creatures, can we?
Gael had been listening to the conversation. An idea was forming in the Squirrelkings mind. “I suggest that you send word to Mariel telling her we are here. If you stay in the valley and harass the foe to keep their attention off Mariel, it will go a long way toward helping her. Meanwhile, I will go to Furpps dwelling, and from there I must try to raise up the whole of Southsward in arms to march upon Floret. Mariel has opened up a golden opportunity for us; the time is ripe. I think we will never get a better chance to rid the land of Foxwolf and his horde. The sooner we strike the better!
Mariel and her two silent friends had shared the flagon of wine and eaten what small amount of food there was to be had in the gatehouse. Rats had gathered on the stairs outside, but so far they had made no move to try to recapture the room. Nagru knew that he would only lose valuable hordebeasts by trying to charge the door, for in such a small space the badger and the otter could hold the doorway against all comers. The mousemaid was making herself a new Gullwhacker with a thick length of spare drawbridge rope; she sat at the window working at the complicated knots known only to herself. The valley was fresh and green under bright morning sun, deceptively peaceful and calm. The mousemaids quick eyes took in a slight movement on the wooded slope opposite. “Look, Muta, Rabsee, we have friends close by! she cried.
The badger and the otter joined her at the window. Mariel gave out a piercing whistle, swinging her halfcompleted Gullwhacker out of the open window. “If they cant hear me, maybe theyll see this rope.
A moment later she glimpsed a small figure climbing to the lower branches of a sycamore. It was waving what appeared to be a long dagger. The mousemaid waved back saying, “Thats got to be Dandin. I cant see properly from here, but Ill wager anything its him!
Dandin climbed down from his perch to where Meld-rum and Iris were waiting.
“Aye, thats my Mariel, all right, he said. “Shes got herself a new Gullwhacker. Do you think you could put an arrow through that window, Iris?
The otter shouldered her bow and quiver busily. “Get me close enough and I know I can, third shot!
As Mariel watched the three figures duck and weave across the valley floor, she commentated on their movements to Muta and Rab. “Here they come; theres three of them. I think one is Meldrum, but I cant be sure. Theyre holding a great chunk of bark in front of them as a shield. They must have been sighted by Nagrus ratsarrows are being shot at them, one or two have struck the bark shield, but theyre still coming forward. Oh come on, come on, friends!