Lying face down, Tansy gazed into the rift. With a gasp of horror she found herself staring into the eyeless sockets of a skull. Gap-toothed and grinning, with rain pattering on it to produce the most dreadful hollow sound, it stared back at her. Bleached bones and the ragged remnants of clothing clinging to them comprised the remainder of the skeleton, trapped in the jaws of the narrow rift. Thunder rumbled as a vivid flash of lightning lit up the stark scene. A scream of terror tore itself from the hedgehog maid's throat.
Forgetting plants, basket and picnic lunch, heedless of pelting rain and wind, Tansy grabbed Arven's tiny paw. Together they leapt from the sandstone rocks, rolling, stumbling and bounding down onto the wet grass. Both creatures sped off as if the skeleton had risen from the rift to pursue them. Blindly they rushed through the storm-lashed woodland, footpaws slapping the ground, hearts racing madly, as they sought the path back to the warmth, peace and safety of their home, Redwall Abbey.
Chapter 2
Far across the heaving deeps of restless ocean, some say even beyond the place where the sun sinks in the west, there lies the Isle of Sampetra. At first sight, it's a lush tropical jewel, set in turquoise waters where seasons never change from eternal summer. But a closer look reveals that Sampetra is rotten as a flyblown fish carcass. It is a crossroads of evil, haven to the flotsam of the high seas. Corsairs, searats and all manner of vermin wavescum make their berth at Sampetra, the domain of a pine marten, the mighty Emperor Ublaz!
He is also known as Mad Eyes, though none ever called him that to his face and lived. He dwells in a palace built on a flat-topped escarpment at the island's southwesterly tip. Any ship entering the harbor must pay tribute to Ublaz, and captains who do not choose to anchor at Sampetra are considered to be foes of the Emperor. It is his decree that their ships and even their lives are forfeit; they are fair game to his followers.
Mad Eyes is cunning, all-powerful. Like a spider at the center of a great web, he rules Sampetra. No trees grow upon the island, but Ublaz has a vast timber stock in his courtyard. Wood for ship repairs is given only to those who pay him heavy tribute. The island is a good place for vermin from the seas to rest and roister: there are taverns dotted about the harbor area. Ublaz is served by a regiment of rats who carry long tridents as a mark of their rank; his Trident-rats patrol the harbor night and day. However, the most fearsome of his creatures are great flesh-eating lizards known as the Monitors, who have inhabited Sampetra for as long as anybeast can remember. Only the mad-eyed Emperor can control the dreadful reptiles, with the power of his hypnotic stare.
Conva the corsair captain was not a happy stoat as he watched his steersrat bring their craft, the vessel Waveworm, into the bay of Sampetra after many long seasons at sea. On the jetty Conva could see lizards and Trident-rats waiting, and he knew what they were there forto take him before the Emperor. Had the corsair known any pleas or prayers to the fates, he would have said them right then, hoping that Mad Eyes might have forgotten the treasure called "Tears of all Oceans." But then he recalled his meeting with Ublaz before the voyage, and the eyes, the strange mad eyes that had compelled him to return.
Sounds of singing, fighting and feasting drifted up from the taverns by the jetty as Waveworm hove alongside. Conva was relieved of his curved scimitar and marched off between two Monitors and two Trident-rats. The remainder of the guards boarded the ship to make sure the crew stayed in their quarters until they received permission to come ashore.
As he was ushered into the throne room of the Emperor, Conva glanced around. It was the peak of barbaric splendor. There were silks, marble, rich velvet cushions and satin hangings, and the air was heavy with the scent of strange aromatic herbs smoldering in wall braziers. The Emperor was seated on a great carved cedar throne.
Though Conva feared Ublaz, he could not help but admire him. A big creature, this pine marten: strong, handsome and sleek, with fine brown fur from head to bushy tail, complemented by a creamy yellow throat and ears. He was clad in a green silk robe with a gold border; blue sapphires twinkled from the handle of a slim silver-bladed dagger, thrust into a belt of shark's skin. The face of Ublaz was immobile. Savage white teeth showed slightly through a thin, almost lipless mouth, and above the curled, perfumed whiskers and light brown nosetip, two jet-black almond-shaped eyes stared at the corsair captain.
All was quiet. Conva stood riveted by the eyes; they pierced him to the core. Silent and mysterious, Ublaz sat, transfixing the corsair with his gaze until words began flowing from the hypnotized captain.
"Mighty One who knows all, your commands were carried out. We raided the den of Lutra the otter on the far north shores. They were taken by ambush and slain, every one of them, and all that they possessed was loaded aboard my ship."
For the first time Ublaz spoke, his voice scarce above a whisper. "Tell me what you took, everything."
The corsair recited a list of spoils. "Beakers set with colored stones, platters also, carved bone tail- and pawrings, one gold neckband, a box of small purple pearls and another box made from a hinged scallop shell. This shell contained six large, rose-colored pearls."
The Emperor drew in his breath sharply. "The Tears of all Oceans, you have them!"
Conva began to shiver visibly. He collapsed to the marble floor, his voice trembling with fear. "Mighty One, they were stolen!"
Ublaz sighed deeply, slumping back on his throne as if the bad news came as no surprise to him. “Tell me how this thing happened."
Two Monitors entered the throne room bearing a litter containing the booty from Conva's ship, Waveworm. At a nod from Ublaz they set it down in front of him.
The corsair continued his narrative in broken tones. "Two moons after we slew the tribe of Lutra I charted a course following the coast south. I knew a stream of freshwater runs out across the beach near an area named Mossflower. We dropped anchor there and took on fresh water. When Waveworm was ready to get under sail again, two of my crew, both weasels, Flairnose and Graylunk, were discovered missing. So were the rose pearls and the scallop shellthey'd stolen them and jumped ship. I gave chase, tracked them, leaving behind only three to guard the ship. We found Flairnose wounded some three days later. They had quarreled over the pearls, and Graylunk had stabbed him. We searched Flairnosehe had no pearls, though before he died he told us that he'd given Graylunk a bad skull wound when they fought.
"Two days on, following Graylunk's trail, we came upon a big building called Redwall Abbey. I had my crew scout around it in a wide circle, but the only track of Graylunk we could find went straight to the main door. This Redwall is a large, well-fortified place, with many creatures living there. We did not let them see us; their numbers were tenscore more than ours.
“ Graylunk is inside Redwall with the pearls, or if he has died from his wound then the pearls are still within the walls of that Abbey. I could do no more, Mighty One, not with the numbers I had. I made it back to my ship with all speed and hastened here to bring you the news."
Ublaz moved smoothly around the booty on the litter, sifting through it with his silver-bladed dagger. “Dented beakers, bone tailrings, gold neckband, huh, more like brass," he said to himself. "Small purple pearls, worthless musselseeds. Except for the rose pearls, the tribe of Lutra had nothing of valuethey were poor as beggars!"
He ceased his examination and stood over the quaking corsair. "And you, bold Conva, what shall I do with you?" The Emperor's fearsome eyes bored into Conva's mind.