2: The Badlands and Salamandastron I had been on the trail for some time since my adventure at the North Caves. Now I had entered the Badlands- dry, desert dunes, too quiet for my liking. Suddenly I heard a croak and wheeled around to see a warty toad, armed with a trident. I readied my roce and waited, ducking behind a dune. He hadn't seen me- yet. The toad croaked again, and several more toads appeared, all armed with tridents like the first. "Lookahere! Bushytail caughtnow!" I wheeled around to see a toad about to throw a net over me. I leapt onto the dune and caught the net in midair, sweeping it over and around the toad, rendering him helpless. Another toad directed a stab at me with his trident. I grabbed the weapon and brained him with my roce. Three more came at me at once, and I let out a few lengths of cord and spun around, laying all three out. More toads converged on me, and every time I took one out, another popped up in its place. "Nowget bushytail! Hurrynow! King Croakweb saythis!" I looked for the one who had said that, bringing my roce down on another toad. The "King Croakweb" was an extremly warty toad, and very fat. I jumped upon a dune, then gave a gigantic leap over the heads of several astonished amphibians to land on one's head. I killed another with a downswing from my stick and leapt again, this time reaching the leader. I disarmed him with a flick and picked up his trident. He froze when I pricked his throat with the weapon. "Tell your scurvy toads to lay off!" I hissed. "Nobeast touch bushytail! Croakweb saythis!" the toad king croaked. All the toads backed away. But the toad had another order. "If bushytail killme, kill bushytail!" It was a standstill. Nobeast moved. I was about to kill the toad and then just do a spin around with my roce when I heard a strange warcry- "Eulaliaaa! S'death on the wind!" Five sand- colored hares, armed with lances, leapt into the crowd of toads. They laid out toads left and right with their lance butts. I kept the trident at the toad king's throat. One of the hares, a large one with one black ear, popped up beside me. "Hello squirrel, d'ya mind tellin' ol' king Croakwotsit t'call off 'is froggies?" I nodded and turned to Croakweb. "Tell your toads to stay at least four lengths away from the hares and me at all times!" I comanded. The toad's throat pulsated rapidly. "Don'touch bushytail or harebeasts! Stayaway fourlengths alltime!" he croaked. "Right, lets get out of 'ere, wot?" the large hare said. We began backing away. On the fringes of the dunes I let Croakweb go. As he waddled off, the black eared hare called after him: "And don't bother us again, or I jolly well say we won't use the ol' blunt ends of our lances!" The only female hare in the group, lighter colored than the rest, laughed. "Sarrock, don't think they'll listen t'ya! Those warty frogs never do, wot?" The black- eared hare shook his head. "No, Lera, don't think they bally well will obey, but it's worth a try, doncher know." I stepped forward. "May I ask who you are?" I questioned. The black- eared hare glanced over at me. "Oh, it's the squirellymaid," he said. "Right, as you may have figured out, I'm Sargeant Sarrock. Th' friendly gel there is Lera, th' small chap here is Recar, that bally ol' warrior is Tion, an' th' only one left's gotter be Nuron! Wot's your name, missy?" "I'm Riala Goldentail, a traveling warrior from the north. This" I held up my weapon "is my roce." Nuron waggled his long ears. "North, eh? How come you don't have an accent?" "My… my father brought me up well," I replied. "Father? Who's he?" Recar asked. "Dead," I said flatly. "Killed." "Hold hard, chaps," Lera intervened. "We'd better get back to th' jolly ol' fire mountain afore we get attacked by those bally toads!" Sarrock nodded. "Right, then we can 'ear your story, Riala," Tion suggested. I shrugged. "Fine with me." "All righty then!" Sarrock said. "Let's get t'Salamandastron!" The "mountain of the fire lizards" was indeed impressive. We entered Salamandastron and I was taken to meet the Badger Lord. He was a huge badger, armed with an immense broadsword. When I came into the forge, he put down his hammer and greeted me. "Hello…" He trailed off, waiting for my name. "Riala Goldentail," I introduced myself. "Riala. I am Firesight, Badger Lord of Salamandastron. Welcome to my mountain." "Thank you, sir," I said. Suddenly we heard a loud bell. The badger hurried out of the room. "Better hurry if you want supper!" he called over his shoulder. "Those hares'll eat it all, and then some, the walking stomachs!" I laughed and jogged after him. After the meal Firesight, the hares and myself went into a room and sat down. "We always enjoy a new story," Firesight said. "Perhaps you'd like to tell us yours." I began from where the Longclaws had killed my father, and ended where Sargeant Sarrock and the rest had helped me with the toads. Firesight's eyes were ablaze. "Vermin!" he growled. "They are filthy, murderous, treacherous scum, nothing more!" Just then a young Runner burst in, breathing hard. "Sir! Zarok and his horde are coming this way!" Firesight sprang up. "Zarok!" "Yes sir! They're coming from the north!" The badger turned to me. "Zarok is a black fox, and my sworn enemy. He leads a great horde of all kinds of vermin." "If he attacks, I defend this mountain with you," I said. Firesight was about to disagree, but the battle light in my eyes and the remembrance of my story stopped him. "Very well, Riala." Firesight turned to the hare leaders. "Sarrock, Nolar, Orin, Lonif! I'm holding a council of war!" The horde was immense. They marched in front of Salamandastron and Zarok called a halt. "Firesight!" he called up to the mountain. "You will die before the sun sets!" Firesight pushed his way through the hares and I near the crater of the mountain and climbed out. "It is you who will die, Zarok!" he thundered. Then he added, and I could barely hear him (I was sure Zarok couldn't), "And I also." I glanced quizzically at Lera, who's normally cheerful face was pained. "He'll die? How does he know?" "It was written on a wall in the very heart of Salamandastron," she told me. "He told us that a badger chap called Bladeleaf will take 'is place." Suddenly a score of the vermin fell, javelins protruding from their carcasses. Lera grinned. "That's Sarrock fer you," she said. "'im an' 'is score o' spiffin' hares!" "Eulaliaaaa!" The cry came from the lungs of Sarrock's hares as they lit into the vermin. A score of hares on the other side of the horde charged also. "Eulaliaaa! Chaaarrrge!" Firesight bellowed, and he, the two score remaining hares, and myself attacked from the mountain, each with their preffered weapon. Firesight was well- named- Lera told me he was constantly on the verge of Bloodwrath, a trait inherited from his grandmother, Cregga Rose Eyes- now he was beserk, cleaving his way to his enemy, Zarok, with his great sword. "Eulaliaaa!" "Riiilllaaarrrr!" I used my roce as a club, smashing heads and crushing jaws. A sneering weasel sliced my footpaw. I winced, then brought my weapon down on his head. Five vermin converged on me at once, but I couldn't do my spin attack (letting out a few lengths of cord and spinning so everybeast within range is hit), as a young Runner called Sandfur was in the way. I did the best I could, but I was being overwhelmed by the numbers of vermin! "Eulaliaaaa!" Lera, Tion, and Recar came leaping in over the heads of the horde. We formed a ring. "Thanks!" I panted. Lera winked at me as she spit a ferret with her rapier. "No problem! Can y'fight on that bally hoof?" she asked. I sent a stoat to Dark Forest gates before replying. "More or less. We're pretty badly outnumbered, aren't we." Tion nodded. "Yup, but you know th' drill- do th' best y'can an' take as many as possible with ya!" "Logalogalogalog!" "What's that?" I asked. Recar laughed in relief. "Log-a-Log! Thank th' seasons he's 'ere! With him an' 'is shrews we might stand a bally chance!" At least threescore of shrews landed several canoes from the sea and joined in the battle with their rapiers. Soon we could see the battle was going our way. At long last there wasn't a trace of living vermin anywhere. "Where's Firesight?" I asked anxiously. Lera glanced around, then stopped. "'Fraid he's at Dark Forest, Riala. Look." In the center of the battlefield was the form of a badger and a black fox. Both were dead. "The day a squirrel with golden tail "Into the mountain comes "The fox will find the end of the badger's trail "They both shall perish under the setting sun," Lera recited sadly. "What's that from?" I asked. "The prophecy on the wall," Lera replied softly. "A squirrel with a golden tail. That's me," I murmered. Lera nodded. "Lets go." The next day, after I'd paid my respects to Firesight, I slipped away. Another friend lost, another reason to hate vermin. I picked up Nightdeath Longclaws' trail going northeast and followed it, bent on destroying my sworn enemy, even if I had to die to reach my goal. ~Riala Goldentail