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BOOK 3 - ABSOLUTION

24

Farlo the dormouse was following Ikkit Claw. He had followed his army since they left his home in Lanka. They were the ones who stole his beloved wife away from him. He had been out of his village helping to fight the Stormvermin, but upon his return the children and other villagers were slaughtered and the houses were ruined and set on fire. He had been in Jima only three days and already he was drawing attention to himself. In the field where he stood, the tails of his turbun blew and danced on the wind behind him as the blood of the dead stained his feet. Only one wearet out of a group of four was left alive. The great hulking beast twirled a long chain with a scythe shaped blade on the end of it. "Ready ter die, mousey?" "Sorry," Farlo said coolly. "I believe you are the one who is about to die." Farlo readied his blood stained scimitar. "In fact, there's no doubt in my mind about it," he added. The wearet grew berserk with rage and charged at Farlo. But the dormouse had the same idea, as the wearet threw his flail, Farlo ducked and swung upwards with his scimitar as the wearet passed him by. The wearet realized he had missed and was about to charge again when Farlo asked, "Excuse me, does this belong to you?" The wearet then noticed that Farlo was standing on his severed left arm. The wearet howled in pain and collapsed to the ground as torrents of crimson gore sprayed from the wound. Farlo stamped on the wearet's throat and his voice became cold and hateful. "Alright monster, tell me what I want to know and maybe I'll save your miserable life. Tell me, where is the one they call the Steward of Mochizuki?" * The voyage back to Jima from Mossflower was quicker than the route to Mossflower from Jima. The voyage was shortened by the Roaringburn current and the massive tidal currents across the Cerres Ocean. Sandokhan was the most cheered by the familiar sight of his homeland. The horizons, every blade of grass and the sound of native birdsong was heartbreaking. The fox felt he had truly returned home. As the crew of the Heart of the Ocean and the GUOSIM shrews unpacked supplies and set up camp on the shore, Sandokhan and Wataru stretched to refresh their cramped limbs. "Welcome home," said Wataru. "It won't truly be home again until Ikkit Claw is purged from this land," Sandokhan replied. "What exactly has he done?" "Come, I'll show you," said Wataru as he lead Sandokhan up a shallow land rise. Sandokhan could never prepare himself for what he was about to see. The sky was a horrid grey colour with sunlight trying to break through the clouds making them radiate with a sickening yellow hue. Most of the buildings he saw were ruined and the smell of death floated on the breeze. Down bellow in the floodplains Sandokhan saw rats dumping the corpses of the dead into the once clear River Oda, now reduced to a torrent of dark brown. The fox felt tears swelling in his eyes as he fell to his knees in grief. "It's pretty bad isn't it?" "I didn't want to believe you," Sandokhan sobbed. Wataru put a reassuring paw on his friends' shoulder, "You won't go through this alone." "Never alone." The pair turned to see Mattimeo with the sword of Martin slung over his back. "It's gonna be dangerous," said Wataru. "Danger?" Mattimeo scoffed. "We Redwall Warriors are like you Samurai, we laugh in the face of danger!" Sandokhan chuckled loudly. "I say you bods! We're more far away than anybeast has been from Mossflower and I bally well don't find any of this lark funny, wot!" George Stag Hare had now materialized next to them with Cheek trailing behind him. The young otter paced in front of the hare and looked down at the sight that greeted Sandokhan and Wataru. "So we're gonna fight this Ikkit rat, for this?" "That's right Cheek," Sandokhan replied. "This is where Wataru and I grew up." "Well beggars can't be choosers. Anyway, if you chaps are going to pitch in, I don't see any reason why I shouldn't. Now I suggest we get back to camp and see if those shrews have put together some decent tucker." "I suggest we don't dawdle, there'd be none left when flopears've finished," said Cheek. "Good point Cheek," Mattimeo remarked as the group made their way quickly back to camp. Little did they know that a weasel dressed in black was watching and listening from the overgrowth.