Orlando would stand at the center of the circle until he regained his breath, then with a mad roar he would charge out to wreak slaughter upon the rat horde, only coming back into the circle to wipe the gore from his axe and lick wounds.

Whenever Basil saw a particularly vicious attack, he too would go vaulting over into the thick of it, his long flailing limbs laying rats senseless, to be trampled under the masses of their own horde.

“Yahooooo! Take that, you blighter! Here, old lad, have some of this harespaw pie and lie down for a bit.”

Thud!

Another rat would stretch his length on the rocky ledge.

More blackrobes pressing up the winding causeway steps piled in to fight, fired on by Nadaz.

“Kill! Kill! Slay the invaders who dare come to the land of Malkariss.”

Jess Squirrel angrily turned a rat’s own spear upon him. “Wait’ll I get my paws on that one in the purple robe. I’ll make him sing a different tune!”

Cheek flexed his throwing paw and spoke his mind to a nearby shrew archer.

“There’s just too many of ’em. If we lose a creature we’re one short, but you can knock ten vermin out and twenty spring up in their place.”

The shrew sighted and shot his arrow, nodding with satisfaction at the result.

“Right ’twixt the eyes. They never come back for more after that. What’s that you say, otter? Oh aye, there’s no stoppin’ ’em, is there? Still, we’ve signed for the trip, so we might as well make the best of it, eh!”

Above the din of the battle, Jess caught a ripple over on the far side of the ledge at the tunnel mouth. She fought her way to Basil.

“Over there, look. It seems we’ve got some kind of reinforcements.”

Basil did an extra-high leap, taking great care to kick a rat flat on the head as he went.

“Yahaha! Well, blow me old whiskers, Jess, it’s the young uns! Mattimeo! Over here you, young scallawag. Redwallll!”

The cry was taken up in answer across the melee:

“Hooray, we’re saved! Basil, you old grubweller, we’re coming! Redwallllll!”

*   *   *

Mattimeo and the former captives were battling their way through the throng. Using flailing manacles and spears from fallen rats, they drove across the platform with their cell door in front of them as a shield. Pushing, shoving, thrusting and whipping out left and right with everything available, the young creatures fought their way to be reunited with their friends. Nadaz danced and screamed louder, urging his rat horde to greater efforts. The inevitable victory he had foreseen began to waver as the tide of battle flowed in favor of the brave woodlanders.

*   *   *

The Father Abbot was delivering a stern lecture to Cornflower concerning her ghostly antics.