At first Feadle thought his eyes were deceiving him, but as he peered into the moon-shadowed dunes he distinguished the smartly dressed figure of Klitch hurrying toward the camp. Filling his lungs with air, Feadle roared at the top of his voice. “Master, see, it’s your son Klitch and he’s alone!”

Roused rudely from his slumbers, the weasel Chieftain hissed upward at the hapless sentry, “Wormbrain! Couldn’t you shout any louder to advertise our presence to the entire countryside?”

Sickear scrabbled for balance, wakened by the sudden shout.

Feadle steadied him as he whispered back in an exaggerated tone, “But, Master, you said to let you know—”

A well-aimed pebble struck him stingingly on the eartip, followed by Ferahgo’s voice, heavy with contempt: “Feadle, you useless toad, get down here. Sickear, you stay up there and keep your wits about you.”

*   *   *

The Assassin sat with his son, apart from the rest and out of hearing. He nodded his head approvingly as Klitch made his report, then commented, “I knew there was something to those tales of a hollow mountain and the badger’s treasure. But you say you didn’t see any of it. How d’you know it’s there, you sly young fiend?”

Klitch’s blue eyes twinkled in the darkness. “Hah! It’s there all right, you old murderer. That badger, Mara, she let slip about it in conversation. She’d know where the treasure of Salamandastron is hidden, mark my words.”

“Where is she now?”

“Back in the dunes there with her friend, a hare name Pikkle. Goffa’s keeping an eye on them while I’m away. No need to worry, they were sleeping like babies when I left them to come here.”

“Well done, Klitch. Now we know exactly where the mountain is. The next question is how to get in there and grab the treasure.”

Klitch toyed with the sword that hung by his side. “It won’t be easy. I’ve told you, the place is a fortress, besides which there’s more than twoscore of hares—proper battle-trained fighters, not like the helpless creatures we’re used to. But the main one is that badger, Lord Urthstripe. I’ve never seen a beast so big and fierce. He’s a real warrior. I’d hate to have to go up against him!”

Ferahgo’s long skinning knife appeared under Klitch’s nose. “You leave him to me, I’ve dealt with big badgers before. Oh, they’re fierce fighters, sure enough, but they lack cunning and suffer from silly little things, like honor and conscience. Now you get off back to your new comrades and guide them over this way, to me. There’s more than one way of frying a frog. Off you go, you young backstabber!”