Section Two:
The Last Venomfang

The excitement of the battle left Sliverpaw exhausted, but still with rage. The ferret had screwed up big time, and two soldiers were dead and five wounded as a result of misfiring. He stomped off to the temporary officer’s mess to punish the ferret officer. The post-battle conversation in the tent was sober, even with four open kegs of grog. The INSU forces had fought fiercely, and losses had been heavy. However, it didn’t make much of a dent in the approximately forty-eight hundred beast army under Sliverpaw’s command. It would take something huge to severely damage the Hartkan forces. If something bigger than the earlier attack happened, Sliverpaw would be very angry. And when he was angry, heads rolled. Quite literally.

Kylar had something very huge in mind, but it was risky and dangerous, if not deadly to anyone who went along with it. The problem was how to pull it off. It’d require a ship, a crew, cooperating winds, time, diplomacy, cunning, and a whole load of good luck to have the slightest chance of success. Even the least important phase was hazardous. Altogether, there was probably no chance of even halfway completing his plan, but it was likely the only way to save Sampetra - well, INSU and Ublaz at least, because the hypothetical outcome might take a large chunk out of Sampetra at worst. The plan: enlist the help of the last giant sea snake Tolenia Venomfang, the grandmother of Derolian Venomfang, and therefore larger than any of her descendants. Big plans and excruciatingly complicated details. And none of them could be pulled off until the slice in Kylar’s thigh stopped bleeding! The amount of blood streaming out had reduced, but the weakness following severe blood loss had set in, and unconsciousness typically was close behind. Just before he blacked out, he noticed a pair of paws at which he slumped down and passed out. A sudden burst of pain immediately shocked him into awareness, and again, the feeling of another beast watching crept over him. He managed to croak, "If’n ya wanna slay me, get on with it." The beast above him replied, "If’n I wanted to kill ya, I’d have hit you a long way back and left ya for dead." Kylar looked up and found himself looking at an INSU polecat. "Slashclaw, you dirty rat! What brings you out to the combat zone?" Another voice, low and husky, rasped out from behind a hill, "We came out to get yeh back, mate." A stoat lumbered out from behind the hill. Kylar laughed. "Dingeye, you too? You’re both a pair of drunkards! What are you really up to?" Slashclaw, with usual sarcasm, shot back, "Actually, we were going to take on that horde with just a few blades between us." Kylar groaned. "Don’t. I got a nasty slice from one of their soldiers. They’re tougher than they look." Dingeye helped Slashclaw lift Kylar off the ground, saying, "Well, we need to get yeh back to the palace now." Kylar groaned again, visibly in pain. "You don’t need to twist my paw for me to go along with that. In fact, you can stop twisting my paw now, Slashclaw." Slashclaw looked down, then gave a dry laugh. She had held him in a twisting pawlock to wake him up, and neglected to let go. "Let’s go," said Dingeye.

The execution went on as promised. The ferret officer lay slain, his head severed from his body. Sliverpaw stood before the horde, his battleaxe stained crimson, still dripping blood from the edge. He yelled to the horde, "Let this be a lesson to all of you! Failure will not go unpunished! We must conquer this island!" The horde cheered briefly. "The enemy shall exploit our every weakness! We must show them we have none! We have no fear! We have no shortage of supplies! We have superior weaponry! We are invincible!" Again, the horde cheered. "They say Mad Eyes has hypnotic powers. They say he can hypnotize with a glance. We can fight in our sleep, we can kill while wounded, we can annihilate anything with our eyes closed!"
Once again, the horde cheered.
"We must succeed! For the Chancellor!"
The horde replied, "For the Chancellor!"
"For our honor!"
"For our honor!"
"For Hartka Island!"
"For Hartka Island!"
The horde saluted Sliverpaw among war cries.
He silenced the horde with a paw. "Before we can capture Sampetra, we must know precisely what we are up against. Therefore, I will appoint five of our best spies to gather information about Mad Eyes’ palace, and what the particulars of their defenses are. And then, when we know exactly what to do, we shall move in, destroy, slay, plunder, take no prisoners. And when Mad Eyes and his INSU commanding officers have surrendered to us, we shall take them back to Hartka Island, shove them into our prison, and allow them to rot. In other words, we cannot be defeated!" The wild cheers and war cries rang out over the landscape of Sampetra, the island of vermin Corsairs. This time, the brave warriors of INSU might not be able to repel an attack, even with all crews in the palace. It would require a miracle to have any chance. And that’s what Kylar would do. He’d create a miracle.

Two days passed.
Kylar’s leg wound had healed slightly, just enough to be able to walk around without pain. He hadn’t told anyone about his idea, but Ublaz was willing to grant audience to him. When the time came, Dingeye and Slashclaw helped him walk down to Ublaz’s throne room. Outside the gold-and-silver-lined oak doors, Slashclaw said, "I don’t know what this is about, but be careful. Ublaz has a tendency to get angry at foolish ideas." Dingeye pushed the throne room doors open, revealing the extravagant throne room of Ublaz, Emperor of Sampetra and leader of the Imperial Navy Serving Ublaz. The reddish-black walls coordinated well with the dark tapestries hung from the ceiling. Dark marble formed columns and floor tiles. Burgundy-colored velvet cushions lay in a semicircle around a marble platform, upon which sat the Emperor. The chamber’s color scheme was mostly dark colors, which highly contrasted with Ublaz himself. The pine marten with a medium-brown coat on top, cream-colored underside, and cold, calculating, solid onyx eyes, was clad in a simple, dark green robe with hood, with a royal blue cape strung over his wide shoulders. He lifted his eyes to see the trio. A single, monotone order echoed around the chamber. "Come." The three vermin approached the platform, with Kylar limping slightly behind Slashclaw and Dingeye. They halted at five feet away from the platform, each bowing to Ublaz. He nodded to each, halting his gaze on Kylar. An odd pins-and-needles feeling crept over him. Ublaz said in an oddly calm voice, "Sit." Slashclaw sat on the cushion to the immediate left of the center cushion. The tall, willowy polecat was nearly a walking weapon. She could use almost any kind of sword or knife, had sharp claws that had severely damaged quite a few beasts, had the agility of a beast half as small, and was fairly attractive for a beast of a different species. Dingeye took the position to the immediate right of the center. The stoat had real Corsair skills; he knew when a big storm was coming up, he knew how to make a ship move in hostile winds, and he could hold his own against multiple beasts at once, even with his single cutlass. Kylar took the center position, in front of Ublaz. The young ferret hadn’t nearly as much experience as Dingeye, and Slashclaw could run rings around him in any kind of run. However, Kylar had the very real advantage of being semi-psychokinetic; that is, able to move energy from a beast’s mind. Over the seasons, he had developed a method of attack that withdrew a small amount of energy, then forced it back with tremendous force. It caused anything from minor dizziness to total paralysis in the victim, but could only be used very rarely, as the feedback caused Kylar to become drained of his body’s energy. He kept practicing with his heirloom weapon, a long dagger with ruby replacing the standard metal blade. He also became adept at crossbow archery, and kept a crossbow and quiver of bolts on his back. Ublaz focused his hypnotic powers into Kylar’s eyes. The emperor then spoke. "Tell me what you want." Kylar, unable to snap the hypnotic hold on his brain, stood up obediently, cleared his throat and began explaining his plan. "It is my belief that the enemy forces are too powerful and too numerous for successful repulsion of an invasion of the palace. Therefore, after much consideration, I have decided upon a single solution…" He cleared his throat again, then resumed. "You may remember the giant sea serpent, Derolian Venomfang, and his children, Cren, Glar, and Jarena. The legends say at the bottom of the Green Maelstrom lays the first, and now last, giant sea serpent in this ocean, Tolenia Venomfang, his mother. My plan is to enlist the help of her to destroy the enemy horde." Slashclaw, Dingeye, and Ublaz all gasped at the same time. The hypnotic eyes of Ublaz lost focus, allowing Kylar to regain control of himself, and his reaction was the same as the others. He hadn’t actually thought for a moment that he-Kylar, the least likely to voice his opinion!-would give his plan of which would fail nine-hundred-ninety-nine times out of a thousand. Slashclaw hopped up and started yelling, "You crazy fool! Do you have any idea what kind of idiot would follow on that damn-" "-fool suicide mission? A dead one, that’s who! You’ve been pulling back-" Dingeye joined in, shouting. "-way too many beakers of grog! That slice in your leg must have done something to-" "-your head, to come up with such a hare-brained idea! INSU can-" Ublaz interrupted the barrage of verbal abuse, "-not take on forty-eight hundred vermin and hope to win. Kylar is right. INSU has around three hundred forty beasts in its ranks. Add the less well-trained garrison, that has about a thousand beasts, and we have thirteen hundred forty. "The enemy has over three times our numbers, they are well-trained and well-equipped, and they aren’t going to give up very easily. It is, indeed, a very risky mission, and not every beast may come back, but the Venomfang is our only hope. Ublaz turned to Kylar. "What do you need before you leave?"

The young ferret started loading his belongings into his bag, including an airtight jar of poison, extra crossbolts, and antidote. He then jumped down from his top bunk in the INSU barracks and headed down toward the north gate. Dingeye, Slashclaw, and about fifty INSU Corsairs were there waiting for him. When he arrived, Slashclaw shot him a look of contempt. "Well, o fearless leader, what’s the next step in your grand master plan?" Kylar stared her back down with a gaze that said Don’t even try it. "Well, obviously we need to get to the harbor to borrow a ship. We’ll have to take what’s there." Dingeye took one last swig at a beaker of grog, flung it away, and mumbled in a slurred voice, "Right, let’s get it over with." And so, the expedition began. The trip down to the harbor was uneventful, but full of tension. Every member of the party was on full alert, watching for any enemy soldier to close in and attack. It was a deadly kind of tension, if a scouting party were to march up over the hill, what would be the consequences? Would they win or lose? If they did win, how many casualties would they sustain? The group of buildings on the horizon signaled they were closing in on the harbor, and everyone relaxed. The taverns would be a welcome diversion until a ship was found. The usual bustle of the taverns was gone, and an odd, whistling wind blew in and out of each one. Three kegs of grog were ‘acquired’ by thirsty Corsairs, while Kylar checked the state of each. Finally, he decided on the least heavily damaged ship, the Freebooter, after throwing the captain overboard and pushing the other commanding officers after him. The provisions were loaded aboard, the crew followed, and they were all ready to leave when suddenly, a band of Hartkan soldiers came rushing up the jetty. Kylar immediately called over a group of archers, and began firing when they came into range. Most of the archers took aim at the front ranks and dropped the immediate threats. Kylar, however, launched a bolt at the one soldier dragging behind, who was knocked backwards into the water. He then proceeded to eliminate several more before they began an unorganized retreat. The archers started to unstring their bows and return to their posts. Kylar mopped his forehead as Slashclaw walked up. "Expecting a cakewalk, Commander?" Kylar turned and struggled to keep his voice calm, but rage burned in his eyes. "Listen, Slashclaw, if you want to keep everything that you own, that you have done, that you helped finish, you’ll at least have to help us get this mission complete. It’s not going to be pretty, and I’m sure I’m going to have to sacrifice something to save it all from being destroyed. You and Dingeye can hate me for all eternity for getting you into this, but there’s no other way." He turned back to the dock and waved her off. She left without another word. The sun was low in the sky, a red-and-orange orb in a yellow background, when Freebooter left for what may have been its last voyage. She sailed smoothly through the waves, her beauty marred by a small hole in the bow of the hull. It was being repaired, and it was high enough above the waterline as to not be a serious hazard except in rough seas. By night, the Freebooter was sailing at a steady pace. The second watch was posted, the first in their bunks, and the sails out, completely unfurled. Slashclaw headed to the aft to find the captain’s quarters. When she knocked on the door quite a few times, it opened to reveal Dingeye, yawning as if awakened. She asked, "What are you doing? Where’s Kylar?" He yawned again, stretched out, and replied sleepily, "To answer the first question, ‘e let me use ‘is quarters tonight. As for the second, I dunno. ‘E said something about the crow’s nest." Kylar was running for his life. He dodged a flurry of arrows, dived under a spear, and slew its owner. The Hartkan soldiers started to close in all around him when INSU showed up and started fighting them. Just when Kylar thought he was saved, Ublaz showed up and jammed a silver dagger between his eyes. And there was much rejoicing as Kylar sank to the ground, dying slowly, painfully. As he blacked out, he woke up suddenly, back on Freebooter. He shivered in the open night air. Was the dream simply fear? Or was it an omen? The bad part of predictions was the fact that they were just that, predictions. Answers to questions about situations that couldn’t be solved accurately until it was all over. Even the most obvious situations could go either way. "Kylar?" A familiar voice asked. He laid down, pulled his cloak over him, and tried to go back to sleep. Slashclaw peeked over the rim of the crow’s nest, looking at the small ferret inside. He appeared much weaker and less powerful in sleep’s arms. "Kylar, I need to talk to you." "Talk, then. I’m listening," he replied. She swung her paws over the rim and sat down next to him. He sat up slightly, turned around, and glanced at her. She began talking. "Kylar, I’m sorry I was rather annoyed at you earlier. I’ve been wondering about what life would be like without INSU and the Vermin League. What would it be like for you?" He stared up at the stars. "I’d probably be dead. Those searchers from Sampetra rescued me. For me, INSU is my life. And it’s also an obligation" He stared up at the flag of Sampetra high on the flagpole. "My family was destroyed by vermin, nature, and goodbeast alike. My mother; extreme cold. My father; supposedly assassinated by a dissenter, but I know my uncle killed him. As for my uncle, he was killed by the same thing as I almost was: that damnable Treeleap!" Kylar stood up and gazed at the horizon. "INSU kept me from dwelling on the same things over and over; pain, death, and revenge. I’m obligated to Ublaz for accepting me, and I thought this would pay it all back to him. If it does, then I might go my own way, make my own life." Slashclaw stood up and started back down the rope ladder. Kylar stretched out to full length, grabbed his cloak, went back to sleep and had another dream of his own death. This time, the huge Venomfang had gone berserk and sunk one of its huge teeth through -not into, but through- Kylar’s body. As he writhed in agony between the poison and the pain of the wound, he died a swift death this time. He was sure he wouldn’t be so lucky in the real situation.

Sliverpaw was having a better time. The spies were ready to go, and all they needed was a major distraction to get in. The attack was ready to go, and he was making final preparations for the inevitable casualties afterward. It was planned for a dark and stormy night. They began a slow march heading to the south, on the way to Ublaz’s palace. If the spies entered the palace and got out safely, then certainly the assassins could operate without problem. As the palace loomed large ahead, Sliverpaw started the attack group-there were about five hundred-at a double march, to throw off the timing of INSU archers. Then, they spread into left, right, and center flanks, to force the INSU archers to pick targets, instead of just aiming at the center and firing. The archers started in earnest, firing at the black targets in the night and missing. Hartkan soldiers, however, had a field day hitting the walltop archers by aiming at outlines created by torches. Several toppled over the wall, breaking their bodies on the cold ground below The rain splattered in the eyes of INSU archers, lowering the already slim chances of hitting a Hartkan soldier. They were forced to drop below the wall, allowing the spies to throw their grappling hooks onto the wall’s edge. And then the rain and wind changed. The INSU forces popped up and started firing at a frenzied rate. Hartkan soldiers were dropping like flies. Sliverpaw flattened against the ground and crawled off to escape the melee. When all of the Hartkan soldiers were slain, the INSU soldiers let up a cheer. Sliverpaw replied quietly with thunder shielding his voice. "Don’t believe for a second you’ve won," He stood up and yelled, "It’s not over! We will prevail! It is not over yet!"

**INTERMISSION**

As time went on, the crew of Freebooter began to wonder what was running through Kylar’s brain. He spent nearly all his time up in the crow’s nest, just sitting there, thinking. In truth, he was contemplating the possible outcomes of his scenario. In the best case, the Venomfang would enjoy a good meal and go off without another thought. In the worst case scenario, Sampetra was either eaten, mangled beyond recognition, or in the hands of Hartkan soldiers, and as for Kylar? Taking his life was probably the smallest payment she would expect. "Green Maelstrom, off the port bow!" The whirlpool that had claimed lives of woodlander and vermin alike was mocking Kylar, showing its superiority to him. "Oh, no, you don’t!" he screamed in his head. He proceeded down the rope ladder to the bow of the ship. "Drop anchor!" he ordered. The clank-clank-clank of the anchor chain told him everything was okay. Kylar grabbed a wolf named Silvereye and told her, "Get the other beasts below deck. Be ready to get to your station." She nodded and loped off. After all the Corsairs had gone down below deck, he proceeded to walk calmly to the very front of the ship, just above the figurehead on the keel. The fear of Venomfang swiftly was overridden by the courage given to him after seasons of seabeast experience. He shouted out to the Maelstrom, "Venomfang! I have come to parley with you! I demand to see and talk to you in the flesh! Show yourself!" The whirlpool gradually spun itself into nothing but still water. The seas became very rough. And a giant fountain of water spewed eighty feet straight into the air. The head poked out, followed by a long, thick, muscular snake body. It was huge. It was grayish-green. It was Tolenia Venomfang. And it didn’t look anything like sketches from the ancient texts. First, instead of having the stringy, thin fins, she had thick, solid, dangerous-looking fins. Then, the glazed, faintly purple eyes in the sketch were replaced by very intelligent, cruel, clear ice-blue eyes. The scales had exposed edges, and looked razor-sharp. Finally, the teeth. Two-to-three-foot fangs in front were said to contain the most potent poison in the known world, and the other sharp teeth behind and in front gave no impressions that this creature was a vegetarian. Coldeyes had told of the horrors of seeing beasts being killed by Derolian and his spawn, and seeing their antecedent was enough to destroy all hopes of peaceful negotiations. The faintly raspy voice of Venomfang was hideous. The first sentence sent chills up his spine, and no doubt everybeast aboard felt the creeps. "Why do you dare call upon Tolenia?" Kylar staggered backward, straightened up, and confronted the snake. "Venomfang, I demand your assistance in facing our enemies." The sea snake did not take this confidence in the manner intended, and reared up. "You dare make demands of me? You obviously do not know the manner in which to address me. Demand of me again, and you won’t need any more enemies." Again, Kylar straightened out to face his ally/enemy. "Very well. I am here to request your assistance in defeating my leader’s enemies." Venomfang took a slightly more relaxed position, though Kylar wasn’t sure if it was relaxed or just faking it. "Why should I fight your enemies? I see no reason to fight your battles and win your wars." As much as he disliked it, she had a point. He had absolutely no leverage whatsoever with her. Except for, perhaps, the fact of Derolian and his spawn’s deaths. "You have, actually. You see, your grandson and his children are dead, and," though he hated taking the credit from Coldeyes, "I am the beast who slew all four." The giant creature created a painfully loud, high-pitched screech. She attempted to snap Kylar in half with her teeth, but he jumped back and away. He then tried something he hadn’t done in a while. He tried his psychokinetic attack. Tolenia felt a sudden hole open in her memory, which was followed by the reappearance of it, along with terrible pain. She roared in agony, which didn’t last long. The pain wore off, and she shook her head to clear it. "So, you are a psi. You have talent, but I have skill." Kylar was suddenly wracked with pain through his entire body. His limbs became numb, and his head filled with static. He cried out in pain as it pulsed through him. And as quickly as it started, it stopped as though it had been triggered by a switch. He swiftly fell to the deck, in merciful unconsciousness. Everyone below deck started to worry. Dingeye was heard to remark, "Someone go up to check on him." But before anybeast could, Freebooter almost capsized, struck by Venomfang. She screamed in her high-pitched wail, "Return when you can equal my power, and perhaps I will help you." Everyone spilled back on deck, but only the tail of Venomfang was visible. Within a minute, the Maelstrom was spinning as powerful as before. Freebooter was sailing back in a northerly direction, speeding on a heavy wind. Silvereye the wolf, dropped from the crow’s nest ladder, and ran up to Dingeye. "Cap’n, I can’t find Kylar anywhere!" He looked very surprised. "Are ye sure? ‘E could be b’low deck." She looked concerned. "Sorry, Cap’n. I checked. I was the last one up, and he couldn’t be below deck." Literally flying up the ladder to the crow’s nest, Dingeye found Kylar’s stuff -cloak, bag, and spyglass-but no Kylar. He snatched the spyglass and began searching for Kylar. The waves were shielding the view, but back towards the Maelstrom, bobbing up and down in the water, was Kylar, unconscious and in danger of drowning. Dingeye immediately yelled down to the navigator, "Hard right, bring her around! Bring in the sails! Beast overboard!" The crew immediately sprung to action, acting promptly. But as the order was filled out, a huge wave crashed down on Kylar, sinking him. Dingeye frantically searched for him, but to no avail. Sadly, he yelled, "Belay that order. Return to original course." He slid down the ladder in a sober mood. Silvereye and Slashclaw were waiting. Silvereye asked, "What happened? Where is he?" Dingeye tried to say something, decided against it, and murmured, "He’s not going to reach Sampetra by ship." The three walked to the stern, observing the Maelstrom fading into the distance. Slashclaw asked, "What are we gonna do now?" Dingeye replied in a stunned voice, "I don’t know. Either way, we’re in trouble." Freebooter sped off back towards Sampetra. Not only had INSU lost a valuable officer, but they had probably lost any chance of saving Sampetra.

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