My name is Cringepaw, leader of the rebellion. This war is becoming futile for our side, but the others wish to keep fighting for what is right. They say we either die victors, or die while taking some with us. Lilac, the former leader of the Sentinels, is now the second in command in this war against our unknown foe. Our foe is the one who slaughtered all of the leaders except Bren and LIlac. I fear that the Butcher, our name for the foe, is a massing forces to storm our gates. I sent a few of our scouts out to find more forces. It has been two months since then, and all but the crazy, think they will come back. This is what happened before. Maybe I'll find our flaw in this war....
It was a beautiful summer festival we were having, since we had just destroyed another legion of rats that had plagued our forest. The fifth in three months. I was beginning to get worried at these. I was losing more of my squad during these missions to find the rats. I was beginning to see something within these raids. An old trick I used to pull as a sea squirrel, if you could call it that. March in at what looks like random spots, draw them to shore, then attack from all sides with the boat firing as well. I'd have to keep an eye looking at this. But it seemed that only I was worried about this and that only I had no dance partner. It didn't bother me though. I was the ugliest squirrel you could ever see. No one would ever say it though. Then, a few rats shot a few arrow, minor injuries. The others picked up their weapons and charges. The rats ran. I yelled, "STOP! DON'T CHASE THEM!" Most of them heard and stop, but some of the ignorant warriors kept running. I took out my bow and shot on of their paws. "Get them back in here!" I ordered, running towards them. We got them back in camp. "Stay here. I'm going ahead. I think I know what going on." I said, and left, leaving the other Officers to round up the rest of Sentinels and put them in guard formation.
When I arrived at a beach that was sort of a bowl, a ship to my right, and most likely soldiers in the forest. I heading that direction and saw perfectly camouflaged rats, with their weapons camouflaged as well. Quite a good show. Although, I could do better. I went back to the way I came in and shot an arrow at one of the rats, Got two in that one shot, straight through the first rats head. The leader, I presume, yelled, "CHARGE!" THey ran out, and the boat came, shooting. Many a rat was felled in that onslaught. I was quite pleased and left. I don't think they'll try that trick again. "Fools," I said.
After the massacre, I was wondering. How could they have three legions of rats at every raid. And they had ten legions at the beach, with one legion on the boat. It was impossible to have twenty six legions of rats fight for the same cause. The only time a rat made an alliance with another rat, was when their troops were stranded together on and island and they had to overthrow a king or queen. After that, the back stabbing began. But with that many rats, back stabbing should have happened. But there were no signs of it. Who could be behind all this.? Who could have so much power? And, who would want to destroy a band of about five hundred? That, is what scared me the most.
When I came back to camp, battle had taken place. Our five hundred had lost about ten. I thought it was rats. But what Lilac had said was, "They just died. No signs of any wound. And the fire just appeared. It was shear madness!" I then told them what happened at the beach, which the Officers thanked me for. THe festival continued with a new thing to celebrate. The destruction of the rats. I still didn't have a dance partner though, even after my act. Oh well. Looks like I'm going to stay a single squirrel for a long time. And the death of unwounded made me stay in my tree all night. It was either magic or a mental breakdown. I wish I knew. I waited until everyone was asleep, then, I made my move. I was going to find out who was behind this. So, I started at the ship.
When I arrived at the beach, there were no signs of the rats or the carcasses. Someone moved them. I saw the ship start to sail out to sea. No time to think. I jumped in the water and swam to the boat. It was going pretty slow. Must not have wanted to get back. I boarded the ship and climb up to the crow's nest. A drunk rat was there. I threw him overboard, which attracted the guy on deck. I threw the bottle at him and he fell overboard. Two down, one hundred and one to go. I climbed down to the deck and knocked on a door. After awhile, I opened the door and slipped into the bunks. There was no other door on deck, so I thought I'd find the captain here. I looked at every rat. No sign of a captain. I went back to the door and took a rat's knife. I opened the door and threw the knife at the rat's foot. He got up and yelled in pain, which caused confusion and commotion. I left the bunks and found a rapier at my neck. It was...something. It was entirely black. It was about my height, just a bit shorter. Probably as deadly as me or more. Dang thing! "Sooo, you are the one who pulled that little trick at the beach didn't you?" it said. The voice made you want to crawl in a hole in die. "Quite clever. I didn't think the Sentinel's would know of this trick. You would make a great second. How about? Join, or did." I did a twirl around the blade and shoved it in the thing's face. Then I dove and ran, wishing I hadn't done that.
After I hit the beach, the sun had risen. Lilac is going to nail me for this little raid. And she did. I stood there for an hour getting yelled at by Lilac AND Bren. I thought I'd lose my rank for this one. Luckily, all I got was a two week isolation, which is no punishment, seeing that I was alone for three years. But, I was not allowed to do anything except eat and drink. Oh well. At least I could ponder on who this thing was, how it got some many rats on its side, and how our comrades died. So, I climbed my tree, layed back, and took a light sleep with one eye open. Danged rats.
During my isolation, the rats pushed our forces from the beach to the camp. I had only one day left, and that's when the thing came under a flag of truce. I watched carefully, sticking to the shadows. The conversation went with the thing asking for complete surrender and none of us would be harmed except for me, whom� it referred to as 'the one who came aboard for a short visit'. Bren and Lilac wanted to change it to, "Let's share the land equally." The thing said,"I will give you until sunset tomorrow. If you do not come to the beach and answer by then, I will destroy all of you and the survivors become slaves." It then left with the its two rat guards. Bren and Lilac had a short conversation, then Bren left. to talk with Strongpaw, while LIlac gathered everyone around. "This is a deadly time for all of us," she said, "We have a choice. We can either leave here peacefully and let the rats take this land, or fight 'till the death!" "Those aren't choices!" someone yelled. I made a mental note that he was a mouse. "It's all we have to choose from," Lilac said in the general direction of the mouse. "We'll have a vote. All those in favor of leaving peacefully, raise your paw!" Paws shot up and the Officers counted the total. 335 paws were counted. "All those who wish to fight!" More paws went up. A total of 104. "Cringepaw, come down here. Your isolation period is over with," said Lilac. I went over to her. She then yelled to the crowd, "If we are to leave peacefully, we are to turn over Cringepaw to the rats. All those who wish to change their mind about leaving peacefully, raise your hand!" Twenty hand went up. "Any others?" Lilac asked. Not another soul cared. Lilac turned to me and said, "Good-bye. You were a fine officer." I turned and left.
I went to the beach and waved at the boat, which then came to shore. I was going to light fire to that ship and live in the woods and help the Sentinels. I was going to die old. When the thing came to see me, I saw a red mark where the rapier had pierced its face. "Sooo, you are here. Then, the others did not care about you at all. They probably wanted to get rid of you from the start. Bet they wanted to gut you in your sleep. I can fix that in one of two ways. Join my ranks as a captain, or...." it said as it pointed to the scar. When the finger was near the scar, I took the dagger I had and shoved it through finger and scar, making sure it went all the way through. Then, I took off its cloak and saw a shadow. A shadow of a creature that I have never seen so before. As soon as the cloak fell to the sand, an explosion came from camp. I raced back there and saw about two hundred corpses of mice, squirrels, and others. I saw the rest of the Sentinels running off towards the mountains. I then saw the thing, the real thing, float above the retreating Sentinels, laughing as a great big energy formed in its hands. It took the ball and threw it at the Sentinels, killing another fifty. I took up my bow and shot an arrow through the thing's heart and head. It turned to me and pointed its finger at me. I went flying into a tree was knocked senseless for a minute. I got up and ran after the Sentinels, who were fleeing into the mountain pass, nearly out of open ground. The thing shot another energy ball at the entrance to the pass, which caused an avalanche that blocked the pass off. The Sentinels turned and made a courageous effort to stop the thing. The thing went to the ground and advanced towards my comrades. I charged the thing from behind, and was flung at the Sentinels. I picked myself and joined the fray, yelling for the others to run while they could. I ran infront of the Sentinels, took my best arrow and put it in my bow, aimed, and fired. The thing laughed as it wnet straight through its head and took the cloak with it. Then, I blacked out, after the small energy blast that hit me.
After I awakened from the blast, I found myself in a cave with the rest of the Sentinels. Only two casualties were reported in the withdraw. It was rumored that all the officers were going to meet in half an hour from now. I ask a passing mouse, the son of the casualties, where the officers were meeting. He waved his and to follow me and he led me to the chambers. He left after we arrived, and I didn't get a chance to thank him. Bren and Lilac were at a table with a map. I was guessing it was of the surrounding area. I stood in front of them and listened and watched. Bren wanted to attack with a way to cover the cave. Lilac wanted to create a small diversion and have the others escape, and everyone meet 20 yards into the trees. "We would have to run right past them," said Bren, pounding her fist on the table. "We can't just go out there and kill ourselves!" answered Lilac, mad at Bren's plan. "Neither will work," I said, making Lilac jump in small surprise. Bren just stood there. "We should retreat like Lilac said, while creating an illiousion that we are attacking," I said. I pointed my finger at the cave entrance. "We take two of the best scouts and archers. The archers fire from below, while the scouts sneak behind them and attack, trying to grab food and water while doing this. Thus, the enemy is confused and the other run, and we meet 20 yards in the tree line. The perfect plan to use to withdraw. So, is there going to be a meeting in a few minutes or not?"
The meeting was canceled and the plan was to be put into to action the next night. I took one of my best scouts with me for the plan. That night, two arrows were shot after me and the scout were half way around. Two screams were heard and the closest rats got up and sounded the alarm. The rats were grabbing weapons when we started our attack on the camp. The rats started running, thinking reinforcements had come to help. The thing floated about the rats and I leaped at it, hoping it would be trampled. I was shot back into my partner and the thing roared, pointing at us. I saw the last of the Sentinels leaving with the archers at the rear. I got up and fell, thinking of a plan. I told my partner to run, and he did. I got up again and started to walk away the rats closing. I then ran, jumped, cut a big tree limb down, and ran to the woods, opposite of the Sentinels. The rats fell over the limb and one another. Another good show.
I met up with the others at dawn. No one died or was injured. The plan was perfect. We found a small cave that led underground, and that has been our base for the past year. I think my foolishness caused our position, but no one blames me. I think I'll put aside the past and sleep on what will happen tomorrow. I had a dream that night. One that could save us all.
In my dream, I saw all of us, fighting the rats at their base, with me in the lead. I snuck into the Butcher's quarters during the fray, with my sword and dagger. I saw it standing over a book, chanting a spell, in meditation. I drew my sword, held it high, and sliced through the book and the thing. Then, it all disappeared, the thing's cloak, the castle, the rats, and the thing. All that remained was the torn book. I picked up the left half and saw it was a book of black magic. I took my dagger and sliced it up, tearing pages out. Everyone was cheering and yelling. We had won.
When I awoke, the date of my dream's victory was implanted in my head. It was today. I gathered everyone that was still alive and told them of my dream. I told them we had to act today if we wanted to survive. "Are you with me?" I asked in a loud tone. Everyone yelled and grabbed their weapons and ran out. I came out last and ran towards the castle, yelling for everyone to follow. We charged the castle in a final stand.
We rushed the gates so fast, the rats barely had time to counterattack. We brought down the gates in minutes. I did just as I had in my dream. When I entered the Butcher's quarters, found everything as it was in my dream. I took my sword, raised it high, and struck down the book and the Butcher. And that was it. The war was over. We had won, just like my dream told me we would.
We had a ceremony dedicated to our departed friends. We would never forget those who had died to try and save us all. I let Lilac take over again. Peace had returned. But the shadow of evil would always be there.
Back to the History of the Sentinels
Back to the Library
Try Another Tree
Email Lilac:[email protected]