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Marten and co encounter problems on the cliff.
This is starting to sound like Redwall back from when I was a kid

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Marten searched through the rubble, frantically flipping over burned beams, dead bodies and chunks of stone with the point of his bloody blade. As his search continued to turn up nothing, he cried out wordlessly, throwing aside his sword and dropping to his knees, using his bare paws to dig through the rubble. After a long time, he spotted a dark reddish arm protruding from a pile of stone, ran over and stopped. Slowly pushing aside a burned beam, he gazed into the bloody, broken face of-
“Marten! Wake up!”
Marten’s eyes snapped open, and he sprang up, pushing Bronze off him as he yelled. “Get off!”
Panting, he looked around at the campsite. Arbalest was cooking some sort of soup made of roots and plants while Bronze was indignantly picking himself up from the snow. “Well, you did ask me to wake you.”
“Sorry, sorry. Night terrors.”
“Not to bad, I hope?”
“N-no…”
Arbalest sipped the soup and made a face. “Wow… This tastes terrible. Good for the bones, though.”
They sat around and ate the meager soup, thankful they had anything at all. Martel looked for the position of the sun. “We need to go if we’re going to make the top in good time.”
“Marten, it’ll be another few days until we reach the top, and who knows what challenges the climb will bring?”
“I know… It’s just-”
“Myri.” Arbalest said.
“Yes…”
Bronze patted his paw. “I have no doubt you’ll be able to save her.”
“What condition she’ll be in is a different story.”
Marten growled at Arbalest’s remark. “Watch your tongue, scavenger.”
“I’m simply being realistic, wolf.”
“And what about this item of yours? What makes you think they wont have melted it down for scrap metal or chopped it up for firewood?”
“Both of you! Squabbling like a couple of crazed children!”
They grumbled and sipped the soup. Exhaustion and hunger had caused them to be quite irritable. Arbalest finished his soup and stretched casually. “We’re being watched. No, don’t look around. Stay still, but do not look like you know something’s wrong.”
They sat still around the fire. Marten sensed it too, he could smell feline on the air, and hear something in the bushes to their right. Arbalest coughed as the smoke wafted his way. “Bronze, do you have a knife?”
Marten slipped his paw into his cloak and whispered. “I have one. I’m dropping it by the log here, where they can’t see.”
Marten dropped the dagger point up into the snow, and in one swift movement Arbalest took the handle, flipped the knife in his paw to the prime throwing position, whirled around and threw. A gasp from a few feet away gave away the fact that the knife had hit its mark. All three ran to the spot to see a feline soldier, his paw pinned to the tree. “Wha- Blacksmith! You’ll never get away with this! You-”
The butt of Arbalest’s spear silenced the cat for a time. Bronze produced a rope from his pouch and handed it to Marten. “Who is this?”
Marten looked at him. He vaguely remembered his face from the fort. “I think he’s from Frostblight. Can’t be sure.”
Arbalest glared at him. “You mean you were followed?! Why didn’t you-”
“I didn’t know I warranted a search! Let's go...”
All three looked at the feline on the ground, knife still pinning his paw to the tree. “We’ll tie him up and leave him here.” Bronze said.
Arbalest tore the knife from the tree. “Let’s kill him and hide the body, that way he can’t tell them anything.”
He knelt over, but Bronze stayed his paw. “Wait a second! We can’t just kill him! He’s helpless…”
Marten Looked at Arbalest and shook his head “Hey, I don't know about this...”
Arbalest swatted away Bronze's paw and gave Marten a piercing glare. "He's done his fair share of horrors."
Marten looked away. Bronze had no time to react before the gurgle of blood permeated the area, and the soldier was dead. It brought Arbalest little satisfaction, but it had to be done. Marten sighed as Arbalest began shoveling snow over the body. “Now we really must hurry. There’s bound to be more of them.”
“Y-yes, lets go.”
Bronze sounded disturbed, and as soon as the body was buried they hurriedly packed up the remaining roots and slurped up the last of the soup, walking briskly towards the mountain once again. Marten looked over at Arbalest, who was barely out of breath despite the increasing incline of the terrain. Sometimes it seemed Arbalest went out of his way to irritate him, and sometimes he seemed to be very ruthless. He looked back at Bronze, who was out of breath and struggling to keep up with the other two longer legged Atrieans. Marten wasn’t sure about Bronze. He was clearly older, stronger and more skilled than him and Arbalest, however he was naive. Either that, or he was smarter than both of them. Marten turned to Arbalest, and frowned. “We’ve told you our stories, but you haven't told us yours.”
“Yeah…” Bronze panted.
Arbalest scoffed. “Bronze’s story could barely classify as a ‘story’. “I wander and I have no home.” Well if that’s his story, it’s my story too.”
Marten shrugged. “Then you both have me at a disadvantage. Tell me one thing.”
“Maybe. Depends on the thing.”
“Who was killed?”
“What?”
“Who did you witness getting murdered?”
Arbalest’s paw curiously went to his neck, but when he realized he did, his pulled it away and averted his eyes. “I didn’t know them, it was a stranger.”
“Ok.”
Marten looked at the mountain and sighed. Hopefully this alchemist could tell him where he could find an army. Or money. He dug his boots into the snow and sighed. He missed Myri profusely.

~~~

Redrick walked down the hall carrying the Regent’s dinner in one paw, and a giant jug of liquor in the other. He pushed the door open and scurried over to the Regent’s table, setting down the tray and jug, then turning to leave. “Redrick! Going so soon?”
He froze, and turned around, his thin face grimacing. “No, Regent.”
“How’s the temperature? Still shivering?”
“No, Regent.”
Zhoe laughed as he dug into his food. Redrick noted that he was in a good mood. For what reason, he could not tell. “Is that all you can say? “No, Regent. Yes, Regent.”?”
“No… Um… Not as such, Regent.”
Zhoe laughed again. “Funny man! I understand Lar liked you.”
“Yes, He did. Regent.”
“I get why he did! Anyway, how old are you?”
“Twenty two, Regent.”
“Ever have any lovers?”
“N-no, sir. Um, I spent my life in… bonds…”
“A pity. The rumors are true, you know.”
“Rumors, Regent? Which ones…?”
The Regent smiled and passed a cup of wine to Redrick. “About canines.”
Redrick was halfway into a drink when the realization hit him. The wine turned to swamp water in his mouth, and he put the cup down quickly, the Regent laughing at his reaction. “Go on, get out of here.”
Redrick ran. He ran down the hall as fast as he could, the Regent’s laughter echoing down the hall. Myri’s room wasn’t far, he often visited when he had time. He had taken a liking to the larger folf, she spoke to him when most of the other slaves wouldn’t, for fear of somehow angering the Regent. It seemed to be the case for slaves the Regent liked. He threw open the door and entered slowly. “Myri! Are you alright…?”
She saw he sitting on the edge of the cot, staring at the floor with an empty look in her eyes. Redrick slowly walked over and sat next to her. It was clear she hadn’t slept in a long time, the rings around her eyes begged her to close them and get some sleep, but still she stared, not blinking thanks to the robust design of the Atriean eye. “Myri… I’m so sorry…”
She barely acknowledged his presence. After a long time sitting and staring, Redrick noticed tears pooling in her eyes. She sobbed, and grabbed Redrick, crying into his shoulder with long, soul crushing sobs. Redrick’s expression held a strange mix of sadness, sympathy, disgust and hatred as his friend cried bitter tears into the fabric of his shirt.

~~~

Zif, Zik and Zip looked up at the mountain as their assigned soldiers trickled in from the woods, panting. A life of relative comfort and inactivity had made the soldiers unfit for long journeys. The three brothers kept themselves very fit, and breathed lightly as they watched the mountain. Zip looked back at the soldiers and scoffed. “No discipline. Zhoe could have assigned the elite soldiers to us.”
Zik grinned. “We are the elite soldiers, brother.”
Zip shrugged. “You’re right, I suppose. Where is the scout we sent out?”
Zif pointed. “It doesn’t matter now, I see them. Three figures, climbing the mountain. They haven’t gotten far, we can catch them by midday.”
The other two brothers looked up at the three figures slowly making their way up the craggy cliff, and spoke in unison. “What about this lot?”
“We’ll tell them to get moving, and they will.”
Zip dashed among the soldiers and addressed them quietly, as not to alert the climbers. “We must climb. Drop your gear here, bring only a weapon. We’ll pick it up when we come back down.”
One of the soldiers gulped in air and spoke for the group. “We’re dead tired ‘ere! Let u-”
Zip poked him with the tip of his sword, growling. “We can’t afford to rest, dimwit! They might notice us and speed up, get away, or-”
The soldier threw up his paws. “Alright! We’ll do it.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
Zip joined the other two as the soldiers grumbled and began climbing. Zik chuckled as they silently labored up the mountain. “We could have left them behind. Even if he’s found two companions.”
Zif watched for a moment, then began to pursue the escapee and his friends. “I like to make them work. It’ll do them good. Come, let’s grab them and get home before dinner.”
The three brothers swiftly ascended the mountainside, the three figures higher up completely oblivious.

~~~

Troy watched Myri sewing. She had never seen Myri so concentrated, or fast, her fingers moving almost automatically over the cloth, stitching like a madwoman. Something about the look on her face disturbed Troy, and she leaned down so she was in Myri’s peripheral vision. “M-Myri? Is something wrong?”
Her fingers didn’t stop. “Myri?”
Yet again, she did not react. “M-”
“Ow! No! Nothing is wrong! Nothing! I’m just fine!”
She sucked her finger where she had pricked it in her haste, glaring at Troy, who was staring at her work intently. Myri growled and returned to her work, not giving herself time to think. Troy completed a basket and picked it up, hauling it out the door with one last concerned look Myri’s way. After depositing the basket in the closet, she headed back to receive another task. She passed the war room, and stopped when she heard a shout through the crack in the door. “No! We can’t deploy the fifth along the Folg Ridge, we need them protecting the Arden forest!”
“Then what do you propose we do? The entire canine army could just waltz through Folg Ridge and flank every one of our units!”
Troy pressed her ear to the door and listened carefully as the Regent argued with someone she’d never heard before. “I am aware of that, but I have faith in the strength of the walls at Folg.”
“General, it’s bad enough you have to use Frostblight as your base of operations, you could at least talk sense! Fort Folg is old and crumbling-”
“I’ve had enough of this insolence! I think it’s time we made use of Garth…”
The conversation turned to whispers and Troy took the opportunity to scuttle away. She practically ran into Redrick as he turned a corner. “Oh! Excuse me… Wait, you’re Myri’s friend… Redrick.”
“Yes, that is me…”
She glanced at the war room then back at Redrick. “The canine army is getting closer. We could be liberated soon.”
Redrick didn’t look hopeful. Despite being younger than Troy and Myri by a couple years, he had much more experience in bondage that them, and a lot less hope. “Tell me their exact words.”
Troy relayed the information to the fennec, and he shook his head solemnly. “The canine army will be led astray. Garth is a spy.”
“How do you know?”
He twitched an ear. “I hear things. Don’t expect us to be saved anytime soon.”
“Drifrasa will-”
Redrick growled. “Don’t give me any of that crap. I lost faith in Drifrasa a long time ago.”
Troy’s ears fell against her head. “Redrick…”
He sighed and shook his head. “Sorry. It’s Myri. Why did something so terrible have to happen to someone so nice? I wish…”
He looked around and adjusted his clothes. “I’m sorry, I’ll let you get back to your work…”
Troy grabbed his arm before he could scurry away. “Wait! What happened to her?”
“You know very well what happened to her.”
The blank look in her eyes said otherwise. Redrick felt sorry for her. He felt sorry for every slave in the fort. “Perhaps it’s better if you didn’t know.”
“What am I supposed to do? My best friend has transformed into a different person.”
“Give her space.”
Troy nodded, and ran off before she was missed. Redrick had seen this process happen before with a different Regent, and he was glad that this time the victim didn’t have any siblings…

~~~

Marten watched where he put his paw carefully. The near sheer cliff face was treacherous, and any pawhold could give way at any time. To alleviate his nerves, Marten hummed a folk song as they climbed. Arbalest was climbing above him, and upon hearing the song, he broke the one rule of climbing and looked down. “Could you not… Oh, shit! Look!”
Marten glance down, hugging the mountainside tightly. He saw Bronze looking down too, and the forty odd soldiers climbing the mountain after them. “Climb faster!”
The three doubled their efforts and climbed up for their lives.
Down below, Zif growled and called down to his brothers. “They’ve noticed us! Come on!”
The trackers expertly climbed the cliff, using barely visible pawholds and death defying leaps.
Arbalest reached a ledge, completely winded. The other two joined them, and all three looked down over the mountainside at the rapidly approaching felines. Marten drew in ragged breaths. “…We can’t outrun them…”
Bronze drew his weapon and cracked his neck. “I’ve fought many foes at impossible odds. I think I can take them.”
Arbalest chuckled. “Oh, good. I was worried there for a second.”
Marten smote the rocky outcrop with the hilt of his sword in frustration. He wasn’t even close to rescuing Myri, and he was already about to be captured or killed. A few pebbles dropped down the cliff, made loose by Marten’s strike. One bounced off Zip’s nose. Marten frowned, an idea forming in his head. He looked around wildly. “Here they come. Any minute now.” Arbalest said, his spear poised.
Marten dashed to one side, where a giant bolder sat. He jammed his blade between it and the rock face and pushed. Bronze looked over. “Marten! What the hell are you doing… Arbalest! Give me a paw!”
Bronze ran over and braced himself against the mountain, pushing with his footpaws against the huge boulder. It moved slightly. It was only when Arbalest joined Marten and used his spear as a lever that they made some progress.
Zif looked up to see the ledge, now without the three heads poking over the side. “Where did they go?”
Zip looked up also. “I don’t-”
None of them had time to speak as the ten ton chunk of rock came hurdling down the mountainside, dislodging a huge amount of loose rock as it thundered its unstoppable path. Zif jumped to the right, scrambling down the cliff until he found a pawhold out of reach of the boulders. Zik did not have room to run, but with some quick thinking he hugged the cliff face, just under a tiny ledge which was enough to protect him. Zip was not as lucky. In a panic, he tried to dive as Zif had, but was intercepted by a chunk of rock that slammed into his arm with a savage crack. He tumbled down wildly, and by some miracle managed to grab a ledge with his unbroken arm and paw. Zif shut his eyes and awaited the inevitable: The screams of the soldiers below them. Many saw the rock slide coming, being much lower down on the mountain, and were able to scramble out of the way. Unfortunately some did not have a grasp on the art of climbing, and lost their grip, slipping down the mountain with blood curdling screams. Some froze, and were swept away by the rock flow. As the rumbling subsided, Zif and Zik looked down at the carnage. Soldiers clung to the cliff for dear life, some groaned from injuries, and others looked down at the forms of their dead and dying comrades. Zik locked eyes with Zif. “We need to help them.”
“You realize it would mean letting the blacksmith go for the time being.”
“Yes, but we have a duty to out brothers in arms. We can save many of them.”
“Agreed. Zi- ZIP!”
“Brother!”
Zip hung on for dear life, his broken arm dangling uselessly. He cried out in pain. “Brothers! Help me!”
Zik was closer. “I’ll help him, you help the others! That canine scum will pay for this!”
Marten, Arbalest and Bronze did not waste any time admiring their handiwork, and quickly resumed their climb, the top tantalizingly close, yet still a far way off.

~~~

Garth was a very small man. Perhaps his dishonest nature and chosen lifestyle had shaped his body to match. The fox was startlingly handsome for his small stature, his face held a sort of honest strength, and his dazzling yellow eyes shone through like beacons of hope. His face had not been shaped by his profession, even if he was the most treacherous backstabbing man the Regent had ever seen. He stood before the Regent, a guard with a crossbow at his back. “Yes, Regent? What do you require of me?”
The regent dropped a pouch on the table and leaned over it. “Three hundred katches now, three hundred more when the canine army has been defeated.”
Garth loved money. It could buy anything: land, weapons, women, power. He looked in the pouch and felt its weight, taking out one of the small gold coins and biting it to ensure its purity. “Hmm… What can I do?”
The Regent handed a scroll to Garth, and he opened it. “I can begin right away. This seems simple… wait…”
The Regent grinned widely. “Oh? Is there a problem?”
“W-well…”
The soldier behind Garth hefted her crossbow and pointed it at him. “N-now, I don’t think this is… I can- AHH!”
With a crack and a thwip, the bolt thudded into Garth’s arm, knocking him over. “AHH! For… Ow! Regent… Was that entirely necessary?!”
“I don’t like you, Garth, but that’s not why I shot you. I need it to look like you barely escaped. Now, read the rest of the plan.”
Biting his tongue to distract himself from the pain, he continued reading.

Garth ran, pursued by half a dozen yelling feline soldiers, wondering if he chose the right profession. Huffing and puffing up the slope of the valley, he put on a burst of speed and ran towards the canine camp. It was a long run.

~~~

Marten, Arbalest and Bronze panted as they rested on a ledge. One of the suns had already dipped below the horizon, and the temperature on the mountain was dropping rapidly. The three didn’t notice, however, as the exertion had left them overheated. Marten gasped and lolled his tongue out. “We… Did it… I think…”
Bronze rolled over and hung his head over the edge, looking at the fires of the felines, still on the foothills. “They stayed… behind… why?”
Arbalest was the least winded, and he shrugged. “Who knows?”
Marten looked at the entrance to a cave that lay a short climb above them. “Bronze… Is that it?”
“I think so. It looks dark though, you’d think my friend would come out and offer us some tea.”
“Not much of a friend, you don’t know his name and he wont eve take us in.”
Marten hauled himself up and coughed. “Well, we’ll all freeze out here if we don’t get inside. I can smell smoke from here…”
As they continued to climb, a pair of gleaming eyes watched them from the top, but did not move. As they approached the cave entrance, the eyes darted away, further up the mountain and out of sight. Marten, Arbalest, and Bronze stood before the cave entrance, looking inside at the very slight glow inside, which couldn’t be seen unless you were standing right there. “Well, lets see what we can learn from this friend of yours, Bronze.”

~~~


“I don’t think it was anything.”
Two wolves looked out over the ice plain, straining their eyes against the darkness. “No, look! There!”
If Marten had run like Garth had, and not gone up the mountain, he would have made it to the canine forces as soon as the little fox had. He still ran, aching limbs and burning lungs forcing him to run further. His wound didn’t help him. The felines still yelled, and the wolves heard them. They exchanged glances and one pulled out a horn and blew into it. Soon twenty canines in full armor rose from their slumber and lined up beside the two wolves. Garth shot through their ranks, and was grabbed by a hyena. Upon seeing it was a fox with a feline bolt sticking out of his arm, he hurriedly placed him in the snow. “Don’t worry friend, we will protect you.”
He panted, the heat from his body melting the snow around him. He was unable to speak. The felines saw the canines standing there, and stopped. A lynx stepped forward. “Give him back.”
“Of course. Come here and take him back yourself.” One of the wolves said.
They stared each other down for a minute, until the lynx spat into the snow and waved to his cohort. The wolf who had not spoken looked at his companion. “Should we not go after them?”
“In full armor? We wouldn’t stand a chance of outrunning them.”
The hyena crouched beside Garth. “I am captain Harimau of the King’s army. Who are you, stranger?”
Garth panted. “… … Garth…”
Harimau snapped his finger. “Water! Food! Do not fear, you are safe now. Tell me your story after you have eaten. Our physician will remove that bolt.”
Garth nodded, and smiled slightly.