"Changing of the Guard"

(As told by Queen Sapphire to her adopted son Sky.)

 

The great badger turned and let Ebony be. Skulking toward the mound where the fox and snake looked down upon him, the badger lowered his head, a low growl resonating form deep within the beast's chest. The fox and snake appeared unconcerned. Ebony slowly pulled himself from his shell to watch the exchange.

 

"He does not seem to have heeded our warning, Rasp," the snake said to the fox.

 

"No, indeed," Rasp answered.

 

Ebony perked up when he heard the fox's name. Emerging fully from his shell, the great snail gazed upon the red fox with the blue jay feathers in his tail and wooden pegs in his ear. All of the adornments were new, but the voice was unmistakable. This was the fox Ebony had driven from his cave.

 

The badger snarled at the newcomers and stopped in his tracks.

 

"What do you want from me?"

 

"For you to leave," the snake replied.

 

"Unlikely."

 

The snake flicked his tongue, his clouded eyes unfocused but seeming to look right at the badger.  Turning his head to Rasp, he whispered, "End him."

 

The badger's gaze fell on the fox, and the fox stared hard at the badger. In a moment's flash, there was a wet, cracking thud, and everything was still. The badger stood like a stone, a long wooden spear protruding from his forehead. He emitted a soft exhale, then collapsed in a heap on the ground.

 

Ebony stared at the badger's body in disbelief. Only moments after he thought he would die, his enemy lay dead only feet from him.

 

His companion Snail Lords emerged from their protective shells and looked about, startled by the sudden change of events.

 

The black snake with his sightless eyes turned to address the small gathering.

 

"You are free to move on, but do not return to the Crystal Caverns," he said in his smooth, dangerous voice.

 

Ebony considered arguing the point, but a glance at the bleeding badger, whose body was beginning to cool and grow stiff with death, changed his mind.

 

Without a word, High Lord Ebony and his friends slowly crept along the path to the south, leaving the territory of the Crystal Caverns behind, apparently to be ruled by a blind snake and a red fox with a very deadly aim.