Kemen's eyes suddenly snapped open some time before sunrise. The pike seemed to call to him from beyond the forest, the marshes, the village. Everything- every sigh of the wind, every rustle of the leaves said one thing in unison: "Go."

He dressed quickly, before sitting to think. How long did Lady Zerda say it would take him to reach the promised spot? More than four days.

He would have to leave now. Any food he carried with him could only last two days; any more, and it would slow him down. From then on, he would have to rely on his instincts and the knowledge of wild food that Jett had imparted on him when he was a cub.

The sun was just rising as he crept through the dusty streets of the village. The water-pump lay abandoned near the river and the fields and surrounding woods seemed lonely without the calls of workers and the sound of sawing timber.

Standing on a small boat floating on the river, usually used for fishing trips, Kemen suddenly realised it might be the last time he saw his village. With a terrible pang in his heart, thinking of the reaction of those left behind would be, he gazed at the roofs of the houses, glowing red in the early sun, and prayed to Lord Vulpuz and Lady Zerda to protect his family, before pushing the boat away from the bank and watching the village vanish around the river-bend behind some fern fronds.

Kemen straightened, grinning down at the little dormouse bravely attacking a thick tree trunk twice the width of her head.

"You'll be there all season, Sequoia. Lemme give you a hand."

Sequioa bared her little fangs. "No! I can do this!" She hacked at the trunk with her small knife. Some pieces of bark fell off.

Kemen smiled fondly, looking out across the lake and the clearing beside it. He had journeyed for days until his food supply had run out, and finally staggered to a halt at the shores of the lake, where he was found by a small village of woodland creatures. Now they were building a fortress where they could live together.

The foundations had been laid, and the walls were gradually building up. They were now above head height, and the cellars were finished. A group of moles were industriously mining metal and stone, squirrels providing wood, and the others standing guard or foraging for the winter ahead. There were several foxes and pine martens around too, although the plant-eaters were still a little suspicious of their apparent reformations.

Kemen let a pawful of rich black earth tumble through his claws, leaving behind a small, brightly coloured pebble. he held it up to the light to see it more closely.

Out of focus, something moved, leaving Kemen feeling a little dizzy. There was movement, blocked by his paw, which he slowly lowered. Down below, at the far shore of the lake, a swarm of foxes and wolves halted and spread out across the edge, where they all flung themselves down to drink greedily.

Amidst the grey and brown, Kemen caught sight of a shimmery golden glitter. A foreign-looking young vixen flung herself towards the water, but was beaten back by the thirsty vermin, despite her valiant struggles. She was swamped by the crush of beasts.

Kemen seized Sequoia and headed for lower ground and the unfinished fortress to sound the alarm.