High Rhulain

Mercenary warrior squirrel Rakkety Tam MacBurl quests to rescue kidnapped Redwall maidens and thwart the plans of the murderous wolverine known as Gulo the Savage . . .

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REDWALL

MOSSFLOWER

MATTIMEO

MARIEL OF REDWALL

SALAMANDASTRON

MARTIN THE WARRIOR

THE BELLMAKER

OUTCAST OF REDWALL

PEARLS OF LUTRA

THE LONG PATROL

MARLFOX

THE LEGEND OF LUKE

LORD BROCKTREE

TAGGERUNG

TRISS

LOAMHEDGE

RAKKETY TAM

HIGH RHULAIN

CASTAWAYS OF THE FLYING DUTCHMAN

THE ANGEL’S COMMAND

VOYAGE OF SLAVES

THE GREAT REDWALL FEAST

A REDWALL WINTER’S TALE

SEVEN STRANGE AND GHOSTLY TALES

THE RIBBAJACK

THE TALE OF URSO BRUNOV

THE TRIBES OF REDWALL: BADGERS

THE TRIBES OF REDWALL: OTTERS

THE TRIBES OF REDWALL: MICE

REDWALL MAP AND RIDDLER

BUILD YOUR OWN REDWALL ABBEY

REDWALL FRIEND AND FOE

A REDWALL JOURNAL

THE REDWALL COOKBOOK

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HIGH RHULAIN

An Ace Book / published by arrangement with The Redwall La Dita Co., Ltd.

Copyright © 2005 by The Redwall La Dita Co., Ltd.

All rights reserved.

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ISBN : 978-1-101-20849-6

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For my friend

Alan Ingram,

the guardian at Redwall’s gate!

BOOK ONE

The Forgotten Tome

1

BOOK TWO

The Fool of the Sea

119

BOOK THREE

Across the Western Sea

221

When autumn’s day grows old,

sad orchard leaves do fall.

Dawn breaks o’er silent gardens,

bereft of sweet birdcall.

Stark winter’s dirge then wails,

until the earth appears,

white clad ’neath drifted dunes,

whilst trees bear crystal spears.

My chamber is a refuge here,

against the snowbound night,

a flickering cave of crimson gold,

made warm by firelight,

where images are conjured,

of friends I used to know.

I battled and I marched with them,

one dusty long-ago.

I see them now arise again,

in memory that ne’er will fail.

Their legend is reborn anew,

and thus begins my tale.

BOOK ONE

The Forgotten Tome

1

The wind moaned like a wounded beast in the southwest. Gathering speed, it ripped over the heaving ocean, smashing the dark wavecrests to boiling foam. Evening skies darkened as the bruised heavy underbellies of cloudbanks tumbled into a chaotic stampede of black and leaden grey. Lightning scarred the skies. Thunder boomed out, like the sound of mountains cracking from peak to base. On Green Isle, the still waters of loughs and streams were whipped over their banks, flattening and saturating reed and sedge. Leaves showered widespread as trees shook their heads, goaded by the gale into an insane dance.