The Plans of Marek (An Epilogue to the Nightfur TP)

After the death of Nightfur, it did not take long for his horde to abandon his fortress and run, most of them died, but some of them got away. Some would return to the life of a slaver, others.....well let's just say that they found themselves in the clutches of somebody who would not take kindly to their presence.

One Ferret ran through the woods and was slain by a crossbow bolt to the chest, and the remaining group about three dozen beasts stopped in their tracks.

"Why Hello" a voice said as Marek stepped from the shadows. "Lovely day to run isn't it?" he points to the ferret. "Unfortunately for your friend here, well his legs don't appear to be working anymore....or the rest of his body for that matter"

A lizard growled. "What do you want sssssssssssssssstoat?" he said, raising his sword. "Don't try any funny business, you're outnumbered"

"Perhaps" Marek said, standing out in the open. "But you are outwitted, and my skills fair outweigh any of you"

"He's hurting my brain!" One weasel complained.

"If you had a brain for me to hurt, perhaps I would" Marek told him. "But for you smart enough to realize who you are talking to, I suggest you listen to me"

"If you're going to kill ussssssssss" the lizard asked. "Why not do it right now?"

"Because" Marek said. "I like to play with my food before I eat it, in a manner of speaking"

"You're going to eat us?" The Weasel asked.

Marek sighed. "It's a figure of speech, you embisle. It means I'm going to torment you before you die"

The Weasel stared blankly.

"Torture" Marek explained, but changed his mind and just decided to kill the weasel. "But you are not worth this game"

"We will not go down without a fight" The Lizard told him.

"As I expected" Marek said, pulling out a poach from his cloak as well as a small match.

"What isssss that?" The Lizard asked.

Marek grinned as he lowered the match to the bag. "This, was quite expensive to obtain"

"What was?" another weasel asked.

Marek only smiled as he continued to lower the match slowly. "It seems as though my trip to Ruingate was worth it"

"Ruingate?" The Lizard asked.

"That's right" Marek told him, lighting the bag and quickly throwing it. "You messed with the wrong beast"

BAM!

Withing seconds, three various vermin and the lizard lay dead and a small bush had been burnt to cinders, and Marek laughed in the face of it all, leaving the rest still.

"What do you want?" a marten asked. "We'll do anything"

"Anything?" Marek asked with a twisted smile, looking at the score and a half vermin who still stood before him.

"Yes, anything"

"Give up your life as a slaver, and come work with me"

"Of c-course, you're the boss"

"And who am I, exactly?"

"Um.....I dunno"

"I'm the beast who orchestrated the downfall of Nightfur"

"B-but didn't that Otter Lee, kill Nightfur"

"Of course, but how do you think he and those stupid Ferravale Beasts FOUND Nightfur's hideout"

"Umm.....that creepy squirrel Oak?"

"For seasons I have been tracking Nightfur myself. You see, long ago his father enslaved my entire family, and do you what I did? I escaped, I freed the slaves, I BURNED THAT COMPOUND TO THE GROUND. But Nightfur himself escaped, and I chased him down. I found a lead in Mossflower, but it ended up being a dead end, so instead, I decided to take over Mossflower myself, and regrettebly failed"

"Sir, we'll help you take over Mossflower, if you want"

"In due time" Marek told him. "But for now you will listen to the rest of my story. I was shot off a bridge, my wounds were tended too by a beast I THOUGHT was my right hand beast, but that scumbag Seth turned out to be Nightfur's beast. I tortured every....last....little...bit of information out of him" Marek drags out the words gleefully. "And then I left him to die at the hands of another Mossflower beast , and with that information I found Nightfur's hideout, but I knew that the Mossflower beasts would not accept my word for it. I knew they wouldn't trust me. So I paid that squirrel Oak to "find out" that information himself, and to not tell them who really found his base" he grinned. "So you see....all of this....ALL OF IT, was simply a trap set for Nightfur, and I won"

The Marten gulped. "Ok"

"Now, who am I? Who do you work for?"

The Marten's eyes were filled with fear, and only one word came out of his mouth. "Marek"

"You're Damn Right"