Chapter 1: Setting out

At last, they stepped out of Redmead Dam, never to return.

Earlier that day, in the underground city that they called home, a message arrived for the Redmead beavers, informing them that the Crance were planning to make their dam part of their empire. The beavers were terrified, as they had seen what happened to those who were part of the empire. Rock began to slowly creep along their face until a good chunk of fur was stone and their minds were polluted with evil thoughts. And then, the decision was made. They would leave. They would all go to a safe place somewhere else and rebuild. The plan was to go to Castomela, an island southwest of Longerhan. However, one old she-beaver knew that even though they would be safe in Castomela for a while, the Crance would track them down, and although there were good warriors in Redmead, the Crance were better. And so it was that the she-beaver packed some food and sent her three kits out on the long journey through the Crance empire, beyond the dangerous Florock mountains, where bandits would swipe your things and be a mile away with them before you could say Jack Robinson. And then they would reach the safe city of Frache, where nobody went unless they needed to escape. This was where the Crance couldn’t go.  The trip would take months, and they would never see her again, but it was safe. So the young kits Pirrip, Pora and baby Pinge left the dam and set off across Longerhan.

First they had to cross the great ravine a few miles from Redmead. They were halfway across the rickety rope bridge when  it started to creak. Pora was terrified, and decided to run across the bridge and leave before it broke. She tucked Pinge under her arm like a rugby player and bolted. Soon she was at the end. However, strategic Pirrip thought that he should edge along slowly and stay balanced. But then he realised he didn’t have time for safety, and time was ticking.The bridge creaked loader, and Pirrip made a dash for it. He ran and ran and he could hear the rope bridge breaking behind him. He didn’t usually run around and do sports. Pora was the energetic one. He just read books and could usually be found in the library reading. But now he could see why Pora ran so much. It did feel good. As he reached the end of the bridge where his siblings were waiting for him, Pora clapped him on the back and said ‘Good job, but we need to get a move on, the Crance could be anywhere!’ Pinge cooed in agreement and Pirrip nodded, too out of breath to speak. So they trekked on to Bluesand Lake, and cooked some fish as they agreed they needed to save their mothers food for later. They dug a hole under a nearby tree and finished just as it started to drizzle. Pora struggled to sleep, tossing and turning with the bulky stone bodys of the Crance and her mothers last look as they crawled out of the secret tunnel by the dam leading to Redmead. Would they ever reach Frache in one piece?