The bats believe that the Starwife, queen of the squirrels, has stolen their powers of prophecy and insight, given to them as a gift from the moon goddess.

The next day, in a distant squirrel realm known as Coll Regalis, festivities for the Aldertide holiday are interrupted when the bat army flies overhead in pursuit of the falcon.

All the guards of Coll Regalis will accompany her, with the inhabitants left behind in the vulnerable realm sacrificing themselves as a distraction when the bats return.

Too young to be a knight, he has run away from home with his late father's armour in hopes of joining the battle at Greenreach but broke his wing in the process.

Using the power of the silver acorn which he stole from Ysabelle, the high priest calls on their evil god Hobb to emerge from the Underworld.

The two escape, but not before the enraged high priest lays curses on them, proclaiming that when Hobb appears in several days' time he will kill Ysabelle and that Vesper will die surrounded by the sound of bells.

After being chased by Hobbers on a nightmarish journey through the woods, Ysabelle is reunited with Wendel Maculatum, a stoat jester she befriended at the Aldertide celebrations in Coll Regalis.

He takes it, only to find to his horror that the drink is poison and the stranger is the ghost of Wendel Maculatum, having returned from the dead to ensure his curse was fulfilled.

The Final Reckoning, the third book in the original Deptford Mice trilogy, mentions a long ago war between the bats and squirrels.

[4] The mole's shrew guide Tysle was created shortly after, and the pair would become Jarvis's favourite characters in the story.

[7] Sally Estes of Booklist described The Oaken Throne as "darker in tone than the previous book, with [sic] full of terrifying and gory scenes, but it is also filled with inspiring heroics, and its sentient characters are true to their animal natures.

"[9] Christine McGinty of School Library Journal said that "readers will have a hard time putting down this dark, gripping tale of love, treachery, and the clashing forces of good versus evil.