[2] Young Buckler Kordyne, a hare of the Long Patrol army, has a discussion with his ruler Brang Forgefire, Badger Lord of the mountain Salamandastron.
The duo, a mole and a squirrel, had wandered outside to the woodlands to picnic, but a waiting band of vermin "Ravagers" bound, gagged, and carried them off before anyone could notice their absence.
One of the Ravagers, Globby, is overcome by the temptation of Redwall food and attempts to break inside the kitchens; however, he is captured by the otter Skipper Ruark, who punishes the miscreant by forcing him to clean up the mess he had made by his burglary.
They are keeping the hostages in the remains of Brockhall (a place under an immense old tree), which they have renamed Althier, and are planning to use the captives to force Redwall to surrender to their demands.
Several of the captive young ones, led by Flandor the otter, Tura the squirrel, and Flib's younger sister Midda, try without success to figure out a workable escape plan.
Meeting up with the Guosim shrews led by Flib's father Jango Bigboat, Buckler, Diggs, and the performing company proceed to Redwall.
After hearing Flib recount the position the other babes are in, Axtel leaves her a spear and instructs her to watch over the two molebabes, while he digs back into Althier to get the rest.
A kind watervole, Mumzy, who has been watching and knows there are other Ravagers about, moves the trio of young ones from Axtel's campsite to her concealed bankside home nearby.
Back in Althier, an infant mouse quite accidentally discovers a hidden rift in the rock, which leads to a natural cave system behind the wall.
Buckler, meanwhile, has taken the entire Guosim shrew force and most of the able-bodied creatures from Redwall, planning to storm Althier, as they now know its location thanks to the warrior Axtel.
Thinking Vilaya is dead, Zwilt prepares to cut off her head as a warning to other vermin, but one of the Ravager stoats (a female named Gliv) urges him not to, saying it would be a bad omen.
The escapees by now have reached the surface; but their freedom is short-lived, as an insane hedgehog named Triggut Frap imprisons them on his pike-surrounded watermeadow island, intending to use them as slaves to build him a proper house.
They join in the battle against the Ravagers' battering ram at the front gate, not knowing that Zwilt and four of his soldiers are attempting to force a secret entrance open from the back.
Badly wounding the young hare, and causing Diggs to lose his ear and his memory in the process, the sable flees into Great Hall, but encounters Abbess Marjoram, Buckler's sister-in-law Clarinna, and several other Abbey females.
Meanwhile, outside the Abbey walls, Vilaya has resumed control of the Ravagers; the Redwallers, however, with the aid of Ambrevina and the Guosim, soundly rout the vermin, forcing the remainder into a scattered retreat.
This proves to be her undoing, as Ambrevina falls right on top of the Sable Quean; the force causes the poison phial necklace to break, the shards piercing Vilaya and slaying her.
Diggs, who has completely forgotten who he is and now believes himself to be a colonel in the Long Patrol, wanders away from the Abbey, but returns in company with Mumzy and the freed captives.