Matthias and Cluny continued battling savagely. Iron smashed upon steel as Cluny called up reserves from his vast strength and cunning to defeat his opponent. Twice he had hurled clawfuls of soil at Matthias’s eyes, but each time the shield rose swiftly and deflected them. The warrior mouse hacked away stoically. He was beginning to feel his paws numbed by the jarring blows of the hefty iron railing against the sword blade. Cluny too felt the vibrations each time the sword clanged upon his weapon. The pain shot right through him, down to the tip of his injured tail. Along the ramparts they fought, blinded by sweat, panting and blowing, neither asking nor giving quarter; down the stairs and across the grass once more, they slashed and struck at each other right up to the entrance of Great Hall.

  Cluny dodged behind the half-open Abbey door and hit out at his attacker. Matthias’s sword point lodged deep in the wood. Seizing his chance, the rat dodged nimbly into the open, and battered madly at Matthias’s upheld shield until he was forced to drop it.