Heavy losses are inflicted on the goodbeasts, but one Marlfox, Ziral, is killed, which ends the fight abruptly as the rats retreat. Cregga rescues the baby while the shrews, performing troupe, and the Redwallers charge the Marlfoxes in a battle. The Redwallers rightly suspect the Marlfoxes will not keep their end of the bargain.

They arrive at Redwall Abbey, and take a baby captive, ordering the Redwallers to give them treasure in return for the baby's safe return. The Marlfoxes and their water rat army travel north. They warn the Redwallers of the danger of the Marlfoxes. The entire company travels en masse to Redwall, which they discover is being unofficially led by the former Badger Lady Cregga Rose Eyes, as the previous Abbot failed to appoint a successor when he died. Later still, these two groups meet up with the performing troupe, whose cart has become stuck in the mud. They meet up with Log-a-Log and his tribe of shrews, who lost their logboats to the Marlfoxes and their army of water rats some time before. Elsewhere in Mossflower Woods, Janglur Swifteye and his family encounter two of the Marlfoxes, but manage to scare them off. Meanwhile, a group of traveling performers encounters two Marlfoxes, but the foxes retreat when they see they are outnumbered and out-weaponed. Their mission: to bring back objects of beauty for Silth. They are sent on a mission from their demanding mother Silth, who lives on a secret island in the middle of the Great Inland Sea. The Marlfoxes are a group of evil, grey foxes who are rumored to be able to turn themselves invisible. We crave your indulgence for this deviation.) Summary Who insists that the entire tale is a drama, which he will be later performing as a play, hence the three parts being named as acts rather than books. This narrative has been edited by Florian Dugglewoof Wilffachop, Actor Manager Impresario. (NOTE: At the very end of the book there is a disclaimer which reads: It takes place after The Long Patrol in terms of storyline, and serves as a direct sequel. Marlfox is the eleventh published book in the Redwall saga by Brian Jacques.