Urchin and the Heartstone | ||||||||||||||
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Urchin and the Heartstone is the second book in the Mistmantle Chronicles.
Synopsis[]
- As summer dawns on the island of Mistmantle, its inhabitants prepare for the coronation of Crispin the Squirrel. Robes are stitched, cakes are baked, wine is brought up from cellars, and the Heartstone -- the unique gold-and-silver flecked stone that only the true priest or the rightful ruler of the island can hold -- is readied.
- But the newly established peace in Mistmantle is soon under threat. A storm-ravaged ship from a distant land appears in the mists surrounding the island; a dramatic revelation about the revered Heartstone comes to light; and the extra-sensory powers of a young islander reveal the evil close at hand. Urchin finds himself journeying to a hostile island, where the maniacal King Silverbirch and his sorcerer Smokewreath await him. There, Urchin will have to face challenges greater than those he has ever known, and in doing so he will learn a secret about his past that will change his life forever.
Plot []
With the events of the previous book, Crispin has been made King, but has yet to be officially coronated. On a beach near the Tower, Urchin is introduced to a squirrel named Juniper by Damson. As they are on the beach, a ship limps out of the mists, ravaged by a recent storm. The ship makes its way to the pier, where the Mistmantle animals are making preparations for it. The ship lands, and the animals on board make their way off. Among the animals are Lord Treeth, Scatter, Bronze, and Trail. As guests of Mistmantle, they make their way to the Gathering Chamber of the Tower.
In the Gathering Chamber, Lord Treeth reveals the reason for their ship going to Mistmantle. He claims that the Husk supporters that were exiled from Mistmantle made their way to Whitewings, his home island, and are now terrorizing the island. He further claims that the island will be saved by a "Marked Squirrel", which he reveals is referring to Urchin. He presents Urchin with a sword made of silver as an offering to help their island.
As Urchin is processing the request the following night, he is approached by Bronze and Trail, who kidnap him and put him on a small rowboat, and reveal to him their true intentions when coming to Mistmantle. Juniper, feeling that something is off, decides to go down to the beach. As he goes down, he notices a row boat going out to the Mists, so he decides to follow it. When he realizes Urchin is on it, he catches up to the boat, intending to save Urchin. However, the swim leaves him completely exhausted, and all of his energy is exerted into simply staying alive. The following morning, when animals begin to realize that Urchin and Juniper are missing, Scatter tells them that Urchin left on his own volition, but her lie is found out almost immediately, and she is locked in a room in the Tower, along with Lord Treeth. Both Juniper's and Urchin's disappearances spark anger in their separate communities.
On the boat, Urchin makes multiple escape attempts, with each one failing and resulting in stricter security. During one attempt, Urchin thinks he sees a paw off the side of the boat, but when he looks back at it it is gone. The discourse between Trail and Bronze grows during the journey, fueled by a lack of sleep and general dislike for each other, in addition to themselves blaming the other for food going missing, while in reality Juniper is the cause. After roughly 3 days of travel, they make it to Whitewings relatively unharmed. shortly after they leave the boat, Juniper staggers off the boat, having been exposed to the elements for the entirety of the journey. Juniper is found by a group of animals, who take him to their network of underground tunnels and provide him with medicine, before smuggling him up to Urchin's cell.
Urchin is lead to Silverbirch's Fortress by Granite, a squirrel and former supporter of Husk who was exiled after his reign. On his journey there, he notices that much of Whitewings is covered in a fine dust, and the distinct lack of greenery present on the island, in addition to the animals that live there, many of which are sickly and starving. In a show of power, Silverbirch decides to post all of his guards, armed with bows, on the ramparts of the fortress. He also notices swans swimming along the shoreline with chains around one of their legs. Once inside the fortress, he meets King Silverbirch and Smokewreath. Silverbirch reveals his true plans for bringing Urchin to Whitewings, to find silver deposits across the island. Urchin is then lead to his cell. He finds Juniper inside his cell, hidden inside a pile of spare bedsheets. He is then approached by a squirrel called Cedar, who reveals that she is part of the Larchlings, a movement on Whitewings that intends to overthrow King Silverbirch, who took the throne as regent from his younger sister, Larch. She also tells Urchin that they were the ones who rescued Juniper from dying. Urchin later receives a tour around the castle by Granite. Much of the castle is adorned in silver, which combined with the flickering candlelight gives it an eerie glow. The tour goes off without any hitches, with it ending in Smokewreath's chamber, intending to scare Urchin into submission. Smokewreath's chamber is adorned with pieces of animals on the walls, with tools used to procure them hanging on hooks. In the center of the chamber is a sacrificial altar.
Meanwhile, on Mistmantle, Lord Treeth and Scatter are imprisoned on Mistmantle. Since Mistmantle lacks any prison cells, Lord Treeth is stored in what used to be Lady Aspen's room, where he proceeds to throw and break every item in the room out of anger. In contrast, Scatter feels remorse for her actions. Some of the hedgehogs of Mistmantle begin to hang around Lord Treeth, especially those of the Hedgehog Host, who were loyal to Husk during his reign. The Heartstone is also discovered to be missing, replaced with a duplicate. In order to prevent the island from experiencing any unforeseen repercussions, the Tower animals keep this a secret, and begin to conduct searches for it. Suspecting that it was likely thrown out by Husk, they begin by searching around the shore, as the most logical spot for him to throw a stone would be on a beach. The search for the Heartstone is mainly lead by the young hedgehog Hope, but all of the animals who know of it participate.
While searching for the Heartstone, Sepia, Hope, and Fingal wander into a cave where Sepia practices her singing. While exploring it, Fingal discovers a natural slide that leads into a deeper tunnel. Fingal goes down the tunnel with Hope, but Sepia begins to feel concerned when they don't reappear after a few minutes of waiting. Deciding to follow them, she discovers a tunnel which leads deeper into the island. She gets lost in the tunnels for hours, but eventually ends up underneath the kitchens in the Tower, and going further, ends up underneath the throne room. She then meets up with Fingal and Hope, and they make their way out. They report their findings to the King, alerting them to the fact that the throne room is vulnerable to attack, in addition to the fact that the tunnels also connect to the kitchens.
On Whitewings, Silverbirch begins to force Urchin to search for silver, believing that, since he is a "marked squirrel", a squirrel with pale fur, he can detect silver. Smokewreath demands that Urchin be sacrificed immediately, believing that his magic is more powerful, but Silverbirch wins out, and they settle on the agreement that Urchin will be sacrificed at the first snow. Silverbirch, along with Trail and Bronze, begins touring Urchin around the island in an effort to make him find silver, which is obviously unsuccessful. Urchin picks a spot at random, and Silverbirch begins setting up mines at the location. As they are returning to the fortress, a small series of tremors strikes the island, a result of the widespread mining weakening the island. Cedar begins checking on Urchin and Juniper more frequently, using lice as an excuse for the frequent visits. During the visits, she informs them on the general goings-on of the island, and provides Juniper with medicine.
Without the ability for Urchin to help Juniper apart from providing him with extra blankets in his cell and a portion of his rations, Juniper's condition continues to worsen. Juniper becomes reliant on Cedar's periodic visits to be provided medicine for him. Urchin and Juniper pass the time they spend in the cell playing games or telling stories, being careful to not make too much noise, which would alert the guards. Due to Silverbirch's likely insanity, Urchin's position begins to grow weaker. During one of Silverbirch's outbursts, he calls for Urchin's room to be searched. Unable to prepare, Juniper scrambles up the chimney. Wanting to divert attention from Juniper, Urchin covers himself in the soot from the fireplace, and pretends to have been making an escape attempt. Just as the guards are coming up to the room, Cedar intercepts them, and takes the situation into her own hands, allowing for Juniper to remain undiscovered.
Towards the end of Summer, Lugg and group of moles attempt to rescue Urchin via the preexisting underground tunnels. However, a spy implanted by Lord Treeth, Creeper, overhears of the plot and goes ahead of them to alert the animals on Whitewings, and all of the moles except for Lugg are killed in the rescue effort. Lugg is captured and lead to the main chambers of Silverbirch's fortress, in front of Urchin, in an attempt to weaken Urchin's resolve. Lugg is sent back to Mistmantle to send a message that Whitewings will invade their island after they kill Urchin. At the same time, the Hedgehog Host, lead by Gorsen, attempt a coup to overthrow Crispin. However, their plot is discovered by Needle, Sepia, and Fingal. Docken, a member of the Hedgehog Host, sides with Crispin, and together with the loyal animals they defeat the Hedgehog Host, and the surviving members are exiled. Gorsen reveals the reasoning behind their attempted coup, that being that they wanted to have a hedgehog on the throne again, with their feelings being further fueled by Lord Treeth's talk of Whitewings and the way the island was run, that being a dictatorship run by a hedgehog.
As Urchin's sentence continues, Silverbirch's opinion of him continues to fall. Coupled with Silverbirch's mental instability, Urchin's chosen mine site begins to deliver less and less, making his position more dangerous. The only thing between Silverbirch and Urchin becomes Cedar, who convinces the king that he's more valuable alive than dead, much to Smokewreath's anger. However, just as Urchin's chosen vein begins to disappear, and Silverbirch is at an all-time high for anger, the miners find a large vein of silver, which once again bolsters Silverbirch's mood.
Juniper's condition continues to worsen, with him barely being able to speak and move, resulting in more frequent visits from Cedar. During one of her visits, she takes Urchin into one of the secret entrances to the Larchling's chambers, to have a discussion without being overheard. In the tunnels, Urchin once again meets Lugg, who returned through a secret tunnel not being patrolled by Silverbirch's guards. Lugg fills Urchin in on the events happening on Mistmantle. Cedar also uses this time to give Urchin a bracelet made of beads and a lock of hair from Almond, Urchin's birth mother. Cedar tells Urchin that they were very close friends, and that she gave Cedar the bracelet, something that was very common on their home island. She also informs Urchin that he is the son of a Whitewings priest, Brother Candle, who was assassinated by Silverbirch, and that Almond fled Whitewings shortly after to avoid being killed herself, hoping to land on Mistmantle to protect both herself and the then-unborn Urchin. On one of Cedar's visits to Urchin, her plans are overheard by Bronze. Realizing that this could result in a promotion, he makes his way to report to Granite. However, as he makes his way to Granite, he is assassinated by Creeper. Trail had reported to Granite earlier about Bronze's plans to take his position, resulting in Granite sending Creeper to kill him.
While this is happening, Hope continues to search for the Heartstone. During his search, he begins collecting some of the prettier stones he finds, many of which are similar to the Heartstone. Gathering Sepia, Fir, and some of the older animals, he begins to gift them the stones he found. As he gets to Sepia, however, the stone falls out of his paw before he can give it to her. He attempts to pick it up again, but it once again falls out of his paws. Unbeknownst to Hope, he had found the Heartstone. Now, with the Heartstone, Crispin can be "properly" coronated as the king of Mistmantle. However, through general agreement, they purposely delay the event until Urchin and Juniper return to Mistmantle.
Just as Silverbirch is at an all-time high for his opinion on Urchin, it begins to snow on Whitewings, and Silverbirch reluctantly allows Silverbirch to sacrifice Urchin. Cedar, upon hearing this, rushes to Urchin's room, telling the guards outside that Smokewreath ordered for him to be cleaned before the sacrifice. She escorts Urchin downstairs, into the tunnels run by the Larchlings. Once word reaches Smokewreath about Cedar's actions, he and Granite begin the search for them across the island. Needing to escape, the Larchlings attempt to steal Silverbirch's boat, but are spotted while doing so. Taking cover behind a hill, Silverbirch's forces begin to close in on them. Realizing that they were only searching for him, Urchin gets out of cover and reveals himself to the search party, sacrificing himself so that the Larchlings can remain safe.
Urchin is grabbed by Granite and escorted to the Fortress, but as they're making their way towards it, the Larchlings charge the escort party. Just as they're about to clash, however, an earthquake strikes the island, this one being significantly larger than previous ones. The earthquake causes the fortress to collapse in on itself, due to the ground being weakened by the mining efforts. Smokewreath, King Silverbirch, and a large majority of his following is killed during the collapse of the fortress. The remaining supporters are overpowered by the Larchlings, and taken as prisoners. With the immediate threats gone, the Larchlings reinstate Larch as the rightful ruler of the island, and begin construction of a new castle, the House of the Marked Squirrel, named in Urchin's honor. Meanwhile, Urchin, along with Cedar, Lugg, and Juniper, travel to Mistmantle, going on King Silverbirch's ship. They also free the swans imprisoned on Whitewings, which gave Whitewings itself its name.
On their journey back to Mistmantle, they encounter no issues until they reach the mists. Given the mist's properties, they are temporarily grounded to a halt while inside. After a long time of being stuck, however, they manage to make it through the mists. Lighting a beacon at the tip of the bow, they slowly make their way through the mists. As they make their way through the mists, riding stars begin to fall. The beacons are spotted on the shores of Mistmantle, and shortly after the animals on board as well. The animals on the island begin a welcoming procession with what little time they have to receive the animals on the boat. Crispin leads the procession, greeting the animals as they exit. With Urchin and Juniper back, the coronation can finally begin. It goes off without a hitch, and the island celebrates.
Appearances[]
Characters[]
- Almond
- Apple
- Arder
- Arran
- Aspen (mentioned)
- Auburn
- Bronze
- King Brooken (mentioned)
- King Brushen (mentioned)
- Burr
- Candle
- Cedar
- Lady Cott
- Crackle
- Crammen
- Creeper
- Crispin
- Damson
- Docken
- Fallow
- Fig
- Fingal
- Brother Fir
- Brother Flame
- Gleaner
- Gorsen
- Granite
- Gripthroat (mentioned)
- Heath
- Hope
- Mother Huggen
- Husk (mentioned only)
- Jig
- Juniper
- Larch
- Lichen
- Longpaw
- Lugg
- Lumberen
- Moth
- Needle
- Padra
- Russet
- Scatter
- Scufflen
- Sepia
- King Silverbirch
- Silverbirch's wife
- Siskin
- Sluggen
- Smokewreath
- Swanfeather
- Swish
- Tay
- Sister Tellin
- Thripple
- Tide
- Tipp (mentioned)
- Todd (mentioned)
- Trail
- Lord Treeth
- Twitch
- Twitch's sister
- Urchin
- Westree
- Whisper (mentioned)
- Whittle
Groups[]
- Captains of Mistmantle
- The Circle
- Fortress Watch
- Gorsen's brotherhood
- Hedgehog Host
- Husk's mercenaries
- The Larchlings
- Tower Guard
Species[]
Locations[]
- Ashfire Island (mentioned)
- Mistmantle Island
- Anemone Wood
- Falls Cliffs
- North Corner
- Old Palace
- Rough Rocks
- Song cave
- The Tower
- Aspen's chamber
- Chamber of Candles
- Fir's turret
- Gathering Chamber
- Throne Room
- Spring Gate
- Padra's chamber
- Urchin's chamber
- Watchtop Hill
- Whitewings Island
- Beacon Top
- Claw Crag
- Eagle Crag
- Larchlings' hideout
- Flame's chamber
- Silverbirch's Fortress
- Granite's chamber
- High Chamber
- Smokewreath's lair
- Urchin's cell
- Undersea tunnels
Objects[]
- Heartstone
- King's Arrow
- Silverbirch's ship
Gallery[]
Take a look at our gallery for Urchin and the Heartstone by clicking here. |