Slagar the Fox is determined to vanquish peaceable Redwall. Gathering his mercenary band of rats, stoats, and weasels, he advances upon the abbey with a cunning scheme: rather than making courageous battle plans, he will steal the children of Redwall from under their parents' very noses. And his prize captive will be Mattimeo, the headstrong young son of Matthias, the fearless mouse warrior!