Firepaw struggled to keep up as Bluestar, Redtail and Lionheart raced on ahead. Their runes for heightened speed were activated, glowing in their pelts. Only when a shadowhunter activated a rune could it be seen, and even then, only their fellow shadowhunters could see it without the aid of magic.

Firepaw himself hadn't been able to draw this rune, so his pawsteps were clumsy. His emerald eyes blazed with frustration. Mousefur stayed solidly by his side.

"I'm fine." Firepaw meowed through gritted teeth, "You can go on ahead."

Mousefur purred with amusement, "Bluestar's orders." She mewed simply.

"Then at least draw the speed rune for me!" Firepaw pleaded as he noticed his other clan mates almost disappear out of sight.

"I can't." Mousefur mewed, trotting briskly along as she stared ahead with determination.

"Why not?" Firepaw demanded, suddenly coming to a halt, forcing Mousefur to stop and face him.

"Also Bluestar's orders." Mousefur gazed calmly back at him. Firepaw glared at her until she explained, "She wants you to learn how to draw runes yourself, so that Lionheart doesn't have to do it for you."

"I can't see behind me though! Anyway, she's a warlock, what does she know about runes?" Complained Firepaw.

"You don't have to see, you have to feel." Mousefur mewed, strategically ignoring the apprentice's comment about their blue-furred leader, "The rune will glow in your mind, blocking out all your other thoughts, and you draw it with your tail without thinking, or seeing."

"Well all I can think about right now is fresh-kill." Firestar mumbled.

"When we've seen the evidence, we can go back to camp and eat. This is an important lesson for you today." Mousefur meowed, and started trotting off after the others. Now they really were out of sight.

"It was a moloch demon." Redtail concluded, later on. They had examined the evidence carefully as Firepaw watched, green eyes wide with admiration.

"Just one moloch? Not a group? A phalanx, I mean." Asked Whitestorm, puzzled.

"I know, it's odd isn't it?" Lionheart agreed, sniffing at the oily ground and scorched trees.

"If it had been a phalanx," Redtail mewed, "There would be a lot more damage and we'd probably have a forest fire on our paws."

"We must report this to StarClan," Bluestar meowed, "Tell the mundanes that this was caused by some twolegs messing about."

"If only." Redtail sighed.

"Are we gonna hunt it down?" Firepaw mewed eagerly.

"Looks like it," Redtail replied, "But we will, not you. Molochs are too dangerous for apprentices." And with a flick of his unique tail, he started following Bluestar as she led the group back to camp.