Chapter 18.
Auraclaw
Auraclaw's head hurt. This was the longest she had ever had to use her power. She shook her head trying to get the headache to go away. This was a good time to have Cinderstream around.
"I can't believe this," said Scalefur. "He's been dodging all of our attacks like their nothing."
Auraclaw had to agree. She had thrown rocks at Milkpaw but he dodged every single one. And unfortunately he had honed in on the spot where the rocks were coming from. That had forced the group to scatter in different directions. Auraclaw and Scalefur one way and Firewind and Hazelpaw the other. And it make matters worse it had begun to rain. Not a gentle drizzle but a downpour.
"What do we do now?" asked Scalefur. With the rain making his fur stick to his sides and his gills he looked more like a fish now then ever before.
"We have to meet up with the others or find Milkpaw and attackhim," replied Auraclaw. She sounded so much surer than what she felt. She was worried for the others. What if Milkpaw got their powers? Then what?
"Auraclaw?" asked Scalefur. His blue eyes were full of worry. "We'll stop him right? We won't let anything bad happen right?"
Auraclaw wished she could be so sure. In fact she wished she could lie to Scalefur and tell him it would happen. She couldn't. It would be a lie. She had spent long enough with Scalefur that he would know if she was lying to him. "We'll figure it out," she replied. "We won't let the Great Battle or the battle of the Cursed Forest happen again. I promise you that."
Scalefur nodded. "Alright." He shook his head and put on his brave face. "Let's go get him."
Flameclaw
Flameclaw couldn't believe what had just happened. Milkpaw had figured out the location of the specials and was walking towards them when they had scattered in different directions. Milkpaw had blinked slowly and the black wings from before had erupted out of his back and he had flown into the forest, probably to look for them with a bird's eye view.
Flameclaw angrily looked at the ground, towards the body of his friend. Sandstream died for them. She did this so the specials would know what to do against Milkpaw. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm sorry we couldn't do more for you. I hope…I hope you go to StarClan so we may meet again."
Flameclaw ran up the beach and into the forest. He had to return to his body so he could warn Cinderstream and Twilight. What if Milkpaw got to them before he did?
Flameclaw quickly made his way through the forest. He kept looking up to try to spot a flash of white in the breaks of the trees. Where did Milkpaw go?
Hearing a noise he skidded to a stop. Out of the trees came Firewind and Hazelpaw. Firewind was half-dragging Hazelpaw along by the scruff. The pale gray tom looked distraught. Well it did make sense. His mother was killed in front of him.
"Come on Hazelpaw," snapped Firewind when he released Hazelpaw. "You were alright before."
"That was before Milkpaw realized where we were," replied Hazelpaw. He shook his head. "Milkpaw is much stronger than we thought."
"He killed your mother," snarled Firewind. "What more do you need?"
Flameclaw shivered. At that moment his father looked more ferocious than the bear that had attacked Flameclan.
"I know," replied Hazelpaw grimly. "Starclan, I know. I know. But this is different. It's much-"
"Help!"
Cinderstream burst into the clearing area. The she-cat was breathing heavily and a line of claw marks ran down her right flank. Flameclaw's eyes widen. Cinderstream had the power to heal. What could have happened that she didn't have the time to heal her own injuries?
"What's wrong?" asked Firewind. He was tense. "Did something happen to Twilight?"
Cinderstream shook his head. "It was Milkpaw." She shivered. "He came out of the sky and attacked us. He knocked Twilight out by landing on him and I was barely able to get away with only these minor wounds. I didn't want to heal them in front of him. He…when he saw I wasn't a threat, he went over to Flameclaw and lifted the body up by the scruff and flew away with him. I don't know how he did it, but he did."
Flameclaw was cold. His body was currently in Milkpaw's paws. What was he to do? Should he return to his body? What would happen if he did?
"We need to go after him," said Firewind. "Which way did he go?"
"That direction," Cinderstream pointed in the direction.
Firewind stiffened and Hazelpaw said, "Oh Starclan."
Cinderstream seemed to understand what was going on for she said, "Oh no. Flameclaw."
Flameclaw couldn't stand it anymore. He ran.
His paws smacked the ground; the trees were not an obstacle for him. He just passed through them. He had to hurry. He had to. The ground sloped upwards and it slowed Flameclaw down but he kept pushing on. In this form he never got tired. He never got hungry. He would be alright. He reached the top of the hill and gasped in horror.
A mudslide was moving down the other side of the hill. "What is this?" he whispered. Over the roar of the mud slide, Flameclaw for some reason could hear the sound of beating wings. He looked up and yowled.
Milkpaw.
Milkpaw was flying above the mud slide, Flameclaw's body dangling limply in his jaw. "NO!" yelled Flameclaw as Milkpaw released Flameclaw's scruff.