The forest was collapsing. All around the group of CedarClan warriors pine trees crashed to the ground with deafening groans and creaks. The ground at Heronflight's paws was shaking and rolling. Great cracks spiderwebbed across the stony soil as the earth opened wide to swallow them.
Heronflight wrenched his frozen paws off the ground and stumbled away from a growing gash that opened up into black nothingness. His kin were shouting and scrambling all around him. All except Cranewing, who stood still as stone beside the cougar whose appearance had somehow triggered the end of the world.
Heronflight whirled to find an escape route but found the rocky cliff face at their backs. They had gotten themselves cornered. Terror boiled up inside him as he tried to find a safe path to flee.
"It's not real!" Crowfrost was shouting into the din. Heronflight turned to stare at his brother, fear making it hard to understand.
"She can make illusions!" Crowfrost looked as though he was trying to convince himself as well as the others. His legs were shaking just as hard and his eyes were wild with terror. As if to prove himself right he stood resolute as a pine tree came tumbling down directly at him. He closed his eyes and tensed.
"No!" Heronflight and Falconstorm yowled together. Before either one could move to help him, Hawkstrike shot out of nowhere and bowled Crowfrost over and out of the way. The tree's heavy trunk came down on Hawkstrike's spine with a bone-shaking crash. His tabby fur was lost amidst the waving branches.
Panic brought Heronflight to the fallen tree in two long bounds. Crowfrost stood there, his eyes wide with horror.
"Help me!" Heronflight shot at him as he made to place both paws on the trunk and push it away.
His paws did not find rough pine bark. Instead they fell through the image of the tree as if it were a mere reflection on the surface of water. He stumbled forward.
"Lucky, that." Hawkstrike's voice said.
Heronflight looked up to see a rather disheveled looking Hawkstrike awkwardly edging away from the illusory tree branches. His fur was on end but he was otherwise unhurt.
Heronflight shot a glance at Crowfrost. The black tom was staring at Hawkstrike with utter disbelief.
"You didn't think I was just going to let you get killed, did you?" Hawkstrike said in a poor imitation of casual exasperation. Crowfrost croaked an unintelligible response. Both warriors looked on the verge of collapse with fright.
Kestrelfeather and Falconstorm reached them then, their fur standing on end and their eyes wild but unharmed.
As quickly as it had come, the vision of the collapsing forest faded.
"You're making this very difficult." A low, heavy growl said. The cougar's voice was strange to hear. It was wrong somehow, like the voice was never meant to say the words but was still being dragged and wrenched into place to make intelligible speech.
Kestrelfeather edged nearer Heronflight, his eyes never leaving the huge cougar.
"If that was all fake," he said with a small jerk of his head, "who's to say that's real?" He nodded at the mountain cat with defiance.
The cougar let out a harsh bark of mirth. "A good point, Kestrelfeather! I didn't expect that from you, simple as you are."
Kestrelfeather lifted his head to the taunt, a shadow of his normal bravado playing around his face.
The cougar cocked its head and raised its huge left paw off of the ground. Its poisonous green eyes flashed and flicked to the side.
Heronflight felt his whole body tense. Any warning he wanted to deliver died on his tongue. As if he were in a dream, he watched as the forepaw swung with mighty force and slammed into Cranewing's flank.
Cranewing's body was tossed like a tiny mouse. He flew through the air in a moment of horrible silence that was broken by the hideous sound of his bones crunching as he collided with the trunk of a tree. He fell to the forest floor, body twisted and broken, and moved no more.
"No!" Falconstorm's hoarse cry brought Heronflight out of his momentary state of shock.
Kestrelfeather was standing slightly forward, his face still twisted into an expression of triumphant defiance. As Heronflight watched, the look froze over, stiff and lifeless.
Falconstorm darted forward. Hawkstrike, the closest, shot forward to block his father. The warrior's faces, so alike, were masks of each other. Heronflight had never seen either of them look like this.
Crowfrost looked like he was going to be sick. Terror glazed his glassy eyes and he began to back away with tiny shakes of his head.
They were trapped by a wall of rock on one side and a sure death on the other side. Heronflight knew that they were about to break. If any of them were going to get out of this alive he couldn't let that happen. He took a shaky breath.
"Stay together." He said loudly. His voice was firm despite his own fear. "If we separate it'll just run us all down." He remembered the speed at which the other cougar had chased him over AlderClan's land. He had no doubt that this one, whatever it was, would have no trouble catching them all with ease.
"At least one of you has sense." The cougar rasped. It took a few steps towards them, thick tail swaying behind it.
"When it pounces, scatter." Heronflight dropped his voice to a bare whisper. He made sure that he saw each of his kin's ears twitch as they heard his words. Their muscles tensed a little as they understood. They began to move closer together. Falconstorm and Kestrelfeather moved to the front of the little group without a word.
Heronflight glanced at his brothers' faces. Crowfrost's terror had subsided slightly and anger had replaced it. Hawkstrike's eyes were fixed on the enemy with fierce determination. Heronflight knew that his plan was a long shot. The likeliest outcome was that one of them would be caught right away and the rest would follow soon after, but they had to try something.
The cougar was within jumping distance now. Heronflight could see the rising sun reflected in its eyes. There was death there.
"I'm sorry. I was a coward."
Heronflight jumped as Snowbreeze appeared beside him. He looked at her, wondering why he didn't feel more desperate or scared.
She met his gaze. Her eyes shone with something he hadn't seen there before.
"We aren't going to let her hurt anyone else." she said.
"We?" Heronflight barely got the question out when more cats began appearing around the band of CedarClan warriors.
A gray she-cat appeared by Falconstorm's shoulder. Her eyes glittered with age and wisdom. A young ginger tom walked out of nothing to stand at her side. Three full-grown warriors surrounded him, one gray, one white, and one red. A brown and white tom joined them a moment later.
The CedarClan warriors didn't react to the arrival of their new companions. Heronflight seemed to be the only one who could see them.
Heronflight didn't recognize any of the cats. He turned to Snowbreeze. She wasn't looking at him. She was staring off into the trees behind the cougar who hadn't seemed to notice the newcomers at all.
A dark shape stepped out of the trees. At first Heronflight thought that it was Slatefang, but no, this cat was solid black. Solid black and massive.
The cougar froze. It turned slowly and stared.
"You."
The black tom raised his head defiantly.
"Where have you been hiding?" The cougar snarled. Heronflight was surprised to hear a note of what could have been fear in her voice.
The black tom didn't answer immediately. He looked past the cougar and right at Heronflight. No, not at Heronflight, at Snowbreeze. Heronflight felt her inhale sharply beside him.
"Where you couldn't find me." Thunderstrike said.
Snowbreeze's breath ruffled Heronflight's whiskers. "We won't be able to hold her off for long. Run."
Thunderstrike leapt. With a great rush of wind, the ghostly cats surged forward and fell upon the cougar.
. . .
A strong gust of unexpected wind hit Crowfrost from behind and sent him stumbling slightly. Before he recovered himself, Heronflight was yelling.
"Run!"
Not needing to be told twice, the CedarClan warriors darted forward. Heronflight led them forward at an angle away from the cougar who was now...fighting a horde of cats?
Crowfrost nearly stumbled as he saw at least six cats who had not been there before swarming the cougar. As he watched, one of the cats was hit by a terrible blow to the head. The tom tumbled and skidded in the dirt before finding his paws again and rushing the cougar. His head snapped back from an impossible angle.
Heronflight led them within striking distance of the cougar, the only way out, but the beast was fully occupied with the sudden throng of attackers.
"Who the hell is that?" Kestrelfeather howled over the sudden din of the fight.
Heronflight didn't answer. He just kept them running.
Crowfrost felt Hawkstrike make an awkward twitch to the side as if he was considering rushing to the strange cat's aid. Crowfrost shot his brother a harsh glance. This was no time to be noble.
They had nearly reached the treeline when Falconstorm veered to the side suddenly. He was making a break for Cranewing's body.
"I'll get him! Go!" Crowfrost shot at Heronflight. Heronflight nodded without hesitation and kept running with Kestrelfeather and Hawkstrike at his sides.
Crowfrost broke away and ran to his father's side. Falconstorm was pulling at Cranewing's scruff.
"Falconstorm, we have to move." Crowfrost said. The cougar made a horrible yowling scream just behind them. He didn't dare turn to see what had caused it.
Falconstorm's eyes were screwed up in determination. There was no way he was going to leave his brother's body.
With a snort of frustration, Crowfrost grasped a mouthful of Cranewing's pelt and began to tug. Together, father and son dragged the body towards the trees. As they reached them, the others appeared to help. They had waited. Without words, they lifted Cranewing's body between the five of them and hauled him into the trees.
. . .
The cougar's scream sent terror shooting through Heronflight's pelt. He dropped Cranewing and looked behind them. The spirit cats were fighting still, but as Heronflight watched, the red warrior was hit so hard that when he hit the ground his body vanished completely. It seemed that even dead cats had their limits.
"We have to find a safe place for him." Falconstorm was saying. He stood protectively over Cranewing's body.
Crowfrost looked unnerved, but Hawkstrike began searching at once. Kestrelfeather joined him. Within moments they had found a small hollow beneath a fallen tree. Falconstorm and Crowfrost began moving the body while Heronflight turned back to watch the fight.
Thunderstrike was like ten cats by himself. He was fighting the cougar like she was just another cat. He struck with powerful blows that seemed to not only annoy the creature but even injure it. Blood sprayed in the air as he landed a searing blow to the side of the cougar's face. It reeled on its hind paws and came down with deadly precision. Thunderstrike was deft enough to dodge away, but another was not so lucky. Crushed beyond recognition, the brown and white warrior vanished.
Heronflight tore his gaze away from the horror of the fight. Kestrelfeather was laying pine branches over Cranewing's body now, and the others were looking to him, Heronflight. He hesitated, his mind racing.
How long did they have until the distraction failed? How far would the cougar chase them? What would happen if she went to find the other Clan cats?
"We have to kill it." He said aloud.
Hawkstrike nodded at once. Kestrelfeather and Falconstorm exchanged glances. Crowfrost opened his mouth and closed it again. They all seemed to understand Heronflight's train of thought. They could not afford to find out what would happen if this creature found the battle-worn Clan cats.
Heronflight turned to Crowfrost. "You know the most about her. Did she ever mention any weaknesses or fears?" he knew it was probably foolish to ask but even if there was a small chance…
Crowfrost shook his head.
It occurred to Heronflight that he had put implicit trust back into his brother. Good, he thought, We need it.
"We can't fight it." Falconstorm said. Hawkstrike turned to argue, but Falconstorm held up his tail. "We can't." he said firmly. "But claws and teeth aren't the only way to kill something."
The group fell silent for a moment.
"We could lead it off a cliff?" Kestrelfeather offered.
"The tallest ones are too far." Heronflight said, remembering the cliffs he had seen on his trip to the MoonTree. The MoonTree. Something flickered to life in his memories. Dovekit. Why was he thinking of Dovekit?
He gasped aloud.
The others shot him sharp glances.
"I know what to do." he said.
. . .
Fury. Agony.
Stupid, tiny, ignorant creatures.
They dared. They dared.
How many had she killed now? Dozens. They kept coming. Their bodies cracked like brittle wood and yet they still. Kept. Coming.
Power surged through her limbs and she sent two of them flying. They did not come back.
Insects insects.
They were nothing to her power. They screamed and cried oaths to StarClan as she ripped them apart. They should be calling her name. She was ancient. She was god.
He stood before her, the only one left. Defiance shone in his eyes.
"Where is your StarClan now?" she mocked him.
He actually purred a little. "You think I fight for them? No. I fight for the living." He threw himself at her.
He did put up a good fight, she thought as she crushed his bones between her teeth. She threw his limp form away. His body did not vanish like the others. She did not care. She had other prey to hunt now. She narrowed her eyes and drew in a long breath. Fear scent. She purred. The sound rumbled through her new body. She liked this form. Sleek, powerful, and perfectly designed to hunt.
. . .
Heronflight stood on the stump, waiting. The forest was still and silent around him. No birdsong heralded the morning. No prey scuffled in the underbrush. It was just him and the silence.
He was exposed on purpose. They all were, though he couldn't see the others. Falconstorm had insisted that he be the first in line. He wouldn't hear of any of the others taking his place. Heronflight was the fourth, just behind Kestrelfeather and Hawkstrike. Crowfrost was the last.
Please, Dovekit, let this work.
A sound made Heronflight tense. Were those pawsteps? He readied himself, heart pounding. He fluffed out his fur so he could be seen.
Just ahead, Heronflight saw Hawkstrike streak into view. His face was wild with terror. He shot across an open stretch of ground and out of sight behind some boulders. Heronflight knew what was coming next. His paws itched to run, but he needed to be sure that it saw him before he moved.
A heartbeat later, the huge form of the cougar burst from the underbrush. It was moving with terrifying speed.
Heronflight lifted his muzzle and yowled as loud as he could muster. The cougar's eyes found him almost instantly. He had to go. Now.
He threw himself from atop the tree stump and ran. He could hear the beast's thundering pawsteps just behind him. He didn't have much of a lead. Still, he had to move. He shot along a dried streambed and towards the sun. Fear moved his paws.
The stream-bed began to dip down. Rocks were ahead. Heronflight knew Crowfrost would be near but he didn't know exactly where. He pushed himself off of the ground in a mighty leap and cleared a small boulder in the path.
There.
Crowfrost was waiting just ahead atop a boulder about two tree-lengths from where Heronflight was now. Heronflight's moment of excitement died as he felt hot breath on his heels. It was too close!
Adrenaline sped him forward. He hoped it would be enough. He spied a gap in the rocks and readied himself.
"You think your little game has fooled me?" The voice was clear and hard in his ear. Teeth clamped down on his tail and he shrieked as he was yanked to a halt. With an agonizing jerk, he was lifted off of his paws and swung flank-first into the rocks. He felt his ribs break before his head collided with the stone and his vision whited out.
. . .
"No!"
Crowfrost watched, horrified, as the cougar caught Heronflight by the tail. It swung him with little effort into the rocks. Heronflight fell to the ground and did not get back up. The cougar bore down on its prey, ready to make the killing blow.
Crowfrost did the first thing that he could think of.
"Don't you touch him, you piece of foxdung!"
She froze. She slowly looked up at him, her green eyes glittering. His legs began to shake.
"You're nothing!" He yowled. He didn't know why he was saying it. He wanted to distract her, anger her, anything that would make her step away from Heronflight's faintly stirring body. "All of your plans have failed. You couldn't even kill Blizzardstar!"
She seemed actually surprised at that. She drew her lips back and snarled at him. "I knew you were a fool, Crowfrost, but I didn't take you for an idiot."
Crowfrost's mind raced. She hated being questioned. "What exactly did you think you were going to accomplish?" He shouted. He forced his paws to begin moving backward. He had to finish this. He had to get her to follow him.
She lashed her tail and narrowed her eyes but she didn't move.
"You couldn't even get to Petalpaw." Come on. Come on! "She's safe. She's safe and you'll never touch her!"
Heronflight was moving feebly, trying to drag himself away from her paws.
"You couldn't even get me to follow you to the end. And now your most devoted servant is dead. Who's going to worship you now?"
That did it.
She launched herself over Heronflight's body and charged Crowfrost.
Crowfrost whirled on his hind paws and leaped. He landed on cold, frosty pebbles. Ahead of him was the huge white lake. Frozen. But only just.
He ran hard, knowing that if he faltered even a little that he would die. Heronflight and Hawkstrike would die. Petalpaw would die. He ran harder.
He knew what the plan was. Run to the edge of the lake and dodge away. Hope that she couldn't stop in time and ran out to deeper waters. Hope that she slipped on the ice. Hope that she fell through.
He couldn't let this ride on chance.
The cold shocked him as he ran out onto the frozen lake. The ice beneath his paws was firm and solid. He had to go further.
The sheet shook as she followed him onto the ice. Her gait slowed noticeably. She was having trouble finding a grip, but she was still coming. Just ahead of them, Crowfrost saw the color of the ice change from dark and blue to grayish white. He knew what that meant.
He was almost there when he felt her catch up. He turned on instinct, ready to dodge her blow, but he slipped and stumbled. She grabbed him around the middle with huge, cruel teeth.
Crowfrost let out a ragged, broken gasp as they pierced him.
Amidst the pain and the shock, he heard a loud, groaning crack. The ground fell out from under them, and they were plunged into freezing darkness.
. . .
Heronflight's broken ribs kept him from bringing in air to fuel his scream of desperation as he watched the gash in the ice where Crowfrost had disappeared. The water had settled. There were no more frenzied bursts and splashes at the surface. All had grown still.
The sight of Crowfrost's body pierced by long, cruel fangs flashed in Heronflight's mind as he dragged himself along the stony shore towards the ice. Crowfrost couldn't be dead. He couldn't be.
Distant shouts called to Heronflight. He ignored them and continued to pull himself forward with bleeding claws. Each breath was torment as sharp bone stabbed at him from the inside. He didn't care. He had to get to Crowfrost. His brother needed him.
"Heronflight." Falconstorm's voice was low.
Heronflight kept his eyes fixed on the spot where Crowfrost had vanished. He struggled to move faster.
"Heronflight, stop." A firm paw held Heronflight down. "What happened?"
"It broke." Heronflight croaked. "They sank."
Falconstorm stiffened. "Crowfrost?"
Heronflight shook his head. Crowfrost didn't have time for this. He was dying!
"I have to get to him." The words tumbled out of his mouth like water. "He needs me."
Falconstorm hesitated for just a moment before leaning down close to Heronflight's face. "Don't worry." he breathed. "I'll...don't worry. Just stay-" His voice drifted off and suddenly he was gone from Heronflight's side.
Heronflight blinked and saw his father hit the ice running.
"Wait." Heronflight wheezed. Fresh fear hit him like a blow to the belly and he struggled to his paws again. "Wait!"
Falconstorm didn't hesitate. He ran until he reached the shattered surface of the ice. Then he dove in headfirst.
. . .
The cold was incredible. Nothing could have prepared Crowfrost for the pain of it. The air had been shocked from his body. All that was left was the penetrating, agonizing cold.
He was dimly aware of the thrashing beast nearby. One huge paw caught him in the stomach. He hardly felt it. Every nerve in his body was screaming as it froze.
Let it die. He thought. Let this kill it.
His mind fuzzed. He tasted his own blood in the water that filled his nose and mouth. His spine bumped against something solid. The underside of the ice was firm and unyielding. He paddled at the endless water in front of him, trying feebly to turn himself around. His paws barely responded. It was so, so cold.
He knew that he was badly hurt. He knew that there were four deep punctures in his sides. He knew he should feel more frightened. He wasn't. He let his eyes drift open. Dark red swirls painted the blurry blue. A stream of tiny bubbles left his lips.
This wasn't so bad. His body had become numb to the crippling cold. He couldn't feel the deadly wounds in his sides. His air-deprived brain was forgetting to panic.
As long as he died knowing that she would be safe, that the Clan would be safe, he was at peace with closing his eyes and letting the water claim him.
Death wasn't what Crowfrost had thought it was going to be. He still felt like he was floating. The numbness hadn't subsided. Wasn't he supposed to feel energized and free in death? Where was StarClan to welcome him?
He felt a tug on his fur. Maybe they had come for him at last. Maybe Dovekit had come to take him away. He opened his tired eyes.
A swirl of brown fur clouded his vision. Teeth sank into his scruff and began to pull. His head bumped against the underside of the ice as he was towed through the water. Distantly he thought that he should try to help. He tried to work his paws a little to assist, but nothing happened. He was just so cold and tired. Maybe if he went limp they would just give up and let him go.
Crowfrost's head broke the surface and his aching lungs shrieked as they tried to draw breath. His throat spasmed as it expelled the water in his chest. Teeth still gripped his scruff, holding his head above the water.
As his lungs flooded with air his mind cleared of the deadly fog. Freezing air stung at his exposed nose and ears and his thrashing paws scraped along the broken edge of the ice. He unsheathed his claws and tried to get a grip. Miraculously he found one and he clung on with everything he had left.
His rescuer pushed against his flank and haunches as Crowfrost dragged the upper half of his body out onto solid ice. He kicked his back legs uselessly until, with a final shove, he was pushed out of the water and onto the frozen surface.
Crowfrost lay on his side, retching out seemingly endless amounts of water onto the gray-blue ice. Dimly he knew he should get up and try to pull out the cat who had saved him. He tried to roll from his side to his belly but only managed to get half-way there. He peered with streaming eyes into the dark water.
Falconstorm was just below the surface, struggling against something Crowfrost couldn't see. The older warrior was straining to reach the air just a mouse-length from his muzzle. His powerful legs churned in the water, sending a stream of bubbles to the surface.
Crowfrost leaned over the crack in the ice and stretched out a shaking paw. Falconstorm's amber eyes flashed. He reached out and knocked Crowfrost's paw away. A heartbeat later a much larger paw shot from the water and made a mad swipe for Crowfrost's leg. It missed. Crowfrost scrambled back away from the edge.
He watched, horrified, as Falconstorm was gripped from behind by teeth and claws. The warrior lashed out in slow motion, sending a cloud of blood into the water, but despite his considerable strength he was being dragged down into the darkness.
Helpless, Crowfrost was forced to watch his father vanish from sight. All that was left was the slight glow of menacing green eyes as they watched Crowfrost, unblinking.