Chapter Nineteen
Thrushpelt stood up and stretched. The effects of the long trek three days ago had finally begun to wear off. Shaking moss from his sandy pelt, he padded outside to see how he could help around camp.
Most of the repairs since the WindClan battle had been finished. The Elder's den hadn't even been started though. Weedwhisker, Larksong and Mumblefoot were sleeping in the medicine clearing for now.
Clouds covered the sun. Dark, looming, black clouds. There was hardly a breeze in the air to stir the turned down leaves.
"Brr." Talonclaw came up beside him and pressed herself into his fur. "Another storm?"
Sunfall bounded over to them, fur fluffed out against the leaffall dawn chill. "Will you go on border patrol with Fuzzypelt, Talonclaw? And Thrushpelt, will you take a hunting patrol out?"
Talonclaw nodded and bounded off to where Fuzzypelt was standing by the gorse tunnel with his apprentice Patchpaw and Adderfang. Thrushpelt called to Dapplepaw and Windflight, her mentor.
"You want to go hunting with me?"
Both cats gave him a nod and gulped down the rest of their fresh kill. Thrushpelt's stomach grumbled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten yet.
"Hey, Thrushpelt, can we come too?" Whitepaw meowed. Leopardpaw was behind her.
"As long as it's alright with Smallear and Robinwing."
***
"I'm glad we caught all this prey." Whitepaw mumbled through a mouthful of three mice. "We need to fatten up before leafbare!"
Leopardpaw giggled. "That should be pretty easy for you, Whitepaw!"
Whitepaw shot her a mock hurt look. "Me? Fat? I-"
An earsplitting boom interrupted her. At the same moment, lightening flashed. Rain began to pelt down on the six cats, who quickly broke into a run.
When they arrived at camp, the clearing floor had turned a thin layer of into yellow mud. The freshkill pile had been ruined.
"Put it over here!" Shadowclaw yowled, beckoning with his tail. When they reached him, he showed them a small shelf in the rock wall in his clearing. "It will stay dry here." He mewed, stuffing the plump mice and squirrels into the cleft.
The apprentices and two warriors ran to their dens. Talonclaw lay in her nest.
"You're wet." She commented as he lay next to her.
"Yeah." He purred. "That's what happens when it rains."
She nosed him. "I have to tell you something."
Another flash of lightening lit up the den.
"Yes?"
A terrified caterwaul screeched across the clearing. "Look out!"
Thrushpelt leaped up and pushed his way out of the den. He stared in horror at the dead hollow tree that grew where the elder's den used to be. It was on fire!
Talonclaw couldn't believe what she was seeing. Red and blue fire snaked around the old brittle branches of the dead tree. A loud groaning sound issued from the tree. Suddenly, everything was silent.
Nothing around Talonclaw moved.
Time was frozen.
Only the blue flame moved. It's shape twisted, until it seemed to resemble a cat.
A voice resounded in her head, louder than the roar of monsters.
Like fire, she will blaze through the forest. Beware...
"Talonclaw! Look out!"
The tree was falling, straight towards her! A dark shape rammed into her side, bowling her paw over tail.
Then the tree crashed to the ground, crushing the dark cat underneath it.
Goosepaw's frantic mew sounded over everything.
"Shadowclaw!"