CHAPTER THIRTEEN

It did not take long for the air to begin to smell of rotten flesh. I wrinkled my nose in disgust.

"What's that smell?" Dove's Wing wondered aloud.

"Hunger did say, 'the dead animals will tell you'," I replied. "I'm not sure what he meant, but it certainly smells like dead animals to me."

Wolf, now trailing behind, snorted softly in laughter. "I wonder where the bodies are?"

"Right up there," Lion's Roar said in disgust, flicking a tail forward as we turned a bend in the path.

I made a face at the sight. Little bodies—shrews, mice, voles, squirrels, all manner of prey—lay sprawled on the ground. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen any prey at all in the Dark Realm, save for now.

"Does Malady draw them here just to kill them?" Jay's Wing said softly, horrified and disgusted. "That's... that's just..."

I knew what he was getting at, though I didn't think it was such an unspeakable horror. "It's hideous." I coughed. The air was full of the stench of death, stronger now as we grew nearer to the inert bodies. To my mounting horror, I noticed that the bodies weren't just dead—they showed signs of a terrible struggle for life. Pus covered some bodies, others had piles of bile and vomit laying in front of them.

I shuddered. Malady killed just because it could, not to eat. That was vile.

Jay's Wing seemed more affected than the rest of us. A few of the small bodies were still moving, twitching in their death throes. He rushed over to them, poking at them gently, as if trying to find what was wrong with them.

"Greencough... plague... infection..." he muttered. "Fever... ulcer... heart attack..." He swore human curses under his breath, a leftover from his time spent in the human world. "Malady!"

"What's the task this time?" Wolf asked in a hushed voice. "It's pretty clear who's taking care of it... I mean, Jay's Wing was a natural medicine cat around the Lake... but what's he supposed to do?"

I was feeling tired, in both the mind and the body. "I don't know," I rasped, yawning. "Let's take a rest. I'm tired."

Dove's Wing gave me an odd look, but the others obligingly sat down in the path. Lion's Roar began to talk quietly with the small gray she-cat, discussing the possibilities, while Wolf looked at me.

"So." Wolf's yellow eyes looked steadily into mine. "Dove's Wing confronted Slaughter. Lion's Roar confronted Hunger. Jay's Wing's going to confront Malady, obviously. That leaves Death and Despair for us."

I scowled, picking at the scabs on my paws. The mountain terrain had been rough, and my soft pads had not been ready for it. They had bled much, but had hardened in the process. Now, though, my scabs were bothering me. They itched. "Yeah," I responded, a little surly. The thought of confronting either Despair—who I didn't think I could handle—or Death—who was awfully daunting as well—did not fill me with joy.

One of my scabs opened and began to bleed afresh. "Mouse dung," I hissed. I looked up into Wolf's eyes again. "D'you think you can handle Despair? What about Death?"

She looked away. "I dunno." She swished her tail. "Maybe. I hope so."

I was so tired. I didn't feel like getting up. I coughed a little. When I next spoke, my voice was scratchy. "Do you think he's coming back soon?" I asked Wolf, guestering to Jay's Wing.

She looked up, scowling a little. "I dunno."

"Still mad at him for earlier?" I said knowingly. I coughed again. What was wrong? I had felt fine earlier. None of the others seemed bothered by the stink in the air and the itchiness of the ground. I stood up, hoping that would help, but I winced when I put pressure on my bleeding pad.

"Yeah, a little," Wolf replied, getting up as well.

Grit had worked its way into my pad, which now burned with pain. "Well, get over it," I said testily. "We've got to work with him yet."

Wolf looked slightly offended at my shortness. I felt bad, but now I had a headache on top of everything else and I felt that I had every right to be irritable.

"Jay's Wing!" I called out. "Come here."

The tabby tom had been pacing and swearing for the past several minutes among the small bodies of the dead animals. My words dragged him, albeit reluctantly, back to the group.

"Jay's Wing, we're not going to get any farther by swearing and growling," I said firmly when he wouldn't look me in the eyes. "These animals are too far gone. Most of them are dead. We need to keep moving." Another cough hit me, followed by several more. That brought Jay's Wing back to reality.

"Snow, are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

"F-fine," I said shakily.

Lion's Roar frowned. "You certainly don't look okay," he said.

Jay's Wing scowled and moved forward. He nosed my pelt and looked at my paws and eyes, inspecting me as a medicine cat would. "Feverish... infected paw... coughing... exhaustion... irritability... No, you're definitely not fine." He scowled. "Lie down, I need to treat you best as I before we move on."

"I'm fine," I protested, but then I broke off into another round of coughing. My infected paw, if that's what it was, hurt like fire and throbbed painfully. I did feel rather chilly, which was explained by fever, and I was definitely tired and irritable. Obligingly, I lay down.

Jay's Wing was in his element now. He quickly ordered Lion's Roar and Wolf to look for herbs among the trees, which we all knew was a futile task. Still, better safe than sorry. If there were herbs that could help me, I'd like them to do so.

Next, he sent Wolf off looking for wet moss. I closed my eyes drowsily and slept as he began to gently lick the grit out of my infected paw.

I woke feeling much better. My paw still hurt, but it was a good, clean hurt, not a throbbing ache. I didn't feel nearly so tired, and I had a funny taste in my mouth. Apparently they had found some herbs to help the fever. The itchiness in my throat was gone, eased by what tasted like honey from the remnants in my mouth.

I lifted my head. Curled up beside me was the sleeping form of Lion's Roar. Wolf stood a distance away, eyes half closed, half open. Dove's Wing was eating something small and furry, while Jay's Wing was no where to be seen.

"What... how long was I out?" I asked, my voice tired.

The others started at the sound of my voice. Wolf and Dove's Wing rushed up to me, while Lion's Roar woke and licked my ears to comfort me.

"I don't know how long you were out," Wolf said. "It was quite a while, though. There's no day and night here, but all of us were asleep at least once, so I'm guessing around a day."

"Did you find any herbs?" I said.

Dove's Wing nodded. "There was a patch of marigold. And another herb, I don't remember the name."

"Coltsfoot," Lion's Roar told her.

"Yes, that was it," the smaller she-cat said, nodding.

"Where's Jay's Wing?" I wondered aloud.

"He went off looking for more honey," Wolf said. "I don't know when he'll be—"

There was an angry shout a ways off. We all jumped to our feet, those of us who weren't standing already. That was clearly Jay's Wing.

"You infected her? You—" He broke off into a round of insults, both cat and human. Then there was a quieter, malicious-sounding murmur. I couldn't make out what was said.

"There's no way I'm submitting! You can't infect me, I'm a medicine cat! I'll heal myself! And anyway, what do you think happens to those you kill? They wander alone! Giving them a place to rest after you kill them won't limit your powers!"

Another murmur.

"Then you—oh, what?"

The murmur came again. Then a ray of sickly yellow light, the color of pus, spread throughout the clearing.

"Um... thanks, then," Jay's Wing said, startled. "Um..."

There was a low chuckle. Then there was a rustle in the bushes, and Jay's Wing appeared, looking disgruntled and a little confused.

"Well, you guys missed it, but..." He swallowed. "I had a bit of a fight with Malady. Well. We've got what we wanted from it."

It all made sense now. He had been yelling at Malady for infecting me. I was touched that he had gotten so upset over it, and I told Jay's Wing so.

"Oh, um, yeah..." He looked away, muttering, "Yeah, I would have done it for anyone... Um, anyway... We'd best move on. Malady gave me instructions to find Despair."

"What do we do?" Wolf asked.

Jay's Wing turned around, facing the way we came. "Follow me," he said. "It's not in the forest. We've got to head to the moor."

We shook out the stiffness in our limbs, then followed Jay's Wing out of the forest, heading towards Despair.