Warriors: The New Prophecy #3: Dawn (Warriors: The New Prophecy, Book 3), page 15
“Wait!” Mistyfoot called down. “RiverClan will join you!”
Brambleclaw raced over to Squirrelpaw.
“How did you persuade Leopardstar to let them come?” she gasped.
“It wasn’t hard,” Brambleclaw told her. “They’re hungry and growing desperate.”
Stormfur pushed his way through the restless cats to join them. “We’ll be fighting together.”
“It’s as it should be,” Crowpaw growled from behind.
Looking around, Squirrelpaw realized that all the cats that had returned from the sun-drown-place were beside her—Brambleclaw, Stormfur, Crowpaw, and Tawnypaw. She glanced up at the sky. Feathertail, are you watching us? She closed her eyes for a moment, hoping that they hadn’t left their friend behind forever with the Tribe of Rushing Water.
“Come on!” Firestar called. With a fierce battle cry, he led them toward ShadowClan territory.
The Thunderpath that had divided ThunderClan from ShadowClan for many moons lay eerily silent.
“They stopped the other monsters from coming here just before they started destroying our part of the forest,” Tawnypaw whispered to Squirrelpaw. “At least it makes it easier to cross,” she added dryly.
The hard surface felt icy underpaw as Squirrelpaw raced over it and into the trees. She heard the distant roaring of monsters and smelled their acrid scent. Her paws trembled, but fury urged her on. Crowpaw raced alongside her, his eyes grimly focused on the path. Squirrelpaw was amazed that his bony, ragged body possessed such strength.
She glimpsed a Twoleg monster through the trees. Its great yellow forepaws were lowered, its claws unsheathed as it tore through the undergrowth. Suddenly a violent and unnatural sound filled the forest, and Squirrelpaw scrambled to a standstill. All around, the forest rang with a dreadful creaking and groaning that seemed to split the air.
Flattening her body against the trembling forest floor, she saw a Twoleg monster only tail-lengths away. With massive paws it ripped an oak from the ground, dragging its roots from the earth as if it were a blade of grass. The tree’s branches crashed like hail as the monster tipped it over and began to strip the trunk, showering the cats with chips of bark. Something growled behind them, and Squirrelpaw whirled around to find their escape blocked as another monster rolled steadily toward them.
“They’re nearly at the camp!” Tawnypelt yowled.
With a sickening feeling of dread, Squirrelpaw saw more monsters ahead, churning their way toward the tangle of brambles that hid the ShadowClan camp.
“We’ll have to go that way,” Firestar called, gesturing with his tail toward a gap in the trees the monsters had not yet reached.
“No!” spat Crowpaw. “It’ll be quicker this way!” He darted forward, heading straight for the camp.
“Stop! You’ll be killed!” Squirrelpaw leaped onto Crowpaw’s back and dragged him to the ground, digging in her claws.
He collapsed beneath her, hissing with fury. “Get off me!”
Brambleclaw raced over to them. “Don’t be such a fool, Crowpaw!”
“He’s gone mad!” Squirrelpaw shrieked. “I’m not going to let him kill himself!”
“I’m not frightened of joining StarClan,” Crowpaw spat back. “The forest is dying anyway. At least in StarClan, Feathertail will be waiting for me!”
CHAPTER 14
Brambleclaw leaned down and snarled into Crowpaw’s face. “You would rather join a dead warrior than fight to save live ones?” Squirrelpaw felt the fight drain from Crowpaw’s body, but Brambleclaw went on. “Your Clan needs you more now than ever! Use your head and follow Firestar’s orders! Squirrelpaw, you can take your claws off him now.”
Gingerly she let go, half expecting Crowpaw to dart off into the trees again, but the WindClan apprentice only stood up and shook himself.
Behind them, the elm-killing monster attacked its victim. Thorn-sharp splinters of wood shot through the air, and Squirrelpaw felt searing pain as a tiny sliver of bark stabbed into her flank.
“Now!” yowled Firestar. The cats leaped forward just as the monster tore a branch from the elm, sending it crashing onto the forest floor where the cats had stood a heartbeat before.
Firestar stopped when they reached the bramble thicket. “Sandstorm, take Leafpaw and the rest of your patrol and get the kits and queens out,” he ordered. “Mousefur, take Tornear and Crowpaw with your patrol and find the elders.”
Squirrelpaw turned to follow her mother, but Firestar called her back. “Squirrelpaw, I need you here!” he commanded. “Thornclaw, you help the apprentices to get out. RiverClan warriors, go with him, please.” Mistyfoot nodded and darted off with the ThunderClan cat. “Dustpelt, wait at the entrance and make sure everyone escapes. Don’t let any cat block the way.”
“What about me?” Onewhisker demanded as the others charged away.
“I’ll get to you soon,” Firestar promised. He turned to Tawnypelt who was tearing at the ground with her long, hooked claws. “You know this part of the forest better than us. We can’t go back the way we came. Which way’s the quickest out of here?”
“That way!” Tawnypelt answered at once, nodding to a break in the trees. “If we’re quick, we’ll get to it before the monsters and pick up a trail that will take us to the tunnel under the Thunderpath.”
Firestar turned back to Onewhisker and Tallstar. “You two must defend our escape route,” he meowed. It was the least dangerous of all the tasks, and Squirrelpaw guessed that her father was trying to preserve the WindClan leader’s last life.
Firestar looked at Brambleclaw and Squirrelpaw. “You two, let Tawnypelt take you into the camp. She’ll know which den is which. Make sure that no cat remains inside the camp. If you hear me yowl, get out at once. It’ll mean the monsters have reached the brambles.”
Brambleclaw pressed his muzzle to Squirrelpaw’s ear. “Are you okay with this?”
“Of course I am! What do you take me for—a kit who’s never left the nursery?” Squirrelpaw jerked indignantly away. He blinked at her, his eyes glittering with concern, and she realized with a jolt that he was just worried about her. “I’m fine,” she promised. “It feels like a battle, and I need to fight for the forest—even if we can’t win. We can’t let Tawnypelt down.”
She whirled around and raced for the camp entrance. Tawnypelt was already scrambling through the prickly tunnel that led into the camp. As Squirrelpaw pounded after her into the clearing, the stench of terror nearly stopped her dead in her tracks. Pelts flashed everywhere as the ShadowClan cats bolted in blind panic. Terrified yowls tore through the air as queens called for their kits, and warriors shrieked orders.
Amid the chaos, the newly arrived warriors were somehow managing to stay calm: Squirrelpaw spotted Sorreltail and Tornear flanking a group of confused ShadowClan elders to herd them across the clearing; on the far side, Leafpaw urged Runningnose, the old ShadowClan medicine cat, toward the camp entrance.
Blackstar’s white coat stood out among the shadows. A gray apprentice crouched beside him, his fur standing on end. “Don’t be afraid!” the ShadowClan leader growled, nudging the apprentice to his paws. “I won’t let you die.”
He began to push the petrified apprentice toward the tunnel. Suddenly a kit squealed from the far end of the clearing. Blackstar turned to look, and Squirrelpaw followed his gaze. The tiny scrap of dark brown fur had flattened itself on the ground and screwed its eyes tightly shut.
Blackstar glared at Squirrelpaw. “Don’t just stand there! Get Smokepaw out while I get that kit!” He shoved the apprentice toward her and headed for the kit.
Smokepaw stared at her, too stunned to speak or move. There was no time for formal introductions. Squirrelpaw grasped the scruff of his neck in her teeth and started to haul him across the ground. She pushed him into the tunnel and scanned the clearing. Blackstar had grabbed the kit and was pelting toward her. Squirrelpaw darted out of the way just in time to let the ShadowClan leader hurtle past.
She rushed over to the nursery thicket and thrust her head into the nest. Peering into the shadows, she scented the air and listened for mewling above the roaring of the monsters. The nest was empty.
“Is everyone out?” Mothwing stood beside her, pelt bristling.
As Squirrelpaw nodded, she heard Hawkfrost call to one of his Clanmates, “We’ve done enough. Get out now, before the camp is destroyed!”
“We’ll stay until every cat is out!” Mistyfoot countermanded instantly, her sharp yowl making Hawkfrost freeze in surprise.
“Stop acting like you’re in charge!” Mothwing hissed angrily to her brother.
“Maybe not now,” Hawkfrost spat back. “But one day!”
Squirrelpaw felt a shiver chill her fur, but there was no time to think about it. A tortoiseshell ShadowClan queen was struggling to carry her two kits across the clearing. She kept dropping one and dashing back to fetch the other. Squirrelpaw raced over.
“I’ll take this one!” she breathed, picking up the tiny bundle in her teeth.
The queen flashed her a grateful look, and together they made for the entrance. Dustpelt was waiting outside. Squirrelpaw thrust the kit at him and ran back down the tunnel.
The camp was emptying quickly, and the roar of the monsters was deafeningly close. Make sure that no cat remains inside the
camp. Firestar’s order rang in her ears. She scoured the shadows of the camp wall for cats, terrified that any moment a monster would crash through, but only Brambleclaw, Tawnypelt, and Mothwing were left in the clearing.
“Mothwing, get outside and help Leafpaw check for injuries,” Brambleclaw hissed. “We’ll search the camp for stragglers.”
Mothwing headed for the tunnel. “Hurry!” she called over her shoulder.
Trees were tipping and falling all around the camp, their leafless branches rattling together like dried bones. But Squirrelpaw had not heard her father’s signal yet, so she had to assume it was safe to stay.
“Is everyone out?” Brambleclaw demanded.
“We need to check the dens again to make sure,” Tawnypelt panted.
“I’ve checked the nursery,” Squirrelpaw meowed. “It’s empty.”
“Did Tallpoppy and her kits get out?”
“I helped a queen and her kits to the tunnel,” Squirrelpaw told her.
Brambleclaw flicked his tail. “I’ll check the warriors’ den.” He glanced at Tawnypelt. “You check the apprentices’.”
“What about the medicine clearing?” Squirrelpaw called to Tawnypelt.
“Littlecloud’s gone already.”
“But are any sick cats there?” Squirrelpaw demanded.
Tawnypelt blinked. “I don’t know,” she admitted.
“I’ll check,” Squirrelpaw promised. “Where’s the entrance?”
“Over there!” Tawnypelt pointed with a flick of her tail to a tangle of thorns beside the warriors’ den.
Squirrelpaw squeezed her way through the narrow tunnel. It opened into a large den, sheltered from the camp and the forest by a thick covering of hawthorn branches. The den was empty, and she was about to push her way back out when she heard her father’s yowl.
“Get out! The monsters have reached the camp!”
She began to struggle through the tunnel, but the brambles clung to her pelt. She thrashed wildly and felt the thorns dig deeper. A tree groaned overhead, its timber cracking as it began to fall. With a deafening crash it smashed into the ground so close to the camp wall that Squirrelpaw felt the ground shudder.
Wild with fear, she writhed harder, trying to pull herself free. “Brambleclaw!” she shrieked. “Help!” She expected a tree to crash down on top of her at any moment. Would she be killed trying to help ShadowClan, with no chance to see their new home?
Suddenly Squirrelpaw felt strong teeth sink into the scruff of her neck and haul her forward. The thorns raked her flanks like claws, but she did not care. She leaped to her paws. Brambleclaw was staring at her, his sides heaving.
“Thank you!” she breathed. She pressed her muzzle against his, but they weren’t safe yet. Another tree groaned overhead, and Squirrelpaw looked up to see a shadow loom slowly over the camp. A huge sycamore was tipping toward them, its branches spreading across the sky as it began to topple.
“Where’s Tawnypelt?” she cried.
“I told her to go,” Brambleclaw meowed. “Everyone has left but us. Let’s get out of here!”
The two cats pelted toward the camp entrance and shot through, almost crashing into Dustpelt, who was waiting outside.
“You’re the last,” he yowled. “Come on!”
Looking over her shoulder, Squirrelpaw saw the sycamore crash down onto the camp, crushing everything beneath its heavy branches. Another of the Clans’ camps had been destroyed. The home that ShadowClan had lived in for uncountable moons was gone.
Dustpelt led them away through the forest. Tallstar and Onewhisker were waiting on the path, staring with wide, horrified eyes as the forest fell about them. Firestar, Leafpaw, and Tawnypelt were with them.
“Hurry!” Onewhisker urged. “The others are already heading for the Thunderpath!”
“I thought you hadn’t heard my warning!” Firestar gasped.
“I got stuck,” Squirrelpaw explained breathlessly.
“Where’s Crowpaw?” Brambleclaw asked, looking around.
“Heading for the tunnel.” Firestar flinched as another oak smashed into the ground nearby.
“Did all the queens and kits get out?” Tawnypelt demanded.
“Blackstar had a kit,” Onewhisker answered. “And there was a tortoiseshell with two kits….”
“What about Tallpoppy?”
“I thought Tallpoppy was the tortoiseshell!” Squirrelpaw gasped.
“Tallpoppy’s a tabby!” Tawnypelt’s voice rose in panic. “She’s got three kits, not two!”
The cats gazed at one another in dismay.
“I thought everyone was out,” spat Dustpelt.
“The camp was definitely empty,” Squirrelpaw panted. “They must have run off into the forest!”
Squirrelpaw pricked her ears, listening for the mewling of kits.
“Over there!” Onewhisker cried. He pointed with his nose to a clearing surrounded by fragile, pale-barked saplings. They raced over, Squirrelpaw scrabbling to get a grip on the slippery leaves.
“Hurry!” Tallstar hissed behind her. She felt Brambleclaw nudging her flank. As she struggled to find her footing, a crack sounded above them and a tree smashed down onto the forest floor only tail-lengths ahead, separating them from the others. Squirrelpaw gasped and shut her eyes.
“Are you okay?” Brambleclaw demanded.
Blinking, she opened her eyes and saw the tree lying in front of them. Had Leafpaw and the others escaped? She darted forward away from Tallstar and scrambled onto the newly fallen trunk with Brambleclaw beside her.
“They’re okay!” she yowled in relief. Tawnypelt and Leafpaw were standing in the clearing with Tallpoppy. Onewhisker was trying to round up her three kits, who were darting about in terror, their little tails stuck straight out behind them. Firestar was at the edge of the clearing, scanning the forest for the best escape route. Looking down, Squirrelpaw saw Tallstar squeezing through the branches of the fallen tree and limping quickly over to join the ThunderClan leader.
Through the trees, Squirrelpaw could see monsters on all sides, munching steadily closer. Suddenly she heard a terrifyingly familiar creaking sound. “Look out!” she shrieked.
An ancient birch tree was toppling toward the clearing.
“Save the kits!” Squirrelpaw yowled to Firestar as the tree cast a shadow across his orange pelt. Tallpoppy heard her and grabbed a kit; Tawnypelt picked up another, and, with Leafpaw and Tallstar fast behind, they pelted out of the way. But Onewhisker was still diving for the final kit, and Squirrelpaw stared in horror as the tree hurtled toward him.
Her heart seemed to stop as the moment stretched into a lifetime. Firestar leaped forward and hurled himself against Onewhisker’s flank. Squirrelpaw just had time to see the WindClan warrior flung clear, the kit grasped safely between his jaws, before the tree hit the ground with a deafening crash.
“Firestar! No!” Squirrelpaw bounded down from the trunk and pelted over to the fallen tree. Brambleclaw kept pace with her, swerving away toward a brown tabby shape staggering at the edge of the branches.
“Got you!” he cried as he dragged the WindClan warrior and the kit out from where they were tangled in the branch tips.
Leafpaw was stumbling, dazed, from underneath a buckled sapling that had protected her when the tree fell. But there was no sign of Firestar. A Twoleg howled, and another splintering groan made the air tremble.
“Get out of here!” Brambleclaw screeched.
“I’m not leaving without Firestar,” Squirrelpaw cried.
“We’ll find him!” Brambleclaw promised. He looked at Onewhisker. “Get the others to the Thunderpath!”
The earth shuddered as another tree crashed down behind them.
“We’ll wait for you at the tunnel,” Onewhisker promised.
As the WindClan and ShadowClan cats fled, Squirrelpaw ran over to where Leafpaw was scrabbling beneath the branches.
“I can see him!” she cried, clawing desperately at the earth.
Brambleclaw pushed past her, using his head to thrust aside the tangled splinters of wood. Squirrelpaw could see her father’s orange pelt, slumped beneath a heavy branch. Brambleclaw stretched forward and grasped Firestar in his jaws. Trembling with effort, he dragged him out and laid him on the leaf-strewn earth.
A shaft of pale sunlight sliced into the clearing and lit up the ThunderClan’s golden pelt. He lay very still with his eyes closed.
“He’s losing a life,” Leafpaw whispered.
“Firestar…” Squirrelpaw’s tail began to tremble. “Father!” she yowled. Around them, monsters shook the ground, their yellow eyes blazing between the trees.
“We’ve got to get him out of here!” Brambleclaw hissed.
“We can’t risk moving him,” Leafpaw warned.
