Rising Storm

As they padded through the trees, Sandstorm stared around with her whiskers trembling. Fireheart realized that she had traveled this far from ThunderClan territory only once before, when she had accompanied Bluestar to the Moonstone as an apprentice. It was a journey all cats had to make before they became warriors. Fireheart had been here several times, not just to visit Highstones, but to see Ravenpaw and to lead WindClan out of exile. But it was Ravenpaw who was most at home in these woods.

“We can’t hang around here,” the black cat warned. “Especially not this time of day. Twolegs like to walk their dogs here.”

Fireheart could smell the scent of dog nearby. He flattened his ears and followed Ravenpaw in silence as the black tom led them out of the copse.

Ravenpaw squeezed through the hedge first. Fireheart waited for Sandstorm to go next, then pushed his way through the thickly tangled leaves. He recognized the red dirt track on the other side. He had crossed it with Graystripe on their journey to find the exiled WindClan. Ravenpaw looked both ways before racing across and disappearing into the far hedgerow at the other side. Sandstorm glanced at Fireheart, and he nodded encouragingly. She darted forward, and Fireheart followed at her heels.

The barley in the field beyond the hedge stretched high above their heads. Instead of skirting the edge, Ravenpaw headed straight into the forest of crackling stems. Fireheart and Sandstorm weaved after him, hurrying so they didn’t lose sight of the black cat’s tail flicking ahead of them. Fireheart felt a ripple of unease as he realized he could never find his way out alone. He had lost all sense of direction, with nothing to see but the endless golden stems and a strip of clear blue sky above. He was very relieved when they finally emerged and sat down to rest under the hedge on the far side of the field. They were making good progress. The sun was only halfway down the sky and the uplands were already far behind them.

Fireheart smelled a familiar scent on the hedge beside him. “Your marker,” he commented to Ravenpaw.

“This is where my territory begins.” Ravenpaw swung his head around, signaling that the wide sweep of fields ahead of them was where he lived and hunted.

“Then Cloudpaw is near here?” asked Sandstorm, sniffing warily.

“There’s a dip on the other side of that rise,” Ravenpaw told her, pointing with his nose. “The Twoleg nest is there.”

Fireheart suddenly felt the fur on his spine tingle. What was that smell? He froze and opened his mouth to let the scent reach the glands inside.

Beside him Ravenpaw had lifted his nose, his black ears pricked and his tail flicking nervously. His eyes widened in alarm. “Dogs!” he hissed.

Chapter 20

Fireheart heard grass swishing behind the hedge and tensed his shoulders as the strong odor filled the air. A loud bark made his tail fluff out, and a heartbeat later he saw the quivering nose of a dog thrusting through the hedge.

“Run!” he yowled, spinning around. Another rustle and a yelp of excitement told him that a second dog was following the first.

Fireheart fled. Sandstorm raced beside him, her fur brushing his as they pelted along the hedgerow with the dogs at their heels. The drumming of the dogs’ paws made the ground tremble, and Fireheart could feel their breath hot on his neck. He glanced over his shoulder. Two massive dogs loomed behind them, their soft flesh rippling, their eyes glaring, and their tongues lolling. With a jolt, Fireheart realized that Ravenpaw was nowhere to be seen.

“Keep running,” he hissed to Sandstorm. “They won’t be able to keep this pace up for long.” Sandstorm managed to nod, her paws pounding faster.

He was right. When he turned his head again, he saw that the dogs had begun to fall behind. Fireheart sized up an ash tree in the hedgerow ahead of them. It was some way off, but if they could put enough distance between themselves and the dogs, they might be able to scramble up it to safety.

“See that ash?” he meowed to Sandstorm, panting. “Climb it as quickly as you can. I’ll follow.”

Sandstorm grunted in agreement, her breath coming in ragged gasps. They raced on toward the tree. Fireheart yowled to Sandstorm and she shot up the trunk, clawing her way to safety.

Before he leaped for the tree, Fireheart looked over his shoulder once more to see how far away the dogs were. His fur shot up when he saw huge teeth barely a rabbitlength from his face. With a vicious snarl the dog lunged at him. Fireheart whipped around and lashed out with his forepaws, his claws sharp as blackthorns. He felt the flesh rip on the dog’s swaying jowls and heard it yelp in pain. He slashed once more, then turned and scrambled up the tree, as fast as a squirrel. He stopped on the lowest branch and looked down. Below him the dog yowled in frustration while the other joined it, throwing its huge head back and bellowing angrily.