Rising Storm

Fireheart grasped Patchpelt in his jaws and pulled him across the smoke-filled clearing and into the tunnel. He struggled not to cough as he tugged Patchpelt through the gorse, its sharp spines clutching at the old cat’s matted fur. Fireheart reached the bottom of the ravine and started to scramble upward. Patchpelt twitched in his jaws, and Fireheart felt his body convulse as he retched in a series of violent spasms. Fireheart pushed on up the steep slope, his neck aching from the weight of the unconscious cat.

At the top he dragged Patchpelt onto the flat rocks, and the old tom lay there, wheezing and helpless. Then Fireheart turned to look for Yellowfang. The medicine cat was just struggling out of the gorse tunnel, her flanks heaving as she fought against the deadly smoke. The trees that had sheltered the Clan were being swallowed up by fire, their trunks enveloped in flames. Fireheart saw Yellowfang stare up at him with Halftail clutched in her jaws, her orange eyes huge. He flexed his hind legs, ready to jump down the rocks toward her, but a terrified mewling made him look up. Peering through the billowing smoke, he saw Goldenflower’s kit clinging to the branches of a small tree that sprouted from the side of the ravine. The bark of the tree was already smoldering, and as Bramblekit cried desperately, the trunk burst into flame.

Without stopping to think, Fireheart sprang at the blazing tree. He dug his claws into the trunk above the flames and hauled himself up to the kit. The fire raced up the trunk behind him, licking at the bark as Fireheart reached forward, wobbling, and lunged for the kit. The tiny tom was clinging to a branch, his eyes tightly shut and his mouth open wide in a silent scream. Fireheart grabbed him in his jaws and almost lost his balance as Bramblekit let go immediately and swung down into thin air. With his teeth still embedded in Bramblekit’s scruff, Fireheart managed to keep a grip on the rough bark. There was no way he could climb back down the trunk now. The flames had taken too strong a hold. He would have to go as far along the branch as he could, then jump down to the ground. Clenching his jaws, and blocking out Bramblekit’s screams, Fireheart crept away from the trunk.

The branch dipped and swayed under his weight, but Fireheart forced himself to keep going. One more pawstep and he tensed, ready to jump. Behind him flames scorched his pelt, filling his nostrils with the bitter smell of burning fur. The branch dipped again, this time with an ominous splintering sound. StarClan help me! Fireheart prayed silently. Shutting his eyes, he flexed his hind legs and leaped toward the ground.

Behind him a loud crack split the air. Fireheart landed with a thud that almost knocked the breath out of him. Scrambling to find a clawhold on the side of the ravine, he twisted his head around. To his horror he saw that the fire had burned right through the trunk, sending the whole tree toppling into the ravine. Alive with flame, the tree crashed away from the terrified cat, hiding the entrance to the camp behind a wall of burning branches. There was no way Fireheart could reach Yellowfang now.

Chapter 24

“Yellowfang!”

Fireheart dropped Bramblekit and yowled the medicine cat’s name. The blood pounded in his ears as he listened for her reply, but he heard nothing except the dreadful crackling of the flames.

Bramblekit crouched at his paws, pressing his small body against Fireheart’s legs. Pulsing with fear and frustration, and dimly aware of the pain from his singed flanks, Fireheart grabbed him and raced up the slope back to Patchpelt.

The old tom hadn’t moved. Fireheart saw his chest weakly rising and falling and knew that Patchpelt would not be able to run to safety. He lowered Bramblekit onto the ground. “Follow me!” he yowled before clamping his tired jaws onto Patchpelt’s scruff. With a final glance down the burning slope, Fireheart dragged the black-and-white tom away from the ravine into the trees. Bramblekit stumbled after them, too shocked to mew, his eyes huge and unfocused. Fireheart wished he were somehow able to carry both of them, but he couldn’t leave Patchpelt to die where he lay. Somehow Bramblekit would have to find the strength to survive the terrifying journey on his own paws.

Fireheart followed the trail of the other cats blindly, hardly aware of the forest around him, even though he turned back every few moments to check that Bramblekit was still keeping up. His last sight of the ravine filled his mind, a terrifying trough of flame and smoke that engulfed the camp, his home. And of Yellowfang and Halftail, there had been no sign at all.